What would you do to improve the LOI?

SantryRed

After seeing the idea for this in the LOI -v- United thread I thought I'd start it up as I think it'd be interesting. Please if people have nothing to add to the debate don't post something stupid to take it off track.

The most important thing that needs to be done for the improvement of the LOI is the removal of the 10 team Premier Division. The league has completely stagnated in the past few years with the amount of times people play each other. The derbies like Bohs -v- Rovers don't have the same feel to them as they used to as they play each other so much. And then you have the ridiculous situation where Pats had to play Sligo 7 times this season, SEVEN!

This problem even affects the quality of football on show. Teams are so used to playing each other now that they attempt to cancel each other out now and it leads to games being poor and lacking goals a lot of the time.

A solution to this would be the removal of the Premier Division and First Division and the creation of a new 16 team Premier Division and then the regionalised A Championship underneath this. The 16 teams would be made up of the 10 team PD and the six top teams in the FD.

The result of this would mean that teams would only have 30 league games a season. This removes the harsh fixture congestion some teams were getting near the start of the season and it would also improve the league imo.

What other things do people think?

delta_bravo

For the long term viability there needs to be far better facilities. This should be top priority of the FAI. Infrastructure is key. There are amateur clubs in other sports in Dublin that have far greater facilities than many LOI clubs. The days of grubby portaloos should be long behind a semi-pro league.

dan1895

I agree with the 16 team prem with a championship below.

But the biggest thing would be to hold onto our youngsters for a few years longer before they go abroad. In the long run it should be beneficial for everyone. The club at home keeps a quality player longer, the foreign club get a more rounded, experienced player, the original club may get a higher transfer fee, other players within the league are playing against better opposition and in the long run the national team will have a better player.

The problem is the LOI is not seen as the next step or a stepping stone to bigger things by the junior and non league clubs, they seem to want players to go straight over to britain. there also seems to be no realisation by either the FAI or national team supporters that the better our national league is the more potential the Irish team will have in the long run.

Thats what I believe needs to happen, how to make it happen is a bit of a tougher question and would involve a complete upheavel of the way we think about football in this country from john delaney right down to the under 5's playin on saturday mornings

ntlbell

delta_bravo wrote: »

For the long term viability there needs to be far better facilities. This should be top priority of the FAI. Infrastructure is key. There are amateur clubs in other sports in Dublin that have far greater facilities than many LOI clubs. The days of grubby portaloos should be long behind a semi-pro league.

You think people aren't going to games because of the toilets?

gimmick

This thread pops up once every few years. I know I have made numerous thoughts, but at this stage I am tired of it. I have a season ticket still, but am sick of LOI football in general. It has just gone backwards from the "glory days" of 2003-2006.

I honestly do not see what can be done anymore. At best, LOI will be the 4th choice spectator sport in Ireland behind GAA and rugby. The stadiums, aside from one or 2 maybe are a disgrace, and even the better ones are still pretty naff.

Agreed on the 10 team league. I would like to see a 16 team trialled. Its rumoured we could see it next season.

ntlbell wrote: »

You think people aren't going to games because of the toilets?

I used not agree with this, but in general, facilities are a big factor. Would you go to a pub where you have to sit on broken seats, bad draft, no toilet roll and a shít atmosphere?

Ush1

delta_bravo wrote: »

For the long term viability there needs to be far better facilities. This should be top priority of the FAI. Infrastructure is key. There are amateur clubs in other sports in Dublin that have far greater facilities than many LOI clubs. The days of grubby portaloos should be long behind a semi-pro league.

The likes of the GAA have alot more money than the FAI.

stovelid

Expand the premier, bringing up the bigger clubs, especially the ones with potential for larger fanbases.

Regime change in the FAI. And decent promotion, funding and protection of the league and ruthless enforcement of the salary protocol and other rules. At the very least, the FAI needs to set restoring the league even to an even keel as a pressing emergency task.

