Clare GAA Discussion - 2024 All Ireland Hurling Champions

You can't host a Munster final in Ennis or Waterford. The stadiums are way ,way too small. I was at Cusack Park on Sunday and had a very enjoyable day. The facilities there are worse than basic. Portaloos for females behind the West terrace and no shops for water. 5 euro for bottle of coke and they ran out before the match started. Its borderline a dangerous exit aswell.

The only downer on what was a great day in Ennis was the utterly embarrassing state of the facilities in Ennis. The county board of the last 20 years should hang their heads in shame at the prehistoric state of the place.

Was just watching on TV myself the pitch didn't look great on Sunday.

Would there be a lack of space for a future redevelopment? I know there's an Aldi or Lidl behind 1 of the goals anyway.

Just had a look on Google maps, river right behind the terrace too.

Dare I suggest where the County Board are based in Clarecastle (which is separate from Clarecastle GAA) would be a good location for a stadium? Accessible from both sides via motorway etc.

Maybe I'm way off the mark in my thoughts though

Looking at the size of the physical structures its hard to believe Ennis has a similar capacity to the likes of Portlaoise and Tullamore with the decent size stand and terrace in those grounds.

Ya true - Stadium being in-and-around an urban centre does make sense in that way. I agree that if they could even just bump capacity up a small bit but somehow make the stadium safer/more accessible, they should keep it

I'd agree with all of what you said above, it's a really great place to watch a match.

But that's what bugs me most, it wouldn't take a huge amount to get it right. Just building decent toilet facilities that are accessible from all areas of the ground would go a long way towards getting it right

The minor hurlers are back in action on Saturday, v Galway in Athenry. Part of the All-Ireland "round robin series". Both Clare and Galway will then go on to play Laois.

No idea what to expect from Galway given it's their first game.

Clare should be fairly battle hardened after the Cork, Waterford and Tipp (x2) games.

The Munster final is confirmed for Thurles, June 5th at 4pm. Tickets go on sale next week.

The Clare support under Lohan has been very good, the public is massively behind him. Home tickets have been sold out for months. And Clare brought good support to Thurles for the away games too. I don't expect it to be 2:1 at all, demand will be high in the county, especially after the game last Sunday and the way the team is going in general.

You must have told the attendant to keep the change, or they must have misunderstood you. It wasn't €5 in the Town side terrace anyway.

I have to admit, i didn't expect such a weakened team this weekend. 6 changes, but that includes Kelly, Conlon and Ryan, etc. I get it though, just taught Lohan would still go for this game. I would have liked Meehan to have started this one. Maybe we can expect another change or two on gameday.

In reality its more 4 than 6 changes as Jason Mc and Mounsey's starting positions are very much up for grabs on this team. There are 4 starters not on that team, Kelly, Conlon, Ryan and Flanagan. Flanagan we know picked up a knock and was temporarily replaced (infamously lol) by Aaron Fitz. So its understandable he is rested if he is still recovering. Not sure about the other 3, though its worth mentioning that Kelly, Conlon and Ryan all had to deal with significant injuries earlier this year. But I imagine they are simply rested.

One another note, I'd be looking to pull Malone and Taylor as soon as on Sunday. Both players have put in massive shifts for Clare this championship and it would be more beneficial imo they don't play another full 70 minutes.