how to fix our league! - Mod Warning in OP

Richard Hillman

They were mentioning the attendance on Soccer Rep earier and the lack of marketing. If you go onto the FAI Facebook page there is barely a mention of it. Its their showpiece game and nothing.

civis_liberalis

Richard Hillman wrote: »

They were mentioning the attendance on Soccer Rep earier and the lack of marketing. If you go onto the FAI Facebook page there is barely a mention of it. Its their showpiece game and nothing.

League of Ireland isn't real football. That happens in England. That is the attitude of the people in charge in the FAI.

I have looked at this thread every so often and one thing that stands out is people saying what the FAI should be doing to improve the situation.

It seems pretty clear that the FAI have no interest in what state the league is in now or will be in the future.

Talk of cooperation between LOI and schoolboy football is laughably pie in the sky.

The schoolboy associations are a powerful body within the FAI and nothing that takes any of their power away will ever be allowed.

Look at Galway. The two juvenile kingpins in the city secured a deal agreed in secret with the league chairman, a man on the board of the FAI, so that Galway FC wouldn't be allowed to have any underage teams and to retain their own u19 league teams, while having the UEFA solidarity money which should be going to Galway FC diverted to them.

People with votes that affect people in the ranks of the FAI have always had football in Ireland by the balls and it's hard to see how that will ever change.

NIMAN

overshoot wrote: »

our operating budget is c250K based on last years agm. but that is running the senior team, usl team, u19, u17 and on down to u12 or 10 in the (quite new) adacemy, plus the schools programs. the 100k figure im assuming is just to field a loi team after league entry, ref fees, travel, (we did 11,600km) etc
I know some players were getting wages, others expenses but we didnt have enough money to tempt others who would have most certainly added to our squad from their usl teams....

@overshoot,

Wondering what team you speak of?

civis_liberalis

Omackeral wrote: »

A good vibrant provincial spread is good for the League. With Galway back and in the Premier coming off a near 3000 live gate, hopefully their fortunes will go up too.

Almost 3k and no away support. If that was another team in the league you would surely add maybe 100-200 tickets to the gate at least, depending on who it was.

civis_liberalis

NIMAN wrote: »

@overshoot,

Wondering what team you speak of?

Pretty sure he's Harps.

Pat D. Almighty

What's going on with Shels and Dalymount? Is that set in stone or is the ground-share still only an idea. Is there any reason for Shelbourne not to relocate to Ringsend and play in Shelbourne Park or Irishtown Stadium? Great place for them to build up a young supporter following.

Gavin "shels"

Pat D. Almighty wrote: »

What's going on with Shels and Dalymount? Is that set in stone or is the ground-share still only an idea. Is there any reason for Shelbourne not to relocate to Ringsend and play in Shelbourne Park or Irishtown Stadium? Great place for them to build up a young supporter following.

Before the start of the season it was looking like either a groundshare in Tolka or Dalymount or possibly a new ground up next to Ikea. Seems to be more and more looking like Dalymount unfortunately.

Shels tried to relocate to Ringsend back during the Celtic Tiger, it's a long story but basically the DDDA were backing it but the residents were totally against it.

Shelbourne Park is going up for sale and will be closed next year to Greyhound racing, fairly certain there's no way we can afford to buy it.

We also tried moving into Whitehall years ago, full backing of the FAI to make it into a quality stadium with full gym, etc... and be used for underage Ireland international games. Shels splashed out a good bit of money on plans but it was rejected by the Whitehall members (supposedly some lads came from the woodwork to vote) due to them thinking out underage teams would out muscle there's (although the underage sides would have still been training in the AUL and would have had very little to do with Whitehall).

howiya

Gavin shels wrote: »

Shelbourne Park is going up for sale and will be closed next year to Greyhound racing, fairly certain there's no way we can afford to buy it.

Its Harold's Cross that the IGB are selling. Shelbourne Park will remain open

Pat D. Almighty

Gavin shels wrote: »

Before the start of the season it was looking like either a groundshare in Tolka or Dalymount or possibly a new ground up next to Ikea. Seems to be more and more looking like Dalymount unfortunately.

Shels tried to relocate to Ringsend back during the Celtic Tiger, it's a long story but basically the DDDA were backing it but the residents were totally against it.

