Dublin supporters will be guaranteed only a quarter of the Hill 16 terrace for next Monday's All-Ireland football quarter-final.

Tickets for the double-bill at Croke Park are to be distributed evenly among the participating teams, with the initial indication that all counties will take up their full allocation.

The meetings of Dublin and Donegal (4.15) and Cork and Mayo (at 2.30) is certain to produce a sell-out afternoon at headquarters.

With all seats now installed in the upper tier of the new Hogan Stand, the capacity will be marginally greater than the 78,033 crowd for the Leinster final between Dublin and Kildare.

The office of the Dublin County Board distributed 40,000 tickets for the Leinster final, with Dublin supporters also acquiring further tickets through other outlets.

Kildare also exchanged most of their Hill 16 tickets for family tickets in the Canal Stand, so Dublin supporters filled almost the entire terrace, currently with a slightly reduced capacity of around 10,000.

Though the exact distribution of tickets for next Monday's games won't be known until later today, each county is expected to receive an initial allocation of no more than 15,000 - including their share of the Hill 16 tickets.

According to indications from Donegal, Mayo and Cork, the full allocation for each county should be taken up, leaving Dublin supporters with an allocation far less than that enjoyed for the Leinster final.

Dublin county chairman John Bailey said yesterday that a reduced Dublin presence on Hill 16 would take something away from the occasion, although there was the chance that the other counties would turn down their terrace allocation for tickets elsewhere in the stadium.

"To be honest I'm disappointed that the Dublin-Donegal game wasn't played on its own," said Bailey.

"But that's the decision of the GAC and we accept that. It just means a lot of Dublin supporters will be deprived of a chance to attend the game.

"All the Dublin County Board can do is look after the supporters as best we can. They have been coming out in huge numbers and voting with their feet. I think it's fair to say that not all the other counties have been travelling so well."

Opponents Donegal did turn down their full allocation for the fourth-round qualifier with Meath, also at Croke Park last Sunday week.

According to county PRO Paddy Mullen, interest in this game is far greater and the uptake of tickets should reflect that.

"I suppose a lot people didn't think we had much of a chance of beating Meath," said Mullen.

"People were still a bit down, too, after losing the Ulster final. But now that we've beaten Meath a lot of people are getting excited again, and I'd expect Donegal will go very close to taking up its full allocation."

Ticket uptake for the opening game between Cork and Mayo is also expected to be swift. Though Cork have a poor reputation for travelling in large numbers ahead of All-Ireland finals, Monday's game has some added interest.

"I think a lot of people in Cork want to see the new Croke Park stadium," said county PRO Pat Horgan.

"Cork supporters wouldn't traditionally be great travellers before an All-Ireland semi-final or final. But there would be big demand for the family tickets as well, which are seen as good value.

"We'd be expecting at least 10,000 and that would probably still be adequate. But I would think that Cork's allocation of Hill 16 tickets will also be used up. I don't see any reason why they wouldn't."

Mayo have also indicated that they would be taking up their share of Hill 16 tickets.

County PRO Kevin O'Toole was awaiting final word on Mayo's allocation, but because of the four-way split there wasn't expected to be any surplus supply.