Ticket touts are hit with heavy losses as a huge number of tickets become available prior to the All Ireland Football Final.
A controversial decision to make the All Ireland Football Final all ticket had seen black market prices soar in the week prior to Dublin facing Armagh such was the demand. Touts still managed to pick up large blocks of tickets. On the day the shortage of tickets meant many fans stayed away thinking they would not get a ticket or that black market prices were too high. Just hours before the game a flood of tickets became available leaving touts unable to sell even at face value. Supporters with additional tickets gave them to Garda officers rather than put them on the black market. These tickets were passed on to supporters at no cost.
As the hordes of Dublin and Armagh supporters descend on Croke Park for the All-Ireland Football Final, the Gardaí looking after crowd are control are on hand to check tickets and in some cases give away free tickets.
Not too far away from the security barriers and loudhailers, illegal selling of match tickets was still going on. The late surge of tickets meant business wasn’t going exactly as one ticket tout would have liked,
Can’t give them away for bloody nothing.
Inside Croke Park church and political dignitaries had no ticket problems. Among those attending the final were Fianna Fáil Minister for Health and Social Welfare Charles Haughey, Fine Gael's Garret FitzGerald, Taoiseach Jack Lynch and his wife Maureen. The Catholic Primate of All Ireland and Archbishop of Armagh Tomás Ó Fiaich, and Ireland’s European Commissioner Richard Burke were also there.
The attendance for the game was 66,542 and the final score was Dublin 5- 12 Armagh 3-06.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 25 September 1977.
