THE Cavan Kerry match in New York to mark the golden jubilee of the All Ireland final at the Polo Grounds is set to take place on Saturday October 13th.
Now that Cavan have escaped the National League play offs with their Division One place intact the match is expected to be granted league status by Central Council although the commemoration is not dependent on that status.
The match will be in Gaelic Park and is to be the centrepiece of a week's festivities to which existing members and spouses of the 47 teams are being invited. Around 700 people from Cavan and 500 from Kerry have already booked flights over and the dinner in New York for 1,200 is already booked out.
Terry Connaughton, of the New York Board and the match organising committee, was in Croke Park yesterday and he is confident the game will be a National League fixture.
"I spoke to Kerry's Sean Kelly," he said, "and he told me that they had absolutely no problem with it being a league game. I didn't get an opportunity to talk to Cavan, but from what I gather there's no objection from them either, so we have a letter into Croke Park, submitted over the weekend asking that it be a league fixture. I would assume we will have an answer within a few weeks."
The main difficulty he foresees is the fact that a proportion of revenue from league matches goes into a central fund to enable the GAA to make disbursements to poorer counties. In that sense everyone is affected by the match moving across the Atlantic.
"One of the things that might be a problem is the finances of the league, I think. The bottom line is that the money goes to the counties and that wouldn't be possible in this case because the money from the gate might have to pay the expenses of a lot of people teams, survivors and you re talking air fires, hotels and that could be $150,000 to cover everything.
"Being a league game it would attract more than an ordinary game of this type. Gaelic Park would be able to seat 5,000 or 6,000 people.
"The league game is the only remaining thing to be sorted out. Everything is organised from A to Z. Mick Dunne has told me that on the day of the game, RTE are going to broadcast the 1947 final and we're hoping that RTE will come to New York as well and cover the game."
The historic broadcast, in which the late Michael O'Hehir famously pleaded for more airtime as the match ran over its booked allocation, is no longer available but Gael Linn filmed highlights survive with a voice over provided by O'Hehir.
"In the unlikely event it's rained off on the Saturday," says Connaughton, "the game would take place the following day. And if the game goes ahead, there would be a match the following day with a New York All Star team against one of the teams - we haven't decided which yet."
Meanwhile, in advance of this Sunday's National Football League semi finals, present day Kerry have a couple of injury concerns to forwards Dara O Cinneide and Gene Farrell. Both are doubtful for the match against Laois.
Kerry also have to contend with this week's Munster under 21 football final in which the county faces Cork at Tralee tomorrow. It will be the last of the provincial finals at this level. On the last Saturday of this month, the All Ireland semi finals take place.
The winners in Tralee will face Meath who last won this grade in 1993 when they defeated Kerry in the final. The other semi final is between Mayo, finalists two and three years ago, and Derry who despite their strong record at minor level over the last 10 years, have yet to win or even reach the All Ireland final in the under 21 grade.
