Fr Tierney Park set for sell-out crowd as Donegal host Derry in NFL round 5
High demand for tickets as Donegal prepares for a crucial league clash, with county chairperson defending venue selection despite capacity concerns
Fr Tierney Park, Ballyshannon is set to house a bumper attendance on Sunday next as Donegal hosts Derry in round 5 of the Allianz NFL.
This season has seen records already broken at MacCumhaill Park, Ballybofey for a league game where a sizeable Armagh crowd travelled to the venue and an attendance of 13,109 was recorded.
The capacity of the Fr Tierney Park, Ballyshannon after recent terrace improvements is not known, but believed to be in the region of 7,000 or 8,000.
Given the recent history, it is likely that it will be full to capacity on Sunday next, as is likely to be the case in O'Donnell Park, Letterkenny two weeks' later when Donegal hosts Tyrone.
Despite the current huge demand for Donegal tickets, county chairperson Mary Coughlan has defended the venue selection, citing long-standing tradition in how league fixtures are rotated across Donegal’s three main grounds even though Ballyshannon will not be able to hold the same number of fans as Ballybofey and Letterkenny.
It perhaps causes some debate given the fact that this weekend's game against is against the very Donegal will play against in the championship in April.
“There’s an established procedure in Donegal that goes back many years that the games in the league will be divided between MacCumhaill Park in Ballybofey, O’Donnell Park in Letterkenny, and Fr Tierney Park in Ballyshannon,” Coughlan explained.
“That’s always the way it’s been, and I suppose we all knew that before the fixtures were released.”
Nevertheless, with a high-profile game on the cards, demand for tickets has been strong, especially considering the fact that Donegal legend Michel Murphy could make a return to the field after missing last weekend’s match away in Galway.
Donegal will also be hoping to maintain their impressive record in Ballyshannon, having played at the Aodh Ruadh ground 11 times in the league since 2009, with that same year being the last time they lost at this venue to Pat Gilroy’s Dublin.
At this venue last season, Donegal recorded a five-point win over Louth on a day when over 4,135 made their way to a first competitive game at Ballyshannon's Fr Tierney Park in four years.
Before that, the last time the county's senior footballers lined out in Ballyshannon was on March 1, 2020, when they ran in a 2-12 to 0-8 victory over Monaghan with Declan Bonner's back-to-back Ulster SFC winners putting in a commanding performance.
“We’re expecting Ballyshannon to accommodate in and around 7,000, and we would hope to get close to that this weekend at the match, considering the fact that we’re playing Derry, who we have to play in the championship in April,” she added.
Donegal will be eager to make home advantage count after a disappointing performance against Galway last weekend where Jim McGuinness’s side fell to a 0-21 to 0-14 point defeat, resulting in their first this season, and McGuinness’s first league defeat since 2014.
“I suppose given the fact that it wasn’t a good day at the office last weekend in Galway, people will be hoping that they can turn things around and will be getting behind the team this weekend,” Coughlan admitted.
“I think it will be a very good day in that we’ll get to see Derry come to Donegal before they meet again in Ballybofey come the championship,” she said.
This Sunday’s round 5 NFL match will also be shown live on TG4 with a 1.45pm throw-in.