Shelbourne Park is going up for sale and will be closed next year to Greyhound racing, fairly certain there's no way we can afford to buy it.

We also tried moving into Whitehall years ago, full backing of the FAI to make it into a quality stadium with full gym, etc... and be used for underage Ireland international games. Shels splashed out a good bit of money on plans but it was rejected by the Whitehall members (supposedly some lads came from the woodwork to vote) due to them thinking out underage teams would out muscle there's (although the underage sides would have still been training in the AUL and would have had very little to do with Whitehall).

Typical. In terms of the residents being against it, that's understandable.
Shelbourne Park could be an option if the club approach Dublin City Council and a local GAA club and maybe have a groundshare. Shels may not own the ground, but there's nothing wrong with renting. 'Ownership' is just a piece of paper
As for Whitehall, well that itself is another problem. Schoolboy clubs that had it good in 'da gud toimz' still trying to hold on to the power. It's for the better of the game nationally that the league of Ireland have a fair opportunity to attract the country's best players at under-age level. For the self-appointed 'big' clubs in the DDSL, it's all about face, grudges and general small minded thinking.

Whitehall seems like a good short-term option, and potentially long-term should all other options fall flat. Don't give in to the schoolboys.

uch

Pat D. Almighty wrote: »

For the self-appointed 'big' clubs in the DDSL, it's all about face, grudges and general small minded thinking.

It's about Hard Cash, nothing else

Pat D. Almighty

uch wrote: »

It's about Hard Cash, nothing else

It's the appeal of hard cash that fuels the rest of the traits I mentioned. Shame really. What ever happened to that LOI Supporters Action group that was mooted on here. Did it every take off?

Richard Hillman

Shelbourne Park wouldnt be suitable for football anymore. The grandstand is more of a pavillion with a little bit of standing room at the front.

legendary.xix

Flicking through the Europa League results on Thursday night, it's disappointing the league is not at a level where one or two clubs are consistently making the EL group stages at the very least, being able to host the game in their own ground of at least 8000 to meet the UEFA category 4 stadia criteria. It's not beyond a realistic target for clubs. Cork City's ground can take 7500. Shamrock Rovers of course where in the EL group stage a few years back. It's not going to be an overnight success. Limerick are hoping to get back to the Market's Field and have long-term ambitions for that ground to take 8000. They'll be realistic in their approach. Pointless building stands if the support is not there. It's been important that clubs have moved to a more sound financial footing and are cutting their cloth accordingly.

miroslavklose

legendary.xix wrote: »

Flicking through the Europa League results on Thursday night, it's disappointing the league is not at a level where one or two clubs are consistently making the EL group stages at the very least, being able to host the game in their own ground of at least 8000 to meet the UEFA category 4 stadia criteria. It's not beyond a realistic target for clubs. Cork City's ground can take 7500. Shamrock Rovers of course where in the EL group stage a few years back. It's not going to be an overnight success. Limerick are hoping to get back to the Market's Field and have long-term ambitions for that ground to take 8000. They'll be realistic in their approach. Pointless building stands if the support is not there. It's been important that clubs have moved to a more sound financial footing and are cutting their cloth accordingly.

Ground capacity is irrelevant when teams don't have the interest to come close to filling them.

The largest football capacity for a ground actually owned by a club in the LOI is Longford's ground at short of 7,000. Turner's Cross is marginally bigger but I doubt they could fill it safely. That's the absolute ceiling of Irish football in the medium-term, and even so we're way off.

Pat D. Almighty

legendary.xix wrote: »

Flicking through the Europa League results on Thursday night, it's disappointing the league is not at a level where one or two clubs are consistently making the EL group stages at the very least, being able to host the game in their own ground of at least 8000 to meet the UEFA category 4 stadia criteria. It's not beyond a realistic target for clubs. Cork City's ground can take 7500. Shamrock Rovers of course where in the EL group stage a few years back. It's not going to be an overnight success. Limerick are hoping to get back to the Market's Field and have long-term ambitions for that ground to take 8000. They'll be realistic in their approach. Pointless building stands if the support is not there. It's been important that clubs have moved to a more sound financial footing and are cutting their cloth accordingly.

