One Armagh GAA (Gaelic Athletic Association) supporter is making the ultimate sacrifice for his son ahead of this weekend’s All-Ireland final against Galway.

Demand for tickets in the orchard county has reached fever pitch ahead of the showdown at Croke Park on Sunday.

Fergal O’Brien and son Eoghan attended Armagh’s semi-final triumph against Kerry earlier this month.

But Fergal, like many in Armagh, is still on the hunt for a ticket despite ensuring Eoghan’s trip from London to Dublin for the final will be rewarded.

“My son Eoghan, who works in London, and I were at the Kerry semi-final and an hour after he left, he rebooked a flight from London to come back for the final,” Fergal told BBC News NI.

“I have got him a solid promise from an anonymous source to get him a ticket.

“I have not got a ticket.

“I have put in friendship favour requests from Kerry to Donegal, Limerick, Cork Dublin, to try and get a ticket.

“I sent one request to a friend in Ottawa in Canada, but they said ‘sorry it has already gone to a fan in Galway’.”

Clubs in Armagh have been allocated 240 tickets each for the final, like their counterparts in Galway.

Demand has outstripped supply in Armagh, with one club, Carrickcruppen, posting on social media early on Monday that it had received requests for 932 tickets, urging supporters to be patient.

“Please continue to look for tickets anywhere you can as we will not meet all requests,” it added.

Tickets for the All-Ireland Football Final are not available through general sale.

Fergal O’Brien said “if you are not connected to a club, it is very hard to get one”.

“I would have been the culture officer at Mullaghbawn GAA Club for 10 years. I don’t want special favours – there are other people deserving,” he added.

“I would be at the back of the queue – but I would like to be in the queue!”

He said he had attended the 2002 final with Eoghan, when Armagh claimed their sole All-Ireland title, defeating Kerry.

He recalled how that year “Eoghan got to see his primary school teacher Benny Tierney” play on the All-Ireland-winning side.

“I have already booked the bus to Dublin for the final – I got one of the last six tickets for the bus.

“Eoghan will go straight to Croke Park for the final when he arrives in Dublin, I will go to the nearest bar if I don’t have a ticket, to watch it.”

The public relations officer with Armagh GAA, Finbar Burns, said the county had been inundated with ticket requests from across the island of Ireland and beyond.

“Some of them are from the Armagh diaspora who have not been to a game in years,” he added.

“It is our first All-Ireland final in 21 years, since 2003, and it has reignited a passion in them.

“Even the amount of emails I have received personally, you would think I was a ticket machine.

“It is great the interest but unfortunately there will not be a ticket for everyone.

“I got an email from Boston in the US from somebody who used to go to every match, they are returning home for the final.

“There was also someone from Central Europe who was at the quarter-final and semi-final who has booked a flight to the final already.”

Each county receives an allocation of tickets which is filtered down to their clubs.

Earlier this year the GAA announced an increased pricing structure for the All-Ireland football and hurling finals.

Stand tickets now cost €100 (£85), an increase of €10 from 2023. Tickets for the Hill 16 terrace are €55 (£46), up €5 from last year.

On Monday, Translink announced it had an additional “bus special” from Newry, departing the city at 11:00 BST on Sunday and returning at 20:00, with “seats being quickly snapped up”.

It said other special services put in place for the All-Ireland GAA football final had already “proved popular”, with two special trains, a bus special from Armagh and another bus special from Newry “all sold out”.

Translink has also increased capacity on the regular Enterprise service to support fans.

It recommends that passengers pre-book their bus special to the final as soon as possible to secure a seat.

“Enterprise services, which have been enhanced, are also exceptionally busy that day and we recommend that people looking to travel book in advance,” the company added.