Local authority involvement in sports with the backing of the FAI and government. Municipal stadia like Tallaght should be a priority, with LOI and all other sports sharing access to top-quality community sporting facilities that can also be commercially utilized to pay their way.

All clubs should switch to a realistic part-time model (until they can fund otherwise from genuine income) and become member-owned clubs with an GAA-style emphasis on subscriptions, fund-raising and canny working of the grants system.

The clubs need to develop their youth structures as a matter of urgency and not piss away huge wages on senior squads. At the moment, the big junior football clubs here have a monopoly on the conveyor belt to England. LOI cubs need to build up a similar structure and make their own clubs attractive to young talent. This would bring transfer and sell-on fees to the clubs; bring in the extended families of the players to the club and give the club dibs on them if they come back home. Clubs in deprived areas should do this in tandem with education scholarships

homerjay2005

the 16 team league is defo a good idea.

what to improve? give the club owners a lesson on how to run a business. Some players at some clubs have been paid far too much and the clubs cannot sustain it, lower the wages, put players more on bonus based contracts.

dan1895

delta_bravo wrote: »

For the long term viability there needs to be far better facilities. This should be top priority of the FAI. Infrastructure is key. There are amateur clubs in other sports in Dublin that have far greater facilities than many LOI clubs. The days of grubby portaloos should be long behind a semi-pro league.

Are you talking about facilities for fans or players or both?

I think LOI stadia are (slowly) improving but they could be better.
With player facilities, my younger brother played for about 3 years starting when he was about 8 years old. Every game he played he got changed out in the open at the side of the pitch, apart from one cup final played at the transport club in crumlin. He would often develop a cold on a sunday if he had been playing in the rain on a saturday because he would have to sit in his wet kit until he got home. He couldn't take it any more, gave up and is now a half decent little rugby player but had the potential to be a decent keeper in my opinion.

Another potential player lost from the sport. When he was playing ball he also had a Shels season ticket and loved it but now he's rugby mad. And before anyone says that he was a kid and kids just change their minds, he would go to tolka about an hour before kick off to watch the keepers warm up and what way they did it and the methods used. Not just shels' keepers but the opposition's too. Then during the week my da would take him to the park to practice shot stopping and catching crosses and so on.

How many more players have been lost because we provide them with a roof and a shower?

stovelid

dan1895 wrote: »

How many more players have been lost because we provide them with a roof and a shower?

It's time to try and stop convincing barstoolers to come to games.The rush to get the better players to stay here (and punt at Europe) instead of cross-channel has meant that the infrastructure has gone to pot. The way forward is to build from the bottom and try and attract people like your brother: not chase people who for one reason or another will never show interest unless the club is in the same bracket as the Uniteds and Madrids.

Try and build smaller more sustainable clubs that may have a crack at Europe only when the base structure is solid, basically.

ntlbell

gimmick wrote: »

I used not agree with this, but in general, facilities are a big factor. Would you go to a pub where you have to sit on broken seats, bad draft, no toilet roll and a shít atmosphere?

Going to a pub where I'll more than likley have to use the toilet a hell of a lot, no.

But to a match where I'll more than likley not have to use the toilet at all..

No I don't think toilets are keeping the masses at bay.

delta_bravo

Ush1 wrote: »

The likes of the GAA have alot more money than the FAI.

That shouldnt be the case though. There are about 600 teams in Dublin alone playing Adult soccer in the likes of the LSL, AUL etc. Theres only about a third of that number of teams playing Gaelic Games. The target market should be men,women and children that are playing the game to try and get them to see a higher level of Irish football. That clearly isn't happening. I think the problem is that clubs over the years didn't look at their community and getting people from the area into game. In recent years I think Rovers and Pats have done a good bit of it lately. Get the players out there, into schools or to youth games. G.A.A. clubs are particularly good at this.

eightyfish

We need bums on seats, from that the money flows and the quality of the product improves. Bohs are getting less spectators than a few years ago even though we are getting better results. So how do we increase the numbers?

