How much interest & support is there in the county for Wexford Youths FC ?

wexfordia

The club has been in existence for 3 years and I'm just wondering how interested or otherwise Wexford people are in the team.Is the general feeling of apathy among the public towards League of Ireland football evident also down Slaneyside way ?

oldyouth

OP, I get very defensive about Wexford Youths FC but I agree not all is right about the current level of support that the club, in my opinion, should be expecting.

This is in fact the 4th year that Wexford Youths FC have being competing in the LOI. I remember well that bitter day in March 2007 when we played our 1st home match in front of over 2,000 supporters. Obviously there was a novelty factor then and the crowds levelled out at approx 600 for the following couple of seasons. This year, however, the numbers have dropped significantly for various self inflicted reasons.

What I don't understand is that local Wexford football is huge in terms of participation and support, yet those same people don't travel a few miles to see a game that is played at the 2nd tier available in this country.

I appreciate that people follow success, but a team that is totally amateur fighting above its weight amongst professional and semi-professional teams should be complimented, especially when you consider they play at one of the finest football complexes in the country.

Bottom line is that I think the Wexford public will attend a GAA match of any level in sh!t facilities in attrocious weather, yet won't go to a football match played in the area if Man U., Arsenal or Liverpool are on a telly in the pub

Murtinho

wexfordia wrote: »

The club has been in existence for 3 years and I'm just wondering how interested or otherwise Wexford people are in the team.Is the general feeling of apathy among the public towards League of Ireland football evident also down Slaneyside way ?

crowds are getting lower and their are a lot of begrudgers, i havnt been down much this season due to work and the lads i usually go with have been busy with their own stuff, hopfully ill get to a game or two before the season ends. I was encouraged by Wallaces words in the ppl this week.

oldyouth

Murtinho wrote: »

crowds are getting lower and their are a lot of begrudgers, i havnt been down much this season due to work and the lads i usually go with have been busy with their own stuff, hopfully ill get to a game or two before the season ends. I was encouraged by Wallaces words in the ppl this week.

I think the lack of information coming from Mick has been one of the major reasons that support has drifted away. He keeps talking about the Youths being a community project, yet he is always reluctant to let anyone in on how the club is actually run or where we stand at the moment. Perhaps his words in the People relflect a change in his stance. He can be under no illusion after the support given to the team last night, that this club means a lot to its supporters

RKQ

oldyouth wrote: »

Bottom line is that I think the Wexford public will attend a GAA match of any level in sh!t facilities in attrocious weather, yet won't go to a football match played in the area if Man U., Arsenal or Liverpool are on a telly in the pub

Agree 100% but ticket cost could be a factor too. I'm sure GAA gates are down as well. Wexford Youths have great facilities. Maybe matches dates could be advertised on N11 to remind supporters & drum up new support.

RadioRetro

IIRC there was a 'next match' noticeboard above the hedge alongside the N11, has it gone?.

oldyouth

Ticket prices can't be the issue. €10 for adults, €5 for students and OAPs. Children under 12 in free. Having said that, if you don't have a job, things like this are the 1st to go.

The 'next match' board on the N11 got a re-vamp recently and is now much clearer. Pity only 2 home games left this season.

RKQ

oldyouth wrote: »

The 'next match' board on the N11 got a re-vamp recently and is now much clearer.

Oops! Seen the new sign today - looks good!
Cost of tickets to any events will have an effect in these uncertain times. Hopefully this will change if & when confidence returns.

adamski8

should be a free advertised bus leaving from the town center for the matches and dropping people back after. having a next match sign by the stadium doesnt help much i feel

jpb1974

The League of Ireland isn't really a very well marketed product and I do wonder if it's a case that the Wexford Youth's need to market themselves better throughout the county?

They've a fine facility that could be used in conjunction with all the local clubs to run events to get young kids interested and promote more of an awareness and general interest amongst people.

From there they could piggy back and get families to the games via offers and promotions.

Other than the 'next game' sign you'd see as your heading down to Rosslare I don't think they have that much of a presence about the county.

