2016 League of Ireland.

[oldyouth]

The Licencing Committee.... "A great bunch of lads"

[oriel]

That puts him back in his box.

Totally agree, and I never thought Matthews contacting the FAI asking them to refuse Dundalk a licence would stand up, so glad that's sorted now for this season. The lease issue will still have to be resolved though, and given the huge sports funding announced today, it shows how importance this is. It really only puts the process on hold though and only limited improvements can be made to the ground until the lease is sorted. It will be interesting to see how the eviction process will go, as Des Casey has re-started proceedings on that, and its clear Dundalk have no intention of paying anything, as they have stated many times no monies are owed.

[jinxy lilywhite]

Totally agree, and I never thought Matthews contacting the FAI asking them to refuse Dundalk a licence would stand up, so glad that's sorted now for this season. The lease issue will still have to be resolved though, and given the huge sports funding announced today, it shows how importance this is. It really only puts the process on hold though and only limited improvements can be made to the ground until the lease is sorted. It will be interesting to see how the eviction process will go, as Des Casey has re-started proceedings on that, and its clear Dundalk have no intention of paying anything, as they have stated many times no monies are owed.

I think that is worst case scenario if that goes through. It could be years before its resolved.

[vinnie]

How come UCD only got a 1st Div license, has the Bowl fallen asunder ?

[Nesta99]

All they applied for probably this year.

[pineapple stu]

I think we usually do just apply for the First Div licence.

Could be just one thing on the Premier licence that we just didn't bother with this year.

[Dodge]

Collie O'Neill doesn't have a pro licence. Same with Kev Doherty at Shels and Stephen Henderson at Cobh. They only need the A licence to be a manager in the first division

[Comic Book Guy]

Collie O'Neill doesn't have a pro licence. Same with Kev Doherty at Shels and Stephen Henderson at Cobh. They only need the A licence to be a manager in the first division

Apparently it's the only reason why we didn't get a premier licence.

[nigel-harps1954]

Prize fund up from €315,000 to €475,000 this year supposedly.

[Nesta99]

Dundalk league favourites for a 3 in a row, no asterisk appearing on league tables, jerseys launched by clubs that aint totally rubbish, now an increase in prizemoney - did I slip in to a parallel universe?

[pateen]

Prize fund up from €315,000 to €475,000 this year supposedly.

Great to see but long over due

[Mr A]

Any word on the breakdown? Will clubs nearer the bottom of the table still be paying to be in the league?

[oriel]

If this is correct re the increased prize money to €475k, that's still a fair bit off the early to mid 00's, but then again European money since has dwarfed that.

If the 475k is correct though, its around 50% increase, that's some going, and will probably see the league champions collect €130- €150k up from the current €100k, maybe it won't be 50k more for the winners but its still an additional €160k to the overall prize fund for the league as a whole.

[Mr A]

I would hope the increase has been spread from the bottom up so we don't have clubs effectively paying to be in the league. With the European money as big as it is now it would make little sense to aim it at the top finishers.

[PartySaint]

Any word on the breakdown? Will clubs nearer the bottom of the table still be paying to be in the league?

You'd hope this means a big increase for the clubs near the bottom, think I saw before that if you finish below 4th the prize money doesn't even cover the registration fee. Absolute madness

[Mark]

Fran Gavin announced it at the launch and they've just sent out the press release:

Gavin: “I am delighted to announce that we will be increasing the prize fund for the SSE Airtricity League Premier and First Divisions by 50 per cent this season. The prize money will rise from €315,500 to €475,500 for the League. In addition we have the prize fund for the Irish Daily Mail FAI Cup, the EA SPORTS Cup and UEFA Fair Play which means our clubs will be competing for a total prize fund of €596,500.”

[pineapple stu]

What is it - €17k for a Premier Division team and €10k for a First Division team?

€284k in total. So half the prize money going straight back to the FAI. Ridiculous.

Do other leagues even charge an entry fee?

[outspoken]

What is it - €17k for a Premier Division team and €10k for a First Division team?

