how to fix our league! - Mod Warning in OP

Pinturicchio

dsmythy wrote: »

Compare this with the Portuguese team say. All the Portuguese born players started there. Some at the big clubs, others at the lesser, but all graced the national league structure. Some so good that obviously the biggest clubs came calling and they left the league but not before seeing at least 2-3 seasons in it.

The same goes for almost every other team in the tournament.

celtictiger32

bullpost wrote: »

Stick with Summer soccer to improve the standard of football and to avoid clashing with EPL.
Bow to the inevitable and get EPL players or ex-players associated with LOI clubs. These would need to be from the biggest supported clubs so chiefly Man U and Liverpool or perhaps Irish players playing in the EPL.
Run competitions for fans to meet these players after/before the game on Sunday. Get these players to actively promote the LOI in the media. Not sure how realistic this would be but FAI or a sugardaddy like Denis O'Brien may need to sponsor it.
That way maybe some of the EPL magic may rub off on the LOI and attract the kids until they form a loyalty to the club.

would have been more beneficial for irish football if he put that money he spent into some sort of sponsorship deal for the league instead of inflating the salary of a washed up celebrity manager

Xavi6

First thing's first, get rid of this clown -

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/sport/2012/0620/1224318259016.html#.T-GpxftANLI.twitter

That_Guy

Given that the league runs through the summer, this should be a pivotal time to advertise the fúck out of the league given that plenty of people will still crave football despite the English/German/Italian leagues being over.

In order to gain new interest clubs might have to sacrifice themselves financially for a short while.

2 for 1 offers.
Season ticket holders bring a mate along for free.

UCD sometimes let UCD students in for free on home match days which is pretty good but not sure what their home crowds are like.

It's imperative that the younger generation are thought of too to give them a recurring interest by maybe introducing an offer whereby kids under 14 accompanied by an adult get in free.

The FAI have been pimping their season ticket for the Irish team non stop recently. It's time they started giving a shít out about the domestic league and give it the same amount of time they're giving to the national team and that season ticket scheme....

CSF

Clubs can't sacrifice financially shortterm because of cashflow. It's not like England where the clubs can borrow, borrow until they're Portsmouth.

stovelid

A lot of the points about freebie tickets and marketing are essentially sound and well-meaning but the sad fact is that when you're getting paying league fees, insurance, bills; player wages and everything else on the back of gates of about 1500 you have very little room for wriggling.

At the end of the day, a little faith is needed. A healthy league that does well in Europe won't fall into your lap without some footfall so forget expecting it to.

Off the top of my head, I would love to see the facilities improved so families will see it as a viable night out for the kids - the kids being the target demographic. No offense, but chasing after adult EPL supporters is a dead end.

It's probably a pipe-dream financially but it would be great if, say in Dublin for example, the local authorities and FAI could help fund one or two municipal multi-sport stadia like Tallaght and work out some agreement for getting clubs playing out of them. As well as rent, the stadia could generate money back when used for other things (like five-a-side, concerts; functions, friendlies, etc) and maybe even let the LA/FAI pocket a cut from the advertising or food concessions and so on to pay back the cost.

The clubs must also have to get their act together. As it stands, small-time abounds: most could not be trusted with cash grants to do up their own facilities given how badly off they are.

The FAI showing some basic interest in the league would help greatly:

- Showing up at games.

- Bigging up the league and not publicly denigrating it or going on record as being Man united fans and what not.

- Not muscling in on friendlies or setting up tournaments where LOI teams get battered for the edification of barstoolers.

- Genuinely enforcing licensing.

- Letting more TV money and prize money trickle down to clubs and maybe instead of giving it in cash, assign some of it in facility grants that must be used to upgrade stadiums and so on.

The junior football structure in this country is another huge problem. Most of the big names are not interested in developing talent rather being a feeder system to England.