Well look at Rovers. That club has been a big success story recently, with large crowds. The stadium-filling games against the likes of Juv will only generate more long-term fans. The crowds have come because they have a newly-built stadium in a highly populated residential area. So other clubs need to follow suit - Bohs need to move out to Clondalkin or somewhere suburban like that that could provide the people for a football ground.

Second - look at the league table - so many clubs from Dublin. We need to expand the number of teams to bring in the rest of the country. Or even create new teams in areas where where are none. Look at Sporting Fingal - new teams can work.

On an out-there note - imaging if we had county teams along the lines of GAA? This could get the ould county pride going. Newbies are more likely to come along and cheer for Dublin than they are to cheer for Bohs if they've never been to an LOI match.

gimmick

ntlbell wrote: »

Going to a pub where I'll more than likley have to use the toilet a hell of a lot, no.

But to a match where I'll more than likley not have to use the toilet at all..

No I don't think toilets are keeping the masses at bay.

But he only used toilets as an example.

Look at Morton Stadium for example. Lets be honest about it, not many would actually want to go there on a cold crappy evening.

You can say the same about 75% of LOI grounds. In fact the only 4 decent ones that spring to mind are Turners Cross, Richmond, Dalymount and Terryland.

If you want new fans, you need to put them in a half decent stand, not some windswept shed which hasn't been swept in 10 years.

Draupnir

I would invest in youth, building state of the art academies for schoolboy teams and also for players who don't make it in England to be trained in. Get in top class coaches there from the continent. Cut all investment in the current players in the league as players, cut all investment in the stadia as they stand now.

Turn Ireland into a breeding ground of young players, some of whom can move to England/Europe if they reach the level required which would generate more income that any of the current league clubs do presently thus compensating for the time spent now not investing in current stadia.

Those players who aren't quite good enough to make it in England/Europe after they spend time in our academies would be of a fair higher standard than what we have in the league now if done right.

To try and tempt players into staying in Ireland longer, make these academy/schools and academy/colleges so that full time education is factored in with full time top level coaching. Pretty soon I think you'd see a lot more of the schoolboy players who aren't the absolute top 1% turning down moves to League 1 clubs in favour of staying in Ireland for better facilities, better coaching and full time education.

In essence, why not make the LoI a feeder league for the bigger leagues, it's about the only way I can think of to boost the economy of the league in the short term so that clubs can boost the facilities and quality of football in the long term. It would be a lot like the way the Dutch league has operated for very many years.

This would obviously require huge funding from the FAI or Government so will never happen. Also, LoI fans of today probably wouldn't be overly keen!

Pal

Putting 16 teams into the Premier Division won't happen.
They barely manage to keep the 10 there on life support.

Better facilities won't happen either.
There's no money, no bums on seats, a recession and a governing body that hasn't got a clue.
(Maybe SDCC will finish Tallaght but that's the most to be hoped for)

The LOI needs to rebrand and promote.
The clubs need to lose the FAI and get their own show on the road.
Unless that happens then forget about any improvements.

eightyfish

Pal wrote: »

Putting 16 teams into the Premier Division won't happen.
They barely manage to keep the 10 there on life support.

Why not? The first division gets along fine below us - merging the two shouldn't be a problem.

Also I think that merging the league with the NI league would be a massive boots and inject some new blood into the whole thing. Not going to happen, though.

gimmick

eightyfish wrote: »

Also I think that merging the league with the NI league would be a massive boots and inject some new blood into the whole thing. Not going to happen, though.

I disagree. The IL is in a far worse state that the LOI. I can't see what benefit it would be to the LOI to have yet more poor teams competing. Aside from Linfield, and maybe Glentoran, would could possibly make an impact? The Setanta Cup has shown that nobody can.

eightyfish

gimmick wrote: »

The Setanta Cup has shown that nobody can.

Fair point.

ArmaniJeanss

I remember the old 16 team league and it wasn't that good at all. Near the end of the league most teams would be barely trying as they basically had nothing to play for. Fans couldn't be bothered showing up for a 12th v 15th match.

