Rugby now more popular than football AND GAA?!

[Colbert Report]

11.98 Euro for an u-16 ticket, not bad for a working man. He can go to the match with his child for 45 euro. Friendlies are such a waste of time...

[jbyrne]

Most people pay their tickets well before the game takes place, and so their costs on gamenight are considerably lower.

not sure what this point is about. the ticket still had to be paid for at some stage

[elroy]

If anyone wants to go along tonight and hasnt a ticket or even better wants to bring their kid, we have two west uppers going spare, bang on half way line. PM me if interested. Will let the two go for 30e. Meet outside the ground tonight.

[gustavo]

Re-opening thread with new title

[Kingdom]

Don't know if there was many from here who went last night? We went as per usual, same general area, and there was some laugh. There was a bigger group of us in the SS than I expected, or any of us expected, and I'm quite hoarse again this morning, which is usually testament to how good (or bad) the atmosphere is.

The FAI could do themselves a favour and close the upper tiers (or at least shoe-horn) people into the lower tiers first.

[zero]

in a rare (unprecedented?) display of wisdom, the fai have scrapped the painful ticket bundling scheme:

http://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2011/0330/fai_ireland_tickets.html

good.

[paul_oshea]

you require the flys assistance (http://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2011/0330/fai_ireland.html)

[OwlsFan]

A supporter following Man U or other Premiership team or indeed any club side has to fork out for 25 home games a season. The Irish supporter is asked to shell out for 3 or 4 home competitive games a season and he moans about the price. As I said before, there is a hard core support of about 25k and the rest of the country will join the band wagon and not worry about the price if there is any success. C'est la vie.

[Jinxy]

Most people pay their tickets well before the game takes place, and so their costs on gamenight are considerably lower. A lot of people use private buses, and trains, either local or national. Irish Rail put extra trains on, and night trains back. For food, people can get it at reasonable prices away from Lansdowne. I don't pay for food or drink at Lansdowne, just a couple of Euro for transport, and a bit more for food elsewhere. That's about as far as it goes. No programmes, no merchandise. Don't need it.

Television is a major factor in rugger's appeal. So much so that RTE are prioritising U-20 egg-chasing over senior LOI football on a Friday night. TV can make even the most mundane sports games glamourous. Ireland games are always on RTE, the province games are always on tv. People take notice when you're on tv. If Rovers progress in European competition this summer, we'll be on tv much more often, and LOI will attract much more interest than normal. If Ireland qualify for the European finals, come next June 12 months, everyone will be watching our games, and nobody will give a flying banana about rugby.

Our attendance on Saturday night would have sold out the old Lansdowne, it only looks poor because of the stadium's much bigger capacity now.

Ryle Nugent is head of sport in RTE.
Unsurprisingly lot of their budget is heading in the direction of rugby coverage.

[Junior]

I wonder will same be considered for the Block Booking Scheme (i.e. compulsory purchase of friendlies)? Probably not and normally I wouldnt think it should be, I suppose its just the heavy skew towards friendlies in this current block booking that has made it seem unreasonable in my opinon.

[jbyrne]

in a rare (unprecedented?) display of wisdom, the fai have scrapped the painful ticket bundling scheme:

http://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2011/0330/fai_ireland_tickets.html

good.

the FAIs block booking and season tickets were previous displays of wisdom where loyal fans get rewarded. their away ticket distribution and the free train to Zilnia when the slovaks changed the venue for our recent qualifier are other cases in point.
its not their fault that we live in a land of event junkies. over 45,000 were willing to pay as much as €70 to watch man utds reserves play last august, enough said

[Macy]

Ryle Nugent is head of sport in RTE.
Unsurprisingly lot of their budget is heading in the direction of rugby coverage.
A lot of it's still going to football - they must be paying a fair whack for the epl highlights package - it's just not going to domestic football, unlike the rugby. And what reaction do you think they'd get from the greatest fans in the world if they dropped that (on the basis the highlights are FTA on BBC later) in favour of putting the money into domestic football coverage, or even underage games?

