THE CAPACITY AT Fitzgerald Stadium will be reduced by 6,100 for the opening Super 8s clash between Mayo and Kerry this weekend.

The decision has been taken due to issues relating to facilitating season ticket holders in the main stand, as well as a need for space where fans can move freely around the Killarney venue.

Speaking to The42, Kerry PRO Leona Twiss explained that tickets will be sold as general admission for Sunday’s clash, as the capacity of the main stand cannot hold the combined total of around 7,000 season ticket holders between the two counties.

This means that main stand admission will be allocated on a first come first serve basis, but Kerry GAA are confident that the capacity in Fitzgerald Stadium will still be sufficient on Sunday.

“The stand in its entirety would take around 7,500 people in Killarney,” says Twiss, “but obviously Ard Comhairle has to get some of those tickets and some of the team officials and mentors get some of those tickets as well.

You wouldn’t have enough seats in the stand to give away to the season ticket holders so that was one of the factors as well when making the decision to go with general admission [tickets].

“We are urging the public who have their tickets bought or are buying them in the next couple of days to come early – it’s a first come, first serve. If you want to go to the stand, you need to be in when the gates open.”

Kerry's David Clifford and Colm Boyle of Mayo in action in the Division 1 final earlier this year. James Crombie / INPHO James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO

Twiss added that chairman Murphy is anticipating an estimated crowd of 30,000, which is 1,900 less than the crowd they are permitted to admit on the day.

“We had our press conference yesterday evening with the chairman and [Kerry manager] Peter Keane. The chairman spoke about estimated figures of 30,000 and that’s what we’re expecting.

We’re allowed 31,900, so we should be fine. The sales were very brisk yesterday, 9,000 were off the system in two hours. We would expect to be very close to 30,000 and close to a full house, but I wouldn’t imagine that we’ll be turning people away at all.”

The front row of the main stand also won’t be in use for the game, due to the limited view from the seats.

“That is the plan at the moment,” says Twiss.

“It’s pretty much below ground level, you’d be looking at boots and ankles and maybe up towards knees so it wouldn’t be particularly good viewing for patrons at all.”

Kerry manager Peter Keane. James Crombie / INPHO James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO

Twiss also explained that the health and safety department of Croke Park have requested that Fitzgerald Stadium have a “circulation space” to allow people to move freely in the ground on the day.

 ”We would normally expect a crowd of around 38,000 for a Munster final but because it is general admission and people are going to be coming and going in both directions — which wouldn’t normally be the case as the terraces would be zoned off — the health and safety department of Croke Park have requested that there’d be circulation space.

That’s why it dropped to just under 32,000 to allow circulation. There will be peak times, maybe an hour before the game and obviously the final whistle where there’ll be a lot of movement and it is just safer to allow that extra bit of space.”

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