2027 UEFA European Under-21 Championship

[Kingdom]

I was wondering how much of a crowd there would be in Tallaght and it was quite sad to be honest. A 2/3's full old stand and that was it. No atmosphere. I got to the game late and the breeze that was blowing into the Irish faces in the first half dropped more or less for the 2nd half.

Ireland were ponderous on the ball, and like I'll touch on with the SMNT in the other thread, it wasn't for the lack of options - it was a lack of courage or vision. It was hard arriving late to pin blame, but the two centre-halves have to shoulder the killing of momentum. We were afraid to play a 5 yd forward pass at times. Vata, god love him (he must be reflecting on his decision to plump for us), he tried and tried to get into position to make something happen just like he did in Moldova and for me he's the one I'd be fast-tracking now because he is exactly what we don't have in the senior side. I thought Mullins wasn't poor either and he was genuinely trying to move into space but was just not being found.

First time for a good while seeing Melia in the flesh, and he's so far ahead of his teammates with speed of thought - this was obvious I thought when Kone-Doherty came on. Mason was being dragged, pulled and bumped and dunted throughout the time he was on the pitch. His touch was quite good - there was one ball that was zipped into him that he absolutely killed to perfection into the path of TKD that was just nicked away in a dangerous area as the Derryman was about to bounce into the box.

On Kone-Doherty, he's clearly a winger in the old fashion of hugging the line, attacking the space and putting the fb on his arse, but he's light. I knew he was 19, but looking at it last night I thought he was 15 or 16. I'd fear for him to be honest and I'd have doubts about how far he can really go, because I'm not sure how much bigger he could get. But he absolutely added to the team, as did Noonan. The goal was a peach and as soon as it came to him you knew it was going in. It's great to think that they will be senior team options in the not-too-distant future.

It's ironic given all the talk of development and what not, that the two best players - only my opinion of course - were Melia and Noonan - homegrown and playing Senior professional mens football, with Vata close by.

[pineapple stu]

I was wondering how much of a crowd there would be in Tallaght and it was quite sad to be honest. A 2/3's full old stand and that was it. No atmosphere.
Probably to be expected with the game starting so soon after the Armenia game ended in fairness.

You don't really lift Armenia despondency with a game against Andorra's kids either I guess.

[ifk101]

I haven’t seen much of Kone-Doherty, but if he is as good as the players coming through in his position, thinking Ike Orazi and Jaden Umeh, that’s one part of the pitch with longer-term promise.

[Kingdom]

On other thing to add, and it's generally about sport here and attendance/fans/supporters. There's a lot of reactions and emotion and posts and talk reflecting that, but in a wider context, we're a terrible - absolutely terrible collective for supporting teams. We're event junkie, medal-chasing, wannabe's with a completely fantastical sense of what it is to be a supporter. The crowd in Tallaght was awful - you wouldn't have known there was a match on. A nice night, 10k seater stadium in one of the most accessible stadiums in the country and less than 3k there and those who were there had more interest in talking than actually supporting.

Something struck me - surely, with the crowd all shoe-horned into the old stand - there could have been some mechanism to show the senior match on a screen in the East Stand?

I can understand how dyed-in-the-wool League of Ireland club supporters laugh at us and our notions. They're right to do so of course. And it's not just football - it's Gah (I stupidly witness this every year with Kerry) - and here it with the rugby too. We get what we deserve.

[tetsujin1979]

To be fair, the senior team's game finished at around 6:45, and the U21s were kicking off at 7:30. 45 minutes isn't a lot of time to get to Tallaght stadium, and when you factor in traffic, parking, and the weather was horrible yesterday around Dublin(although it had improved by kick off), that attendance isn't that surprising.

[Eirambler]

Also, it's a nonsense that these games are still played in Dublin, where there is already so much international sport for people there to go to. They'd fill Turner's Cross, or they could think outside the box a bit and head to the midlands, west or northwest. But no, just back to Tallaght again. This is a point that both relates to football and other matters, but if the country was any more Dublin-centric it would tip over into the Irish Sea.

[Jd2793]

Also, it's a nonsense that these games are still played in Dublin, where there is already so much international sport for people there to go to. They'd fill Turner's Cross, or they could think outside the box a bit and head to the midlands, west or northwest. But no, just back to Tallaght again. This is a point that both relates to football and other matters, but if the country was any more Dublin-centric it would tip over into the Irish Sea.

yeah the games down here always sell well given they are such a rare occurence. Presuming the stadium passes UEFA regs, EDP in galway should be hosting games aswell.

[tetsujin1979]

Also, it's a nonsense that these games are still played in Dublin, where there is already so much international sport for people there to go to. They'd fill Turner's Cross, or they could think outside the box a bit and head to the midlands, west or northwest. But no, just back to Tallaght again. This is a point that both relates to football and other matters, but if the country was any more Dublin-centric it would tip over into the Irish Sea.
Really? The U21s next game is against Slovakia at Turner's Cross, which holds 7,485 according to wikipedia. Cork are averaging less than half that this season - 3,253 according to transfermarkt (https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/league-of-ireland-premier-division/besucherzahlen/wettbewerb/IR1/saison_id/2024/plus/1), and had 2,516 for their last home game against Waterford. Do you really think another 5,000 fans would have gone to a qualifier against Andorra?

[pineapple stu]

How much have we gotten for previous 21s games in Cork though?

Yes, you still wouldn't have gotten much for Andorra in Cork 45 minutes after the Armenia game ended. But I think the better comparison there is to see what Cork (or Galway or wherever) got for a one-off international, not regular clubs games of a side heading for relegation.

