The Fermanagh v Monaghan match will be an all ticket game. County Administration Manager Thomas Boyle has released to the clubs information on the initial allocation which has been handed to Fermanagh.

Clubs will have received fifteen covered stand seats, twenty uncovered stand seats and fifty terrace tickets, priced at £21,£20 and £14 respectively. Juvenile tickets are £4 but there will be no special tickets for OAP's or students.

Family tickets will be in the uncovered East Stand.

One of the reasons for the apparently scarce supply of stand tickets is that the provincial council reserve a quota for all the other counties and there is also a substantial number of tickets allocated to the player panels of all teams.

It is expected however that during the week when returns start to come back that there will be further allocation of stand tickets. It is also expected that while the attendance at the game will be large it will not approach the ground capacity which is in the region of 17 000- 18 000.

OPPOSING MANAGERS

Malachy O'Rourke has made a considerable impact in this his first year in charge of the Femanagh senior team. The Derrylin born, St Josephs secondary school PE teacher, has guided the Erne side into next season's second division of the NFL.

A former half forward for the county O'Rourke has proved his managerial worth over the past five seasons or so with a stream of successes in the club sector.

He steered Derry club, Loup to the provincial club title and guided Cavan Gaels to the Breiffni club summit.

Long domiciled in Ballygawley, O'Rourke also took Errigan Ciaran to the Tyrone crown.

Seamus McEnaney is now in his fourth season as Monaghan's supreme and has lifted the profile of the Farney men. He has also had a stint as under 21 team boss.

Last year Monaghan dispatched Down and Derry to reach the provincial decider where they went down to Tyrone by a slender two points margin.

In their subsequent qualifying game they eased past Donegal by eight points before bowing out to Kerry at the quarter final stage. Here it was a heartbreaking one point defeat, Kerry coming good in the final minutes. It was the Monaghan performance in this match which really catapulted McEnaney's team into national prominence.

A link between Fermanagh and Monaghan is provided by current Monaghan trainer Martin McElkennon who previously did a similar job for Fermanagh in the early days of the Charlie Mulgrew tenure.

BLANKET TV COVERAGE

All eight games in the Ulster senior championship will be broadcast on BBC Two and with the exception of the Tyrone v Down which will have deferred coverage all the other games will go out live.

This is a massive transformation in the coverage being offered by the BBC. Decisions have yet to be taken in regard to BBC's coverage of Ulster teams further on in the All Ireland series but the Corporation have stressed that they are keen to remain involved.

The deal which allowed the BBC to screen games arose from a joint proposal from the BBC and RTE, a proposal which received strong support from both the Ulster GAA council and Croke Park.

It is understood that the Association opted for a considerably lesser financial package in order to let the terrestrial station in on the championship action.

BBC head of Sport Shane Glynn noted that, " they( the GAA) have looked at the wider picture and have taken a more holistic approach."

He added that Ulster Council Secretary Danny Murphy was a driving force in securing the new arrangements.