ALAN BROGAN believes “promotion and scheduling in GAA isn’t right” and pointed to a League of Ireland match as an example of how it should be done.
St Patrick’s Athletic host champions Shelbourne in a bumper Premier Division clash on Friday night at Richmond Park.
Stephen Kenny‘s men are top of the table going into the weekend, with Damien Duff‘s side in fourth but just one point adrift.
The game will be shown live on Virgin Media Two and is expected to draw a large crowd to Inchicore.
The build-up to the game has been observed by Brogan, who won three All-Ireland titles and 11 Leinster championships with Dublin.
And he took to Twitter to suggest the League of Ireland is succeeding where the GAA is failing when it comes to promotion.
He said: “I’m seeing more exposure on Pats Shels tomorrow night than I did for a National League Final last Sunday with arguably one of the top 3 footballers we have ever sen [sic] centre stage in Croke Park.
“Promotion and Schedulig [sic] of fixtures in GAA not working at the moment.”
Last weekend’s Allianz League finals drew attention for the crowd that turned out to Croke Park for the meeting of Kerry and Mayo.
Jack O’Connor’s men outlasted Kevin McStay’s troops in front of just over 21,500 people at GAAHQ.
Attendances have become an issue in recent years, with just over 21,000 fans coming out for the double header Leinster SFC semi-finals last year.
And it has led the provincial council to make the decision to move the last four OUT of Croke Park.
Ticket prices for the games have been cut to €15 and Leinster GAA chief Derek Kent hopes the switch breathes life into a competition that Dublin have won 14 times on the spin.
He said: “The logic behind it was that we were playing games in Croke Park with half or quarter of an empty stadium. The atmosphere wasn’t there.
“Dublin will travel anywhere. They’re a county that has no issue travelling anywhere.
“It’s not about levelling the playing field. It’s about giving the support better value and an atmosphere that will suit semi-finals.
“A provincial ground will get some rebate back on what they’ve spent.
“At the end of the day, we can go out to provincial grounds which are all up to standard.
“The point I’m making is that going out there is a win-win for everybody.
“It’s a win-win for supporters and it’s a win-win for the county boards.”
