Madam, - I have a conundrum which I can't figure out. I worked for the FAI for the last time on Sunday, December 3rd in the old Lansdowne Road stadium. One of my tasks over the many years I have served has been to read the registers on the stiles and work out the attendance figure. Figures were always checked against the number of ticket stubs handed in by the stiles operators.
However, the figures given to the media and the public have, for a number of years, exceeded the actual attendance figure by up to 25 per cent. For the FAI Cup Final, the actual attendance was 12,787 and not the 16,022 announced in the stadium and therefore published by the media. One hopes that the "cut" of the gate that the two clubs receive is based on the larger figure! Nobody has ever explained to me the reason for the discrepancy despite numerous queries - Yours, etc,
MAURICE MAXWELL,
Delwood Walk,
Dublin 15.