United got more of a crowd in their last home match than Mervue got in their last 15 combined.
These junior clubs have little or no popular support. They will be doing well to pull 150 punters between them per match.
am i the only one that thinks that galway united are the club that should not be in the league as by what everyone else is saying salthill and mervue have much better set ups?
United got more of a crowd in their last home match than Mervue got in their last 15 combined.
These junior clubs have little or no popular support. They will be doing well to pull 150 punters between them per match.
United are not alone in not owning their own ground - Shamrock Rovers, Cork City Limerick, Derry City, Sporting Fingal, to name just 5, are in the same boat. The grounds of Mervue and Devon are not up to LOI standard. You got a problem with all them as well?
"Billy Corgan, Smashing Pumpkins."
"Homer Simpson, smiling politely."
Crowds are the kernel of the issue. A LOI club with no popular support is doomed in the long-term.
See Kildare County, Kilkenny City, St Francis, Dublin City, etc.
United have a U20 team, it has been poor this season but has previously been reasonable enough. We had a proper underage system in the past, but it was abandoned after pressure from other local clubs.
Edit : Neither Salthill or Mervue have any seats, or any cover, at the grounds. Anyone can walk up and watch a match at Mervue, there is no boundary wall around the pitch.
I'm not having a go at these clubs, just presenting the reality of the situation.
Last edited by Patrick Dunne; 11/11/2009 at 10:28 PM.
The reason United dont own anything is that they hve been players for over 30 years and without the input of many good men from GUFC Terryland would still be a kip. Galway United draws support from both Galway city and County while Mervue and salthill hardly draw support from their own areas OR CLUB FOR THAT MATTER.
What is on the cards in Galway is lunacy and both salthill & mervue could put ego before common sense and destroy the fantastic under age and junior set up they both have.There is only just over 70,000 people living in galway city and to have 3 loi teams is pure folly
We are the Galway Boys Stand up and make some noise"
i'm not picking a fight or suggesting i have a problem with any club i was just making an observation. if galway united didnt exist chances are one of the other two clubs would do as well if not better than united has done, but thats just one mans opinion
If United ceased to exist, one of the two other clubs might pick up 20-30 United supporters. As gufct says, no-one from outside these areas (or for that matter in these areas) will support them.
This has been proven in the 2009 season.
Mervue have had games this season when under 40 people paid in hardly enough to pay the refs what more proof do you want. Galway United is associated with Galway City & County while Mervue and salthill are 2 areas of the city.
We are the Galway Boys Stand up and make some noise"
i tatally understand what your saying but i think there is obviously scope for groth in their attendances and as i said if gufc were not there they would stand a much greater chance of success they have the propper infrastructures and in time will have better stadia facilities which they will own and have the youth set up to produce a steady stream of players?
Do Meruve pay players?
A similar argument could be made for, lets say Mayfield United, Cherry Orchard, or any other team.
If Longford Town ceased to exist, Ballymahon could in time build a stadium and become the leading club in Longford.
There should be a team from Ballymahon in the First Division, and one from Granard as well. Three teams in Longford.
And rightly so, Unless a club can get a average crowd of above 500 they prob don't have the finance to pay more than ground rent/maintenance, Ref fee's and travel expenses.
although Wexford seem to get good crowds, they could give something to the first team as they prob miss work sometimes due to games
west cork district league
west cork commandos
GUFCT - you quote as rationale - lack of support from "fans" as reason why Mervue or Salthill should stay away from the LOI. Surely the lunacy that needs to be examined is how the "leading light" that is Galway United, could end up so heavily in debt? Galway Utd have no assets, no training facilities, no under age structure, and have struggled all season to pay their bills and ended up in an ugly "scandal" around how they paid their '08 tax bill.
Surely the lunacy of the LOI has been the amounts of money paid to players - at the exclusion of development (both football and facilities).
The Galway squad this season includes 6 players who came through the ranks at Salthill - Faherty, Russell, Cooke, McBrien and Hanley. Molloy and Conneely are products of Mervue's underage structure. That's the majority of the home grown talent in Fosters squad.
The decision of either of the two clubs under scrutiny to either stay in (in Mervues case) or enter (in Salthills case) must be about providing an outlet for the undoubted stream of talent both clubs are producing.
Having watched Galway Utd stumble from crisis to crisis, maybe they think they can make a better fist of it themselves?
Pulling out is one thing, but they were kicked out. Plus I think their 'A' side finished bottom of the section, winning only one game - that was when they took a near full strength side to a game in Tullamore. Galway seemed to have focused on just their first team last year, with little or no interest taken in their other sides.
Up the Harps!!
A lot of nonsense been spouted about without any back up.
fact is Mervue or salthill will never do as well as GUFC as long as they play under names of housing estates. I live in mervue and i wouldn't walk across the road to watch them. I would say up to 98% of gufc supporters are from outside these 2 estates and if gufc ever went under, none of them would ever support LOI football again unless the name of "galway" was used.
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