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Keep off the grass - Semple explanation for fans on pitch ban

Fans watching Tipperary and Kilkenny during the recent Allianz Hurling League match at Semple Stadium
Fans watching Tipperary and Kilkenny during the recent Allianz Hurling League match at Semple Stadium

The management committee of Semple Stadium has reiterated its policy that no spectators will be allowed on the pitch "at any time on match days".

Many GAA grounds allow fans onto the pitch at half-time or after games, and the sight of children pucking around is common at venues like Páirc Uí Chaoimh in Cork.

That has been praised by some as fostering a connection with the next generation of fans but management committee chairman Con Hogan says that the Thurles venue, the country's second biggest stadium by capacity (45,690), considers the risks to health and safety or damage to the pitch are too great to allow the practice.

In a statement issued by Tipperary GAA, Hogan said: "The policy of Semple Stadium Management, supported by Tipperary County Board, is to discourage encroachment by patrons onto the pitch at any time on match days.

"The reasons for this policy are twofold; the first and most important is in the interest of public safety, and the second is the protection of the pitch.

"The greatest risks to patrons at a game occur when they leave the safety of their spectator area and enter the pitch, which is reserved for the players and match officials only. Typical accidents/incidents that occur include, slips, trips and falls when rushing onto the pitch, pitch invasion while the game is still in progress, crushing around teams or around the presentation area, lost children, theft, and potentially the most dangerous of all, uncontrolled pucking sliotars around in the thick of a crowd on the pitch after a game.

"All of these incidents have occurred at Semple Stadium; some have resulted in injury and loss to individuals and some have resulted in financial loss. That is why, in the interests of our patrons' safety, we restrict their access to the viewing areas.

"Semple Stadium is one of the busiest, if not the busiest Gaelic Games venue in Ireland, accommodating games in all codes at all levels from schools to adult. It is one of the best playing surfaces in the country, made possible by a planned pitch maintenance programme, designed and implemented by professional staff.

"The pitch is heavily used and must be protected, and this involves limiting footfall on the surface as much as possible between games. This also includes restrictions on training, warm-ups, and half-time puck-arounds on the pitch, despite numerous requests from clubs and inter county teams.

"Our safety and pitch management programmes must be consistent, and to have any credibility, must be implemented on big match days and small. In summary they are designed to provide a safe, risk-free venue for our patrons and to maintain the reputation or our pitch as the sod that all players want to play on."

Kilkenny hurling fans on the pitch in 2009 after their team secured four in a row

Pitch invasions at the final whistle were a traditional feature at Croke Park on All-Ireland final days but the practise has died out over the last decade after repeated pleas from authorities.

Supporters did make it onto the playing surface after the 2009 victories by Kilkenny (when the infamous 'Plan B' was put into operation) and Kerry but the following year fans of Tipperary and Cork watched their teams' trophy presentations from the stands, weeks after a three-metre high fence was erected in front of Hill 16.

Some Louth fans had made it onto the pitch in July 2010 in reaction to their team's controversial Leinster final defeat to Meath, which ultimately resulted in two men being convicted for assaulting referree Martin Sludden.

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