Should Ireland shift back to a schedule of not using irritating Americanisms in place of the words it's been happy using for years instead ?
Firstly, both leagues need to end the same time of the year. Because of the play off system. So it wouldn't work having both leagues finishing months apart. Secondly, if rain can cause two pitches to led to a postment in April then how do you expect all pitches to hold up to 3/4 months of constant rain. You just have to look at the junior leagues. Down here there was hardly a game between November and February of the current season. All because of the weather. Thirdly, as little of a chance clubs have Europe this would make them even slimmer. As players would be lacking fitness and competitive matches and game time in general. Fourth, Because of the weather there'd be an added cost of pitch maintenance due to the weather over a certain period. On top of that some pitches are better enough as it is in the summer.
Some really radical thinking by the powers that be could use the March - November schedule especially during the summer months to promote the game beyond these shores. A little more adventurous that the betting sites. Sure Shamrock Rovers must be one of the biggest supported European clubs in India by now!
Its bloody cold enough in March/April and October/November in wide open grounds as it is seeing as we have gotten soft after winter matches became a thing of the past.
I'm not so convinced by the "pitches wont be playable" argument. I've been involved with an Intermediate side for years and our Private Pitch is rarely unplayable.
The majority of junior games get called off because the councils close the parks but most Private Pitches are playable most of the time.
That said whilst I miss the cold dark Friday nights under lights there is no doubt in my mind that the football being played in the league now is better due to the conditions of summer football and generally our European results are better.
This is a small aspect of this debate,but I miss having the cup final on a nice warm May afternoon rather than the dreary wet winter November day its on now, I think it diminishes the spectacle of the cup final somehow.
Irish by birth ,Harps by the grace of god.
There is nothing preventing us moving the Cup to the summer. Sweden and several other countries with similar seasons to ours start their Cup season in the second half of the calendar year and finish it after the winter break. We could move our final to August or September easily if we wanted to.Originally Posted by joey B
The strange thing about the Swedish Cup (among others) is that the most of the European places are allocated at the end of the summer season in October, with one place held over for the winners of the cup , which is then played early the following season. So Norrkoping are already qualified for the Champions League as 2015 Swedish champions, Gothenburg and AIK are in the Europa League based on league performance in 2015 and the cup qualifiers will only be decided in May 2016.
I rem our 1st cup final in may 01 and we were soaked through! so cant vouch for that I am afraid. maybe for ye it was.
Gary Cronin is he the right man to manage Longford Town?
Oh we fairly basked in the sun in '02 too!!
Afraid I can't agree with you there. You've probably got a point about the first few weeks of the season, but after that the pitches are in much better nick than they used to be during the September/May season. Once pitches are kept watered through the summer months they are fine, and they are also fine up to the end of October, before the harsh weather comes. Much harder to keep pitches in good nick when they are being regularly churned up between November/February. We're not the Premier League where clubs have fortunes to spend on the upkeep of pitches.
Out for a spell, got neglected, lay on the bench unselected.
Posting Permissions
Quote
Bookmarks