Next season

[Trainee]

With Galway FC replacing Salthill & Mervue, & Wexford youths problems is very hard to look past a 18 team premier div next season.

[bluewhitearmy]

Would be a disaster the amount of teams that would have absolutely noting to play for would be ridiculous.

[Trainee]

Would be a disaster the amount of teams that would have absolutely noting to play for would be ridiculous.

Whats the alternative? a 6 team first div?

[PartySaint]

A 12 team first division with a 6 team premier division, separate the men from the boys.

[bluewhitearmy]

Whats the alternative? a 6 team first div?

I never said i had one and i never said it shouldn't happen we have no other choice imo but that doesn't mean its not a disaster. Id hope something else could be sorted tbh but can only see things getting worse.

[Lim till i die]

The Galway lads aren't even back in the league yet and they're trying to wangle an off field promotion.

[legendz]

With Galway FC replacing Salthill & Mervue, & Wexford youths problems is very hard to look past a 18 team premier div next season.
It looks like the league is going that direction alright. It'll be a big step up for clubs near the bottom of the first division. With no relegation, will they most likely be happy to trudge along and enjoy the relatively big pay days when the big guns come to town?

[Redzer]

With Galway FC replacing Salthill & Mervue, & Wexford youths problems is very hard to look past a 18 team premier div next season.
I wondered how long it would take.
Galway has neither a team or a CLUB and already they are plying to get playing in the premier division

[gordongekko]

Gust have voted twice and on both occasions have rejected the current gfc format.

[Jofspring]

Everytime I come on here it gets more confusing.

Some Galway fans saying Galway FC to replace Salthill and Mervue, some saying it has been rejected by GUST and some saying which or whether there will be no Salthill or Mervue in the league next season.

Which is it?

edit: I just looked at the First Division expressions of interest thread, surely this thread could be merged as it seems to be talking about the same thing.

[gordongekko]

Gfc will replace the other two however gust and its members are not on board.

[Sean South]

Gfc will replace the other two however gust and its members are not on board.

Two gusty management committee members ARE on board.

[Lim till i die]

Two gusty management committe members ARE on board.

Logged in to say more or less this.

Like what way did the gust votes breakdown??

If it was like 20 for, 480 against I could see a hassle but if the vote is like 249 for 251 against then gust can whistle in the wind.

Its not like its a trade union where the members are bound by the vote





Just realised far too many likes in this post like :bulgy:

[Sean South]

There are a few hardline gusties who are against getting involved with GFC, with these guys it's a ego trip and make the most noise. They are probably the most mentally unstable ones too. Most are willing to give it a go in the hope that the franchise will become a co-op. But the FAI have said there will be no other club coming out of Galway for at least 5 years so it's not like there is many options.

[Charlie Darwin]

If this Galway FC idea actually comes to pass, will this be the first time in Irish football history that two or more clubs have cooperated with one another on anything more substantial than kick-off times?

[Martinho II]

what is the problem with wexford youths? is it cos of Mick Wallaces well documented fin probs??

[gordongekko]

There are a few hardline gusties who are against getting involved with GFC, with these guys it's a ego trip and make the most noise. They are probably the most mentally unstable ones too. Most are willing to give it a go in the hope that the franchise will become a co-op.

There was a vote not once but twice and gust have rejected the current terms. How can the majority be on an ego trip and mentally unstable? You would be better keeping your own ego and mentally unstable ideas in check.

There are 2 gust board members on gfc as negotiations are ongoing.

[NeverFeltBetter]

Why are we having this conversation in yet another thread?

[Dillonman]

what is the problem with wexford youths? is it cos of Mick Wallaces well documented fin probs??

Saw somewhere over the weekend that the holding company of Ferrycarrig park had gone into receivership.

[BonnieShels]

Why are we having this conversation in yet another thread?

We need as many threads about Galway as there are teams potentially in Galway.

[bluewhitearmy]

In one of the papers today that Wexford and Cobh are expected to be around next season and that Shels will go fully amateur..

[TonyD]

With Galway FC replacing Salthill & Mervue, & Wexford youths problems is very hard to look past a 18 team premier div next season.

18 might be too many, but I'd certainly be in favour of a 16 team top division. We need to spread the appeal of the league, not restrict it.

