2011 attendances

[listowelceltic]

848 limerick shels

[Partizan]

about 400 at the RSC for the game v Salthill.

[Mr Maroon]

2,459 in Tallaght.

About 12 from Galway.

[bluemovie]

A group of us from England were at the Salthill Devon v. Monaghan United game last Saturday. There were a few late comers, but after a few counts we settled on an attendance of 100. There were 10-15 from Monaghan.

What the hell was that about? Some sort of ground-hopper junkies or just masochists? Maybe Carlisle fans still in thrall to the Rod Squad?


about 400 at the RSC for the game v Salthill.

Yeah, I agree. We'll probably get an official attendance though.

[El-Pietro]

went down to Cobh last night for the A Championship game agsinst Shamrock Rovers. bought 130-150 at it. don't know why they aren't in the first division

on an aside Rovers number 7 was the best player on the field, small stocky winger. scored a cracker, seemed to have a bit of an attitude but definitely one to keep an eyey on. was two very young teams playing

[Dillonman]

went down to Cobh last night for the A Championship game agsinst Shamrock Rovers. bought 130-150 at it. don't know why they aren't in the first division

on an aside Rovers number 7 was the best player on the field, small stocky winger. scored a cracker, seemed to have a bit of an attitude but definitely one to keep an eyey on. was two very young teams playing

That Paddy Kavanagh?

[Mr Maroon]

We have surprisingly loyal home support considering our woeful run of form, but our away support is the worst in the Division.

[El-Pietro]

That Paddy Kavanagh?
no, much younger. there werent anything close to first teamers involved. all around 20 I'd say.

[Darkglasses]

About 120 at Mervue vs. Youths, horribly wet evening and lack of cover helped make it probably the most unappealing football game in the world, so really anything over 100 is a great achievement. 10 from Wexford.

[Nah Nah Nah Nah]

1567 in the showgrounds

[Bray Head]

I'd say around 1,000 at Bray v. Bohs on a terrible evening.

[Roo69]

I'd say around 1,000 at Bray v. Bohs on a terrible evening.

Would have said there was a few more than that, only a few mind you :) between 1100 and 1200. Extratime had it down as 300 !

[Candystripe]

Derry V The Big club 2,059

[Mr Maroon]

614 brave souls in a rainy Terryland for the 14th loss in a row.

[Dodge]

Well in fairness about 150 of them were there to see Pats go 13 unbeaten

[geezer]

3 goals is the mighty tally GUFC have scored at home all season and still 500 galwegians come out to look in a week when the county is in a state of convulsion over the hurlers

[Dunny]

2,500 (estimate). from extratime.ie for Rovers V Dundalk.

[WindmillWarrior]

Drogs v UCD - around 500 or so I'd say, Drogs v Pats around double that.

[passinginterest]

Would have thought the Tallaght crowd was slightly bigger than Friday so maybe closer to 3,000.

[pineapple stu]

Drogs v UCD - around 500 or so I'd say
Would have thought less than that - 350 or so - but I couldn't see in front of the clubhouse.

[Candystripe]

Derry v Sligo 2,153

[bullit]

Attendance @ OP tonight was 650 :(

[SkStu]

1135 at Dalymount. Abysmal.

[Dodge]

All things considered Stu (atrocious weather, your goals scored, the opposition) that's far from abysmal

[bullit]

Aye its prob sunny as hell in Saskatchewan.Far from it in DEAR old Oireland :)

[SkStu]

All things considered Stu (atrocious weather, your goals scored, the opposition) that's far from abysmal

fair point. In fact, it is almost exactly what another poster said to me on the Bohs mb.


Aye its prob sunny as hell in Saskatchewan.Far from it in DEAR old Oireland :)

it is today bullit but not recently. In fact the big news is the flooding due to melting snow and torrential rain of the last week to 10 days.

http://www.leaderpost.com/rivers+lakes+rain+some+Saskatchewan+towns+still+fa cing+flooding/4994292/story.html

[razor]

1824 at Turners Cross tonight

Very poor for a derby but the weather can't have helped.
Bout 30/40 Blaahs

[gael353]

Counted 101 at the Wexford Limerick game

[oriel]

Attendance @ OP tonight was 650 :(

Almost every poster on orielweb is disputing this figure that was given last night, we all agree it was the smallest crowd of the season and a dreadful one at that, but it was def looked to be around 900.