[Kingdom]

Really? The U21s next game is against Slovakia at Turner's Cross, which holds 7,485 according to wikipedia. Cork are averaging less than half that this season - 3,253 according to transfermarkt (https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/league-of-ireland-premier-division/besucherzahlen/wettbewerb/IR1/saison_id/2024/plus/1), and had 2,516 for their last home game against Waterford. Do you really think another 5,000 fans would have gone to a qualifier against Andorra?

I got offered tickets as a consequence of my MNT season ticket, for the Slovakia game down in Turner's Cross. Myself and two kids are going down for it.

[Kingdom]

To be fair, the senior team's game finished at around 6:45, and the U21s were kicking off at 7:30. 45 minutes isn't a lot of time to get to Tallaght stadium, and when you factor in traffic, parking, and the weather was horrible yesterday around Dublin(although it had improved by kick off), that attendance isn't that surprising.

I passed 5 parks on the way to Tallaght through public transport. You could probably name them yourself. All full, not just kids, mens teams too. It's sad.
We can bleat on all we want about support, it's a notion. The FAI could do more too as I said above - surely they could have asked for the games to be thursday-sunday, or, make watching the senior match in Tallaght more accessible.

[elatedscum]

FWIW I bought four tickets for the 21s. Intended to leave work at 4.30, head home - watch the Ireland match and then drive to Tallaght.

Got stuck in work for a bit, ended up seeing the Armenia game on a delay and then wasn’t gonna make it to Tallaght - but fully intended to travel and paid to do so

[Eirambler]

Really? The U21s next game is against Slovakia at Turner's Cross, which holds 7,485 according to wikipedia. Cork are averaging less than half that this season - 3,253 according to transfermarkt (https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/league-of-ireland-premier-division/besucherzahlen/wettbewerb/IR1/saison_id/2024/plus/1), and had 2,516 for their last home game against Waterford. Do you really think another 5,000 fans would have gone to a qualifier against Andorra?

I don't know whether or not they'd be allowed to have 7k in there for an international or not, but I'd be surprised if they didn't get a bigger crowd there than they got in Tallaght.

I don't think you can compare it to Cork City games, there are a lot of people, kids, school groups etc that would go to an international that wouldn't go to a regular season league of Ireland game. An international game is always likely to draw a wider group of people in than a club game where it's more of a partisan local support. When they have played in Cork previously it's always looked like a good crowd on TV. When they play in Tallaght it always looks largely empty.

[tetsujin1979]

How much have we gotten for previous 21s games in Cork though?

Yes, you still wouldn't have gotten much for Andorra in Cork 45 minutes after the Armenia game ended. But I think the better comparison there is to see what Cork (or Galway or wherever) got for a one-off international, not regular clubs games of a side heading for relegation.
There were four games played at Turners Cross in the qualifiers for the 2025 Championships - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_UEFA_European_Under-21_Championship_qualification_Group_A#Matches
3,754 v Turkey
3,826.v San Marino
6,157 v Italy
5,754 v Norway

Given the opposition, I'd say the attendance could have been around 4,000

FWIW the only game in the qualifiers played in Tallaght stadium was against Latvia, with 953 in attendance , but it was the same night that the senior team played Greece in Aviva stadium

I should point out that I'm not disagreeing with anyone that the game could have been held anywhere else other than Tallaght, just saying that the attendance was affected by the kick off of the Armenian game and would have been no matter where the U21 game was held

[nr637]

Yes, the FAI should use Cork and they should think outside the box a bit and head to Athlone or Longford, Galway or Sligo for the U21 games. A bit of promotion in advance for friendlies & competition games will attract decent attendances as has been proven with Turners Cross. It's only fair that these International games are spread around the country. Athlone with 2,500 v Andorra would have had a much better atmosphere then Tallaght last night. Just look at the response to the Athlone Town Women's team recently.
The FAI are slow on the uptake. They get it right, for instance with the opening league game at the AVIVA, a terrific promotion. They should really push the U21's games in these venues more often. The amount of interest in the international underage teams is huge. With the proper organisation and preparation there is a great marketing opportunity for the FAi to promote the underage support!

Can someone in the FAI's marketing & promotion team, please stand up and be counted on!

[Kingdom]

The amount of interest in the international underage teams is huge.

Interest might be huge, but support clearly is not. If I got contacted, then I assume all season ticket holders got contacted with free ticket offers for both last night and friday in Cork.
Rovers have the biggest affiliate group of any club in Ireland, in the largest metropolitan area (D.24) in the country.

There should have been more people in Tallaght last night.

There can always be more done on marketing - the perfect example is the womens NT.

But I would be reluctant to take the 21s on a roadshow either. A team needs a base when playing at home. Getting use to the pitch the surroundings whatever. I've no issue if it's Cork or Sligo, or Tallaght but at least have a base.

[elatedscum]

i honestly think they didn't want to play against Andorra on a poor pitch and a better pitch would help them outplay them. they thought that the atmosphere and crowd shouldn't matter too much after given the opposition and less travel would be ideal. not sure to what extent we have any influence about fixture dates and times but personally, myself plus a friend and my two nieces would have been in tallaght if it were on either Monday or Wednesday night. Even if it started 45 minutes later, we would have been. Starting 35 minutes after an international game really makes no sense.

i think the england game should be in tallaght. should be a sellout. First, it's England, the old enemy. Second, the current squad has the likes of Ethan Nwanieri, Jamie Gittens, Archie Gray, Lewis Miley, Jobe Bellingham, Tyler Dibling, Tom Watson, Tyriek George, Jack Hinshelwood, Josh Acheampong etc. Also the likes of Adam Wharton, Rico Lewis, Lewis Hall, Nico O'Reilly have been in recent squads.

You'd also imagine the likes of the following would be in contention: Jayden Danns, Ayden Heaven (both current u20), Trey Nyoni, Rio Ngumoha, Max Dowman, Jeremy Monga (all current u19)