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Donegal GAA thread

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You will always find an excuse if you don't fancy going.Our base support just is not big.It used to be about 7000 for a home league game,it is now about 4000 plus or minus.With the crowd we had for the McKenna cup game I thought the league attendances would be much higher.

gunman (Donegal) - Posts: 1095 - 17/02/2024 20:31:47    2526552

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Replying To 10DLSAM:  "When Jason Mc Gee back?"
I wonder why a Derry man want to know that?

Scenicparish (Donegal) - Posts: 383 - 17/02/2024 22:31:24    2526572

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Replying To Scenicparish:  "100% You either support your County Team or you dont. Very poor crowd, fantastic Stand and well organised venue. No excuses, with e tickets now, the County Board should be able to prove how many matches you go to and on that basis the Tickets for Celtic Park, Derry should be given out."
Personally I'd say it was a very inconvenient time, especially for families. In most homes with kids, Saturday mornings up to afternoon are absolutely chaotic, with football (Gaelic and soccer) or swimming, or dancing or whatever. Even if the game had to have been at 5 o'clock it would've been more convenient for these people.

SouthOfTheGap (Donegal) - Posts: 647 - 17/02/2024 23:05:41    2526579

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Replying To Scenicparish:  "100% You either support your County Team or you dont. Very poor crowd, fantastic Stand and well organised venue. No excuses, with e tickets now, the County Board should be able to prove how many matches you go to and on that basis the Tickets for Celtic Park, Derry should be given out."
It was a smaller crowd than I expected but it was always likely to be smaller than the Cork game. Many people, young adults and students in particular work Saturdays in retail or hospitality.

BeardedBorderGael (Donegal) - Posts: 44 - 18/02/2024 00:49:10    2526588

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Replying To BeardedBorderGael:  "It was a smaller crowd than I expected but it was always likely to be smaller than the Cork game. Many people, young adults and students in particular work Saturdays in retail or hospitality."
That's Saturdays excuse what about Sundays.

rorysboys (Donegal) - Posts: 2527 - 18/02/2024 10:41:04    2526609

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Replying To rorysboys:  "That's Saturdays excuse what about Sundays."
I'm not making any excuses for anyone, I attend as many matches as I can and don't get too hung up on what others do. Like every other county we have plenty of fair weather supporters, Derry are getting huge support now but go back more than 2 or 3 years and that was a very different story. I was simply comparing the crowd at a Saturday game to the game against Cork on a Sunday, it was always likely to be smaller.

BeardedBorderGael (Donegal) - Posts: 44 - 18/02/2024 14:25:59    2526646

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The constant talk about how well supported Donegal are is a bit tiresome . People need to get over it, move on, it's the same in nearly every county and in every sport , when teams are doing well more people turn up. That's not an excuse, just a fact of life.

greenfan (Donegal) - Posts: 531 - 18/02/2024 14:38:57    2526653

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Replying To rorysboys:  "That's Saturdays excuse what about Sundays."
Do you offer anything beyond whinging?

greatpoint (USA) - Posts: 430 - 18/02/2024 15:36:31    2526674

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Replying To greatpoint:  "Do you offer anything beyond whinging?"
Not whinging lad, telling it as it is. I remember on this forum people saying they wudnt follow donegal because who was in charge. Mc Guinness there now and there still making the same excuses. Just admit it lad were not a well supported county . Too many fair weather fans my friend . Wee question is if I wasn't at the games how can you comment on it. Not stopping some people

rorysboys (Donegal) - Posts: 2527 - 18/02/2024 17:06:50    2526712

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Another big win, tight 1st half but turned it on in the 2nd half. Daire O Baoill had a great game.

Nice to see Hugh back as well and hopefully see Jason and Niall back soon as well. Having a fully fit panel will be hugely important come the championship.

FootballGuy (Donegal) - Posts: 244 - 18/02/2024 20:01:13    2526779

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Great win yesterday. We looked leggy in the first half but were more alive in the second half. Not sure why this is. Kelvey, Doherty and Curran all made differences when introduced. Think Jack could be a starter come championship. He covers a lot of positions. Murphy said on BBC yesterday that he's been plagued by injuries so hopefully we haven't seen the best from him yet.

Jamie Brennan pulled at half time, has he played his way out of the team? Aran Doherty hit two points when he came on but lost possession twice and missed an easy mark. Can see Jim going with a worker in the 15 position instead of an out and out forward. Curran was direct when introduced, good to see. Hopefully Bans injury is not too bad. Good to see Conor O Donnell, Niall O Donnell,Jason Mc Gee and Keelan mc Colgan with the squad yesterday. Hopefully not far away. Stevie got the full game yesterday which was good but his pace is questionable. Maybe he could do a job on a Mattie Donnelly type player.

Nice to see Hughie back also. Gives badly needed height to the team. Be interesting to see where Jim plays him now. Never can question Hughie's commitment to Donegal, a great leader but you'd worry about his pace. He looked in great condition yesterday, a lot leaner so credit where it's due, not easy coming back from a bad injury and be in that shape. Hopefully has a good year

TheRock2121 (Donegal) - Posts: 1170 - 18/02/2024 21:02:55    2526814

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Replying To rorysboys:  "Not whinging lad, telling it as it is. I remember on this forum people saying they wudnt follow donegal because who was in charge. Mc Guinness there now and there still making the same excuses. Just admit it lad were not a well supported county . Too many fair weather fans my friend . Wee question is if I wasn't at the games how can you comment on it. Not stopping some people"
100% agree and that doesn't happen often. Very disappointing support. Where are all the glory hunters from 2012? We have some fantastic young players coming through. I guess we wont have many fans in Armagh next Sunday!!!