[Rasputin]

Hard to judge the attendance tonight since so many in the New Stand didnt go near the front few rows of seats cause of the weather and a good few seemed to head over to the Jinks. Id say around 1400 or so in the New Stand with about 200-300 in the Railway End, Shed End and The Jinks and about 300 or so Shams fans. Even with the weather as bad as it was and the game on telly still was a poor crowd considering the importance of the game.

[dong]

Yeah, poor enough crowd.

Sure they'll all come out of the woodwork for the last two or three home games of the season but only if we're still in contention to win the league, because anything less just wouldn't be exciting enough.

[gufct]

Every club is suffering this season WITH THE DROPS IN attendances including ourselves. If we hadnt dropped our prices I would hate to think what crowds we would be getting now. LOI is too overpriced and it cant maintain the present crowds with the large number of midweek games as people cant afford 2 games in the space of a few days.

Until everyone sits around the table and works for the common good with a structured 5/10 year plan the league is ****ed. Clubs have to think of the big picture rather than just worrying about their own little patch.

[dong]

Certainly agree that there are too many games and playing the same team possibly six or seven times in a season means people lose interest I feel.

[ger121]

Hard to judge the attendance tonight since so many in the New Stand didnt go near the front few rows of seats cause of the weather and a good few seemed to head over to the Jinks. Id say around 1400 or so in the New Stand with about 200-300 in the Railway End, Shed End and The Jinks and about 300 or so Shams fans. Even with the weather as bad as it was and the game on telly still was a poor crowd considering the importance of the game.

The Indo said it was a crowd of over 1700 so say you aren't far off there.

Someone on our forum said around 1200 for our game against the Drogs. ET has a figure of 1135, which sounds official enough.

[PartySaint]

1027 at Richmond last night, I was hoping for a good crowd due to the fact our last 3 games have been away and we had the chance to go top, The weather ruined that I suppose

[avvenalaf]

There's too many games all together and people have to be choosy which ones they go to. Rovers clash being on TV was a great chance to see footie for nothing. Maybe 1700 wasn't that bad considering the weather and the telly but, in good times, the attendance would be double that.

[Dodge]

I still blame the summer season...

[redobit]

Game on a Friday, early kickoff, p!ssin rain, game on the TV and three games in a week affected the crowd last night. Still a poor crowd mind.

[mypost]

Every club is suffering this season WITH THE DROPS IN attendances including ourselves. If we hadnt dropped our prices I would hate to think what crowds we would be getting now. LOI is too overpriced and it cant maintain the present crowds with the large number of midweek games as people cant afford 2 games in the space of a few days.

Until everyone sits around the table and works for the common good with a structured 5/10 year plan the league is ****ed. Clubs have to think of the big picture rather than just worrying about their own little patch.

Most of them voted for the current structure in 2006. They knew it wouldn't work, but still voted for them. Clubs themselves are as responsible for the schedule as the FAI. The FAI just want the games crammed into 8 months of the year, while most fixtures are designed to suit home players and home crowds, rather than what is best for the league. Clubs themselves are solely responsible for ticket prices. At most clubs, tickets are at the same prices as pre-recession days, and are the same for every game in whatever competition. Even the kick off times are mostly the same every week. The public are voting with their feet.

But sure, we've had this discussion last summer, and the summer before, and the summer before, and th............Nothing changes, because nobody thinks long-term or outside the box, just the next fixture. So the status quo remains.

[bullit]

Im no fan off Myposts but i have to agree with him on this post.
The Monday/Tues games are having a severe knock on effeect as far as attendances are concerned.
Its easy and simple to laugh at another sides attendance figure but if we are in this (LOI) together then we should be hoping for much larger attendaces than the ones that we are seeing at the moment.

Indeed its a sad day when every ground in LOI is not full to its capacity.

[nigel-harps1954]

I counted 60 people in Drom tonight at Salthill v Harps with about 30 of them Harps. First time there, strange experience.

[Nah Nah Nah Nah]

Game on a Friday, early kickoff, p!ssin rain, game on the TV and three games in a week affected the crowd last night. Still a poor crowd mind.

