League of Ireland Football - Why don't you attend?

Some people follow teams based on success there's no denying that but the majority of 30 somethings that follow an English team have been doing so since the early 80's when madia exposure wasn't major and united weren't the all conquering team they are now. Your point is lost on those that don't have a local team, I am far more comfortable cheering on a team across the water than I would a Dub or Limerick team. I would be as much a blow in to St Pats as I would united or Liverpool. I also think that the 'ye support english teams but not england' argument is the LoI followers version of 'how do ye watch that crap'.
If you want things to be so local then surely your team should also only field local players so that your team can represent your town and your country.

I won't have native Mancunians/Scousers/Cockneys making snide remarks about Paddy blow ins (and they do...read their fanzines/message boards).
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Supporters can be narrow minded in every country.


The LoI won't improve by taking pot shots at supporters that follow teams abroad, they need to find ways of making them duel supporters and get them to the grounds, funnily enough a recession might be the best time for it. If the teams price their gates right they might start encouraging people out of cheap curiousity.
 

I am not denying that they still get decent crowds for the Championship games (I won't mention league attendances) but the fact remains that very few GAA games apart from the All Ireland Finals and Dublin games are sell outs. 22,000 people attended the Munster semi-final between Cork and Kerry in Pairc Ui Chaoimh. That was in their own backyard. Put them two teams in Croke Park on All Ireland Final day and they would be giving out about lack of tickets in a 80,000 stadium.

Its not a criticism of the GAA, it is a criticism about the majority of the Irish sporting public. We all love to show our support but only when it suits us.
 
Teh league of ireland isn't sexy enough.

That's teh main reason I reckon.
 
I don’t realy have all the details but I have heard that greyhound racing in Ireland had poor attendances for a long time. Probably had a negative image too, as being the preserve of hard-core gamblers.
They spent huge money on improving facilties, the racetrack in Galway for example is fantastic!
You can have a meal, a few drinks and a few bets all in a very enjoyable evening. I’m sure the FAI could learn something from Bord na gCon

Football clubs are selling a product after all. The dedicated fans will have no problems going to dodgy facilites but it’s going to be hard to attract new supporters.

Maybe then need to try more marketing approaches like giving a free tickets to every household in the area for a pre-season game. Let them meet the players or ask questions.

I don’t know much about marketing but they definitely don’t want to do the same as the publicans do. Raise prices and sit back and complain about poor business but never try something new.

qwertyuiop said:
Teh league of ireland isn't sexy enough.

That's teh main reason I reckon.
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Sums it up realy
 
Sunny said:
Its not a criticism of the GAA, it is a criticism about the majority of the Irish sporting public. We all love to show our support but only when it suits us.
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I think you will find the same applies in other countries. Btw, there's no shame in showing our support when it suits us. The days when men could routinely abandon their wives and families for days/weekends on end, to go to matches is long gone and no harm.
 

I am sure it is but other supporters don't try and bask in the glory of being called the best supporters in the world in the way that we do.

I don't get your last comment. Somebody popping down to their local LOI or GAA game at the weekend is guilty of abandoning their families? Thats a ridiculous comment
 
Mr Man, my comments were directed primarily at those from urban areas which do have a LOI alternative and most of our major urban areas have longstanding traditional clubs- Dublin, Waterford, Sligo, Derry, Dundalk,Limerick, Athlone, the various incarnations of Cork etc. I accept your point about someone from an area that doesn't have a club being consdiered a blow in if they were to simply adopt another club....BUT this is a problem common to every country I would say. Only in Ireland does the "blow in" adopt a foreign club with such gusto as here in Ireland.

As for the local thing, I was talking about identifying with your club not the players. I don't care if they're from Mongolia or even Cork....

I was a kid in the 80s and the exposure to English/Scottish football was, relatively speaking, just as great: it was on TV, all over the papers and the only football magazines that I would have bought would have been Shoot etc.

Little things like the RTE news announcing the results of English/Scottish football before mentioning the LOI is what really gets me down. Our international side will never prosper properly unless we can sustain a successful league relative to our size.

We're a joke.
 

GAA teams play only a handful of championship games per season. A LOI team plays 40+ games a year in various competitions, so the support is more thinly spread over a greater number of games. Statistics of total annual attendance are more meaningful.

e.g. a LOI team that averages 5k for 20 home games = 100,000 in total has a higher annual attendance that e.g. a GAA team that averages 20k for 4 home games.
 
By the way, Pats drawing AC Milan in the UEFA cup draw today wouldn't do the league any harm either!
 


I didn't dispute that. What you say supports my point: sports attendances in this country are quite respectable, given our small population. I merely used the GAA as an example.


Sunny said:
I am sure it is but other supporters don't try and bask in the glory of being called the best supporters in the world in the way that we do.
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How many Irish people do you know who really "bask in the glory of being called the best supporters in the world"? You might hear this sort of drivel on RTE, that doesn't mean its true, or it even means anything. And how do you know that other nations don't go on and on with similar drivel?
Sunny said:
I don't get your last comment. Somebody popping down to their local LOI or GAA game at the weekend is guilty of abandoning their families? Thats a ridiculous comment
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I didn't say that. I was merely responding to your criticism of supporters who only "support when it suits them".

