Athlone Town want league to emulate MLS

[Macy]

I actually think it's an alright proposal - I have posted similar in the past. You can maintain interest down the league by having cup and shield play off's as well, and hold a big finals day or weekend with 3 or 4 games.

The reality of the status quo is that we are maintaining enough teams for two divisions by the skin of our teeth, every year. The way things are going, it's inevitable that a single division is going to become the only option due to a lack of senior clubs. In the meantime, we've lost clubs that could potentially have made a go of it in a more inclusive structure.

[Kingdom]

I'm really surprised that either a Tralee or Kerry side hasn't been brought into the LOI at this stage. I know Legendz is the oracle on Kerry football around here, but football is booming in the Kingdom, and they'd have a decent side at home at first division level all things considered. The problem I'd see would be that none of the clubs would be big enough in themselves (incl Dynamos and Park) to make a proper fist of first division, and whether all clubs would buy into a Tralee team or a Kerry team that incorporated the best talent in the county, I don't know.

I know that the A Championship idea suited them really well.

This is a very unfortunate situation in Irish football. If you were starting things with a blank canvas, then a one-division, centrally contracted franchise system with Northside & Southside Dublin, Cork, Waterford, Limerick, Dundalk, Sligo, Donegal (the traditional areas) would probably be the easiest remedy, but you just cannot discount clubs that have been mainstays of the LOI, or supporters of those clubs, when those clubs have not done anything wrong so to speak.
UCD is a prime example. As a club that could grow to be a Rovers or a Dundalk, it's never going to happen, but they are well run, get on with their business and develop players, so why should they lose out.

Someone above made the point about co-habiting supporters in England. I've seen this first hand with a club called Eastbourne Borough. They're a 7th tier side with a tidy little ground and a social club, yet you would be hard-pressed to ever hear someone around the town call themselves a Boro' fan. It's all London clubs, Liverpool (weirdly) or Brighton.

The medicine is going to be very hard to swallow in the coming seasons for Irish football.

[mcgonigle]

Looks like the SPL were listening in!

http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/33594354

[Nesta99]

Every cent matters bit 1.5million over 3 years split across 42 clubs is roughly 36k each or 12k per year. Its a pretty mediocre deal and I'd have thought SPL would command double that easily. It is certainly a way to go if the FAI would push in that direction. They should seek some guidance from their Scottish counterparts.

Actually now that ive read the article in total as part of a 20mil overall deal seems more like it.

[outspoken]

Didn't the Irish league do a deal with an online betting company recently to live stream games? Surely this is a very simple thing for the FAI to set up. This is why in my opinion the league should be running itself. It's time we left the FAI to focus on their darling national team and the aviva debt, we could achieve so much more on our own.

[Nesta99]

Do you remember when the league was run by itself?

[gufcfan]

Didn't the Irish league do a deal with an online betting company recently to live stream games? Surely this is a very simple thing for the FAI to set up. This is why in my opinion the league should be running itself. It's time we left the FAI to focus on their darling national team and the aviva debt, we could achieve so much more on our own.

A higher up in an overseas company I worked for told me how suspicious and unwilling to engage the FAI were when they tried to do some business with them. It would have been mutually beneficial. The same company (at the time at least), had deals with some huge leagues.

[outspoken]

Do you remember when the league was run by itself?

It was during a time when the country totally lost the run of itself I feel this time round and now we've seen the alternative (FAI) we'd be in a much better position. What's needed really is a independent and separate body to run the league just like in England but that's never going to happen so we only have the 2 options

[Nesta99]

I get what you are saying and maybe the league now would do a better job than previously. It would require total co-operation among all the clubs, it's tough to get egos to work together within one club, Bray being the current example. The league was running itself also long prior to the land boom and it wasnt a pretty picture then either. To fund full-time administrators etc wouldnt be without cost to each club. When Dundalk win the Champions League this season we will lead the break away!!

[PartySaint]

I don't like the idea of no promotion or relegation at all but it could work in terms of sustainability for clubs but the league prize money would need to be raised and the league fee's lowered.

If you take Galway as an example, if they knew that they weren't going to get relegated and were getting half decent prize money at the end of the season they could practically go amateur, not pay players, get the club on a good foundation then start building a team with the prize money they've built up over 2 or 3 years and make a push for Europe. Clubs would be a lot more stable and it could be good for competition in the league