[pineapple stu]

The Irish supporter is asked to shell out for 3 or 4 home competitive games a season and he moans about the price.
In fairness, most LoI season tickets will cost less than going to the three competitive Ireland games this year. It is expensive.

[jbyrne]

In fairness, most LoI season tickets will cost less than going to the three competitive Ireland games this year. It is expensive.

is it? i have a fantastic seat in the east upper that costs me about €34 a match, a 1/3 the cost of a rugby ticket. i think its value for money

[pineapple stu]

I've been paying E50 for all the competitive games so far; that's E150 for the three games (the article linked says competitive tickets are between E45 and E60; don't know how you're paying E34? Should have kept that one quiet!). There's info on LoI season tickets here (http://foot.ie/threads/144451-Season-ticket-prices-2011?daysprune=100) - between E100 and E200.

[Kingdom]

the FAIs block booking and season tickets were previous displays of wisdom where loyal fans get rewarded. their away ticket distribution and the free train to Zilnia when the slovaks changed the venue for our recent qualifier are other cases in point.
its not their fault that we live in a land of event junkies. over 45,000 were willing to pay as much as €70 to watch man utds reserves play last august, enough said

There's an element of truth to that jb. A guarenteed ticket scheme is a good idea, but does it not lose it's merit if it's a pick and choose system?
I find it hard to be either black or white on the issue. I do feel ticket prices are too high, but I don't feel that way because the product isn't good or because the opposition are poor either.
Like any young family money is tight in our gaff, but Ireland matches are about the only social luxury I have so I sacrifice elsewhere to make sure I make the games. I live down the country too, so it's not always convenient to get to the games, or more specifically, to get home from the games. I wanted to stay till the end of the Uruguay game so it meant missing my last train, getting a train that doesn't go as far and getting a taxi the rest of the way - that wasn't cheap. It probably isn't worth it, all things considered, but I can just about justify it at home so no hassle there. I don't drink as a result this keeps matchday costs quite low, but it doesn't stop me going into scruffy's or wherever for the pregame singsong.
Something that I would like to see would be a proper price grading. Lumping all sections, all tiers, all oppostion together is just plain lazy. A few pints on a train shouldn't be enough to effectively bribe a group of supporters into silence. It's for times like this that Delaney should justify the salary. A structure where competitive games against top 25 in rankings = €x, then competitive against 25-50 = €x-5, 50+ = €x-10. Then apply the same system (but dropped by 10% across the board). There has to be a better way.

The only thing I do feel guilty about is the referring to the 45k at the United game as event junkies - for the simple reason, that I'm an event junkie - I don't go to LOI games on a regular basis - so it's a bit hypocritical whinging about others.

[Stuttgart88]

There's no easy answer to all of this. This is one of those threads where almost every post has had some substantial truth to it. I think if David Kelly is tarred & feathered it'd be a good start.

[Kingdom]

Any policy of inflicting pain or embarrasment on that man is worthwhile.

[paul_oshea]

I wonder will same be considered for the Block Booking Scheme (i.e. compulsory purchase of friendlies)? Probably not and normally I wouldnt think it should be, I suppose its just the heavy skew towards friendlies in this current block booking that has made it seem unreasonable in my opinon.

I'm in the position at the moment where I can afford to pay for the season ticket including those friendlies, so I am happy to do so.

I understand the FAI need money and its almost like jp mcmanus(no i dont have any money like him only example i could think of) paying little tax but giving money to the things he likes, me being an exile I feel its a duty almost.

However I can understand that many people cant and would be annoyed about this, but the FAI will hardly send out an option to say whether or not you want the friendlies on the application form in the future( i didnt use that "other" dread term like stutts does)....

[paul_oshea]

Kingdom your point about top 25 ranking, Urgauy is 7th in the world, yet no one was there.....