Scenicparish (Donegal) - Posts: 383 - 18/02/2024 22:13:22    2526825

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People say Donegal looked leggy first half. I think they actually used the first half to work on a very deep defensive setup that may be needed in other games. And then 2nd half switched to the high pressing more attacking game .

greenfan (Donegal) - Posts: 531 - 18/02/2024 23:43:12    2526835

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Replying To greenfan:  "People say Donegal looked leggy first half. I think they actually used the first half to work on a very deep defensive setup that may be needed in other games. And then 2nd half switched to the high pressing more attacking game ."
I agree on this, the first half setup was very intentional, as Jim wasn't screaming at them to push out, it seemed to be a very deliberate tactic. Then second half there was a notable shift after maybe 5 minutes or so.

Commodore (Donegal) - Posts: 1155 - 19/02/2024 08:05:03    2526849

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Replying To Scenicparish:  "100% agree and that doesn't happen often. Very disappointing support. Where are all the glory hunters from 2012? We have some fantastic young players coming through. I guess we wont have many fans in Armagh next Sunday!!!"
I thought it was a healthy enough attendance, considering it was almost exclusively Donegal fans.
Division 2 football against Fermanagh in Letterkenny was never going to be a big draw.

Commodore (Donegal) - Posts: 1155 - 19/02/2024 08:17:51    2526853

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Replying To ryan:  "Was nobody at it. 3,000 odd. If game was in Ballybofey at a proper time, county board would have 2,000 extra supporters. That's another e30,000 on the gate. Money is hard enough got without throwing it away."
The minor ladies were playing in Ballybofey - my young one was playing, was a 4-10 to 0-7 win over Monaghan Minors.

GAAmanDNG (Donegal) - Posts: 19 - 19/02/2024 09:29:32    2526867

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Its a bit mad alright, and I know I offered an explanation as to why the crowd was poor enough, Saturday at 2 pm not being ideal. But there was more in Ballybofey for the McKenna Cup game against Armagh. We also had a healthy crowd at the Cork game in Ballybofey (no Cork support), and I thought we were well supported in Cavan as well. It appears that 3,000 is about our core support at the minute, which is disappointing, especially when you see both the Derry and Armagh bandwagons in full flow.

SouthOfTheGap (Donegal) - Posts: 647 - 19/02/2024 11:31:31    2526906

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Replying To SouthOfTheGap:  "Its a bit mad alright, and I know I offered an explanation as to why the crowd was poor enough, Saturday at 2 pm not being ideal. But there was more in Ballybofey for the McKenna Cup game against Armagh. We also had a healthy crowd at the Cork game in Ballybofey (no Cork support), and I thought we were well supported in Cavan as well. It appears that 3,000 is about our core support at the minute, which is disappointing, especially when you see both the Derry and Armagh bandwagons in full flow."
Yea around the 3000 mark are the real hard core fans. Hopefully next Sunday we'll get a good travelling support. Probably the game everyone wants to see the two teams who will get promoted. Make no mistake it's a poor division 2. Really looking forward to this game to see how mc Guinness sets up. Watched Armagh yesterday they looked decent but Kildare are awful. No Rian o neill yet for Armagh. Hopefully mc gee might be back I still think we need a ball winning midfielder. Will he play langan there or stick with Thompson. The good thing with this game is that we will be tested in front of a big crowd no better preparation for the Derry game.. roll on Sunday can't wait

rorysboys (Donegal) - Posts: 2527 - 19/02/2024 13:01:48    2526938

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Replying To SouthOfTheGap:  "Its a bit mad alright, and I know I offered an explanation as to why the crowd was poor enough, Saturday at 2 pm not being ideal. But there was more in Ballybofey for the McKenna Cup game against Armagh. We also had a healthy crowd at the Cork game in Ballybofey (no Cork support), and I thought we were well supported in Cavan as well. It appears that 3,000 is about our core support at the minute, which is disappointing, especially when you see both the Derry and Armagh bandwagons in full flow."
Look using these 3 venues is holding back Donegal support,Ballybofey on a Saturday night/sunday afternoon is by far the best location.No offence to Ballyshannon but asking someone from Falcarragh or Carndonagh to go Ballyshannon to a home game is crazy.We should be trying to facilitate supporters not sicken them with crazy journeys.We should be trying to encourage the 2K or 3K supporters back out and make it easy on them.Everyone knows its nuts,the players don't want it I just don't understand why someone doesn't speak up about it.

heyday (Laois) - Posts: 35 - 19/02/2024 13:19:49    2526953

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Replying To rorysboys:  "Yea around the 3000 mark are the real hard core fans. Hopefully next Sunday we'll get a good travelling support. Probably the game everyone wants to see the two teams who will get promoted. Make no mistake it's a poor division 2. Really looking forward to this game to see how mc Guinness sets up. Watched Armagh yesterday they looked decent but Kildare are awful. No Rian o neill yet for Armagh. Hopefully mc gee might be back I still think we need a ball winning midfielder. Will he play langan there or stick with Thompson. The good thing with this game is that we will be tested in front of a big crowd no better preparation for the Derry game.. roll on Sunday can't wait"
You're right in that this is exactly the kind of game we need to prepare for April and beyond hopefully. I really do hope there's a decent number of fans travelling as last year was desperate, I wouldn't even say there was a hundred that night. I felt for the players and they did put in a decent effort in the circumstances.

WeGoAgain (Donegal) - Posts: 51 - 19/02/2024 13:25:27    2526958

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