Yeah that 10 minutes made a huge difference

[shellyriver]

Is a break through in Europe the only way the LOI can establish a wider base? The most obvious reason that summer football is here is that it doesn't clash with English football. While it clashes with GAA -- there will obviously be less teams as championships roll on. Can't imagine that a reversion to winter 'fulltime' football will bring in the masses -- particularly considering if the harsher winters of last two years are the norm.

In reality clubs like UCD shouldn't be permitted in the league, along with obvious strugglers in First Division.

The amalgamation of a pared down combined Premier and First Division could stop endless repeat games.

What about a league of top North of Ireland teams and from the Republic?

[Dodge]

All rubbish pie in the sky stuff

Crowds were better in winter. Can argue why but it's pretty clear

UCD are there on merit

Are endless meaningless games more attractive than playing teams 4 times (when clubs always played each other 3 times anyway)

An all Ireland league cures nothing. You think Sligo v Dungannon is more attractive than Sligo v Bray? Setanta cup figures disagree

[bennocelt]

Well said Dodge - some people are so lacking in knowledge about the game its unreal. Please point him to the Hogan stand and be rid of that rubbish

[peadar1987]

Is a break through in Europe the only way the LOI can establish a wider base? The most obvious reason that summer football is here is that it doesn't clash with English football. While it clashes with GAA -- there will obviously be less teams as championships roll on. Can't imagine that a reversion to winter 'fulltime' football will bring in the masses -- particularly considering if the harsher winters of last two years are the norm.

In reality clubs like UCD shouldn't be permitted in the league, along with obvious strugglers in First Division.

The amalgamation of a pared down combined Premier and First Division could stop endless repeat games.

What about a league of top North of Ireland teams and from the Republic?


Getting rid of the first division is only going to make more meaningless games. It's usually fairly obvious who the title challengers are after 10 or 15 games (with the notable exception of this season), and without relegation to worry about, everyone else's games become meaningless fairly quickly.

I'm a firm believer in expanding the league. As I've said before, if places like Longford and Monaghan, neither exactly a metropolis, can support sustainable teams, there is absolutely no reason places like Nenagh, Ennis, Cavan, Mullingar, Navan, Kilkenny, Kildare, Tullamore and Carlow can't also support them. Of course, to attract clubs from these areas, the league has to make itself an attractive prospect, and really needs to cut down on the ridiculous financial antics, buckets of fudge, and shoddy treatment of teams by the organising authority.

[razor]

Any Mons got a figure for Monaghan v City from last week?

[Mr A]

Salthill didn't bother to ask people to pay last night. I arrived right on kick off and couldn't find anyone to pay and no one I spoke to had paid either. Meant to find someone to pay at half time but clean forgot.

[shellyriver]

Getting rid of the first division is only going to make more meaningless games. It's usually fairly obvious who the title challengers are after 10 or 15 games (with the notable exception of this season), and without relegation to worry about, everyone else's games become meaningless fairly quickly.

I'm a firm believer in expanding the league. As I've said before, if places like Longford and Monaghan, neither exactly a metropolis, can support sustainable teams, there is absolutely no reason places like Nenagh, Ennis, Cavan, Mullingar, Navan, Kilkenny, Kildare, Tullamore and Carlow can't also support them. Of course, to attract clubs from these areas, the league has to make itself an attractive prospect, and really needs to cut down on the ridiculous financial antics, buckets of fudge, and shoddy treatment of teams by the organising authority.

Any club in a location that doesn't have a tradition in soccer, pre-1920s will simply will not get off the ground.

Fact of matter is that soccer is historically a game most popular in Northern half of Ireland, with pockets of popularity on east Coast from Dublin to Dundalk, 'garrison towns' and towns with Protestant secondary level schools.

I think that a Northern All-Ireland Division -- and a Southern Division would sort out 'football viability' for domestic football. It took until 1920s for Cork City to play a game of soccer in Dublin! It would be ridiculous in extreme for anyone north of Thurles wanting to travel to Cork and Waterford to a lesser degree.

Regarding meaningless games, I suppose its a relative situation. Clubs who after a few games will lag behind will view 'meaningless games' as vital in terms of survival -- although it might not draw in support, because football 'sheeple' crave success and coat-tail it. Therefore, will hurling and gaelic football dominating the South and rugby an increasingly popular sport in Leinster -- domestic soccer can should rightly look to its traditional base core.