The junior football and LOI systems are completely estranged as well. England is also a case in point: the kids are being shipped over to a youth development system that is not much better than ours (and England is now more and more geared to poaching technically superior kids from the continent) and way behind the continent so it's hardly a solution to the question of Irish player development despite the fact that a small amount of decent talent will always randomly come through the system like Keane(s), Duffer, Giles, Brady etc despite the shortcomings.

mikemac1

I spent four years in GMIT so Mervue is just up the road

Tbh I'm not even sure where their ground is, I know Mervue but I don't know the team
Well I have an idea where it is but I've never walked down there

Several thousand young people in GMIT and even more again in NUI Galway

I did see posters and flyers during the week in shops around town encouraging people to head to Terryland Park

I never ever saw those flyers in the colleges.
Ready made market of people who could be encouraged to head along

It doesn't cost much, just some flyers or even bring some players up the canteen for an hour for a Q&A, something like that. Raffle off some tracksuits, they don't have to be new. Old stock would do, get a buzz going




I do think http://www.airtricityleague.ie/ is an excellent website so fair play for that

Francie Barrett

CSF wrote: »

Clubs can't sacrifice financially shortterm because of cashflow. It's not like England where the clubs can borrow, borrow until they're Portsmouth.

The financial situation of the Premier League is much different to that of th LOI. Every year, English clubs are getting more prize money, more TV money, more advertising money, more merchandising money, etc. As long as the overall pie keeps growing, then clubs accumulating more debt isn't a big problem, unless of course they go overboard like Portsmouth did. The problem in Ireland is the opposite, advertising money is down, gate money is generally down, prize money is down, etc. The overall pie has shrunk, but unfortunately a lot of clubs spending hasn't decreased anywhere near what it should be. Whatever you say about John Delaney making a fool of himself, this is not his fault, or the FAI's fault.

applehunter

mikemac1 wrote: »

I do think http://www.airtricityleague.ie/ is an excellent website so fair play for that

You have got to be kidding.

Its a pile of ****e.

It may only be a small thing but it is a microcosm of the whole FAI attitude to the league.

Half arsed.

kitakyushu

Pinturicchio wrote: »

The same goes for almost every other team in the tournament.

Here's the number of players in each squad at Euro 2012 who made their senior international debut whilst playing in their domestic league.

England|23
Germany|23
Italy|23
Russia|23
Netherlands|21
Portugal|21
Ukraine|21
France|20
Spain|20
Czech Republic|19
Greece|19
Sweden|17
Poland|16
Croatia|14
Denmark|14
Republic of Ireland|0



Ireland is never going to compete with the Prem (or even worry the top 10 leagues) but I think it would be a great boost if we had a level where our top players were reaching senior level whilst still living and working here. Then the league would actually be seen as contributing something positive to the full international side that everyone is so obsessed with.

I personally don't believe the image of the league will ever improve here until there is some tangable connection between the guys playing here and the ones who eventually end up playing at senior level. As is shown by these numbers you don't have to be a La Liga or Prem to manage that either.

Perhaps there could be some proviso in picking the squads that some places and caps (even if just in friendlies) should be given to young upcoming guys in the LOI? I'm not talking about veterans like Owen Heary or whomever who could probably do an actual job shortterm, I mean places purely for possible future stars here. For example if James McClean had been capped at Derry it would have done much for the image of the game here, rather than just waiting til he got to Sunderland and then letting them take all the plaudits. I know some people would say "he wouldn't be ready whilst still playing LOI standard" but I think it'd be good publicity all the same and be an overall benefit to the LOI, the senior team and guys like McClean themselves for the experience and increased exposure.

applehunter

mikemac1 wrote: »

I do think http://www.airtricityleague.ie/ is an excellent website so fair play for that

This is something that we could be as good as any league in the world at and it doesn't cost millions.

I doubt anyone uses that website. Major chance of cheap marketing being missed.

I could say the same thing about the Cork City website as well. Its gone to **** under the current administrators.

dsmythy

Some interesting ideas. No harm in emailing them your thoughts.

That_Guy

mikemac1 wrote: »

I do think http://www.airtricityleague.ie/ is an excellent website so fair play for that

It really isn't. www.extratime.ie is by far the best LOI site going imo and they've even got a new app on the Android market too.

I really like kitakyushu's idea of giving LOI players a cap or two in friendlies. Might stir a bit of curiosity in home crowds at the Aviva.

"Mmm, who's that lad?.. Oh he plays for Shels... Might go and have a look and see what the fuss is about him of a Friday night".... Maybe. :pac:

stovelid

kitakyushu wrote: »

Perhaps there could be some proviso in picking the squads that some places and caps (even if just in friendlies) should be given to young upcoming guys in the LOI?

Noble idea but can you imagine the outcry on forums like this, given that some people genuinely believe that a player is 'pub-league' level despite getting on a plane and stepping straight into a premiership squad? Or even players still here that performed decently enough against teams like Copenhagen and Partizan being dubbed as LSL level.