The 2 division structure theoretically means that teams have more to fight for. So the teams currently from 7th-14th in the pyramid are either fighting to avoid relegation (teams 7,8,9,10 who are the bottom 4 in the PL) or battling for promotion (teams 11,12,13,14 who are top 4 in D1).
Admittedly it hasn't quite worked out that way this year with Bray tailed off in the PL and Derry comfortably ahead in D1.

I really think a 16 team league would be a mistake, within a few years we'd be back to two divisions with promotion/relegation.

gimmick

Thats a fair point. And further, prize money is so poor in the LOI that there is such little difference in finishing 6th or 9th that there really is nothing to play for.

So in essense, in a 16, yuo will have the usual 2 or 3 going for the league, 2 or 3 going for Europe, 3 or 4 strugging against relegation. That leaves a big gap in the middle for the final 3rd of the season.

That said, I do think it is worth a punt. Everything else has failed.

ntlbell

gimmick wrote: »

But he only used toilets as an example.

Look at Morton Stadium for example. Lets be honest about it, not many would actually want to go there on a cold crappy evening.

You can say the same about 75% of LOI grounds. In fact the only 4 decent ones that spring to mind are Turners Cross, Richmond, Dalymount and Terryland.

If you want new fans, you need to put them in a half decent stand, not some windswept shed which hasn't been swept in 10 years.

This is the aul build it and they will come nonsense.

Yes better stadia might get a small minority to come untill the novelty wears off.

You have to start off small, you need more money going into youth football.

You need clubs to intergrate better into the local communites.

In order to get the money you need to get seats filled and blah blah blah.

Just building fancy stadia isn't going to cut it I'm afraid.

gimmick

I realise that as well. Jesus Christ I have been supporting this shít ass league for over 20 years at this stage. Grass roots is needed, but as you well know the relationships between an awful lot of LOI clubs and junior clubs are very very poor. That is not going to change over night.

Re Integration, CCFC in its many guises over the years has broken its back trying to curry the favour of the local communities, but unless you have the end product to back it all up, it goes nowhere, as has been proven by the travails of the club in the last 2 odd years.

Re Stadiums, the "build it and they will come" I agree is nonsense, BUT you have a better chance of attracting/keeping a new fan in a decent ground than you do in the likes of The Carlisle Grounds or the Flansiro or whatever.

pablomakaveli

I think a 16 team league would be worth a shot. Bring 6 teams up from the first divsion. Then for the first division bring the 5 sides from the A championship (Cobh, Tralee ,Carlow, Castlebar and tullamore) plus another newly inducted side giving a 12 team first division.

As for drawing fans i think young kids should be made a priority. Older fans who are raised on the EPL are'nt a worthwhile target. Maybe sending free match tickets to schools and player visits might help get young kids interested.

Investment in youth facilities should be considered as well. Being able to produce a lot of talent will help the league and eventualy the national team as well and hopefully give young lads a better option than having to move to England at a very young age.

Boskowski

I think there is no band aids that will make any significant changes for the better. Football needs to be changed from the ground up in Ireland and for this to show at LOI level it will take many years if not decades.

For starters football needs to have at least an equal place with Gaelic games at school level. If you want a stronger league and a stronger showing overall you need to increase the depth of it all. You need to increase the number of kids developing an interest for soccer and then actually playing soccer and then wanting to play in a club. That alone will take time and there will be probably a lot of resistance too.

Then you need to enable the football clubs to facilitate this growth with properly qualified coaches and at least satisfactory facilities. And I cannot emphasize this enough. You need clubs with qualified and enthusiastic staff. No better league and no new Messi is going to come out of more people playing Astro leagues or Nightowls or whatever. That will take time again.

After a decade or two this might bear fruits that actually expresses itself in a deeper and also stronger amateur league organization at senior level on the back of which the top league(s) will also get stronger and which will also raise the profile of football in Ireland overall.

Only on the back of a deeper amateur organization, a stronger league, stronger interest from the public one would be able to increase the quality of the facilities for semi-professional or even professional football and be able to make the same sustainable at a better quality level. You need people to spend money to watch a LOI game live or on telly to raise the necessary founds.

