Jump to content

Irish Football- The state its in


Meath_Villan

Recommended Posts

Just to pick up on a thread by some drogheda fellow...and the financial plight of these clubs.

Now for drogheda to go from playing euro football of types to now been a part-time cap in hand club is bad to see but it feels like its just the way things have gone and the way things will stay. Its ok for fans to be going all out to save these clubs but how are they going to attract new fans? my family couldn’t tell you who plays for lets say shelbourne but they can name the team sheet for Byern Munich

Anyway is the fooball/soccer scene in Ireland destined to go back to an ameture game?

Should the whole thing just be wound up? and if not how is it going to survive?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm sure football is not immune to the effects of the economy scaling down. Ireland could not establish a professional league during the boom so it sure as hell wont in a recession. I'd say plenty of clubs will have to scale back. Especially those who fall from grace. I think the popularity of the English Premier League in Ireland is almost a unique situation in Europe where a national league is affected so drastically by the popularity of a foreign league to the native population. And I can't imagine the Premier League losing popularity any time soon.

So yes I think it may regress slightly - perhaps more than just what the recession will do to it. I think the move to a summer league was absolutely the right thing to do. It was good common sense in acknowledging that it could not compete with the Premier League. But I don't think anyone would suggest that it should be wound up. These clubs still serve a purpose. They are more important than a half hour programme on Network 2 every week. It doesn't matter whether the players earn money from the game or not, they still play the game, the clubs are still supported by dedicated fans and our country should and always will have a national league.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The clubs caused it with help from the FAI. Tehy spent money they didnt have and would never get in the hope of making the CL. Alan Moore was on 1600 euro a week and never played and others were earning similar ridiculous amounts which they didnt deserve. Michael Keane was on 2200 a week and never did anything and Joe Gamble was offered 4k to join Pats which he turned down.

The FAI should have put a cap on them as anybody with sense knew it would end like this which is sad but true

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Before anything else happens there needs to be a merger between the LoI & IFAP. If they can sort out the politics then it should go ahead as it makes no sense for there to be 2 seperate leagues on a small island.

Beyond that, i think there is little room for manouevre. I might be the only one who thinks the LoI gets decent crowds as it is. Irish clubs, just like everywhere else, are vulnerable to charlatan owners like the 2 clubs mentioned in the previous thread. Droghedas owners who were as much property speculators as club owners & Ramblers who borrowed a fortune just to make it back to the big time for 1 season.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Anyway is the fooball/soccer scene in Ireland destined to go back to an ameture game?

Should the whole thing just be wound up? and if not how is it going to survive?

look at rovers

the kick in the arse experienced by drogs, shels, cork, and soon to be bohs is exactly what was needed in the irish game

the spending was completely unsustainable, but in the long run it might just be a great thing

back to rovers, theyve got a great new stadium, are fan owned and probably the best run club in the country, all because they made a hideous balls of things a few years back and realised that they needed a workable plan of attack to stay alive

now granted theyre not exactly setting the world alight on the pitch at the moment, but you can have no doubt that when the dust settles and everyone has reassessed their spending after going into, or coming close to, administration that rovers will be sitting on top of the pile purely because they were the ones who had the head start

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If they can sort out the politics then it should go ahead as it makes no sense for there to be 2 seperate leagues on a small island.

tbh i think its probably quite a time away from being a safe idea for fans to regularly be travelling across the border in either direction. there are too many scumbags on both sides who would revel in the trouble they could cause

the setanta cup showed that it can be done with the bigger clubs, but what happens when 2 mickey mouse clubs face each other with bus loads of trouble making scummers in tow

and thats without addressing the biggest problem:

one national league on the island of ireland means just one national team

without a national league you arent allowed to have an international football team by fifa regulations

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sadly it looks as though the League of Ireland is going to have to go back before it goes forward.. Bohs members are meeting later this month to probably vote in a motion for the side to go part-time... And with clubs like Drogheda and Cork fighting for their survival with players going unpaid it doesn't look good! Eircom dropped all their association with the League and I hear RTE offered to pay the FAI so they could drop their highlights show MNS but Delaney refused.

But as a football fan i definitely dont want to see the whole thing wound up... It needs to be there as either a stepping stone to bigger leagues across the pond or giving talented irish footballers a little bit of exposure they deserve.

The FAI has imposed a rule whereby no more than 60% of a clubs income can be spent of wages so that should stop clubs going crazy like Shels and Cork did in their pursuit for glory.

A problem is that a few clubs went wallop in the boom, so some will undoubtedly go in the recession. There are two many League of Ireland clubs... 22 in two leagues isn't sustainable.. If u think of Rugby there are only four teams (Provinces). There needs to be a reduction there, possibly down to 16 or 18 over the two leagues.

They also need to be involved in the community more, invovled with schools or local projects. Everyone in Dundalk should be aware of their local side, same with Waterford or Bray, but nobody in these communities care. These are the only way u can get crowds in.

Oh and we also need to forget about Europe completely.. Concentrate on survival and slowly rebuild Irish football from its roots. Eventually we'll get back to competing in 2nd and 3rd qualifying rounds for the europa league.. The glory days!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

They also need to be involved in the community more, invovled with schools or local projects

the problem there is that the gaa will do everything in their power to stop them, and the gaa have a LOT of power unfortunately

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

Pity. Big Pity... How many football fans from Cork spend lots of money travelling to England to support Liverpool and Man Utd but don't support their own local team? They probably won't batter and eyelid too. I know Roy Keane was a big draw for the people of Cork to support Man Utd but here lies the problems. Don't get me wrong, I'm a big Villa fan and travel over to gamesd but I also support my local side Bohs, I am afterall Irish as are they. There are plenty of football fans in Cork, no way should Cork City be winding up but there you are!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have a feeling that cork if it does go will be the first of many

it wouldnt be anything close to the first :lol:

this is about the 6th time in my memory that cork have folded :lol:

bohs are next tho, after that i think we should see a better organised setup. too many clubs going far beyond their means for no return

i could go down the route of blaming the football "fans" in this country for not supporting their national league, but whats the point, we've heard it all before and theyre still not going to get off their holes

Link to comment
Share on other sites

They might have to get off their holes soon as if their is no domestic league FIFA will step in and will probably only then realise the FAI are incompetent and the national team might be in jeopardy.

I dont think Bohs will go out of business i think they will scrape by the skin of their teeth like Drogheda last year

Link to comment
Share on other sites

They might have to get off their holes soon as if their is no domestic league FIFA will step in and will probably only then realise the FAI are incompetent and the national team might be in jeopardy.

no domestic league = no international team, so youre right it might take fifa intervention to do something about the fai

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cork folding today??? maybe not they have somehow got a freindly with celtic in 3 weeks which they say will pay the bills .....Will the creditors and the taxman listen or do they thinks its a plaster on a festering wound

Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...
Â