Plus the likes of Trapp and Charlton wouldn't let the LOI player wash the kits.

monkey9

Jayob10 wrote: »

As a previous poster mentioned, get former EPL players involved with LOI clubs. Players fans will be drawn to. Casual fans I mean. Your casual fan doesn't care for the opinion of a Roddy Collins or Damien Richardson. Thats just the reality. You have to sell it to them as a product in the best way you can. It sounds depressing, and it will probably p*ss all over alot of hard work done by those who were there during the hard times, but its a necessary evil.

I've felt for a while now that Kenny Cunningham could be a fantastic coach in the LOI.

CSF

Francie Barrett wrote: »

CSF wrote: »

Clubs can't sacrifice financially shortterm because of cashflow. It's not like England where the clubs can borrow, borrow until they're Portsmouth.

The financial situation of the Premier League is much different to that of th LOI. Every year, English clubs are getting more prize money, more TV money, more advertising money, more merchandising money, etc. As long as the overall pie keeps growing, then clubs accumulating more debt isn't a big problem, unless of course they go overboard like Portsmouth did. The problem in Ireland is the opposite, advertising money is down, gate money is generally down, prize money is down, etc. The overall pie has shrunk, but unfortunately a lot of clubs spending hasn't decreased anywhere near what it should be. Whatever you say about John Delaney making a fool of himself, this is not his fault, or the FAI's fault.

There will be more Portsmouths and there will be more Rangers. That I'm sure of.

celtictiger32

Francie Barrett wrote: »

The financial situation of the Premier League is much different to that of th LOI. Every year, English clubs are getting more prize money, more TV money, more advertising money, more merchandising money, etc. As long as the overall pie keeps growing, then clubs accumulating more debt isn't a big problem, unless of course they go overboard like Portsmouth did. The problem in Ireland is the opposite, advertising money is down, gate money is generally down, prize money is down, etc. The overall pie has shrunk, but unfortunately a lot of clubs spending hasn't decreased anywhere near what it should be. Whatever you say about John Delaney making a fool of himself, this is not his fault, or the FAI's fault.

can you honestly say the fai are doing all they can for this league? imo they dont give a bollix about the league once the boys in green are getting the headlines job done as far as they're concerned:mad:

stovelid wrote: »

Noble idea but can you imagine the outcry on forums like this, given that some people genuinely believe that a player is 'pub-league' level despite getting on a plane and stepping straight into a premiership squad? Or even players still here that performed decently enough against teams like Copenhagen and Partizan being dubbed as LSL level.

Plus the likes of Trapp and Charlton wouldn't let the LOI player wash the kits.

imagine playing someone who actually has a club as opposed to bringing a derby reject to the euros

Essien

What immediate action(s) do people think could be taken by any / all of the following to get things right? Don't focus on the knock on effects for now, If there was something they could do right now, what do you think that should be?

1) The FAI
2) LOI clubs - Include supporters and supporters clubs here if you like
3) Irish football fans who don't follow the LOI (that one's obvious really)
4) Amateur / underage clubs around the country
5) The media, national and/or local
6) The Government

Here's mine...

1) The FAI - Re-evaluate the distribution of prize money to the domestic league, as well as running costs, entrance fees, grants etc. A slight shift in the right direction for any/all of these would be of great benefit to the league as a whole. Lets face it, if we can afford 400k+ for John Delaney and god knows how much for Trappatoni and Tardelli, we can definitely afford much more than a 'slight' shift in the right direction. And before anyone asks how do we pay for our national team manager, tbh, I don't really care. Whoever it is should not be getting a cent more than the domestic champs, never mind multiples of it. I'd gladly take a few baron years on the international front if it meant sorting out the league.

2) LOI Clubs - The clubs could definitely do a better job of reaching out to the broader football community in Ireland. Establish parent/feeder links with clubs in their county or surrounding counties*. This would develop a connection with younger players and supporters while hopefully ensuring youth players are nurtured through the correct channels and kept in Ireland for as long as possible. The league as a whole needs to get away from the 'Real Football, Real Fans' thing, this can only serve as a divisive gimmick between fans of LOI and foreign clubs, it's incredibly condescending. They need to market themselves a lot better. When I was in Ireland I would hardly ever hear anything about any LOI clubs or games apart from the odd local lad going on trials with Rovers. I don't know if this is the fault of the clubs or the media, but it is a problem and the clubs need to take a proactive approach to fix it. There are also a lot of calls for better facilities, though I don't know if that can happen without more cash.

