Clashing codes: GAA's response to fixture opposition

On Sunday afternoon as Liam Gordon throws in the ball for the highly anticipated AIB All-Ireland Club Hurling semi-final between Ballygunner and Ballyhale, the 2022 Qatar World Cup final will just have drifted into its 31st minute.

Starts of 3pm and 3.30pm mean that it will have to be one or the other. Not a big issue for fans of the two teams involved, but a sticky point for the neutrals who would have maybe headed to Croke Park or certainly would have tuned in to TG4 for one of the biggest club games of the year.

It's one of a number of potential fixtures that has faced the GAA over the years with various outcomes leading to varying successes and failures.

Here we look back at a few examples of when various county and provincial boards stood their ground and other times when flexibility came into play.

Paying the penalty

Perhaps the most famous clash came in the 2002 when north-west rivals Derry and Donegal played out the first half of their Ulster semi-final at a nearly deserted St Tiernach’s Park in Clones.

The 16 June encounter was penciled in for the same day as the Republic of Ireland’s 2002 knock-out clash with Spain in Suwon.

The crowds had stayed away from Monaghan – 7,394 eventually showed up for a game that would usually draw three times that – but of those who did travel, most only filtered in for the second half.

That’s because Ulster officials opted against pushing back their 2.40pm throw-in time, something that came back to bite them when Ireland’s match went to extra-time and then penalties.

On a dreary day and with Ireland’s game kicking off at 12 noon, fans opted to stay in the pubs around the border town to take in that drama instead of walking up the hill to the ground.

Of the paltry attendance inside for the