JD gets paid to do his job, his jobs remit cant encompass getting people who don't have the money to go to games, or who just don't have the same interest in supporting our National team anymore. We are quite a fickle bunch of people really - not me but You(national lottery finger)

[jbyrne]

I've been paying E50 for all the competitive games so far; that's E150 for the three games (the article linked says competitive tickets are between E45 and E60; don't know how you're paying E34? Should have kept that one quiet!). There's info on LoI season tickets here (http://foot.ie/threads/144451-Season-ticket-prices-2011?daysprune=100) - between E100 and E200.

i have a season ticket and thats what it roughly works out for me

[Kingdom]

Kingdom your point about top 25 ranking, Urgauy is 7th in the world, yet no one was there.....

JD gets paid to do his job, his jobs remit cant encompass getting people who don't have the money to go to games, or who just don't have the same interest in supporting our National team anymore. We are quite a fickle bunch of people really - not me but You(national lottery finger)

My point is that they can structure tickets in a particular fashion based on the circumstances on a game by game basis. Quite a lot of fixtures are decided months in advance, so getting the correct structure would make things easier.

I'm not saying JD should be responsible for people coming to the stadium. That's ridiculous. But he is responsible for removing the barriers that people use to not come. The underpass was a great start..... ;-)

[gspain]

The season ticket was originally €350 for 9 games but there was money given back.

I still think it is a great deal.

I know many would love a deal where they are guaranteed tickets for big games but don't want to go to friendlies and qualifiers v Andorra etc but
it doesn't work like that.

It does look like you'll be able to pick and choose your games like it was pre 1988 but this can change quickly. It probably won't but please don't come on here moaning in a couple of years saying I go to all the games and now can't get tickets for the game v England....

Lots of regular fans were caught back then.

[Jinxy]

My own opinion is that when economic times are tough, sports that derive the bulk of their attendances from families suffer the most.
In my opinion, gaelic games and soccer would have a higher proportion of families in the crowd under normal conditions.
I know plenty of people that bring hordes of kids to football, hurling and soccer games, be it their own kids or kids from the juvenile section of their club.
But it's getting harder for them to do this with ticket prices, petrol prices, food etc. biting hard.
Now when the camera pans around the stadium at a rugby international I see lots and lots of adults that are there in pairs or small groups.
Sure, there is a schoolboy section but even those tickets are pretty expensive.
Lets be honest here, if you took the average wage of a rugby, soccer or GAA crowd the rugby fans would be a good bit higher.
I know plenty of guys that go to rugby games that have never played the sport and have no desire to do so.
They are not involved or affiliated with any club.
Going to a game of rugby is a social event for them.
It's almost like networking in a way.
A lot of them would work in banks and there is a strong rugby school culture in our financial institutions.
This is why the Aviva will always be full for 6 nations rugby games regardless of how the team is performing.
I know a good few women that go to the games that know nothing about rugby.
And I mean NOTHING.
They wouldn't be caught dead at a soccer, hurling or football game though.
So it's not just performance that affects attendances.

[paul_oshea]

I said a lot of that earlier too jinxy the age group is a big factor and the fact that loads of women like rugby, i can understand the same way men like looking at porn.

[pineapple stu]

i have a season ticket and thats what it roughly works out for me
Fair enough. So then you're paying two LoI season tickets for eight games. Still expensive enough. (And while it's a better standard of football technically, I think the LoI makes up for it in excitement)

[irishultra]

I said a lot of that earlier too jinxy the age group is a big factor and the fact that loads of women like rugby, i can understand the same way men like looking at porn.

the irish rugby team is full of mingers tho(no homo)

[jbyrne]

Fair enough. So then you're paying two LoI season tickets for eight games. Still expensive enough. (And while it's a better standard of football technically, I think the LoI makes up for it in excitement)

its 9 and you are not comparing like for like really. comapring the LOI to international matches is like comparing AIL rugby matches to the rugby internationals

[an_ceannaire]

lads, ye are gas :)
Football....good....rugby...bad....

How dare the Irish Public desert football and now prefer Rugby! How dare they!! DENY DENY DENY!!!
People who go to Rugby know nothing about Rugby, NOTHING....People who go to football could all tell you the name of the Bray Wanderers Keeper! Hell most of them could tell you where Newcastle West AFC played their home games in 1987!!