I'm afraid all this will be a mountain to climb. You cannot undo the 'damage' that has been done over decades and that manifests itself in the current status quo in a year or two or even five. At the moment it seems we are lightyears away from this and the self-important crowd in a position to even have a go at this seems inept tbh.

gimmick

The answer really is Money, money and more money. That is how rugby has become so popular obver here. There has to be MAJOR outside investement before anything happens.

But then, who is going to put the big money required in? No one. Unfortunatelt we will be having the exact same converstaion on 10 years time as nothing will have progressed.

Fr Tod Umptious

gimmick wrote: »

The answer really is Money, money and more money. That is how rugby has become so popular obver here. There has to be MAJOR outside investement before anything happens.

But then, who is going to put the big money required in? No one. Unfortunatelt we will be having the exact same converstaion on 10 years time as nothing will have progressed.

But rugby became popular beacuse they decided to franchise it.

Rather than a whole country of poorly funded teams they decided to franchise the four provinces and made them the professional entities that would get the majority of the money.

And those four teams survive beacuse they play in a league of about 10 teams and have a few European cup games every year.

As people have said earlier it's a chicken and egg situation, no facilities = no crowds, now crowds = no money for facility upgrades.

I think some sort of franchise system may be the only way to create a sustainable league that has decent facilities and a decent regular fan base that is sustainable.

Some say that is a unpalatable idea for fans but it is no more off the wall that a 22 team league were you have 6 Dublin teams and 3 Galway teams

If you really think long term a solution may be to merge the LOI, SPL and LOW. I know that will never happen beacuse of fan and official objections but it may be the only way to save the leagues in all three countries

pablomakaveli

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

But rugby became popular beacuse they decided to franchise it.

Rather than a whole country of poorly funded teams they decided to franchise the four provinces and made them the professional entities that would get the majority of the money.

And those four teams survive beacuse they play in a league of about 10 teams and have a few European cup games every year.

As people have said earlier it's a chicken and egg situation, no facilities = no crowds, now crowds = no money for facility upgrades.

I think some sort of franchise system may be the only way to create a sustainable league that has decent facilities and a decent regular fan base that is sustainable.

Some say that is a unpalatable idea for fans but it is no more off the wall that a 22 team league were you have 6 Dublin teams and 3 Galway teams

If you really think long term a solution may be to merge the LOI, SPL and LOW. I know that will never happen beacuse of fan and official objections but it may be the only way to save the leagues in all three countries

I hate that franchise idea thats brought up over and over again. Mainly because it involves scrapping the current clubs which a lot of people have put a lot of money and time into supporting. It's a bit of an insult to the fans of these clubs.

I don't really think the franchise system would work and i'd be doubtful that UEFA would support a system like that being brought into Ireland.

Ferris_Bueller

Agree with a few posters in this thread, the LoI has to be built from the bottom up starting with player academys, quality coaching, possibly intertwined with education would be nice, this would definately encourage players to stay at home a bit longer I would think. Is there anyway clubs could offer players college scholarships or the like perhaps? Bohs/DCU, Rovers/UCD, Pats/DIT, Galway/NUIG etc. maybe not but if it were possible I'm sure it would encourage young lads to stay here playing LoI until about the age of 21/22 where they then can make the move to England and have a lower risk of being a failure I would imagine.
Also as someone pointed out earlier, a programme for players who have been rejected from England and come back home only to basically give up on the sport altogether, if there was some form of academy for guys like this where they could still train on a regular basis in top facilities like they would be used to until they catch another clubs eye, where as now they may come home and go straight to playing for their local pub team, which can only discourage them for the sport after experiencing such a dramatic fall.

But football in general in this country is just rubbish, from the bottom to the top, I can only speak of what I have experienced down here in Kildare but schoolboy and senior leagues down here are run with minimal effort and heart, they do as little as possible to keep it going. This attitude seems to remain the same all the way up to LoI level, this needs to be changed. It needs to be run more professionaly from the top all the way down to the bottom, where running leagues etc are peoples full time jobs so they have no excuses for below par league systems.

