GAA risk wrath of fans by scrapping free entry for U16s to top level League games in 2025

The GAA is to charge under-16s for admission to higher division games in the 2025 Allianz League, citing 'health and safety protocols' as the reason for the move.

It’s a departure from previous policy, where under-16s were admitted for free, except for fixtures where there was reserved seating or the capacity was restrictive. Now they will have to pay €5 for games in Divisions One and Two of the Allianz Football League and 1A and 1B of the Allianz Hurling League in a move that is sure to draw criticism.

In a statement, the GAA said that “this new arrangement has been introduced after consultation with our counties and to assist with event control and health and safety protocols for fixtures that attract bigger attendances”.

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Admission for an under-16 must be purchased along with an adult ticket, which has likely been influenced in part at least by an incident at Chadwick's Wexford Park this year when a young girl was attacked, with the county board subsequently declaring that unaccompanied juveniles could no longer be admitted for free.

Outside of that, the GAA’s ticketing structure remains unchanged for the Allianz Leagues, with prices staying at €20 for adults and €15 for senior citizens/students for games in the top two divisions in either code.

Tickets for Allianz Football League Divisions Three and Four will be priced at €12 and €10 and for Allianz Hurling League Divisions Two, Three and Four, will be €10 and €8 respectively.

An early bird offer for the month of December will see a €5 discount on adult tickets for all opening round games across all divisions in both codes.

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