Rugby is evil and will never usurp football NEVER NEVER NEVER....... its only really popular in limerick and the soutside like...yaw....thats it...nowhere else......:D

Ye are petrified of rugby's higher profile and fanbase therse days. Paetrified!

Lads, ye are gas. :)

[paul_oshea]

Well now im not either but id say the likes of james heaslip, david wallace, horan, kearney, fitzgerald, bowe, trimble would all do alright for themselves. Besides big and burly men running around the women love it. They really do. THey might say - many of them - they aren't turned on by big muscles or big muscley men but they most certainly are. They liieeeee!


Ceannaire i can admit it. I was giving reasons for it. Some just look to try and deflect and deny not all though. And just because it is better supported at games national and international doesn't mean it should be :D

Btw starting and finishing with the same sentence really reinforces and emphasises the point.

[pineapple stu]

its 9 and you are not comparing like for like really. comapring the LOI to international matches is like comparing AIL rugby matches to the rugby internationals
9; fair enough.

Don't think your comparison is valid though. The international football games are far lower-key than the international rugby games (because no-body plays rugby, and we're relatively very good at it). And I'd reckon - though I'm nearly completely ignorant or AIL rugby - that the LoI is higher-key than the AIL. And while you can argue it's a results game, the international games can't compete with the LoI for excitement at the moment. The international games have gotten quite dull really. So I do reckon the international season ticket is over-priced.

[shakermaker1982]

Paul's first paragraph has got to win POTM!!!

Well now im not either but id say the likes of james heaslip, david wallace, horan, kearney, fitzgerald, bowe, trimble would all do alright for themselves. Besides big and burly men running around the women love it. They really do. THey might say - many of them - they aren't turned on by big muscles or big muscley men but they most certainly are. They liieeeee!

[elroy]

Its funny how 10 years ago I wouldve done anything to get on the block booking in LR. I could get tickets for friendlies easy enough but competitive games were tough. By and large id eventually get one but still it was a struggle.

Last year the FAI wrote to all of us on the BB list and basically told us to fcuk off. That they have moved something like 39 people from the WL to the BB regime as a result of the increased capacity. 39!! and now i recall the letter was sent the week of the playoff when many of us were saving to go to Paris. That seriously p*ssed me off.

Then a few months later we all get a letter telling us wahey season tickets for one and all!!!

Now i live in Dublin, i love going to Ireland games above all else and will almost always make every home game. So the block booking/season ticket suits me fine. The option of choosing a cheaper ticket in upper tier over the lower tier also suits me.
It is the lads down the country who I can feel for, its very hard to drive up, take time off etc for a mid week friendly.
Then secondly the lads who have lost a job or money is just tighter, it is hard to justify 45-50 quid a ticket to take you and maybe some of your family to a game.

Therefore, I would strongly encourage the FAI promote more family orientated packages where kids go for very cheap and im glad to see that this do indeed appear to have been announced yday. at the end of the day, these kids will be the ones buying adult tickets in 10 - 20 years. Also while i applaud the two tier ticketing structure (Take note gaa/irfu) something needs to be done about this structure in friendlies where the upper tiers are well populated but the lower are not.

Finally all codes are feeling the pitch, gaa numbers are down, particularly in the league. Look at the disaster that the irfu had late last year. They were lucky it was england/france this year, next year they will struggle to sell out the three home games for ticket prices of 95euro plus. The FAI are not alone here but do need to be innovative.

[Jinxy]

Its funny how 10 years ago I wouldve done anything to get on the block booking in LR. I could get tickets for friendlies easy enough but competitive games were tough. By and large id eventually get one but still it was a struggle.

Last year the FAI wrote to all of us on the BB list and basically told us to fcuk off. That they have moved something like 39 people from the WL to the BB regime as a result of the increased capacity. 39!! and now i recall the letter was sent the week of the playoff when many of us were saving to go to Paris. That seriously p*ssed me off.

Then a few months later we all get a letter telling us wahey season tickets for one and all!!!

