Pitch Invasions: Tradition versus potential tragedy

It was, arguably, the greatest finish to a GAA Football All-Ireland final in the modern era. Sunday, September 21, 2008. Croke Park. Kerry and Tyrone went at it like a couple of back alley brawlers in the final ten minutes of a never-to-be-forgotten game.

Tyrone, led by the inspirational Seán Cavanagh, landed the last five blows to win by four points. The noise levels ratcheted up to an ear-splitting crescendo before referee Maurice Deegan blew the final whistle. The Red Hands had won their third All-Ireland of the decade, beating their deadliest rivals in a game for the ages.

Cavanagh, playing at full-forward, had given a masterful performance, kicking five points from play and winning the man-of-the-match award. The Red Hands had done it the hard way. Beaten by Down after a replay in the Ulster GAA Championship quarter-final, Mickey Harte’s men had come through the ‘back door’ and played eight Championship games that year.

After dislodging Kerry from their perch at the top of the All-Ireland tree, Cavanagh was spent. He had given it everything over 70 of the most intense minutes of football of his career. Exhaustion and unfettered joy battled for his headspace in the intoxicating, blurry minutes after the final whistle. He sought out his team-mates, but their shared moment didn’t last.

“I remember I was around the 14-yard line in front of the Hill and for about two seconds I think I got to hug Philip Jordan and Kevin Hughes but that is all you get - two seconds – and then all of a sudden there were floods of people around us and we were on our knees, surrounded,” says Cavanagh.

“After that we were pushed and shoved for the next ten minutes while we tried to make our way to the presentation area, which obviously took the shine off that first initial reaction that we had just won the All-Ireland.”

Cavanagh had spent the afternoon, like a bumper car, evading the tackles of sturdy Kerry men. He never flinched. But, when the crowd poured onto the pitch at the end, he felt genuine fear for the first time that day.
“Hand on heart it is quite scary. At that stage your legs are tired, your body is tired and all you want to do is go and lie somewhere or even just take a minute to yourself,” Cavanagh adds.

“I know now that you can’t afford to drop to your knees because if you do, you got knocked around like a rag-doll. It’s a recipe for disaster and if something doesn’t change there will be a tragedy and it will be forced to change after that.”

Con Hogan, the Chairman of the GAA's Pitch Invasions Committee, argues that the safety of the players - on both winning and losing sides - is of paramount importance. Mr Hogan says that the GAA is conscious of the unique connectivity that exists between the Associations's players and supporters, but ensuring the safety of both - and avoiding a potential tragedy - remains the primary concern.

"The reason people will advance to you for invading the field is that they want to be with their local heroes in their moment of triumph - and that is very understandable," Mr Hogan says.

"But the problem is that the only way to accommodate them safely is for people to stay off the pitch, the cup presentation to take place in a more public way down on the pitch and then a lap of honour, where the players can go around the field and connect with their supporters in a safe way."

He adds: "I know from the point of view of supporters, they do it (invade the pitch) for the best reasons. But it's simply not safe. That must override all other considerations from our point of view.

"The safety of our players, the safety of our patrons and the safety of the people who are charged with running the game in an orderly way is key. It must be the primary consideration and everything else must come secondary to that."