€284k in total. So half the prize money going straight back to the FAI. Ridiculous.

Do other leagues even charge an entry fee?

Of course they do, I've seen local league entry fees here and they are crazy. Even at the very top of the game national FA's have to pay a contribution to be members of FIFA. Only difference is of course they get something in return unlike paying money to the FAI

[pineapple stu]

I meant abroad.

So far as I know, Scottish clubs don't pay to enter the Scottish leagues for example.

[Charlie Darwin]

I'm sure some of the other smaller leagues do, but anywhere that has a modest TV deal wouldn't bother because you can just subtract admin costs from the total. It's only in Ireland it's used as a rent-seeking exercise.

[seand]

In most pro leagues you pay a fairly hefty fee for membership (I believe). It's a good 7 figures in the MLS... .but then a well run franchise in the MLS will make money.

[shizzle787]

Two questions: will you ever consider going back to a fall to spring schedule, and how many of the clubs in the league are debt free?

[nigel-harps1954]

http://www.98fm.com/LISTEN:-League-Of-Ireland-Season-Preview

98FM season preview.

[Mr A]

Prize money for this year as posted by Dan McDonnell on twitter:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CcnzNKXWwAER64M.jpg

If the premier affiliation fee is still €19k, the bottom 6 are still paying to play in the league. In the first division the bottom team will pay 12k and get 8k back. That in particular seems mental.

[nigel-harps1954]

Still a little bit top heavy in terms of money back to the clubs, but small steps forward. Hopefully another €100k can be added on next season.

[Mr A]

Edit: Was informed that affiliation fees have dropped.

17k premier and 8k first, so no one is now paying more than they receive.

Before fines and ref fees anyway :)

[Dodge]

Still a little bit top heavy in terms of money back to the clubs

It should be top heavy. It's 'prize' money after all. Not participation money

Anyway the increases are far, far larger (proportionally) at the bottom rather than the top

[Mr A]

The Sun lays this out: http://www.thesun.ie/irishsol/homepage/sport/irishfootball/6974203/Increase-in-League-of-Ireland-prize-fund-ahead-of-the-2016-season.html

Still think there was little reason to increase the prize fund for those qualified for Europe but this is a good boost for a lot of clubs.

[Charlie Darwin]

The Sun lays this out: http://www.thesun.ie/irishsol/homepage/sport/irishfootball/6974203/Increase-in-League-of-Ireland-prize-fund-ahead-of-the-2016-season.html

Still think there was little reason to increase the prize fund for those qualified for Europe but this is a good boost for a lot of clubs.
Cork need the extra money to bridge the 80% gap to the Dublin clubs.

[oriel]

I'm not sure I agree with the point that clubs in Euro spots did not warrant increases also, I can see the point on the smaller clubs getting increases and it looks like all clubs are getting either 10k or 11.5k, however in most leagues the higher you finish the more you get.

Granted the winners will still get 110k, but I would have thought the top 2 at least would have got a little more than the 10k extra. Good news though on the affiliation fees being reduced as is the figure for the team coming last in the PD, is that 18.5k now, up from a paltry 7k?

[Iorfa2MaccaJim]

Hi lads.

I was just wondering are the League guides in tomorrow's newspapers or will they be out next week. If they are out tomorrow, what newspapers will they be in ?

Thanks lads.

[Martinho II]

Hi lads.

I was just wondering are the League guides in tomorrow's newspapers or will they be out next week. If they are out tomorrow, what newspapers will they be in ?

Thanks lads.

Iorfa the Mail had a league guide two days back. the sun had preview that day also. Mirror should have league guide tmw and Star should have season preview tmw like last yr!

[placid casual]

So instead of getting €15k, Rovers will get €25k. Let's dance!

[Iorfa2MaccaJim]

Iorfa the Mail had a league guide two days back. the sun had preview that day also. Mirror should have league guide tmw and Star should have season preview tmw like last yr!

Thank you very much for the information Martinho. Bring on the big kick - off tomorrow night.