The Offaly under-20 hurlers are, right now, the best supported sports team in Ireland. Think about it. The last census carried out in 2022 reported that Offaly had a population of 83,150.
So, you could fit every man, woman and child in the county into Croke Park and less than a thousand would be locked out. Last year, up to 20,000 Offaly supporters travelled to Thurles for the All-Ireland under-20 final, which they lost to Cork. They will likely bring that many to UPMC Nowlan Park for Saturday’s final against Tipperary, maybe more.
READ MORE: Offaly chairman Michael Duignan gives update on under-20 final ticket fiasco READ MORE: What next for the five managers with a long summer before them? We can’t be sure because the game is effectively sold out, but the 26,000 capacity would certainly be exceeded if it was played at a larger ground and will dwarf the attendance at any of the senior football Championship games this weekend. Most of the tickets went on general sale on Monday afternoon and sold out within minutes, leaving many Offaly fans irate. There is also the issue of how many supporters Tipperary will bring but, suffice to say, those wearing blue and gold will be significantly outnumbered by those in tricoloured hoops.
To put it all in perspective, it means that, conservatively, one in five, though probably closer to one in four, people from Offaly actively wish to attend the game. If, say, a Dublin team commanded that level of support, it would be the equivalent of.
