Brazil friendly?

[Newryrep]

OK, I know you want exoticism, but only a few teams are really exotic (in the sense of attracting widespread interest rather than just being difficult to find on the map of Europe). None of the exotic teams may be available.



Moldova are exotic as far as I am concerned




That's the thing about friendlies. 3-4,000 Welsh fans in Dublin will move more lentils than an eastern u-21 side and a handful of fans.



there werent that many for the first match at Croker may 4-6000 so dont think there would be anywhere near that number.





There's something to be gained from all friendlies. A sparkling win over Hungary might reveal more than a sterile 0-0 with the Maracana globetrotters.



agreed




Point taken, you don't want to play NI and to a lesser extent Scotland. Not a problem- I doubt you'd be the first choice for us or them either.

correct :)

[ifk101]

What are your observations (genuine question)? They just look like random figures to me.

36,000 went to the Montenegro game. As you have already quoted, 12,000 attended the last friendly between the two sides. 40,000 for a qualifier and 15,000 for a friendly seems about right to me, give or take a couple of thousand.

Team rivalry, if that exists on both sides of the fence, may help to increase crowd numbers for a game against NI. However certain groups of people that go to matches might be put off going to a game against NI as we can assume that the fixture would attract its fair share of village idiots (as Newryrep puts it).

[Stuttgart88]

I think a game against NI would be really interesting. They hold the bragging rights at the moment so we deserve a shot at getting them back.

They have been a consistently good performer in qualification over the last 2 campaigns and have the knack of punching above their weight while we have just recently got back to the standard that we - rightly or wrongly - expect.

It'd be an interesting contest if both teams take it seriously (and we don't adhere to patenaccio) and I'd look forward to it.

Maybe I'm naive, but I'd expect both sets of fans to get behind their team and treat it as the sporting contest it should be. I'm not sure the morons would be welcome among the better elements of both sets.

[geysir]

The best that could be said about the Celtic cup is that you could argue it's better than nothing but still not be worth the risk of one of our first team players getting injured for any of the Euro qualifiers.
Maybe at best, just a good audition for the fringe players trying to get into the first team.
There is no competition outside of a qualification campaign to get to the finals.

[Deckydee]

For those of you interested in the Celtic Cup:

Celtic Cup To Start in 2011


A new international tournament involving Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland will start in 2011, the four associations have agreed after meeting in Copenhagen at the UEFA Congress.

David Collins, the secretary of the FA of Wales, told his organisation’s website :

“(We) are delighted we have finally reached agreement on the tournament taking place in Dublin in 2011. After many months of work we are delighted that this has now come about. We look forward to a great tournament especially in the new stadium in Dublin and we trust it will be a huge success which will enable us to extend in future years.”

The tournament, which has yet to be named but could be called the Celtic Cup, will be held in Dublin at the new Aviva Stadium and the first two games will take place on 8 February and 9 February 2011. The remaining four matches are scheduled for 24, 25, 27 and 28 May.

The tournament will run on a league basis and will be held in each country in turn. It has not yet been decided if it will take place every year. The old Home International Championship, involving England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, was last played in 1984.

[DeNiro]

Doesn't look like England's group throws up much for us in terms of a friendly. Maybe the USA at a push, but they would be mostly familiar with England anyway. Slovenia away maybe? We'll probably have a boring Scadinavian team friendly. Wouldn't mind seeing Russia if the Brazil game isn't a runner.

[dan o d]

i agree that russia would be a good match, but if we really were to make a big effort to climb the rankings and make sure we are not 3rd seeds for world cup 2014 we should play more friendlies away from home because under trap we seem to be more comfortable away from home and have got better results.

[hunt4the]

i'd rather see a friendly against norn iron,
the last two friendlies against brazil "b" were pure sh$£e

[newrynyuk]

last two friendlies against brazil have been fairly uninspiring. id rather play a big european team ie. germany holland or spain


I agree. However, Germany have a friendly against Argentina on the 3rd of March, the date of the proposed Brazil friendly. Holland will be playing USA on the same night.

And as for Spain, I'd love to see Trap's bhoys take on the European Champions at Croker. Unfortunately on that night they will be playing against - you've guessed it - France. First they steal our World Cup place...

[Not Brazil]

Based on my own observations, I'd guess that a competitive game (ie qualifier) against NI would attract a crowd of 40,000. For a friendly I'd imagine the crowd would be around 15,000.

There will be a big interest amongst Northern Ireland fans for the Celtic Cup game versus the Republic in Dublin.

If the game is on a weekend, we'll bring somewhere between 5 and 10K to the game (assuming we get that allocation).

I would be amazed if less than 10K Republic Of Ireland fans were prepared to pay to watch the game.

It'll be no "friendly" in our eyes.

