LOI magazine?

[BohDiddley]

Irish Football Online I think, and it was Tom Carey that ran it. Brilliant site at the time.

That's the one. Solid, professional and absolutely reliable. A magazine would have a different cycle and wouldn't do reports, but that sort of authority would go some way to forming the core of a viable product. Where did Tom go?

[A face]

that sort of authority would go some way to forming the core of a viable product. Where did Tom go?

Agreed, but any magazine in Ireland would need to include all aspects of the game to stand a chance of surviving. It just couldn't afford to leave out junior football or the national team.

[Dodge]

Agreed, but any magazine in Ireland would need to include all aspects of the game to stand a chance of surviving. It just couldn't afford to leave out junior football or the national team.

While possibly true, it would lose my custom

[dcfcsteve]

Agreed, but any magazine in Ireland would need to include all aspects of the game to stand a chance of surviving. It just couldn't afford to leave out junior football or the national team.

The Soccer Magazine showed that you would need to include stuff on the national team - including a high percentage of covers featuring ROI to hook punters. You'd only need about 2 pages inside (i.e. one/two articles per edition) and it would sem strange to completely ignore the national set-up. Plus - it could be a way of getting young people interested in football in general to buy the magazine and then develop an interest in the league.

I would say junior football should have at most a 'corner' in any such magazine. The junior and intermediate games are well covered by their own local media, so you wouldn't pick-up much custom from that market. Plus, the junior set-up is just too huge to try to cover it in any sensible way in a small magazine. Tit-bit type stuff would be the way to go.

All moot though unless someone wants to give a magazine a shot.

[A face]

The Soccer Magazine showed that you would need to include stuff on the national team - including a high percentage of covers featuring ROI to hook punters. You'd only need about 2 pages inside (i.e. one/two articles per edition) and it would sem strange to completely ignore the national set-up. Plus - it could be a way of getting young people interested in football in general to buy the magazine and then develop an interest in the league.

I would say junior football should have at most a 'corner' in any such magazine. The junior and intermediate games are well covered by their own local media, so you wouldn't pick-up much custom from that market. Plus, the junior set-up is just too huge to try to cover it in any sensible way in a small magazine. Tit-bit type stuff would be the way to go.

All moot though unless someone wants to give a magazine a shot.

While possibly true, it would lose my custom

In bold, thats what i mean. Possibly 2-4 pages on junior stuff and two pieces on National Team. But you'd need to have both, as well as womens, futesal, and other national teams (deaf, blind, Special Olymipcs, etc.) Not every edition but you'd need to cover it fairly well generally.

A good way of boosting subs would be to encourage all exiled players to sign up, and kids knowing the irish players abroad read the same magazine would really sell it to them.

[ped_ped]

Forgive me as this won't be very creative, but...

The Home Crowd (loved that as the name for the LOI video...

Editorial

Fan Letters (including a Letter of the Month that wins... something?)

One to One (working title):
As in FourFourTwo, an interview with a past or present great of the domestic or international scene, think Gary Twigg discussing his first spell in the LOI (and his previous career in Scotland, etc.), or Jay O'Shea on his rapid journey from Terryland to Old Trafford, international aspirations, what he misses most about Galway United, and so on... or Gio Trappatoni if we could get hold of him.

The Month That's Passed:
A section overviewing the major games of the past month including derbies, league or FAI Cup upsets, and the LOI's progress in UEFA Club competitions (and for the love of God don't mention co-efficients unless our ranking has gone up...)

Team Sheet:
At least half a page on EACH club in the LOI Premier Division, First Division, and A Championship, including team news, tranfer news, stadium news, player of the month awards and, where possible, a brief word from their manager/captain/star player.

(I might also include financial news to the above list...)

The Irish Abroad:
How our recent exports are faring in the big bad world of the Championship, Premier League and SPL.

ROI:
Squad news, injuries, results et al on the international team.

Your Local:
A brief word on the junior leagues, which, in some cases, may be limited to the inclusion of their current table and a list of recent results...

Throw into that a variety of current event-dictated exclusives and special reports and I think that could be sustainable, though I apologise for the crappy names for the individual sections :P

[dcfcsteve]

Throw into that a variety of current event-dictated exclusives and special reports and I think that could be sustainable

It's not the content that needs to be worried about from a sustainability perspective - it's the revenue !

[ped_ped]

Well a lot of it would be relatively cheap, too. I know you guys mentioned professional journalists and professional salaries, but seriously, I could write better than some of the hacks on RTE or The Sunday World/Irish Independent

It'd et the revenue if curculated at all matches and in some shops.

[dcfcsteve]

It'd et the revenue if curculated at all matches and in some shops.

How can you say that with such confidence though ?

What production costs are you assuming ? What circulation are you therefore also assuming/requiring ? What balance between subscriptions, individual purchases and ad revenue ? etc etc.

If a professional magazine publisher struggled to make it work after about a decade of production, you can guesswhat credibility can be given to a a few hopeful people on here saying 'ahh- sure, course it'd work' without anything to back it up at all.

[A face]

It'd et the revenue if curculated at all matches and in some shops.

Its been proven in the past that this alone is not enough. Back to the drawing board i.e. this thread

It would be good if there was some sort of funds available from clubs, PFAI, etc. (stakeholders who have an interest in promoting the game here) and maybe another bit from the FAI and some sort of a capitial grant ...... and then revenue from advertising (the more you get the better it will be)

[endabob1]

http://www.kickoff.com/

This is the South african version of what you guys are talking about, it does a similar job focusing on the local domestic league, the National Team, Africans in Europe and obviously there is currently a lot of focus on 2010