Now i live in Dublin, i love going to Ireland games above all else and will almost always make every home game. So the block booking/season ticket suits me fine. The option of choosing a cheaper ticket in upper tier over the lower tier also suits me.
It is the lads down the country who I can feel for, its very hard to drive up, take time off etc for a mid week friendly.
Then secondly the lads who have lost a job or money is just tighter, it is hard to justify 45-50 quid a ticket to take you and maybe some of your family to a game.

Therefore, I would strongly encourage the FAI promote more family orientated packages where kids go for very cheap and im glad to see that this do indeed appear to have been announced yday. at the end of the day, these kids will be the ones buying adult tickets in 10 - 20 years. Also while i applaud the two tier ticketing structure (Take note gaa/irfu) something needs to be done about this structure in friendlies where the upper tiers are well populated but the lower are not.

Finally all codes are feeling the pitch, gaa numbers are down, particularly in the league. Look at the disaster that the irfu had late last year. They were lucky it was england/france this year, next year they will struggle to sell out the three home games for ticket prices of 95euro plus. The FAI are not alone here but do need to be innovative.

I know the crowds at the hurling are generally rubbish but the football crowds seem to be holding up well in the league.
I've yet to see any comparison of the numbers though.
I suppose we'll only know at the end of the league.
But the fact that Dublin are playing well AND playing in Croke Park should make up any shortfall elsewhere.
If they have a good run in the championship they'll probably be getting 70,000+ every game.

Edit: I'm not 100% sure but I think the 2010 championship attendances for hurling and football were the same or slightly higher than they were the year before.

[tetsujin1979]

I know the crowds at the hurling are generally rubbish but the football crowds seem to be holding up well in the league.
I've yet to see any comparison of the numbers though.
I suppose we'll only know at the end of the league.
But the fact that Dublin are playing well AND playing in Croke Park should make up any shortfall elsewhere.
If they have a good run in the championship they'll probably be getting 70,000+ every game.

Edit: I'm not 100% sure but I think the 2010 championship attendances for hurling and football were the same or slightly higher than they were the year before.
The attendances were down, but they weren't as low as the GAA had anticipated

[Stuttgart88]

lads, ye are gas :)
Football....good....rugby...bad....

How dare the Irish Public desert football and now prefer Rugby! How dare they!! DENY DENY DENY!!!
People who go to Rugby know nothing about Rugby, NOTHING....People who go to football could all tell you the name of the Bray Wanderers Keeper! Hell most of them could tell you where Newcastle West AFC played their home games in 1987!!

Rugby is evil and will never usurp football NEVER NEVER NEVER....... its only really popular in limerick and the soutside like...yaw....thats it...nowhere else......:D

Ye are petrified of rugby's higher profile and fanbase therse days. Paetrified!

Lads, ye are gas. :)I see you've decided to come back having had your Grand Slam TV viewing figures claim comprehensively discredited, without even as much as an "oh, maybe you're right on that point then".

There's room for rugby, GAA and soccer all to thrive in their own different ways. It wasn't long ago since the football was getting 60K+ for the better games. That interest hasn't just been wiped out overnight. Even our 40k for Andorra was only marginally behind Germany as the biggest crowd in Europe. Football attendees are out there no question. The rugby is doing great no doubt about it and the crowds are there as a result. If the football team was doing great, I think it's a fair bet that crowds would be higher too.

14k versus Denmark 1985. 55k versus Spain 1989. Any 5N game was sold out during this period, and did so during footy's boom years. The sports can co-exist comfortably.

I'm actually disappointed in myself for justifying with a response your ludicrously simplistic and inaccurate summary of what people have been saying above.

[Stuttgart88]

The international football games are far lower-key than the international rugby games (because no-body plays rugby, and we're relatively very good at it). And I'd reckon - though I'm nearly completely ignorant or AIL rugby - that the LoI is higher-key than the AIL. I think it's a fair point that in rugby the team is almost always playing a top 8 world team, whereas in the football you might get a competitive game against a top ten team at home once every 2 years minimum, and often longer. At the same time, such a game is only meaningful if it's early in the campaign or if we're still in contention at the end of a campaign - i.e., we have to earn the right to a big night in football. They just come around all the time in rugby simply by way of the rugby calendar.