[ArdeeBhoy]

Hmm.
And we thought you were 'Irish'.

Play against a real team or country, rather than a glorified theme park or some fragmented part of a dysfunctional kingdom.

Why not v.a 'British XI' ?? ;)

[Not Brazil]

Hmm.
And we thought you were 'Irish'.


That's right - you'll see for yourself, what with thousands of Northern Ireland fans wearing green IRISH Football Association shirts, with it's, very IRISH, Celtic Cross on the front of it, when we visit ;)

Looking forward to it.:cool:

[ArdeeBhoy]

That's right - you'll see for yourself, what with thousands of Northern Ireland fans wearing green IRISH Football Association shirts, with it's, very IRISH, Celtic Cross on the front of it, when we visit ;)



Fine. And they won't even have that strange 'Ulster' flag with them. It'll be that dodgy 'apron', whose colours they strangely don't play in!

'Football for All', hmm. Still it will look like we're playing a British XI after all.
:eek:

[Not Brazil]

Fine. And they won't even have that strange 'Ulster' flag with them. It'll be that dodgy 'apron', whose colours they strangely don't play in!


Lot's and lots of them.:cool:

[ArdeeBhoy]

So not 'Irish' then.
;)

Will you be one on such an occasion?

[ifk101]

Not Brazil;

I think it is highly likely that we will field a second string side for the Celtic Cup and this will have a negative impact on attendances. I understand that getting one over on us is important for the average NI fan but tbh, and from a personal perspective, I don't feel any real sense of rivalry with NI. I suspect that what rivalry exists between the two teams is confined to those from NI and the border regions. To put it another way, it's equally important to me to beat Scotland and Wales as it is to beat NI. And if somebody came along and offered us the choice between Euro 2012 qualification or Celtic Cup success, I know which option each ROI fan would chose.

[ArdeeBhoy]

Personally would have preferred the World Cup even though it's run by a shower of c***s.

The 'Celtic Cup' is a pointless irrelevance whilst the Euros have so many teams now, it's barely worth the qualifiers.

Otherwise if it has to be a friendly, away in Finland or Sweden, or v. as glamorous a team as possible, which none of our neighbours (or us) will ever be described as.

[EastTerracer]

Hmm.
And we thought you were 'Irish'.

Play against a real team or country, rather than a glorified theme park or some fragmented part of a dysfunctional kingdom.


That's right - you'll see for yourself, what with thousands of Northern Ireland fans wearing green IRISH Football Association shirts, with it's, very IRISH, Celtic Cross on the front of it, when we visit ;)


Fine. And they won't even have that strange 'Ulster' flag with them. It'll be that dodgy 'apron', whose colours they strangely don't play in!

Lads, can you jump back to the right thread - this one is supposed to be about Brazil, not the same internecine dispute which is being covered elsewhere...

[ArdeeBhoy]

Fair enough.

Though some fool mentioned the 'Celtic Cup'....

[gspain]

Lads, this is aboout cold hard cash. What team can the FAI bring in that will raise the most revenue. And thats Brazil, so suck it up.


I can't see how it will generate that much cash for the FAI.

€1.4 million minimum rent of Croke Park.

Match guarantee for Brazil is €500,000-€1 million.

Setup costs in hosting a game

Tickets for friendlies are €40 & €55 (mainly €40 apart from lower main stands)

I can't see a 3rd friendly v Brazil in 6 years attracting more than 50,000-60,000.

An away friendly with a promise of a return match in the Aviva or a guaranteed fee would seem to make more sense.

[gspain]

You forgot selling the tv rights back to Brazil.

Croker will be full for the Samba Boys, make no mistake. The only other teams I can see that would do so are the Brits, Spain, Germany and possibly Italy and Argentina. We will exclude France for the moment.

If you stick the match fee and tv rights into the equation, Brazil are probably the best money spinner.

It wasn't full the last time. The Waiting List have just got letters telling them they won't be getting tickets for the Aviva and I can't see too many wanting to go.

I wasn't aware of Brazil being that big a tv market. A wednesday afternoon kickoff in a developing country is hardly big money.

[gspain]

Timing was bad the last time with Givens in charge.



They can sell Brazil playing all over the world and the domestic market is huge.

You are arguing for the sake of it.

Brazil play lots of friendlies all over the world. I can't really see us v Brazil being more attractive than say Holland v USA & France v Spain which are both on that evening.

I'll go anyway and I would if we were playing Burkino Faso but frankly it doesn't excite me in the least. Argentina in August is far more attractive to me although that is partly because I've never seen Messi play live.

I also think it is a big financial gamble.

Frankly if we don't play away friendlies in March and May now we never will.

