GALWAY’S emigrant tribes living abroad are fuelling demand for All-Ireland Football Final tickets, as massive numbers of the diaspora travel home this weekend to support the Tribesmen’s bid to end a 23-year famine.

An army of Galway GAA supporters based in America are among the thousands heading to Croke Park this Sunday for a unique senior final pairing of Galway and Armagh.

Demand for tickets to the footballing showcase of 2024, and the highlight of the Irish sporting calendar, soared since the semi-final weekend when Galway and Armagh booked their place in the decider with wins over Donegal and Kerry respectively.

“There’s massive interest from abroad, in particular the States – San Francisco, New York, Chicago, and Boston,” said Galway GAA Chairperson Paul Bellew.

“We had a fundraising breakfast morning this week in the Loughrea Hotel, where the room was packed to capacity, which was amazing, and I met a couple of people home from Canada.

“Interest for tickets from abroad has been huge. We will struggle to meet that demand, to be honest with you, in terms of the usual allocation of tickets, but we are doing our very best for the diaspora,” he said.

That’s backed up by an analysis of worldwide Google searches for ‘All-Ireland final tickets’, which reached a five-year high ahead of the hurling and football finals.

Online searches for tickets rose by 35% compared to the 2023 Championship finals, which included Kerry, Dublin, Limerick, and Kilkenny, and are up 8% compared with 2022 when Galway last appeared in the final.

Galway’s allocation of just shy of 17,000 tickets for the 82,300-capacity Jones’ Road venue was sent to clubs last Thursday and Friday for distribution to members.

Mark Gottsche, former Operations and Finance Manager at Galway GAA, who recently moved to a top finance position at GAA headquarters in Dublin, has been seconded back West for a fortnight to help the County Board with distribution of tickets.

The Oranmore-Maree clubman oversaw the mammoth ticketing task ahead of Galway’s 2022 showdown with Kerry, and Gottsche is working to that template to get tickets to priority groups this time round.

“Demand for tickets remains significantly high in terms of inquiries into the office. We’re collating all of them, but we are going through our sequence in terms of the clubs, the officer corps, volunteers, grounds people, players, and another high priority is ex-players, who we hope to look after as best we can.

Pictured: Joe Quinn among his Galway flags display outside his Bon Bon shop in Salthill this week in preparation for Sunday’s All-Ireland football final between Galway and Armagh. Photo: Joe O’Shaughnessy.