[BoyInGreen]

I've an idea for next season. Why not split the Premier Division into 4 conferences, NW,NE,SE and SW. It would look something like this:

North West Conference
Derry City
Finn Harps
Galway
Sligo
Longford

North East Conference
Dundalk
Drogheda
Athlone
Bohemians
Shelbourne

South West Conference
Cork
Cobh
Limerick
Waterford
Team 20

South East
Shamrock Rovs
UCD
St. Patricks Athletic
Bray
Wexford

I am assuming that Mervue and Salthill will both drop out.

Each team will play the other teams in their conference four times (16 games) and each team in the other two conferences once (20 games), resulting in a regular season of 36 games, except for NW-SE and NE-SW, in which case the teams will not meet. To make allowances for group strength, the composition for the playoffs will be the three conference winners followed by 5 wildcards with the next highest number of points. Quarter and semi-finals will be played at the home of the higher-ranked team, while the final will be played at the Aviva. The remaining clubs will enter a shield competition, possibly with a place in the EL as the prize for the winners, which will have a similar format to the main knockout stages. I think the final would attract a large crowd since the teams will be playing off for a place in the champions league. Obviously, I admit it does have flaws (repetitive fixtures in the local conference), however this will reduce travel costs as games will become more localised, which will make it more attractive to clubs considering joining the league. What do other people think about this idea?

[White Horse]

I've an idea for next season. Why not split the Premier Division into 3 conferences, one for the North, another for the South and one for the Greater Dublin Area.

Jesus wept.

[BoyInGreen]

Jesus wept. Is it really that awful?

[NeverFeltBetter]

Big NFL fan?

[BoyInGreen]

A bit, but not an awful lot. At least it would be more sustainable than one big 18 team league with teams having to spend a fortune traversing the whole country.

[NeverFeltBetter]

Any gains would be lost by fans tuning out due to the repetitiveness. You've basically just proposed three First Divisions, with, on current standards, two or three big teams in each.

Moreover, its a league. Leave knock-outs for the cup.

[BoyInGreen]

I knew that criticism was coming. The model's not perfect, I admit, but what is the alternative? A single 18 team division is simply too large for this country, especially with many clubs teetering on the brink of collapse. An eight-team division or less is OK only as a temporary measure. Clubs have no interest in joining a league traversing Cork to Donegal as, as we saw with Monaghan and Kilkenny, the costs are simply prohibitive. I hate to say it, but if the LOI is ever going to recover from this mess, radical ideas should not be easily dismissed.

P.S. I will modify my proposal to even the games out a bit.

[bluewhitearmy]

I am assuming that Wexford Youths fold




On the day they receive money to keep going and state their intent to keep going.

[BoyInGreen]

On the day they receive money to keep going and state their intent to keep going. Fixed.

[legendz]

I've an idea for next season. Why not split the Premier Division into 4 conferences, NW,NE,SE and SW. It would look something like this:Looks like a structure for an A league! Olympic squad type idea in another thread.

[BoyInGreen]

Thanks :D. Have you a link for the Olympic idea? Would like to check it out.

[NeverFeltBetter]

OK, listen, this just isn't the NFL. The problem with your plan was not that it needed a fourth sub-division.

[legendz]

Thanks :D. Have you a link for the Olympic idea? Would like to check it out.
http://foot.ie/threads/183574-Reform-root-and-branch/page2?p=1713918#post1713918

I doubt all clubs have that problem, some premier clubs wanted the A Championship disbanded. I'd like to see it return in some form, no surprises there! As opposed to being viewed mainly as reserve teams, an A league should be something like Olympic squads that LoI clubs could only have a maximum of 3 over the age of 23 players in the matchday squad. Something like that would send out the right signal that it would be a development league. I'd only see a real need for this if we do wind up with only a single tier premier.
Just to expand a small bit further. What I'm suggesting is, if the LoI is a single division of 18, I'd like to see 3 regionalised development leagues below it. Leagues being north&west, east and south. LoI clubs would enter development teams, allowing for only 3 over age of 23 players in a matchday squad. First teams that might join the development league from Carlow or Mayo for example would not have restrictions on the age of players. Just to finish off the point, with 3 regional development leagues, the best first teams from each league and the worst team in the LoI could play-off for the final LoI spot.
The advantages seem to be a level for players to develop between U19 and Premier division. Smaller regions to cut down travel and related costs. An opportunity again to extend an olive branch to interested clubs in joining the league at some level. If the league does go the way of a single division, it'll keep teams near the bottom honest as there is the potential for relegation. Finally, if there is to be no repeat of the situation of too many clubs from one area, new teams entering the development league would possibly be conditional on is a region already represented by a club.