Leinster hurling final crowd 'lost' in Croke Park

Leinster hurling final crowd 'lost' in Croke Park June 10, 2025

Kilkenny fan Katie O'Shea from Carrickshock GAA club leads the cheers for the Kilkenny team ahead of the game ©INPHO/Tom Maher

Anthony Daly has joined Joe Canning and others in calling for the Leinster SHC final to be taken out of Croke Park.

Despite making 20,000 free tickets available to U14 teams, the attendance at last Sunday’s decider between Kilkenny and Galway was just 37,503, prompting Daly to call for future finals to be played at a smaller stadium where a better atmosphere would be guaranteed.

“It’s not helping that it's on in Croke Park, I think, unfortunately, it’s lost in Croke Park,” the 1995 and ’97 Clare All-Ireland SHC winning captain said on The Sunday Game.

“I know you want to play your provincial final on your most significant ground. Could that have been a classic in Tullamore, with the crowd involved?

"However, you also have the Joe McDonagh, which is a massive game to see who reaches the top level; it should be attracting more. We would say that Galway and Kilkenny should have a home and away system, similar to Cork and Limerick, which might make sense. Salthill or Nowlan [Park], it would be a scramble for tickets, but would that be better?”