Whatever about the AIL vs the LOI, rugby was able to construct a cross-border league quite simply because the gap was there to exploit once the professional era dawned. I know there are big pay cheques available in France, but we're not talking about life changing amounts over what Irish players can earn at home, and the offer would only be available to a few anyway. That's why Magners League / Heineken Cup works.

The LOI I'm sure has many self-inflicted wounds, but the way European football is configured makes it nigh on impossible to have an Irish football team that can employ the country's best players and play against other international standard players in both domestic and the proper stages of European competition. Smaller leagues like Ireland, the SPL and even the Dutch and Belgian leagues are collateral damage from the main European leagues' financial might. I met a football economist last year, Trudo Dejonghe, who has advocated the establishment of regional leagues across Europe to address financial imbalance. I suggested to him that UEFA reconfigure the Europa League so that up until, say, the last 8, is arranged on a regional basis, with the teams that usually get knocked out in the preliminary rounds guranteed some group games against bigger opposition. Needless to say he didn't think it workable!

I don't deny at all that rugby is the talk of the office & the pubs these days. In fact I really struggled to find many people at work who were that fussed about the footy team even under Jack. We were always the quiet minority, though I felt it acutely being one of the rugby school educated financial services guys mentioned above. But the bare facts are that the BIG have always attracted big crowds when successful, and small crowds when not successful. The crowds were there a year ago and they'll return if the footy team gets successful again. That's not to say that paying attention to the 4 P's of the marketing mix won't get more bums on seats in the meantime.

And yes there are women who go to the rugby who are clueless. I know plenty of them! One thing that really struck me after we lost to France at home in 2007 was how not disappointed the people I was with were. I was part of a group of ten, guests of Bank of Ireland. In fact, the talk in the bar after the game was barely even about the game. I was gutted, and furious with the team for blowing it.

When we lose at football, we go for our pints afterwards and can't speak. Abject misery. It's not a representative sample I know, but I think it says something (maybe that I shouldn't take sport so seriously).

Just on the GAA crowds: I was sure I noticed big big gaps at Dublin's Championship games last summer. No? I was watching in the pub. Whatever about the rest of the country I think Dublin GAA attendance is a half-decent bellweather for sporting appetite among the less affluent. In fact I'm not sure I've ever known Dublin Championship games not to be almost full.

[Stuttgart88]

Will the Europa League Final sell out, just out of interest?

[Charlie Darwin]

It depends on the teams I think. Of course it will sell out if they drop the prices but I think they'll have a hard time to filling the stadium if its Spartak v Dynamo Kiev or Porto v Braga.

[elroy]

It depends on the teams I think. Of course it will sell out if they drop the prices but I think they'll have a hard time to filling the stadium if its Spartak v Dynamo Kiev or Porto v Braga.

Alot of tickets will probably be pre sold before the final. Its more a case of will the stadium be full.

[Charlie Darwin]

Still laughing thinking of all the Liverpool and Manchester City fans around Ireland who'll have to put their tickets up on Ebay.

[Jinxy]

And yes there are women who go to the rugby who are clueless. I know plenty of them! One thing that really struck me after we lost to France at home in 2007 was how not disappointed the people I was with were. I was part of a group of ten, guests of Bank of Ireland. In fact, the talk in the bar after the game was barely even about the game. I was gutted, and furious with the team for blowing it.

When we lose at football, we go for our pints afterwards and can't speak. Abject misery. It's not a representative sample I know, but I think it says something (maybe that I shouldn't take sport so seriously).