[Razors left peg]

The thoughts of paying 50 bucks to watch Lucas play for Brazil doesnt excite me at all.I'll almost definately go because I'll have to get the block booking ticket either way but I would prefer a team we havent played so recently. Spain would be good but maybe someone like the Ivory Coast would be interesting.
I do think the coming friendlies before the Euros will be very worth while and interesting to watch just to see how much Trap can develop the squad

[dan o d]

i wudnt mind a friendly against a lesser team along the lines of austria or finland, so our players can have a bit of time on the ball and learn to put away the poorer teams with more ease. if we play brazil , they will have 75% of possesion and it will only be an exercise in defense for our boys.

[Superhoops]

I can't see how it will generate that much cash for the FAI.

€1.4 million minimum rent of Croke Park.

Match guarantee for Brazil is €500,000-€1 million.

Setup costs in hosting a game

Tickets for friendlies are €40 & €55 (mainly €40 apart from lower main stands)

I can't see a 3rd friendly v Brazil in 6 years attracting more than 50,000-60,000.

An away friendly with a promise of a return match in the Aviva or a guaranteed fee would seem to make more sense.
I think FIFA may be covering Braziil's fee as part of the compensation deal the FAI are after following the France debacle.

[Junior]

I think FIFA may be covering Braziil's fee as part of the compensation deal the FAI are after following the France debacle.

Sounds like Financial Compensation to me, though Blatter said that was out of the question.

You are not suggesting Blatter is not true to his word are you?

[Razors left peg]

Yes, this is the same sort of moneyspinner for the FAI as Brazil would be....

The friendlies arent just about making money, its about developing the squad

[tetsujin1979]

the game could be played in England to cut costs, according to this morning's Independent: http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/cashstrapped-fai-may-play-brazil-friendly-in-london-1974130.html

[ifk101]

the game could be played in England to cut costs, according to this morning's Independent: http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/cashstrapped-fai-may-play-brazil-friendly-in-london-1974130.html

Sweden played Brazil in the Emirates last year in front of a full house so there is a demand in London to see Brazil play.

[lopez]

the game could be played in England to cut costs, according to this morning's Independent: http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/cashstrapped-fai-may-play-brazil-friendly-in-london-1974130.html
It becomes a de facto away game. Brazil have played at least two 'home' games at the Emirates: They don't seem to play any friendlies in Brazil anymore. If Brazil are up to facing us, they'll get a better crowd at the Emirates than against Sweden. There are a lot of Brazilians in London, but sadly too many Brazil fans are made up of the pretentious glory hunters that support Manchester United, Liverpool or Nottingham Forest even though they couldn't point to any of these places on a map, let alone been, lived, born or have a granny from there.

Still, this is great news for me. :)

So we raise tons of money and the Gah see none of it? Good.No! The Brazilians and Arsenal get it instead. Perhaps I haven't seen the worst of the Grab All Association as many of yous have, but if it came down to money, I'd rather see it stay in Ireland.

[Schumi]

Still, this is great news for me. :)
No! The Brazilians and Arsenal get it instead. Perhaps I haven't seen the worst of the Grab All Association as many of yous have, but if it came down to money, I'd rather see it stay in Ireland.

Brazil would have been paid anyway and I doubt that Arsenal would charge anything like the same level of rent as the GAA.

[gspain]

Never been to the Emirates and it is one ground I'd love to see.

Still sceptical and doubt if the figures add up.

Brazil played Italy there last year and tickets were readily available. A colleague planned to go but it got too expensive. If I recall correctly tickets were really expensive.

[Junior]

Brazils fee is Brazils fee. The issue is paying the bigots €1.25m for use of the hall, plus they get all the merchandise and food concessions.

I would assume part of this is a negotiation ploy to bargain the grand wizards in D3 down. If not, let the FAI fleece the Lahndon footballing public and use the money for the grassroots.

Everyone wins, except the GAA, so everyone wins twice.

Including the Irish footballing public and travelling support? Why would you want this to be the case?

[Razors left peg]

Please keep up. This friendly is explicitly about revenue generation for the FAI.

No need for such a condescending tone, Im well aware of the need to raise funds through friendlies but why is this one friendly specifically about revenue generation.We will probably have about 4 or 5 friendlies before the next qualification campaign,one of which will be a sellout for the visit of Argentina to the reopening of Lansdowne.
I made a reference to the Ivory Coast who could be an interesting option for a friendly in my opinion and I think they would be a decent draw with the likes of Drogba in the team.There would probably be about 50000 tickets sold for it if held in Croker due to the block booking system so they wouldnt be losing money in such a friendly.

[lopez]

Never been to the Emirates and it is one ground I'd love to see.

Still sceptical and doubt if the figures add up.

