The most reliable source of contention in the lead-up to any All-Ireland final is the distribution of tickets. Generally the discontent centres on competing counties, for whom the tickets are always in short supply. Allocations for the counties involved on All-Ireland day always seem inadequate - a state of affairs exacerbated by the fact that semi-final tickets largely go to the competing counties.
Further querying has arisen in relation to the expansion of Croke Park into a 79,500 capacity venue. This represents roughly a 14 per cent rise on last year's figure of 68,481 (detailed below). The GAA authorities have applied that increase across the board, so proportionally, competing counties get no extra allocation.
This egalitarian distribution is based on the views of the GAA's annual congress. Back in the 1980s when Kerry were perennial visitors to Croke Park, the county's Central Council delegate Ger McKenna proposed at congress that the allocation should tilt more in the favour of competing counties. The proposal was heavily defeated.
The reason is easy to identify: a good number of counties are as likely to spend the second or fourth Sundays of September on the moon as in Croke Park watching their team contesting the final. For the general GAA membership the current system better protects their interest.
Yet on any given All-Ireland day it is obvious the competing counties have managed to get their hands on ticket numbers well in excess of their allocation. Armagh manager Joe Kernan said his county's supporters "appeared to be very resourceful in that regard".
Even the corporate or executive levels tend to draw in supporters on the day. As Danny Lynch, the GAA pro puts it: "You only have to walk around the corporate boxes and premium levels to see the number of jerseys and colours being worn. It's clear a lot of ordinary fans are invited in to the corporate areas by the companies who own the facilities.
"Even the tickets in other counties will often be given to club members from the participating counties. People forget the precise allocations are decided by Central Council and that Croke Park does no more than administer the system."
An additional allocation this year is that agreed to inter-county players.
Every football or hurling county panellist is now entitled to purchase two tickets for the relevant All-Ireland.
With county panels having increased in size to 30 this amounts to 2,300 tickets for Sunday, according to the GAA.
The capacity of the ground is restricted by planning permission to 79,500. This means there is a lower allocation of terrace tickets than the capacity of Hill 16 would suggest - apart from when Dublin play.
Then the Hill terrace is full but rows of seats in the stands have to be left empty to ensure the overall capacity isn't breached.
Despite original scepticism, that 79,500 capacity has been regularly reached this summer.
Sunday's final will be the sixth time Croke Park has been full this season (including the All-Ireland hurling final, which because of a malfunctioning turnstile system indicated a 3,000 shortfall).
Where the tickets went: 2001 final
County allocations 20,409
Competing counties allocation ..18,876
Long term tickets (Cusack Stand) 5,166
Extra allocation, competing counties 9,696
Councils, committees, Central Council 580
Former presidents 530
Provincial Councils 316
Handball 152
Overseas 462
Education bodies 1,718
Public representatives 130
Staff and sub-committees 798
Sponsors 340
Advertisers 80
Media 245
Tickets for minor teams (day of finals) 70
Jubilee teams and INTO skills 340
Director General 284
Players' tickets - competing counties 432
Corporate levels 7,017
Miscellaneous 840
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TOTAL: ... 68,481
