2018 League of Ireland Fixtures

[sbgawa]

wrong thread

[TonyD]

What would happen if Dundalk refused to agree to have the fixture switched to Oriel Park?

Why would they though, in fairness ? Extra home game for them at the start of the season, couldn't really see them complaining.

[brendy_éire]

Why don’t Derry look at the option of using Buncrana’s ground in the interim period where the Brandywell is not ready. Also when are they expecting to make a decision about the Dundalk game?

We don't know. Also, we don't know.

I think reserving the fixtures is probably the best option.

[dundalkfc10]

Why would they though, in fairness ? Extra home game for them at the start of the season, couldn't really see them complaining.

If we were to switch with Derry and play the game at start season in Dundalk.

In April we would have 4 away games in a row, Bray, Limerick, Derry and Cork

No chance we will agree to that!

[oriel]

Why would they though, in fairness ? Extra home game for them at the start of the season, couldn't really see them complaining.

This would mean though that Dundalk would be playing a home league match on 3 Fridays in a row and 4 out of 5 Friday's in March, that's a lot of home games over a short period to market, similar might apply for Sligo and any others that are asked to change.

They have 3 full weeks to get the ground completed, surely they can have all final things done then and safety cert in place? That or look to use Buncrana's ground.

[sbgawa]

If someone offered me to switch our away games with bohs and Limerick to give us 5 home matches to start the league and try and build some momentum id be tempted to take it.
Momentum and a good start are important..........although a weak start and then 5 away games does offer another viewpoint :)

[dundalkfc10]

Derry should have their licence removed! How can the FAI give a licence to a club who dont know when where how they will play games.

[DannyInvincible]

Why would they though, in fairness ? Extra home game for them at the start of the season, couldn't really see them complaining.

I was considering the possibility of Dundalk objecting on the basis of this post by oriel in another thread:


[The delay in the Brandywell re-opening] doesn't sound too good, what are the chances that work can be completed in time by end of this month, or does there have to be a safety cert issued after all inspections take place and over a certain period?

I can't see Dundalk agreeing to switch the game on Fri 2nd March, as that will leave us with a home league match on every Friday in March, as it sits I think 3 is hard enough to sell in one month, 4 will be a huge ask especially on consecutive weeks.

Can Derry not look to use Buncrana for the first 2 or 3 games?

I don't know how likely it is that Dundalk might object to a proposed fixture reversal, but if it could pose potential revenue issues for the club, I'm sure it's something they'd have to seriously consider. And they'd be perfectly entitled to put "sentiment" or "good will" to the side and put their own interests as a professionally-run club first.

This is ultimately the result of poor organisation by the Derry board (which has seemingly been indulged by the FAI). There should have been a back-up plan in place long before now. As was mentioned elsewhere, the board only came out with the statement about the Sligo game being reversed because a freedom-of-information request to the city council by a fan had already revealed that the stadium won't be ready until mid-March and so the board were getting a lot of criticism from bewildered fans wondering what the hell was happening with the scheduled home-games before then. Even still, it seems that an announcement on the Dundalk game will also be left to the last minute because there's obviously no arrangement in place for it yet.

[Mr A]

Derry should have their licence removed! How can the FAI give a licence to a club who dont know when where how they will play games.

Yeah! Just like Dundalk had theirs removed when their pitch was held up and they ended up having to play in Monaghan!

[Ezeikial]

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