3) Football fans who don't follow the LOI - Go to the games. Have faith that if you help to increase support, the teams and the league ABSOLUTELY WILL get better. Again, obvious. I'm as guilty as anyone in this regard, the state of the domestic game has really only started to bother me in the past year or so. But when I heard that my local team were not well supported / funded enough to enter Division one....I felt a bit shit that I never made the effort. Now seeing other clubs fold or struggle annoys me even more, not to mention the state of the national side.
Get away from the idea that it's LOI or EPL, it can easily be both. Note: At this point, I would rather not listen to any "I already support A or B, why should I support C" type complaints. Nobody is forcing you to do anything.

4) Amateur / underage clubs around the country - I don't know much about this. I'll leave it to the rest of you who seem to know quite a bit about Ireland's underage set up, DDSL etc. I would suggest a long term goal of having better trained coaches who teach kids to play ball rather than 'win at all costs', but that's long term, not what I'm going for here.

5) Media - Our national broadcaster really needs to big up the league a bit more. How many supporters got into foreign teams because they saw them on the TV at a young age? The argument goes that if the product isn't there, the people won't watch it - well that's a bit of a chicken and egg scenario isn't it? Somebody has to take the initiative and it really should be RTE. More/better exposure will lead to more interest, regardless of the product, just look at sky, there are a shit load of rubbish games in the EPL, yet people will watch them because they are hyped up. A lot of people don't like sky, but they're definitely the best at what they do, hype.

6) The Government - First off, who was the goon who said someday Ireland could have a team in the EPL? (or something along those lines) Don't do that for a start! Our ministers should be getting out there now and saying 'Someday we could have teams playing regular European football', encouraging Irish people to get behind it, not just for sporting reasons, but for economical reasons too. I'm breaking my own rule here and discussing knock on effects, but if the government considered them, they might just change their stance. Imagine the benefits of having one or two teams playing regular group stage football in Europe!? Hotels & restaurants, bars, airlines and other means of transport as well as whatever else goes with tourism in general - they would all benefit greatly and bring money IN to the country for a change. And if you're playing in Europe you would surely have the odd big transfer fee coming in. I'm sure there's more, but my point is they're all positives from an economical perspective as well as sporting. The government should acknowledge the potential that's right under their noses and at least try to promote it. In the height of recession, this could grab peoples attention.

---

My suggestions were a little more general than I would have liked, but hopefully some of the more in the know posters on here can go into greater specifics.

*Feeder System -Is there anything like this in place right now, if not, why not? Is it feasible?

dreamers75

Get club presidents like this


http://www.tvn24.pl/wiadomosci-poznan,43/prezes-warty-zaprasza-irlandczykow,260153.html

A_Sober_Paddy

Well I know Limerick have started to get kids into the club, by having teams in the local under age leagues. The hope is that if these kids play for Limerick at under age that when they are adults they'll go to the games and bring their kids. In theory its a very good plan, but the attraction of the EPL is so much that there is no way of knowing if its going the work.

They've also started to get involved with Special Olympics and some other community based projects.

All in all the average crowds for the Limerick games are fantastic in comparison to the rest of the first division, but the move to the Markets Field will really help to boost the support and crowds.

If we can get into the premier and the Markets field for next year we will position yourselves perfectly to take some of the band wagon rugby support. Munster are going to be in a state of transition for the next few years and I suspect they'll be fairly poor, so they will lose a lot of "fans" who go to their games and maybe if the soccer team is doing well and has nice facilities and a pub they'd go to a couple of Limerick games...

But the club will have to work very hard to keep the majority of those people.

But I think getting a presence in the underage leagues and junior leagues will help Limerick. And I think other clubs should do this, also work with other junior clubs in their local area to get their support(This won't happen in Limerick as the majority of junior clubs are fairly anti Limerick for some reason)

Dub XV

A_Sober_Paddy wrote: »

Well I know Limerick have started to get kids into the club, by having teams in the local under age leagues. The hope is that if these kids play for Limerick at under age that when they are adults they'll go to the games and bring their kids. In theory its a very good plan, but the attraction of the EPL is so much that there is no way of knowing if its going the work.

They've also started to get involved with Special Olympics and some other community based projects.

All in all the average crowds for the Limerick games are fantastic in comparison to the rest of the first division, but the move to the Markets Field will really help to boost the support and crowds.

