New Format to the eL

gimmick

If this happens Im emigrating:

Taken from another forum

EL clubs will tonight be shown a radical new plan aimed at shaking up domestic football in Ireland. Following on from the recent genesis report, the league has committed to a new format for the 2007 season. But the shape of next seasons league has yet to be decided and league bigwigs want the clubs to thrash out what format that will take before januarys AGM. A radical circular went around to the clubs yesterday which put forward a proposal that would effectively see all 22 teams get an opportunity to win the title next year. AT tonights management committee meeting, the clubs will get the chance to discuss the plan, which suggests creating 2 regional divisions of 11 teams, roughly split on a north south basis. It couls all be good news for relegated Shamrock Rovers but Dublin citys outspoken Dermot Keely is sure to have plenty to say on the issue. Each section would be made up of 6 premier division clubs and 5 first division clubs, with the top 4 clubs from each sector progressing to an eight team play off for the championship. The top eight would play each other on a home and away basis while the bottom 14 clubs would go into a lower tier competition, where they would meet once with 7 home and 6 away matches. EL spokesman Andy Needham said: 'This proposal is only to stimulate debate before going forward to the AGM in the New Year. 'We don't want to throw something that hasn't been properly discussed by the clubs at the AGM. ' It is not done and dusted and some clubs have already said they don't like it, while others are prepared to give it some thought.' It the proposal were to go through, here is how it may look:

North prem clubs:- Bohemians, Derry City, Drogheda Utd, Longford Town, Shelbourne, Sligo Rvs. North First Div Clubs:-Athlone Town, Dundalk, Finn Harps, Monaghan utd, Shamrock Rovers.

South prem Clubs:- Bray Wanderers, Cork City, Dublin City, St Patrick's Athletic, UCD, Waterford Utd. First Div Clubs:-Cobh Ramblers, Galway Utd, Kildare County, Kilkenny City, Limerick FC

For one thing, there is no competition in the southern section for Cork City, secondly, its a bloody daft idea which took a spectacularly idiotic mind to come up with.

Its amazing, just when this countries domestic league looks like going places, some rubbsih like this gets proposed.

Kingp35

Is this proposal just for next season or is it for good?

Dont think this will work to be honest its far too Americanised

gimmick

Just one season in a lead in to a 16 team premier and a regionalised 1st division AFAIK.

gracehopper

i dont know, i think the playoff, all or nothing type of games will generate a big interest, although interest in the league of Ireland gates were up this season i think the profile for the league still needs to be raised a lot more for the games to be a real spectacle, maybe a knock out type ending to the season could do this

Kingp35

Well that makes it a little better but if this was to happen for next season then doesnt it kind of mean that all the good work that Sligo Rovers and Dublin City did to get promoted was for nothing. I cant really see them liking the idea, Then there is the fact of how they are going to work out who makes it into the 16 team premier and who doesnt.

Come to think of it it will cause far too many problems. Why dont they just leave it the way it is for now but still bring in the 16 team Premier the following season. I cant see any reason for having this one season of madness

Töpher

That idea's ****ing stupid! Who gets paid to come up with this ****?! I swear to good God I'll be going hunting human meat if that gets brought in! Keep it as it is, and push for an All-Ireland league. That makes the most sense!

MrJoeSoap

Complete and utter BS.

As for the playoffs "generating interest" argument, why not just get rid of the league and have every game as a "must-win" cup game? :rolleyes:

20 Times 20 Times

Well for obvious reasons i love it

gracehopper

MrJoeSoap wrote:

Complete and utter BS.

As for the playoffs "generating interest" argument, why not just get rid of the league and have every game as a "must-win" cup game? :rolleyes:

Seriously though how could an 8 team playoff not generate more interest, i'm not getting into an EL argument but anyone who watches the league or doesnt watch the league for that matter knows that it needs a shake up and extra financing, sponsors etc..., look at the all-ireland in the summer, some of the games like the Armagh-Tyrone replays and the dublin matches generated huge local excitement, i would have the view that a league where teams proceed to playoffs in the end is a decent format.