If you build it, they will come

dan1895

Pat D. Almighty wrote: »

If you build it, they will come

I know your not being serious but that's the biggest load of bollox. Thomond Park is probably the best stadium to ever be used in the League of Ireland and Limerick'd average attendance was below 800 for the season.

Pat D. Almighty

dan1895 wrote: »

I know your not being serious but that's the biggest load of bollox. Thomond Park is probably the best stadium to ever be used in the League of Ireland and Limerick'd average attendance was below 800 for the season.

Yes, but Limerick FC didn't build Thomond Park.

dundalkfc10

Pat D. Almighty wrote: »

Yes, but Limerick FC didn't build Thomond Park.

That has nothing to do with it...LOI clubs need to be doing everything they can possible to get kids to games, because if kids are grown up with Dundalk, Drogheda, Sligo etc.... a part of their lives. They will all continue to go.

I goto games with the same 10 lads usually all the time, and everyone who stands around us have been following Dundalk since they were kids/teenagers! Not many of the core support wont have started as kids

djpbarry

dundalkfc10 wrote: »

That has nothing to do with it...LOI clubs need to be doing everything they can possible to get kids to games, because if kids are grown up with Dundalk, Drogheda, Sligo etc.... a part of their lives.

And in order to achieve that, facilities need to be improved. That doesn't necessarily mean drastically increasing the stadium capacity, but simple things like decent toilets are absent from a lot of grounds.

Prop Joe

Stadiums like Dartford FC have are the way forward - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princes_Park_(Dartford)

LOI teams would be alot more attractive to both spectators & players if they had top class stadiums & facilities plus the increased atmosphere at matches.

BUT throwing money into stadia at this time is probably a crazy idea.

I think i rule where 2 of your match day squad are U-19 and another 3 must be U-23 would be great for the league.

Colleges also need to be incorporated big time into the LOI

djpbarry

Prop Joe wrote: »

Stadiums like Dartford FC have are the way forward - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princes_Park_(Dartford)

I prefer Burton Albion's Pirelli Stadium - lovely little ground:

doncarlos

Prop Joe wrote: »

Stadiums like Dartford FC have are the way forward - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princes_Park_(Dartford)

Paying £7 million for a stadium with 640 seats would be suicide for any LOI club. Almost all clubs would have that many seats already even if it is in a crumbling stand

Paz-CCFC

doncarlos wrote: »

Paying £7 million for a stadium with 640 seats would be suicide for any LOI club. Almost all clubs would have that many seats already even if it is in a crumbling stand

But the overall capacity is 4,000+, which many Irish clubs do not have. It's not one seated stand and nothing else/three grassy banks. It has four connected stands, just with more terracing. It wouldn't cost hugely more to build the same structure, but all seated if you wanted. Or else with rail seating, to be able to have a bigger capacity for league matches and then being able to switch to easily switch to seats for European matches (not that there are many of these, anyway).

The also have what looks like a great clubhouse, including bars, a corporate area, dining rooms etc. Something that's sorely lacking in the LoI. Football being a sport inclusive of all, the ideal situation would be to be able to offer cheap tickets on the terraces for your average fan, but also be able to accommodate the richer lads who are happy to shell out a bit extra. As well as that, to impress your sponsors. And during the off season, it's a great way to keep things ticking over when the turnstiles aren't, by renting it out for events, weddings, using it for fan meet ups etc. It's also part of an overall complex containing training pitches for their players, community pitches, mini pitches and...a feckin' 9 hole golf course! Though, it seems like the golf course was already there, but that the £7M covered all the rest.

As well as that, given it's environmental soundness, it saves quite a bit of money. Solar panels providing electricity, hot water, heating in the clubhouse and under the pitch; insulation on the roofs to further save on the heating bills in the clubhouse; it collects rainwater, which would save a lot on the water costs. It also has good sound insulation, which I'm sure the locals appreciate, whilst I'd think it'd also help create a good atmosphere, by keeping the sound in.

I wouldn't be dismissing it as a just a small stadium with only 640 seats. It seems to have been a very good investment, all things considered. Of course, even if it does pay off in the long term, the problem for Irish clubs remains having anywhere near that kind of money to cover the outlay.