Pure_Cork

Pal wrote: »

Putting 16 teams into the Premier Division won't happen.
They barely manage to keep the 10 there on life support.

There needs to be more than 10 teams in each division. Playing everyone 4 times minimum is too much.

DB10

Where I am there is a GAA club when you go 5 minutes in any direction. 40 in total in the county and it isn't even that big (Cavan).

Yet there is no LOI or even lower league soccer club. The GAA clubs are the heart and soul of the community, most of the lads I know are into it because it is the local thing, you represent your area and don't have far to go, play with friends etc.

Yet as I said no LOI club or even lower league one. The closest one is in Monaghan, basically a different world.

It's all very well people blaming GAA and people supporting the English sides, which is the norm here, but there is nothing else...

There needs to be heavy investment and later, clubs in at least every major town.

LuckyLloyd

Most of the clubs who are there have little or no links with youth / amateur football. Establish one, divert resources from first team squads to youth coaching and facilities, suck up the short term fall in quality of your first team and reap long term rewards both in terms of players and support / involvement in / with the local community.

NTMK

There is no youth/amateur system which is the problem. In galway there are 3 teams in the LOI and the 1st div yet if i wanted to play with an amateur team i have to travel 40 minutes.

I played with my school but there is no system there wasnt even a team when i started in the school.

The main problem is people have no connection to teams esp outside the citys because teams are so few and far between

The FAI should work on the amateur side of things if the want the LOI to grow

PHB

I think the youth system needs to be heavily looked at. Countless players go over to England and don't make it. Lots even turn them down because of the massive risk involved. 2 or 3 proper youth academics run professionally would revolutionize the game in Ireland imo.

However, real change needs to start at the top, and the FAI needs to be cleared out imo.

Fr Tod Umptious

PHB wrote: »

However, real change needs to start at the top, and the FAI needs to be cleared out imo.

But the league was only taken over by the FAI a few years ago and it had the same problems before that as it has now so how would getting rid of the FAI help the league ?

major bill

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

But the league was only taken over by the FAI a few years ago and it had the same problems before that as it has now so how would getting rid of the FAI help the league ?

The crowds believe it or not were better before the FAI took over and the league was a much better spectacle to watch.
What the FAI did do however was bring the league to a wider audience by getting TV deals with setanta/RTE and TG4 to show live games.
The Problem with the clubs taking back the league is they are too selfish when it comes to their club so the love of the game is not considered just whats best for MY club Olly byrne(god rest his soul) was an example of this.

doc_17

It's an awful product. I used to go to Finn Harps matches all the time but eventually I had to stop. Rubbish stuff altogether. I wish it wasn't but it was.

major bill

doc_17 wrote: »

It's an awful product. I used to go to Finn Harps matches all the time but eventually I had to stop. Rubbish stuff altogether. I wish it wasn't but it was.

great contribution to the thread well done take a bow.

doc_17

Well what I meant was that it's too boring to watch. people, especially the irish, like excitement all the way through. In soccer absolutely nothing can happen for 20 mins. In gaelic or Rugby there is always something going on, even in a low scoring game. Soccer suffers from cheats too much, diving like they'd been shot, conning refs etc. I think from an Irish perspective that stuff goes down terribly. So stop all that crap and you've got a better product right away

What point is there in having the wonderful new stadium and increased revenue streams if the clubs see very little of it? The FAI should be setting up centres of excellance in every county in Ireland. Bring on the young players, too many clubs sign lads released from 2nd and 3rd division english teams.

Get more local players into local clubs and then that gets more local attention.

Decrease the price of admission as well. Bigger crowds makes for a better atmosphere.

UpTheSlashers

DB10 wrote: »

Where I am there is a GAA club when you go 5 minutes in any direction. 40 in total in the county and it isn't even that big (Cavan).