If we can get into the premier and the Markets field for next year we will position yourselves perfectly to take some of the band wagon rugby support. Munster are going to be in a state of transition for the next few years and I suspect they'll be fairly poor, so they will lose a lot of "fans" who go to their games and maybe if the soccer team is doing well and has nice facilities and a pub they'd go to a couple of Limerick games...

But the club will have to work very hard to keep the majority of those people.

But I think getting a presence in the underage leagues and junior leagues will help Limerick. And I think other clubs should do this, also work with other junior clubs in their local area to get their support(This won't happen in Limerick as the majority of junior clubs are fairly anti Limerick for some reason)

this is a requirement of all loi clubs already afaik.

Higher

New requirement. Anyone who wants to play for the Irish national team has to play for at least 3 years at an Irish club. Get the quality up and the fans will come.

Dub XV

No

captain caveman

Apologies if this has been posted already, but I reckon they need to scrap the whole thing and start again.

Could they look at a "Celtic League" type situation, as in rugby, make 4 decent teams of the four provinces in Ireland, and play them against the Scottish and Welsh teams? Lets face it, bar Celtic and maybe Swansea & Cardiff, the Welsh and Scottish leagues aren't super... And since they're talking about hosting the Euros with these Countries, why not have a competition with them?

A team of the best Leinster clubs (shams, bohs, pats etc) could defo do well against St.Johnstone and the like...

Just my thoughts

** Forgot Rangers, or Team twelve or whatever the SPL has them down as

marwelie

If the league is to be taken seriously by the general public then either the FAI or the LOI need to do something about the state of the grounds, whether to buy the grounds outright or take ownership of the grounds, tart them up and rent them back to the clubs. One of the main reasons we get healthy crowds in Tallaght is because of the facilities. People simply will not turn up to watch LOI football if it means standing in mud for an hour and a half with no cover, no toilets and no food and refreshments. They'll watch football on TV instead. The clubs also need to take responsibility by drumming up support in their local communities. Its no good sitting back waiting for people to visit, they have to be persuaded, by whatever means necessary. First step to increasing crowd sizes is to improve standards and quality off the fields, then on the field.

bohsman

captain caveman wrote: »

Apologies if this has been posted already, but I reckon they need to scrap the whole thing and start again.

Could they look at a "Celtic League" type situation, as in rugby, make 4 decent teams of the four provinces in Ireland, and play them against the Scottish and Welsh teams? Lets face it, bar Celtic and maybe Swansea & Cardiff, the Welsh and Scottish leagues aren't super... And since they're talking about hosting the Euros with these Countries, why not have a competition with them?

A team of the best Leinster clubs (shams, bohs, pats etc) could defo do well against St.Johnstone and the like...

Just my thoughts

Who is going to support them and who is going to fund them? Alienating the people that currently support the league in the hope that EPL fans hop on the bandwagon is a disaster waiting to happen.

BOHtox

captain caveman wrote: »

Apologies if this has been posted already, but I reckon they need to scrap the whole thing and start again.

Could they look at a "Celtic League" type situation, as in rugby, make 4 decent teams of the four provinces in Ireland, and play them against the Scottish and Welsh teams? Lets face it, bar Celtic and maybe Swansea & Cardiff, the Welsh and Scottish leagues aren't super... And since they're talking about hosting the Euros with these Countries, why not have a competition with them?

A team of the best Leinster clubs (shams, bohs, pats etc) could defo do well against St.Johnstone and the like...

Just my thoughts

** Forgot Rangers, or Team twelve or whatever the SPL has them down as

I shudder at the thought of standing next to a Rovers fan cheering on a merged team and I'm pretty sure a Rovers fan would do the same!

captain caveman

I understand these clubs have legacies & Fans etc, but as we've seen, teams like Monaghan, Galway, and other big clubs, also with legacies and fans have gone to the wall.. Pretty soon there wont be many teams left...

captain caveman

Or, what about if to raise money and maybe profile of teams, again as with rugby, select the best players from teams in the provinces to play for a provincial team against the teams from Wales/Scotland, as well as playing for their club.. Then noone has to stand with fans of teams they dont like for long

ArmaniJeanss

captain caveman wrote: »

Apologies if this has been posted already, but I reckon they need to scrap the whole thing and start again.