Brazil played Italy there last year and tickets were readily available. A colleague planned to go but it got too expensive. If I recall correctly tickets were really expensive.From £35, but that's probably for the two seats up the furthest corner.

http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/emirates-stadium-to-stage-brazil-v-italy

If there is one place where money on the turnstiles is king, it's Arsenal. What can you expect from a club who were proud that they would be bringing in more money through the paying public than any other football club in the world, when the Emirates was first open.

[jbyrne]

Brazils fee is Brazils fee. The issue is paying the bigots €1.25m for use of the hall, plus they get all the merchandise and food concessions.

I would assume part of this is a negotiation ploy to bargain the grand wizards in D3 down. If not, let the FAI fleece the Lahndon footballing public and use the money for the grassroots.

Everyone wins, except the GAA, so everyone wins twice.

the fai and irfu made a fortune out of playing in croke park despite the rent. its funny that you acuse the GAA of being bigots given the tone of this post

[pineapple stu]

why is this one friendly specifically about revenue generation.
(a) Because it's against Brazil; that's why you play Brazil and
(b) Because the FAI are screwed financially and badly need lots of money coming in.

[jbyrne]

They would have made more if the games were played in London/Glasgow/Manchester, so I fail to see your point.


really? how many attended the recent friendlies in london and how many attended the friendlies in CP? Id say the craven cottage attendances were about a third of CP.

do you really believe that we would have had more than say 30,000 at any of our recent competitive matches if played in the cities you mention?

[Junior]

really? how many attended the recent friendlies in london and how many attended the friendlies in CP? Id say the craven cottage attendances were about a third of CP.

do you really believe that we would have had more than say 30,000 at any of our recent competitive matches if played in the cities you mention?

I dont know the answers to what the FAI made out of each game. But in fairness you have only taken one side of the equation i.e. the income.

Rent / Running Costs of Croke Park vs. Craven Cottage - I'd hazard a guess that the difference is massive.

[Leeside Swagger]

Im pretty sure the Emirates is the most expensive football ground in the world so i doubt they'll cut the FAI a better deal than the GAA would. Maybe the new wembley would be an option.

[EastTerracer]

On the RTE Sports Awards John Delaney has just confirmed that the Brazil game is on but venue not decided (either Dublin or UK).

He also said that FIFA wanted to give us a Fair Play Award at their gala tomorrow but the FAI turned it down. Good decision - it all sounds a bit patronising.

[carloz]

What Fair Play did we show!!!!! We were cheated by a complete lack of fair play by France and there after by FIFA. We didn't show fair play and let FIFA **** off with this stupid patethic gesture on their part.

[SkStu]

put Bohs into the Group stages of the Champions League. Its the only reasonable solution/compensation left for Irish football.

[paul_oshea]

Seriouslly thought skstu, something like that would be deadly.

[eaststand85]

FIFA wanted to give us a Fair Play Award at their gala tomorrow but the FAI turned it down. Good decision - it all sounds a bit patronising.

Should have agreed to take it & then refused to accept it on the night. At the press conference after Delaney could have told them all that 'really they have asked this' while raising his eyebrows and laughing manically and patronisingly a la Blatter! :)

[shakermaker1982]

I went to Brazil vs Sweden at the Emirates and it was packed. Crap atmosphere mind.

[SuperDave]

I reckon it is entirely a negotiating ploy. If GAA play ball, the game will be in Croker. If not, it won't. The FAI are super cash strapped and are going for the revenue maximisation approach and I applaud them for it. If they fail, what happens next?

[tetsujin1979]

will the 6 nations not interfere with the availability of Croke Park?

[pineapple stu]

Seemingly not. (http://www.rbs6nations.com/en/matchcentre/match-centre_fixtures-results.php)

[gspain]

I reckon it is entirely a negotiating ploy. If GAA play ball, the game will be in Croker. If not, it won't. The FAI are super cash strapped and are going for the revenue maximisation approach and I applaud them for it. If they fail, what happens next?

I think you might be right but seems like the FAI have takena fee from Kentaro so they'll do the deal. I hope that is the case anyway.

The GAA deal is €1.4 million minimum or 26% of the gate which ever is the higher. The MillStad dropped their rent to 15% to attract events to Cardiff. The Emirates must be doing deals too given the matches they have hosted. The GAA would appear to not need events like the MillStad do so may well not budge. They might like to see the FAI get some negative publicity for denying children their dream of seeing Brazil play.... Crap I know but watch for the stories. RTE will wheel out the guy that calls himself Alan Hunter when they want to make fun of football fans.

I hope the FAI are not taking a gamble on this because the figures just don't add up for me to have it in Croke Park. Min guarantee €1.4 million, most tickets at €40 (same prices according to JD until 2012). Brazil's match fee is apparently €750,000.