MrJoeSoap

What the league needs is promotion, more coverage on television and radio, more advertising and a change in attitudes by the general public.

The product is there and the people who want to radically change it tend to be people who don't follow it.

Slash/ED

The argument about play offs generating more interest is valid, but this is still an outrageous idea. In theory someone like Monaghan could do a Liverpool and win the league. Also the north south is completley unbalanced. A nonsense idea.

Benedict XVI

MrJoeSoap wrote:

What the league needs is promotion, more coverage on television and radio, more advertising and a change in attitudes by the general public.

The product is there and the people who want to radically change it tend to be people who don't follow it.

A change in attitude from EL fans who like to think they are 'holier than thou' for supporting EL teams would not go astray either.

The genreal public's attitude is not going to change unless the game is promoted better than it currently is and the facilities improve, and that is up to the authortites and the clubs.

gracehopper

Perhaps these proposed changes are a bid to bring in more things like sponsorship and funding, With the profile the league has at the minute its going to be fairly hard to attract big sponsorship packages or TV money, I was a supporter of Shels a couple of years ago and spent a few years playing for them from U17 to 21's unfortunatley i wasnt good enough for the first team but i do know what the facilities are like and i know what is needed at club level, shels are arguably the biggest club in the league and their facilites are crap! Despite a good year for football last year i still dont think the bar has been raised enough.

speriamo

Benedict XVI wrote:

A change in attitude from EL fans who like to think they are 'holier than thou' for supporting EL teams would not go astray either.

What attitude? We're Irish and support Irish clubs. Dont see anything wrong with that.

Daft proposals alright but think they are trying to shake it up before they bring the 10 team league recommended by Genesis in 2007.

Slash/ED

The proposals were rejected, so it doesnt matter eitherway.

MrJoeSoap

speriamo wrote:

What attitude?

I think this is the attitude he means...

speriamo wrote:

While football "fans" in this country spend their life slagging each other about which irrelevant english side is beating another english side EL fans can talk about real football.

Benedict XVI

MrJoeSoap wrote:

I think this is the attitude he means...

And these

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=3535291#post3535291

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=3496217#post3496217

KdjaCL

Looks like 10 team is coming in regardless, lets hope next years Setanta shows the way forward for everyone on both sides of the border. Hopefully it will be a greater success than this year.


kdjac

Pigman II

Glad to hear that proposal was rejected. Inclusiveness round the country is a grand notion but there just isn't enough quality or interest to sustain such a proposal at the moment.

Probably an unpopular idea but I reckon the prem should have MUCH LESS clubs in it. Personally I'd rather have an 8team (28 game) prem and then 2regional 1st divisions of 7 or preferably 8 clubs. The two division1 winners would play-off for one single promotion place to the prem.

MrJoeSoap

Pigman II wrote:

Probably an unpopular idea but I reckon the prem should have MUCH LESS clubs in it. Personally I'd rather have an 8team (28 game) prem and then 2regional 1st divisions of 7 or preferably 8 clubs. The two division1 winners would play-off for one single promotion place to the prem.

You're not wrong there.

Have you thought about how insanely boring it would be to have to play the same 7 teams, 4 times a season? Plus, 28 games is far too few for a top-flight league, especially considering we don't play as many games in Europe (yet!) as most other European leagues.

Pigman II

MrJoeSoap wrote:

You're not wrong there.

Have you thought about how insanely boring it would be to have to play the same 7 teams, 4 times a season?

Yes I have but I'd rather watch my team have competitive opposition in every game rather than a dozen or so games every season against teams that really aren't at the races. Now if I thought there was 12 top quality clubs in the country then I'd want a 12 team prem, but I of course don't think that.

Look at it this way, would you have rather seen Ireland play France four times in the WCQ's or just twice and then those two sleep enducing games against the Faeroes all for the sake of 'variety'?