Could they look at a "Celtic League" type situation, as in rugby, make 4 decent teams of the four provinces in Ireland, and play them against the Scottish and Welsh teams? Lets face it, bar Celtic and maybe Swansea & Cardiff, the Welsh and Scottish leagues aren't super... And since they're talking about hosting the Euros with these Countries, why not have a competition with them?

A team of the best Leinster clubs (shams, bohs, pats etc) could defo do well against St.Johnstone and the like...

Just my thoughts

** Forgot Rangers, or Team twelve or whatever the SPL has them down as

It's a complete non-runner of an idea for a multitude of reasons, not least because it goes against the very ethos of how UEFA envisage European football being ran at national level. And they are the bosses.

Richard Hillman

BOHtox wrote: »

I shudder at the thought of standing next to a Rovers fan cheering on a merged team and I'm pretty sure a Rovers fan would do the same!

Fans of the same team being segregated :pac:

GLaDOS

I love how some people are happy to piss over 100 years of history down the toilet so that Irish teams (which they often don't support now) can do better in Europe.

captain caveman

I'm a supporter of LOI. Rovers fan, attend as many games as I can,

Amirani

captain caveman wrote: »

I understand these clubs have legacies & Fans etc, but as we've seen, teams like Monaghan, Galway, and other big clubs, also with legacies and fans have gone to the wall.. Pretty soon there wont be many teams left...

Monaghan and Galway weren't big clubs and they never had big fan bases or impressive legacies?

BOHtox

captain caveman wrote: »

Apologies if this has been posted already, but I reckon they need to scrap the whole thing and start again.

Could they look at a "Celtic League" type situation, as in rugby, make 4 decent teams of the four provinces in Ireland, and play them against the Scottish and Welsh teams? Lets face it, bar Celtic and maybe Swansea & Cardiff, the Welsh and Scottish leagues aren't super... And since they're talking about hosting the Euros with these Countries, why not have a competition with them?

A team of the best Leinster clubs (shams, bohs, pats etc) could defo do well against St.Johnstone and the like...

Just my thoughts

** Forgot Rangers, or Team twelve or whatever the SPL has them down as

Well let's look at Fingal. I don't know how many hundreds of thousands of people live there. There was a newly marketed Sporting Fingal that had money pumped in to it and played nice football and had cheap tickets. They had about 200 fans!
Mergers don't work!
IMO, you need to get communities and catchment areas and not vaguely defined regions like a part of North Dublin or a Province

Amirani

captain caveman wrote: »

Or, what about if to raise money and maybe profile of teams, again as with rugby, select the best players from teams in the provinces to play for a provincial team against the teams from Wales/Scotland, as well as playing for their club.. Then noone has to stand with fans of teams they dont like for long

In what way would this improve the league?

captain caveman

So there werent fans?? Galway had been around since the 1930s in one form or another

Also, Shelbourne had financial trouble, and they'd always been a "bigger" club

Amirani

captain caveman wrote: »

So there werent fans?? Galway had been around since the 1930s in one form or another

Also, Shelbourne had financial trouble, and they'd always been a "bigger" club

Galway have always had relatively small crowds.

Shels had financial trouble because Ollie Byrne spent crazy money in attracting the league's best players to Shels.

captain caveman

Anyway, it was just an idea, sorry if I wound anyone up with it...

BOHtox

I think it's hard for people to Dublin to feel affiliated with a town in the same way someone from a smaller area could.

I like being from Dublin but my Grandparents are from Leitrim. The passion they have for their little village is astounding. Tidy Towns, support groups, gatherings, local work etc all done entirely voluntary by these people. These does happen in Dublin but to a much smaller scale. Now I'm not suggesting a team in every little village in Leitrim but the idea is what I'm getting at. There has to be a balance between localness (if you get what I'm saying) and sustainability. As in, a team people can support and belong to yet there is enough people to sustain the team. You'd want to look at towns of 20/30/40,000 (Sligo Town having <20000 people) or so for this to happen. Drogheda, Dundalk for instance have good catchment areas and are marketed in the way that they are the local team for the local area. Not in the same way SD Galway is or even teams like Bohs, Rovers, Pat's, Shels etc.

Galway City - 77000
Navan - 28000
Swords - 36000
Ennis - 26000
Tralee -23000
Carlow - 21000

And arguments could be made about more of these towns.

What needs to happen is that these towns get one team to play in the LOI. This can be a new club or a club where the name of the town already exists in the title. Junior clubs develop players and then are signed to the new Town club. When they are old enough they will play for these Towns.
I think once catchment areas are discovered, you need to market them as the local football club. Support will then increase and with that the standard gets better.