Yet there is no LOI or even lower league soccer club. The GAA clubs are the heart and soul of the community, most of the lads I know are into it because it is the local thing, you represent your area and don't have far to go, play with friends etc.

Yet as I said no LOI club or even lower league one. The closest one is in Monaghan, basically a different world.

This. There are too many counties with no connection to the league. Tipperary is a massive county with no representation in Premier, First or even "A" division. Thats 150,000 people with no local LOI club and very few people are going follow teams in Cork, Galway or Waterford just for the sake of it unless they have some connection through family or college.
Big counties like Kerry, Clare, Kilkenny and Tipp need to be represented in the league

major bill

doc_17 wrote: »

Well what I meant was that it's too boring to watch. people, especially the irish, like excitement all the way through. In soccer absolutely nothing can happen for 20 mins. In gaelic or Rugby there is always something going on, even in a low scoring game. Soccer suffers from cheats too much, diving like they'd been shot, conning refs etc. I think from an Irish perspective that stuff goes down terribly. So stop all that crap and you've got a better product right away

What point is there in having the wonderful new stadium and increased revenue streams if the clubs see very little of it? The FAI should be setting up centres of excellance in every county in Ireland. Bring on the young players, too many clubs sign lads released from 2nd and 3rd division english teams.

Get more local players into local clubs and then that gets more local attention.

Decrease the price of admission as well. Bigger crowds makes for a better atmosphere.

rugby can be just as boring though. admission prices need to drop i agree with that but then professional football wont/cant work so that brings us back to the Part-time league which is probably the sensible thing to do but this will not do anything for attracting new fans.

Paul Tergat

For me the bottom line is people need to start going to games for any long term improvement to take place. Even investment at youth level requires money and the only way that will happen is with people going to the games. I would watch a few games a year but would tend to watch more games on tv on friday nights than actually going.

eagle eye

Everybody seems to be talking about the quality of football in the league which is not the problem.

Its quite simple really, the clubs have to come up with a plan to attract customers. The ideal way to do this is to make it family friendly because you are not only building for today but into the future as well as a lot of the kids that are brought along when they are young will become fans as they grow older. Basically there needs to be a package thats attractive to everybody.

Can anybody who goes to games right now tell me if the league is currently attractive for a family day out? I honestly don't know because I haven't been at a game in years. Are there thugs at games? Is there food, confectionary, even ice cream available at games? Whats the situation with parking at grounds? Have all the grounds got good stands where kids are not going to get soaked on a wet night?

Its not something that can happen overnight. Its not about one club doing it and succeeding because that will most likely lead to other clubs being destroyed. What is really needed is a nationally run league with a cap system to make it competitive. The MLS system is something that should be looked at, the A-league in Australia too. I'm sure there are other leagues in similar sized countries too that might be doing better than the LOI.

Anyways thats my 2 cents fwiw.

pablomakaveli

DB10 wrote: »

Where I am there is a GAA club when you go 5 minutes in any direction. 40 in total in the county and it isn't even that big (Cavan).

Yet there is no LOI or even lower league soccer club. The GAA clubs are the heart and soul of the community, most of the lads I know are into it because it is the local thing, you represent your area and don't have far to go, play with friends etc.

Yet as I said no LOI club or even lower league one. The closest one is in Monaghan, basically a different world.

It's all very well people blaming GAA and people supporting the English sides, which is the norm here, but there is nothing else...

There needs to be heavy investment and later, clubs in at least every major town.

You cant really blame the league for that though. There is a route for clubs to enter the LOI through the A championship now. So it's more a question of why cant those local teams in counties with no LOI representation not make the step up.

DerekDGoldfish

eagle eye wrote: »

Can anybody who goes to games right now tell me if the league is currently attractive for a family day out?

I honestly don't know because I haven't been at a game in years.

1.Are there thugs at games?

2.Is there food, confectionary, even ice cream available at games?

3.Whats the situation with parking at grounds?

4Have all the grounds got good stands where kids are not going to get soaked on a wet night?

.