What I said that was people who may be fanatical supporters of a particular team or sport may not be able to attend many games, for a variety of reasons, mainly kids & family. Their infrequent attendance does not mean that they are are not supporters.
 
In my experience plenty of females attend eL games too you know. I would imagine that the same applies to GAA, rugby etc. events?
 
csirl said:
e.g. a LOI team that averages 5k for 20 home games = 100,000 in total has a higher annual attendance that e.g. a GAA team that averages 20k for 4 home games.
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I don't think that ANY eL club averages 5K at games on a regular basis! Cork and Derry might come close from time to time. Bohs would probably be next but only when we're doing well (and even then there were only about 2K at at the Bohs v Drogs league game last Tuesday).
 
ClubMan said:
In my experience plenty of females attend eL games too you know. I would imagine that the same applies to GAA, rugby etc. events?
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Yes, but 20 or 30 years ago it was quite common for married men to make a point of attending every match, fleadh cheoil, agricultural show, cockfight etc because their wives were at home patiently minding a clutch of children. In contrast, the poor wives rarely got out of the house, except to Mass and Bingo. (If you ever look at the crowd scenes in the old All Ireland Gold games from the 70s & 80s on TG4, there is a noticeable preponderance of males, usually with Sunday suits and furry caps )

In the meantime, times have changed and today's fathers have more responsibilities at home than many of their own dads had. Hence less of them are getting to matches or other outings week-in-week-out.
 
Only in Ireland does the "blow in" adopt a foreign club with such gusto as here in Ireland.
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Well if you notice the number of united jerseys around the world plus the following of the premier league in scandanavia, asia, rest of europe I would say that the level of support is pretty widespread for 'blow ins'.

Our international side will never prosper properly unless we can sustain a successful league relative to our size
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I don't see the connection here, surely a nation of our size can't sustain a league that will produce and keep international class players. Our international side hasn't faired all that badly in the last 20 years to be fair
 
My point is not that the LOI will ever be of a standard capable of retaining all our international players, my point is that we should have a league of sufficient financial and professional attraction that players choose to stay here until they are ready to make the step up to the bigger leagues. Only the very best players should have to go to England ie the truely world class.

A 15 year old should be able to stay in Ireland and be trained by Irish coaches with Irish clubs and then if he is truely decent the bigger clubs will step in and pay the money and Irish football will benefit.

People in the rest of Europe (ie Nordic countries, Holland etc) have a big interest in the English football BUT they actively support their local clubs. Compare the crowds at a Stockholm derby match with a Dublin derby match.

WTF is wrong with us that we can't support our own league as well as having an interest in the bigger leagues?
 
The_Banker said:
Pats got Hertha Berlin.

This may not be a big enough draw to ensure a bumper crowd.
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No doubt if they drew Portsmouth they would have packed it out!!

Tough draw for Pats when you see some of the other teams left. They don't really stand any chance of beating Hertha over two legs but should get decent TV money from the German stations.
 
A 15 year old should be able to stay in Ireland and be trained by Irish coaches with Irish clubs and then if he is truely decent the bigger clubs will step in and pay the money and Irish football will benefit.
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Well said. We still have too many teenagers going to Britain, many to teams that arent even Premiership level. LOI should be capitalising on the number of LOI players who have transferred to bigger clubs in recent years having served their apprenticeships in the LOI. They should be trying to persuade underage team managers and parents that their sons would be much better and happier playing in the LOI in their late teens and then making the move abroad if they are good enough. Playing in the LOI is no longer a barrier to getting into the Premiership and its possible that it may be more beneficial than playing for the reserves or youth team of some lower league English team.
 

They could also look at the loan deals that the top clubs use when 'blooding' youngsters. Would it be good if we could raise our level/profile so that the premier teams saw the LoI as a good base for some of their younger players to get a season of playing out of and possibly still pay their wages. United send players to antwerp in belgium and to lower divisions in england so maybe it could be done here aswell.
 
To paraphrase Mrs. Doyle and the pensioners on the "terrace" in the Fr. Ted Over 75 tournament.

I dont attend ....... because ......... wait for it.......

Its sh1t ..Ahhhhhhh

Ok, that was a very immature comment but I'm in giddy Friday mode. However, like it or not, thats what most Irish people think. I used to go to a few Cork City games and enjoyed them, I no longer live there or where they play (i.e. not living in Dublin, Derry etc.). I was saddened to hear they are in trouble.

I havent read the rest of the thread but I recently read an article in the Indo that basically said that most clubs were living in fantasy land paying wages they cant support. Ironically enough Cork City were top with average home crowd of (if I recall correct) 13,000 whereas nearly all others were in the 2k to 6k bracket. So I think clubs need to cut their cloth to measure - the 'build it and they will come' strategy doesnt seem to be working. I'm not a soccer man in general, dont even have a particular Premier league team though have a general interest in the league, but I do think its a pity that, for example, Cork is packed with fanatical Man U supporters who wouldnt cross the road to watch Cork City.
 
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