Mushy

Paz-CCFC wrote: »

But the overall capacity is 4,000+, which many Irish clubs do not have. It's not one seated stand and nothing else/three grassy banks. It has four connected stands, just with more terracing. It wouldn't cost hugely more to build the same structure, but all seated if you wanted. Or else with rail seating, to be able to have a bigger capacity for league matches and then being able to switch to easily switch to seats for European matches (not that there are many of these, anyway).

The also have what looks like a great clubhouse, including bars, a corporate area, dining rooms etc. Something that's sorely lacking in the LoI. Football being a sport inclusive of all, the ideal situation would be to be able to offer cheap tickets on the terraces for your average fan, but also be able to accommodate the richer lads who are happy to shell out a bit extra. As well as that, to impress your sponsors. And during the off season, it's a great way to keep things ticking over when the turnstiles aren't, by renting it out for events, weddings, using it for fan meet ups etc. It's also part of an overall complex containing training pitches for their players, community pitches, mini pitches and...a feckin' 9 hole golf course! Though, it seems like the golf course was already there, but that the £7M covered all the rest.

As well as that, given it's environmental soundness, it saves quite a bit of money. Solar panels providing electricity, hot water, heating in the clubhouse and under the pitch; insulation on the roofs to further save on the heating bills in the clubhouse; it collects rainwater, which would save a lot on the water costs. It also has good sound insulation, which I'm sure the locals appreciate, whilst I'd think it'd also help create a good atmosphere, by keeping the sound in.

I wouldn't be dismissing it as a just a small stadium with only 640 seats. It seems to have been a very good investment, all things considered. Of course, even if it does pay off in the long term, the problem for Irish clubs remains having anywhere near that kind of money to cover the outlay.

A big if, but if I won the Euromillions, I'd donate money for a stadium like that to Bray. Really neat setup, and may have long term benefits. Well, one would hope so.

Only thing is, can't see it being near that price over here!

Paz-CCFC

Mushy wrote: »

A big if, but if I won the Euromillions, I'd donate money for a stadium like that to Bray. Really neat setup, and may have long term benefits. Well, one would hope so.

Only thing is, can't see it being near that price over here!

Yeah, it really is one of those things that you'd love to have, but clubs simply don't have the funds. Which is a shame, because long term, it looks like it'd be more than worth it.

A Galway fan over on Foot.ie reckons it costs about €1.5M per 1,000 capacity (presumably for stands/stadia around the size you'd get at the Cross, Athlone, Deacy Park etc. - and probably all-seated, at that). So, a 4,000 capacity ground like Dartford - €6M, excluding all the extras? Possibly less, given it's mostly terraced and would require a smaller structure than 4,000 seats.


By the way, on the rail seating I mentioned earlier. I think that really is the way forward for LoI clubs regularly in Europe, looking to have their stadia conform with UEFA standards and maximise capacity for those matches, whilst also maximising for big sell out crowds domestically. A fella on the Cork City forum did some research with a crowd that installs them, and they said that for small stands in the LoI (about 2,000), it'd cost about £80 (just over €100) per seat to install them. For that, you get a safe standing area, with bolted upright metal seats that can be brought down for UEFA games. The seats last about 20 seasons.

Just to use rail seats in the context of Dundalk FC, who are a recent example of replacing much of their terraced areas with seats. Dundalk fans might want to correct me on this, but I believe the seated area in Oriel Park is 3,500. So, I'm guessing 1,000 in the main stand and 2,500 seats in the rest of the ground (which would have been their old terraces) - would that be about right? From being their in October, the away section looked like it had one seat taking up what would've been two spots of the old terrace. So, if that's what it's like around the ground, the capacity of those areas have been halved from being seated. So, those terraces would've held about 5,000?

Say if rail seating were placed there instead. At €100 a seat, it would have cost €250,000. They would have the same capacity for European games as they now have, but they'd have a much bigger capacity for league and cup matches. An extra 2,500 capacity would've been a huge financial boost in the context of our recent league decider. 2,500 extra people (or, more likely, saving the cost of erecting the temp stand) at €15 a pop is €37,500, plus extras like programme sales, money at the bar etc. Just seven of these matches over the space of the twenty year lifetime of these seats would pay for them and then some.