1. some but not many ive been going to games for 15 years, and never been involed in any trouble and seen very little. Most clubs will have a family section where the older fans the the familys sit and a seperate area where the hardcore and teenagers congreate

2. Pretty much every club has a shop with bars, drinks and the likes no ice cream though

3. Im a pats fan and parking at richmond park isnt great, rovers have the square to park in but many clubs have issues with parking but you should be able to get a spot thats not more than 5 mins walk from the ground.

4. While many fans myself included prefer to stand on the terrace all clubs will have a stand with a roof.


For Pats games its 15 for an adult 10 for a student/oap and 5 for a kid when bought with an adult ticket. I think those prices are reasonable enough

Pauleta

I disagree with making the Premier Division 16 teams. Its just gonna weaken the top league.

I think the professional players really need a kick up the arse in terms of fitness, working out and diets. They have no excuse to being inferior to players in other leagues in this department. The likes of Ronaldo and Drogba are not naturally supreme athletes, they work their balls off to be in great shape. I dont see why Professional LOI players are not supreme athletes. They are just bone idol lazy.Ronaldo claims to do 3000 sit ups a day. I dont really believe that must do a ridiculous amount of working out to look the way he is and be as strong as he is. LOI players must just wake up, eat whatever for the day, hit the bookies, go training then get a take away and few beers.

Another thing is set pieces. They have no excuses with this either. How many really good free kick takers are there in the league. I cant think of many and thats because nobody is putting in the extra training.

Until the players want to suceed and accept that they are athletes then we have no hope.

DerekDGoldfish

I dont see why Professional LOI players are not supreme athletes

there are only a handful of fully pro players left, most have other jobs so dont have the time to do 3,000 sit ups.

Altough I do agree in general with your point there are a lot of players who dont take fittness seriously enough.

UpTheSlashers

What about a system where the teams play each other twice and then each of the teams in the other divisions. That would give the Premier teams 9 home games against other Premier teams, 9 away games against the same, and then each of the first division teams once. Thats 30 games without excessive repetition.

bohsman

1.Are there thugs at games?

Not many, majority of trouble is planned and happens well away from grounds, with us most are banned anyway.

2.Is there food, confectionary, even ice cream available at games?

Burdocks, shop and 3 bars. Candyfloss seemed to fail.

3.Whats the situation with parking at grounds?

Not too difficult to get parking in Phibsboro afaik? Easy to get to with public transport tho.

4Have all the grounds got good stands where kids are not going to get soaked on a wet night?

Most do.

Also a hell of a lot of marketing incentives have been tried, we do fiver off coupons in the Mirror in exchange for ad hoardings, kids go free has been tried etc etc etc.

stovelid

eagle eye wrote: »

Can anybody who goes to games right now tell me if the league is currently attractive for a family day out?

I honestly don't know because I haven't been at a game in years.

1.Are there thugs at games?

2.Is there food, confectionary, even ice cream available at games?

3.Whats the situation with parking at grounds?

4Have all the grounds got good stands where kids are not going to get soaked on a wet night? .

1: Same as others. The 'problem' is vastly overstated in the media. The few incidents that do occur happen away from the grounds. One trip to Tallaght for a match will disabuse anybody of the notion that it's not a family night out for hundreds of people, especially the West Stand. The Luas runs up to the ground.

2. Everything you mention is there, even a Pizza stand. Even a modern club shop that sells (male, female, boys and girls) Rovers, Ireland and other football gear

3. Parking in the Square works out about 3 quid for a game or for free in nearby estates. I use the latter option most weeks.

4. The whole capacity of Tallaght is split between two stands.

pablomakaveli

The whole thugs at games is completely blown out of proportion in regards to the LOI. I blame the media in this country for that. *cough*tv3*cough*

Also the picture of the Linfield fan who was bloodied in a scuffle with the Gard's in that game against pat's was on the first page of the irish indo the next day.

I remeber seeing it on their website and some guy posted a comment saying he'd never take his kids to a LOI match.

I think trying to get a better image of the league out in the media might help especially in relation to the thuggery.