Former Mayo footballer David Brady lamented not being a TD as he was unable to buy tickets for the All-Ireland semi-final yesterday afternoon.
Many fans failed to get their hands on the coveted Mayo-Dublin tickets when the Tickets.ie website struggled to deal with the demand.
More tickets were released this morning, but speaking to The Pat Kenny Show on Newstalk on Wednesday afternoon, Brady shared his frustration with how tickets were made available for Saturday’s clash.
"I went online at nine o’clock and tickets were released at 10," he explained, "I was number 1066 as time went on, half two to three o’clock, I was number 133 and then the system closed.
"So yes, I was one of the virtual queuers for five hours. Again, I’m not lucky enough to be a TD and get - as Noel [Rock] gets - access to tickets."
Demand is extremely high for the semi-final tickets, with reportedly 20,000 people queuing online yesterday.
The semi-final fixtures were only confirmed on Sunday evening, following Dublin’s victory over Tyrone in the Super 8s.
This has led to a mad scramble for tickets but Brady reckons the situation should have been dealt with far better.
“They should have been released on Monday morning and wherever you are in the world you have access.
“It’s such a condensed season, we know this. We’ve known this for 12 months. All of a sudden, five days out we’re going, ‘We didn’t expect Dublin and Mayo to be playing.’
“No matter who it was, everything was going to be condensed together. Whether it was Kerry, Donegal, Tyrone or Dublin,” Brady stated.
While Brady was clearly frustrated with how everything had panned out in regard to ticket sales, he predicted a fantastic occasion in Croke Park.
“I was part of a Mayo contingent, 10,000 people, that travelled to New York in the first game of the championship. The Mayo support and the Dublin support is phenomenal.
“I think you have to be ready and have the capacity to deal with the demand of the last 24 hours. It’s good. This is going to be a fantastic game,” Brady commented.
Mayo go into the game knowing Dublin are strong favourites to progress to the final but the prospect of another heartbreaking loss hasn’t deterred the Mayo man.
“You know what? 2020 is another year. There are not many people giving Mayo a hope. At the end of the day, that's all we’ve got to live for,” Brady said.
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