It may sound stupid but I mean Jonathan Douglas came from Monaghan. He'd hardly set the league alight but if you can develop more players of even his standard I think it will go along way in the future. If Monaghan had support he could have played more games for them, developing at home and then going abroad at a later age rather than when he was 18 or so

aindriu80

A lot of our problems are that we are predictable, technically limited and lack of quality players. A better league is realistically the only solution to solve this. We can't rely on the EPL to do this for us considering how much special coaching other nations spend on players. If you don't invest you wont get any results at the highest level.

Still I can't see how the Irish public will ever get behind the league of Ireland as its not in our blood to support something that is seen better overseas. The financial side of things too could be a lot better as full time professional is a necessity.

tdv123

celtictiger32 wrote: »

with the disappointing news of monaghans demise recently and the annual list of clubs who find themselves in financial difficulty what needs to be done to get our league in a fit state. we all have our theories i.e. the crowds, fai, barstoolers, all ireland league etc so if you were given the job of ressurecting the league what changes would you implement?

please try to be constructive no epl trolling

Whats EPL trolling?

celtictiger32

[QUOTE=A_Sober_Paddy;79376360

But I think getting a presence in the underage leagues and junior leagues will help Limerick. And I think other clubs should do this, also work with other junior clubs in their local area to get their support(This won't happen in Limerick as the majority of junior clubs are fairly anti Limerick for some reason)[/QUOTE]

weplayed a limerick under 18 side a couple of years ago who werent allowed entry to the local league, they were told if they entered they would just attract all the best local talent and the league would be a no contest every year

tdv123 wrote: »

Whats EPL trolling?

when epl fans post stupid unhelpful comments like 'sh1te league' etc. when they probably have never even been to the ground of the team they support let alone a game in our league

_blank_

Shelhemians!

St Rovers Athletic!

SD Galway!


oh wait.

Xavi6

Ryanair pricks not helping -

http://www.ryanair.com/en/news/ryanair-urges-irish-football-fans-to-forget-the-euros-and-get-behind-their-real-teams-in-england#.T-j3iVSoyRI.twitter

RYANAIR URGES IRISH FOOTBALL FANS TO FORGET THE EUROS AND GET BEHIND THEIR REAL TEAMS – IN ENGLAND!

Xavi6

Ryanair pricks not helping -

http://www.ryanair.com/en/news/ryanair-urges-irish-football-fans-to-forget-the-euros-and-get-behind-their-real-teams-in-england#.T-j3iVSoyRI.twitter

RYANAIR URGES IRISH FOOTBALL FANS TO FORGET THE EUROS AND GET BEHIND THEIR REAL TEAMS – IN ENGLAND!

dreamers75

Xavi6 wrote: »

Ryanair pricks not helping -

http://www.ryanair.com/en/news/ryanair-urges-irish-football-fans-to-forget-the-euros-and-get-behind-their-real-teams-in-england#.T-j3iVSoyRI.twitter

Thats class in fairness

applehunter

dreamers75 wrote: »

Thats class in fairness

Think the irony will be lost on most.

Pat D. Almighty

Here's my vision for fixing the league.

First of all, John Delaney need to take a major pay cut. 400,000, or whatever he's on, is way too much for the head of ANY football association.

A 16 team top-tier and maybe, just maybe, an 8 team second-tier championship. The entry fee for each team should be reduced to reflect the incomes of each team. The prize-money for finishing positions are not compatible with a functioning competition.

Free match tickets (up to 500) each week to schools (under 16). Let's be honest, there's no hope for clubs to attract EPL supporters. They're a lost cause. I got interested in St. Pats when as a 12 year old wearing a Middlesbrough jersey, Pat Dolan asked me what part of Middlesbrough I was from. When I told him I was from Dublin he told me I should be supporting my local team. We need to get the kids interested. Maybe have 3 groups of different schools each week, and get the same school in at least once a month.

Encourage the media outlets to give headline preference to domestic soccer news, rather than having Wayne Rooney's toe injury as the main news on the backpage while Bohemians domestic-double is confined to 4 pages back.

Pinturicchio

Pat D. Almighty wrote: »

Encourage the media outlets to give headline preference to domestic soccer news, rather than having Wayne Rooney's toe injury as the main news on the backpage while Bohemians domestic-double is confined to 4 pages back.

More like 4 years back.