Of course, €250k is also a massive outlay. But, it could be done in stages across the ground or even just one part of the ground, to bring it up to UEFA standard.

gugsy

Never mind the stadiums they are not gonna bring people into the grounds. TV coverage is the only way for people to become aware of whats in their front-yard. There needs to be a game or two every week shown on tv. That way people will become aware of the players in the loi. Stars (of some sort) will be born, kids will know the stars and want to see them.

Gate reciepts will rise. Then start talking about building nicer stadiums when you have the crowds to fill them.

Henlars67

gugsy wrote: »

Never mind the stadiums they are not gonna bring people into the grounds. TV coverage is the only way for people to become aware of whats in their front-yard. There needs to be a game or two every week shown on tv. That way people will become aware of the players in the loi. Stars (of some sort) will be born, kids will know the stars and want to see them.

Gate reciepts will rise. Then start talking about building nicer stadiums when you have the crowds to fill them.

This is the only league where TV coverage takes money out of the game rather than puts money into it.

The clubs receive nothing for live TV coverage and gates are down due to ridiculous KO times.

I'd rather we had no TV coverage to be honest.

gugsy

Henlars67 wrote: »

This is the only league where TV coverage takes money out of the game rather than puts money into it.

The clubs receive nothing for live TV coverage and gates are down due to ridiculous KO times.

I'd rather we had no TV coverage to be honest.

I hear ya but if you could get (A new sports channel) who were dedicated to the loi rather then thelikesof rte and e3 wanting money to show the games on tv.

tastyt

gugsy wrote: »

I hear ya but if you could get (A new sports channel) who were dedicated to the loi rather then thelikesof rte and e3 wanting money to show the games on tv.

Unfortunately some games that are on tv actually damage the image of the league. The facilities and floodlighting can often look bad, low attendances and this year some bad football have all been live on tv. It's as if the players freeze when the live cameras ard there because the vast majority of live matches were very poor this year.

It mind sound silly but daylight really shows up bad facilities and attendances, at least with winter soccer under the lights and Pissing rain it felt like proper football and I believe, better atmospheres. Bring back the winter game, real football.

djpbarry

gugsy wrote: »

Never mind the stadiums they are not gonna bring people into the grounds.

Crap facilities will keep people away - you can be absolutely certain of that.

gugsy wrote: »

TV coverage is the only way for people to become aware of whats in their front-yard.

There are already plenty of games on TV and, if anything (as has been said), they're reducing attendances, not boosting them.

gugsy wrote: »

Then start talking about building nicer stadiums when you have the crowds to fill them.

Why do people keep conflating "nicer" with "bigger"?

Most grounds in the LOI are in an awful state and facilities for fans are poor or non-existent. This has to improve if you want to see bigger crowds.

NIMAN

The modern fan is more discerning, and will not pay money to come into dilapidated stadia that have no facilities. As someone who goes to the Brandywell, we understand better than most.

The die hard fans will always come to games, but these numbers are low. The LoI needs to attract the casual fan, and they compare football with other forms of entertainment like going to the cinema etc. If they can get better facilities and entertainment at the cinema or pub or theatre then they will go there instead.

miroslavklose

NIMAN wrote: »

The modern fan is more discerning, and will not pay money to come into dilapidated stadia that have no facilities. As someone who goes to the Brandywell, we understand better than most.

The die hard fans will always come to games, but these numbers are low. The LoI needs to attract the casual fan, and they compare football with other forms of entertainment like going to the cinema etc. If they can get better facilities and entertainment at the cinema or pub or theatre then they will go there instead.

Problem is the modern fan isn't exactly mad about going to good stadiums either.

Henlars67

I don't know whether or not better facilities will bring in new fans, however, those of us who regularly go to games are entitled to at least have clean toilets to use.

I think it is a disgrace that fans can travel for hours, pay into a match, and then have to use filthy toilets, Tolka Park being the worst I've come across in recent years.

There was an inch of water on the floor the last time that I was here.

No club should get a licence unless their ground has decent toilets.

It's actually unbelievable that this even has to be discussed.

CSF

Henlars67 wrote: »

I don't know whether or not better facilities will bring in new fans, however, those of us who regularly go to games are entitled to at least have clean toilets to use.