I am no big fan of FAI's attitude to LOI and attempting to merge IFA and FAI domestic league might be too big a issue to grapple and one that either side are happy to trundle on with -- but until Irish football teams perform well consistently in Europe in this increasingly consumer age it won't advance rapidly.

Then again we are up against global popularity of Premiership (which is increasingly elitist) domestic ball sports etc.

Look, Cuba produced the best 'amateur' boxers in the world! You are either interesting in promoting the game, running a viable business, but UCD is a good example is testament to the fact in Ireland the situation is intractable.

PS - re UCD there on merit, considering the scholarship programmes and selecting players from around the country they have a unique advantage. fair play to them. I love the likes of Wexford Youths and would love to see a community-based and community-lead approach in Ireland, but one that is supported by the community in turn.

Bottom line the First Division is a grave yard. It can actually mean the death of would be viable clubs, the traditionally stronger clubs in it should be extricated and breath life into their respective clubs.

[peadar1987]

Any club in a location that doesn't have a tradition in soccer, pre-1920s will simply will not get off the ground.

Fact of matter is that soccer is historically a game most popular in Northern half of Ireland, with pockets of popularity on east Coast from Dublin to Dundalk, 'garrison towns' and towns with Protestant secondary level schools.

I think that a Northern All-Ireland Division -- and a Southern Division would sort out 'football viability' for domestic football. It took until 1920s for Cork City to play a game of soccer in Dublin! It would be ridiculous in extreme for anyone north of Thurles wanting to travel to Cork and Waterford to a lesser degree.

Regarding meaningless games, I suppose its a relative situation. Clubs who after a few games will lag behind will view 'meaningless games' as vital in terms of survival -- although it might not draw in support, because football 'sheeple' crave success and coat-tail it. Therefore, will hurling and gaelic football dominating the South and rugby an increasingly popular sport in Leinster -- domestic soccer can should rightly look to its traditional base core.

I am no big fan of FAI's attitude to LOI and attempting to merge IFA and FAI domestic league might be too big a issue to grapple and one that either side are happy to trundle on with -- but until Irish football teams perform well consistently in Europe in this increasingly consumer age it won't advance rapidly.

Then again we are up against global popularity of Premiership (which is increasingly elitist) domestic ball sports etc.

Look, Cuba produced the best 'amateur' boxers in the world! You are either interesting in promoting the game, running a viable business, but UCD is a good example is testament to the fact in Ireland the situation is intractable.

PS - re UCD there on merit, considering the scholarship programmes and selecting players from around the country they have a unique advantage. fair play to them. I love the likes of Wexford Youths and would love to see a community-based and community-lead approach in Ireland, but one that is supported by the community in turn.

Bottom line the First Division is a grave yard. It can actually mean the death of would be viable clubs, the traditionally stronger clubs in it should be extricated and breath life into their respective clubs.


You mentioned Wexford Youths in your post, they don't seem to be doing too badly. Bray, Monaghan and Longford only joined the league in the mid 80s, Finn Harps only founded in the 1950s, and football is an immensely popular sport all over the country, even in areas that have no significant history in the LOI. Almost every town has a club of some description, and it's the fault of the LOI that they have no interest in joining up at present. It's just not an attractive enough prospect, there's no media hype about it, no chance to grow your club, and no prestige associated with the brand, due to the repeated foot-shooting the clubs seem obsessed with.

As for meaningless games, if there's no relegation, there's no functional difference between finishing 4th and finishing 14th, if you get rid of relegation to the first division. The drop-off in attendances for clubs who aren't fighting for anything except pride is well documented, and is the reason the Football League in England introduced the play-offs, to keep the competition alive for clubs further down the table. As a Bray supporter, I know full well that games in a relegation dogfight are far from meaningless!

Anyway, I suppose the point I'm trying to make is that the League of Ireland needs credibility and a good public image more than anything to move forwards and develop, and throwing clubs out of the league who are there on merit is not the way of going about that. If UCD are thrown out of the league, it's not going to draw any more fans in to Shamrock Rovers or Shels, all it's going to do is lose to the league those people who now follow UCD.