State of Play: Player development is in crisis and the FAI must act

[Mr A]

Good piece in the Irish Times by Kevin Burke. http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/soccer/state-of-play-player-development-is-in-crisis-and-the-fai-must-act-1.3113617?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

[vinnie]

Good read, makes some very good points

[disgruntled]

What kind of association wouldn't put everything it has into promoting its own domestic league ?
The FAI.

[Bunny Kelly]

Not wanting to defend the FAI in any way, but is this not what the under 15/17 leagues are for, to help develop players in Ireland that will feed into the domestic league?

[RathfarnhamHoop]

Not wanting to defend the FAI in any way, but is this not what the under 15/17 leagues are for, to help develop players in Ireland that will feed into the domestic league?
The new leagues are good but the clubs aren't getting any financial help to run the extra teams and clubs are already living hand to mouth which I think is the point.

[pineapple stu]

Exactly the point. 20k to run an underage team, give or take. Has to come out of the first-team wage budget ultimately. Means less likely to get a professional structure in place. So where will our professional players come from?

The answer in recent years is - they haven't been coming.