That would be my experience as well.
Even watching rugby games in the pub, if the team lose most people have forgotten about it half an hour later and are just getting stuck into the pints.
I don't think I've ever seen someone get angry over Ireland losing a game of rugby and I know plenty of people that played the game in school.
To illustrate the point I think the rugby team only got around 10,000 or so at their homecoming in town after the grand slam.
If Ireland did well in a world cup or european championships or Dublin won an All-Ireland, you wouldn't be able to move in town.
Sure Cork had something like 50,000 at their homecoming last year.
I like watching rugby and I want to see the team win, but I don't feel particularly passionate about it.
After the 'Hand of Henry' game in Paris I was fit to be tied.
I'd be the same after losing a big football game in Croke Park.
Rugby just doesn't do it for me.
Probably because I never actually played it.

[cornflakes]

I love watching rugby but I'd swap ten grand slams for an appearance at Euro 2012 or the next world cup

[Stuttgart88]

Just a funny story, this is probably the best place for it.

One of my old school mates who I hang out with over here grew up just off Templeville Road, on the Terenure / Templeogue border, and only 2 miles from Tallaght. He's a big rugby fan, really passionate about it. He won a JCT winners medal, in 1982 I think it was.

He went to see Ireland A vs South Africa's second string at Tallaght Stadium last year. I asked him what he thought of it.

He said "Good. I didn't really know what to expect as I hadn't been there before".

I said "where, Rovers?"

He said "No, Tallaght".

[Noelys Guitar]

Just a funny story, this is probably the best place for it.

One of my old school mates who I hang out with over here grew up just off Templeville Road, on the Terenure / Templeogue border, and only 2 miles from Tallaght. He's a big rugby fan, really passionate about it. He won a JCT winners medal, in 1982 I think it was.

He went to see Ireland A vs South Africa's second string at Tallaght Stadium last year. I asked him what he thought of it.

He said "Good. I didn't really know what to expect as I hadn't been there before".

I said "where, Rovers?"

He said "No, Tallaght".

Ollie Campbell admitted he had to ask his parents about the name of the big stadium on the northside and what it was used for. He was a teenager at the time.

[paul_oshea]

And he used to love playing against england, oh wait that might be ginger mcloughlin actually.

[amaccann]

Interesting article in the weekend's Irish Times, that brings up the issue of poor crowds at the Ireland soccer matches, as well as rugby's leap in popularity:
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/sport/2011/0402/1224293646626.html

I don't think it's a fair article, in fact in places I think it's a little bitter, but one thing it does raise & is worth considering, is that the currency of Irish national football is being severely watered down & discredited by the antics of players like Stephen Ireland or Jermaine Pennant. It's a fair point in my view. The FAI should be doing more to fight the negative press that's surely eroding how the national team is viewed both on the inside and out.

[Charlie Darwin]

It's a poor article. The implication seems to be that rugby has replaced soccer in the hearts of the general public when it's more complicated than that. The FAI is coming down from the highs of the 90s and early 00s and crowds were always going to decrease, especially as they've dithered over ticket pricing. Rugby is probably over its peak too but that came more recently. It's going to decline in popularity too, especially if the Irish team and provinces aren't competing as much.

[Jinxy]

Reduce the prices and people will go to the games.
Just back from Croke Park where I'm told the attendance was over 35,000 on a truly horrible night (I'm f*ckin soaked).
€13 a pop and plenty of kids & families there.
I realise prices that low might not be feasible for the FAI but there has to be some recognition of the current economic woes.

[paul_oshea]

It's a poor article. The implication seems to be that rugby has replaced soccer in the hearts of the general public when it's more complicated than that. The FAI is coming down from the highs of the 90s and early 00s and crowds were always going to decrease, especially as they've dithered over ticket pricing. Rugby is probably over its peak too but that came more recently. It's going to decline in popularity too, especially if the Irish team and provinces aren't competing as much.

Will it though, im not so sure, i think they are at at the level now where the provinces will always be there and there abouts, and if they dont produce the players they will just buy them in. Just look at thomond park for the munster leinster game this evening. Its magners league, but they have built up this rivalry now, it was always there, but because of the popularity of rugby and the success of both clubs everyone is talking about it.

I do really fear for soccer and young lads coming through if this continues which i reckon it will. We drastically need to qualify for a tournament, 2 tournaments in a row would go a long long way to that.