I think it is a disgrace that fans can travel for hours, pay into a match, and then have to use filthy toilets, Tolka Park being the worst I've come across in recent years.

There was an inch of water on the floor the last time that I was here.

No club should get a licence unless their ground has decent toilets.

It's actually unbelievable that this even has to be discussed.

The situation has improved immeasurably. Money is a factor, also the lack of volunteers. Bit of a catch 22 if you go by the idea that good facilities would increase the amount of money and number of volunteers available.

Omackeral

Anyone from Limerick who throws out the facilities line is in denial. The club were in Thomond Park and yet their crowds barely hit 4 figures any of the times I've been there.

White Horse

Omackeral wrote: »

Anyone from Limerick who throws out the facilities line is in denial. The club were in Thomond Park and yet their crowds barely hit 4 figures any of the times I've been there.

Providing better facilities is something that must be done but it will not materially impact on attendances.

The things that really appeals to casual fans is good football, a lively atmosphere, and pride in their local team.

Just look at Cork, Dundalk, and Sligo. When there is something good happening on the pitch local people come out in droves.

It is more difficult in Dublin as it is more harder for clubs to connect with the local population. Building better connections with the local community is essential.

dundalkfc10

White Horse wrote: »

Providing better facilities is something that must be done but it will not materially impact on attendances.

The things that really appeals to casual fans is good football, a lively atmosphere, and pride in their local team.

Just look at Cork, Dundalk, and Sligo. When there is something good happening on the pitch local people come out in droves.

It is more difficult in Dublin as it is more harder for clubs to connect with the local population. Building better connections with the local community is essential.

To be honest White Horse

Considering the size of Dundalk and the support we get from areas around it...We only got more than 3000 on a few occasions all season

I thought we should be getting 4/5000 for every game near the end of the season but the fact we could have got an extra 2000ish V Cork last day shows that the football fans are their...Its just about getting them to go regular/as often as they can

Pighead

dundalkfc10 wrote: »

To be honest White Horse

Considering the size of Dundalk and the support we get from areas around it...We only got more than 3000 on a few occasions all season

I thought we should be getting 4/5000 for every game near the end of the season but the fact we could have got an extra 2000ish V Cork last day shows that the football fans are their...Its just about getting them to go regular/as often as they can

Spot on. It's been frustrating heading up to Oriel during the past two seasons and seeing less than 3000 people in the ground. It was sort of understandable in 2013 but the 2014 season should have seen way more than 2500-3000 going through the gates. We're supposedly a football mad town with a team playing some of the best football seen in Oriel in years yet we average about 2500 per home game.

I know that the GAA league matches clashed with maybe four or five of our home games this year which maybe affected the attendance by a few hundred but it's still baffling as to why our attendances are relatively poor. Next season I'll be disappointed if we can't break 4000 against all the big clubs (plus Drogheda).

White Horse

dundalkfc10 wrote: »

To be honest White Horse

Considering the size of Dundalk and the support we get from areas around it...We only got more than 3000 on a few occasions all season

I thought we should be getting 4/5000 for every game near the end of the season but the fact we could have got an extra 2000ish V Cork last day shows that the football fans are their...Its just about getting them to go regular/as often as they can

Looking at it from a Dundalk perspective, I agree that the potential is there for greater support from the club. Issues such a facilities and ticket prices do come into the reckoning at that stage.

However, if you extrapolate Dundalk attendances to Dublin, which is the hub of Irish football afterall.

The average attendance in Oriel Park was around 2,500. That is 6.6% of the population of Dundalk.

The urban population of Dublin is 1.1m. If the same percentage of those turned out for league games there would attendances of 72,500 in the capital.

We would have a thriving league.

Iang87

Omackeral wrote: »

Anyone from Limerick who throws out the facilities line is in denial. The club were in Thomond Park and yet their crowds barely hit 4 figures any of the times I've been there.

Awful there though atmosphere was shocking. I think if they had both sets of fans in the same satnd it would have helped. I think the size worked against it. Decent facilities but almost impossible to generate an atmosphere

gimmick

Pighead wrote: »

Next season I'll be disappointed if we can't break 4000 against all the big clubs (plus Drogheda).