The GAA are integrated into the community, local soccer clubs are too... but Wexford Youths just appear (to people like me who wouldn't be big followers) to be sitting in limbo in this regard.

oldyouth

jpb1974 wrote: »

The League of Ireland isn't really a very well marketed product and I do wonder if it's a case that the Wexford Youth's need to market themselves better throughout the county?

They've a fine facility that could be used in conjunction with all the local clubs to run events to get young kids interested and promote more of an awareness and general interest amongst people.

From there they could piggy back and get families to the games via offers and promotions.

Other than the 'next game' sign you'd see as your heading down to Rosslare I don't think they have that much of a presence about the county.

The GAA are integrated into the community, local soccer clubs are too... but Wexford Youths just appear (to people like me who wouldn't be big followers) to be sitting in limbo in this regard.

Preaching to the converted on those points jpb1974. Unfortunately, the club is very poor at marketing itself.

jpb1974

Unfortunately, the club is very poor at marketing itself.

Aye... for all the years they've been there they seem to have almost no presence about the county at all.

You'd see the team bus passing through Enniscorthy the odd time and as already mentioned the next game sign on the Wexford road... but nobody is talking about Wexford Youths, they never come up in conversation, the kids aren't interested in them and they're certainly never mentioned up at my local club (Shamrock Rovers).

They could be doing so much off the pitch to put themselves on the map...

oldyouth

Bottom line is that the current hirarchy will not let people in to bring new ideas on how to promote the club. It was offered

wexfordia

I don't want to go too far off topic but what ideally would everyone here like to see in terms of a professional football club for the South East ?
Lets say hypothetically Ireland & Scotland decided to form a professional league system together and a team from our area was competing in either the first or second tier of this structure.What I would like to see is a full-time professional club based in Waterford City(It being the major urban centre in the SE) and perhaps having training facilities based in or around Wexford Town.Have the club playing in a 12,000 seater stadium which I think is achievable in terms of fanbase.

oldyouth

I'd have no interest in following a team from outside the area. I'd probably drop down to Waterford to see a high profile game but I couldn't get my heart in to it I'm afraid

Fatswaldo

A lot of teams actually alienated by demands from MW on players representing wex at underage level not being allowed to play for their own club. Mick has great enthusiasm but his methods sometimes have to be questioned. This is Wexford not Turin and The Youths are not Juve or Torino.

wexfordia

Fatswaldo wrote: »

A lot of teams actually alienated by demands from MW on players representing wex at underage level not being allowed to play for their own club. Mick has great enthusiasm but his methods sometimes have to be questioned. This is Wexford not Turin and The Youths are not Juve or Torino.[/QUOTE

What sort of demands ?

oldyouth

Fatswaldo wrote: »

A lot of teams actually alienated by demands from MW on players representing wex at underage level not being allowed to play for their own club. Mick has great enthusiasm but his methods sometimes have to be questioned. This is Wexford not Turin and The Youths are not Juve or Torino.

The Youths are also not a County side, they are a club. I do take your point though for when Mick is in charge of the county team. He has that way about him

With regards to his demands, I know one of them is that (during the season) you can't play 2 competitive sports. I fully agree with that. The demands of LOI dictate that you cannot be at your best by being involved in 2 sets of training and 2 sets of matches. I don't mind if GAA or Rugby is your preference, just don't expect to be 1st choice at Ferrycarrig Park. I'm sure the rugby and GAA would apply the same rules themselves to their players

Number 10 Shirt

jpb1974 wrote: »

Aye... for all the years they've been there they seem to have almost no presence about the county at all.

You'd see the team bus passing through Enniscorthy the odd time and as already mentioned the next game sign on the Wexford road... but nobody is talking about Wexford Youths, they never come up in conversation, the kids aren't interested in them and they're certainly never mentioned up at my local club (Shamrock Rovers).

They could be doing so much off the pitch to put themselves on the map...

That is quite true.I don't hear people talk about the club that much.