Plus, 28 games is far too few for a top-flight league, especially considering we don't play as many games in Europe (yet!) as most other European leagues.

Why is 28 too few? They play 28 in Latvia, Lithuania & Moldova (in fact under the same 7 x 4 system I propose). They only play 26 in Norway, Poland, Sweden, Finland and just 22 in Croatia& Slovenia,

Oh btw every single one of those countries is higher than us in the UEFA coeffients.

MrJoeSoap

Pigman II wrote:

Look at it this way, would you have rather seen Ireland play France four times in the WCQ's or just twice and then those two sleep enducing games against the Faeroes all for the sake of 'variety'?

I'd rather see steps made to improve the level of the smaller clubs. Reducing the league to 8 teams, imo, is completely unfeasible.

Pigman II wrote:

Why is 28 too few?

Because I love my eL soccer and I want more games, not less!

Pigman II

MrJoeSoap wrote:

I'd rather see steps made to improve the level of the smaller clubs. Reducing the league to 8 teams, imo, is completely unfeasible.

Why? The format already exists in other countries. As for being worried about the smaller teams the rejected proposal in the OP would have given the smaller clubs 12+ games a season against Prem clubs which would have helped improve their level and income, but you scoffed at that idea in no uncertain terms.

Because I love my eL soccer and I want more games, not less!

Previously your argument was that 28 was too few for a top-flight league. When I showed you it that wasn't your argument switched to that it shouldn't change because because it doesn't suit you personally. Why not just say that from the begining then?

MrJoeSoap

Pigman II wrote:

Why? The format already exists in other countries. As for being worried about the smaller teams the rejected proposal in the OP would have given the smaller clubs 12+ games a season against Prem clubs which would have helped improve their level and income, but you scoffed at that idea in no uncertain terms.

Yes, because I don't see it having any real advantages over what we already have. Incorporating the teams from the bottom of the First Division in with the clubs at the top of the Premier is so off-the-ball that it should be mooted straight away.

Pigman II wrote:

Previously your argument was that 28 was too few for a top-flight league. When I showed you it that wasn't your argument switched to that it shouldn't change because because it doesn't suit you personally. Why not just say that from the begining then?

I still feel it is too few games for a top league to be played over. Just because other countries have done it succesfully, does not mean we would benefit from it equally. My point that it was too few games for me personally was light-hearted (although true) and wasn't a serious point. Any league with only 8 teams is going to suffer, I can't see myself enjoying only having 7 teams to play against each season.

For me, there has to be either 10 or 12 teams in the top league for it to maintain a healthy existence. 10 teams (36 matches) is a decent level but still leads to repetition of fixtures, while 12 teams (33 matches) is still a manageable number of games but leads to the whole home/away debate. Neither advantage/disadvantage really outweighs the other.

As yet, I have still to be convinced that there is a better alternative to what we already have.

blu_sonic

28 games isn't enough to prepare for europe and the close season would be very long, i as a hoop it would be great for us (THE PROPOSAL) but i'd hate it

gimmick

blu_sonic wrote:

i as a hoop

What does that mean???

mchurl

bad abd idea imo. How is it viable to have a souther league where cork will dominate and then a northern league where it is far more competitive. Also is it not a bit unfair to place a club in a league just beacuse of where they are situated? surely they should be in a league depending on their ability and not their location

radiospan

Terrible idea.

How many countries in Europe have regionalised premier divisions?

blu_sonic

gimmick wrote:

What does that mean???

shamrock rovers boyo! you damned rebels lol

what about putting the el and top 8 Div1 teams together in a 20 team EL
putting the top 5 from leinster and munster senior league 4 from ulster and connuct senior leagues plus the 2 remaining d1 teams into a 20 team 1st div

and the remainder into a div 3

as i understand its regionalised because in genral despite this years el leinster is the strongest footballing province, so to regionalise it is to help the weaker proviences