Brace yourself for disappointment then. Come March, I'd bet at your first home game will revert back to little better than your average last season.

It will be the same with CCFC. We have 6000+ at our last home game, but unless we have the likes of Shams/SPA/Dundalk for our first home game, I reckon we will struggle to get 3500. If its UCD/Bray/Longford, the struggle is for 3000. And God help us if we dont hit the ground running.

That's how LOI works I'm afraid.

Omackeral

Iang87 wrote: »

Awful there though atmosphere was shocking. I think if they had both sets of fans in the same satnd it would have helped. I think the size worked against it. Decent facilities but almost impossible to generate an atmosphere

True. I love the likes of Tolka's Riverside and Richmond in general for atmosphere. Smaller but it keeps the sound in and I enjoy the charms of them too. You can hear every chant perfectly no matter where you are in the ground.

Pighead

gimmick wrote: »

Brace yourself for disappointment then. Come March, I'd bet at your first home game will revert back to little better than your average last season.

Surely that depends on who we play first? In the past few years our attendances have gone from an average of under 1000 up to 2000 in 2013 and about 2500 last year. Would be nice to get average up above 3000 next year given the fact we are now the champions and the clubs profile has risen dramatically.

gimmick

Well yes. If you ahve the likes of Bray (sorry Bray fans), apathy will prevail. Same goes for every club Id say.

uch

CSF wrote: »

The situation has improved immeasurably. Money is a factor, also the lack of volunteers. Bit of a catch 22 if you go by the idea that good facilities would increase the amount of money and number of volunteers available.

This is a huge issue, I volunteer at Rovers home matches no problem, but you can understand why people stop when it's the same 10 or 15 people week in week out, year after year. Attracting new volunteers is equally as Important as Facilities IMO, as it's the volunteers that will be doing the bulk of the work improving the facilities

Iang87

Omackeral wrote: »

True. I love the likes of Tolka's Riverside and Richmond in general for atmosphere. Smaller but it keeps the sound in and I enjoy the charms of them too. You can hear every chant perfectly no matter where you are in the ground.

Thats what they should be aiming for in the league. 3-4000 seaters with decent facilities, maybe a small bar and the like.

I thought Tallaght stadium was lovely when I was there this year, very nice set up

djpbarry

CSF wrote: »

The situation has improved immeasurably. Money is a factor, also the lack of volunteers.

Clubs shouldn’t be using a lack of volunteers as an excuse for a lack of basic sanitation.

Omackeral

PRAF wrote: »

I was listening to Off the Ball last night and there was a piece on developing Irish footballers. A lot of the gist of it was about having a national football philosophy, better training for youngsters, better training for coaches across the country, etc. Very difficult to argue with that as it all sounds very logical.

However, the big hole in all of this is not have a proper league for our top players to play in. Ok, you can never really compete with the top leagues in europe, we're too far behind them to ever complete on a level playing field.

But what we do need is a pro league to support the best of our young talent (say 18 - 23) who haven't already been snapped up by the biggest EPL teams, to support untapped talent from south america, africa, etc, and to support a few top Irish pros who are looking to retire and move back to Ireland (e.g. maybe the likes of Duff in a year or two).

That is what my suggestions are trying to address. Pie in the sky? Perhaps. I'm sure lots of luddites said the same when the Rugby guys were dreaming of an Irish team winning the Heineken Cup or when the Golf guys were dreaming of 4 Irishmen winning 6 majors in 5 years.

I lol'd, scarily on the money!

Pat D. Almighty

So it looks like a 10 team Premier division is going ahead from 2018.

What happened to the recommendations of a 16 team Premier with a regionalised Second Tier? I was of the understanding that was going ahead too ;?

gimmick

Pat D. Almighty wrote: »

So it looks like a 10 team Premier division is going ahead from 2018.

What happened to the recommendations of a 16 team Premier with a regionalised Second Tier? I was of the understanding that was going ahead too ;?

There are not enough teams around to have a regionalised 2nd tier tbh.

There are only 18 clubs in the LOI at present. Cobh are probably being helped by the FAI to compete and Cabinteely are only there so they can have their youth teams compete on a national level.

So to have a regionalised 2nd tier you arguabley need another 16 clubs to have 2 divisions of 8/10.