Problems with Croke Park surface: Croke Park's stadium authorities will be seeking the views of inter-county teams in an attempt to improve the quality of the playing surface and will also invite critics of the pitch to try it for themselves.

In Sunday's match programme GAA president Seán Kelly referred to issues that have been raised about the pitch and said "a perfect surface" was the association's aim.

Part of that process will involve consultation, according to stadium manager Peter McKenna.

"We're going to bring together a panel of people who've been there during this season, a mix of players and managers and go through what their own experience was with our pitch consultant and let him answer questions or take their points on board and we'll use that to set the regime for 2005.

"Some of the criticism comes from individuals who haven't been on the pitch and haven't played on it. We're going to try and get one or two of the people who've made comment about it to come and experience it, try different boots, do a few turns and see what it's like. I think you need to do that."

The priorities last year were addressing the hardness of the surface and also the slipperiness as well as eliminating algae from the Canal End, where it bloomed because of the shade and was eliminated by the installation of lights.

"The hardness we can tell exactly and also that it's less hard than it was last year - and quite considerably - because we measure it in the same way as a racecourse. We have a metre that goes on and you drop a weight onto it and tell whether it's hard, soft or firm. We spiked the pitch a lot more so it's a lot looser with a lot more give. We're absolutely confident that the pitch has more give and bounce and softness than last year."

The tendency of players to slip on the surface has been noted all season but McKenna believes that there are a number of factors involved, including the choice of footwear - something on which the grounds staff in Croke Park are happy to advise players due to play in the stadium. He also says there is evidence that the surface itself is not exclusively at fault.

"We've looked at this fairly intensively with our ground consultant John Hewitt and we're reasonably happy about it. If a player slips there should be a scar because you're tearing up the surface but that's not happening. That's how you know whether the surface itself is giving. But if you're not wearing the appropriate footwear then you'll find yourself slipping.

"Not all players are losing their footing. We've been looking to see if there's a problem with any one quadrant or area of the ground. If there is it should be the same for both halves and all players. But obviously if players are having issues on it we're going to continue to monitor it."

Croke Park is due to have staged 29 double bills this year, which amounts to very heavy use compared to equivalent stadiums.

In relation to the redevelopment of the stadium McKenna says the delayed opening of the Northern End terrace was partly by choice to speed up the construction work and partly because of unexpected difficulties on the site of the old Nally Stand. "The Hill would have been used for the semi-finals but we felt that it would be better not to lose time to temporary handovers. You really have truncated the working week by two or three days if you decide to halt work and install temporary toilets and barriers.

The Nally square is proving more difficult than expected to negotiate. It's a very tight space in which to manoeuvre cranes and equipment. The percentage of the new terrace that can be used depends on the work done on things like walkways and barriers and that's a call that will be made by the fire officer.

"We're targeting 80,000 for both of the All-Ireland finals. That's 69,000 at present and another 11,000 on the terrace. That's excluding the Nally square, which we'll use for a large screen."

Sligo manager James Kearins' future will be decided at a board meeting on September 7th. Kearins left former county players Paul Durcan and Pat Kilcoyne in charge for the Tommy Murphy Cup competition, with Sligo losing to Clare in the final. Around half of Sligo's players decided not to play in the competitiowith some supporters angry the county were not at full- strengthin the final.