A Rant!

[RonnieB]

:o

So here we are, Saturday afternoon and there are people driving around blowing horns as Manchester Red Socks beat the Liverpool White Caps. I know this has all been said before on these forums but im so sick of this. What is wrong with these people? As a German friend of mine said with a look of horror once " What is wrong with the Irish, I would never support a French or Spanish team" You go out on the weekends wearing your local teams shirt and I just roll my eyes with all the "why would ya follow that rubbish? " As they sit eyes glued to match of day.

Anyway a pointless rant but seriously sick of this country.

[Gareth]

RonnieB, the world is a massive bunch of contradictions and Ireland and its public tend to be no exception. The majority of football followers in Ireland have not really attended many games, and the game they know is one from a television screen. You can get bothered by it, or just accept it and follow your sport, your team, and in the future when their is a bangwagon to jump on for the masses, you can give out about where they were in the days gone by. Its just life. Get upset or just enjoy your club, your league!!!!! :)

[A face]

Well you are not on your own anyway fella, it písses all eL fans off.

[Magicme]

I was in my local shop bout an hour b4 kick off in the BIGl game today and there was a guy standing in front of me in his Liverpool jersey. So I started to chat to him bout todays game, then asked him was he from the town, he said he was. I then asked him does he come out to the Mons games and he said no. I told him he should give it a try and come out and support his local team and he didnt seem that against the idea! Maybe the manic look in my eyes mite have scared him into saying he will!

[RonnieB]

Hehe, it is easier just not to argue with a woman! ;)

[Soper]

It's the same here. Infact, when John O'Sheight scored, and massive scream came from next door.

[Gareth]

"BUY A LOTTO TICKET NOW!!! Signed with your own blood if you have to. "

MagicMe, December 2006.

[mr.untitled]

im traveling in argentina at the moment, this place is football mad, all the argentinians and european backpackers talk footie 24/7. I have our uefa cup jersey with me and have told the story of our match against IK Start to many people, The ONLY people to laugh or guffaw are the irish, they explain, with deep insight, that irish clubs are rubbish, Ive to count to about 100 in me head, it boils my blood!!
anyhu the argentinian league is good and they dont give a f about the premier**** here

[betty swollox]

people who think the el is is crap arent necessarily wrong, its more often than not a low standard of football which comes off even worse on poorly broadcasted live games and in particular on el weekly. When anything is portrayed in such an ammetur light people arent going to buy into it. Where as the premiership has been branded xtremely well and spoonfed to the irish public by our 'national broadcaster'.
Most of us who support an el team do so because of a love of our own teams, being there with your mates when your team scores a last minute equaliser in a cup match is a feeling that stays with you for days after, something that most barstoolers will never get close to and probably an emotion most of them dont know exists in football.
It's up to the fai now to realise that theres a marketable product on their hands which has the potential to regenerate confidence in them especially with the national team being at such a low, of course to think this will happen would be putting a lot of unfounded confidence in this shambolic organistation

[gustavo]

Low standard compared to what?
Thats the problem if all the time the league is only going to be compared with English football . Its grossly unfair on the Eircom League to compare it to the Premiership , I think the standard is quite good.

[don ramo]

i wouldnt be sayin that at, all we all know that our teams play bad somtimes but most times its really good football, the likes of man utd and liverpool and the rest play s***e football too just cause its on the tv means notin, it doesnt make it better, if you play football against man utd theyll punish you, reading did and lost not by much, but to play open football agains a team like that wont get you anything, horribly ugly football wins games, "fact", i know ive watched the s*** to for years, but my team comes first,

HD TV just as good as being there :eek: sorry mr gray i dont think so

[betty swollox]

My team also comes first but doesnt mean im going to pretend all is rosey in the el. bcoz sky/bbc/rte add so much hype to the premiership it comes across as a much better package, over analysis and repetition of good goals etc leaves you with a better perception of their game then the embarissingly poor coverage of our games, Rtes branding of the ga championship and 6 nations is also impressive by way of those really effective add campaigns and highlight reels . Basically this is what people are presented with to buy into and the way it is i see why people dont buy into our league .

[superfrank]

Low standard compared to what?
Thats the problem if all the time the league is only going to be compared with English football . Its grossly unfair on the Eircom League to compare it to the Premiership , I think the standard is quite good.
Ok. So forget the Premiership. Compare it to other European leagues. Do you think Irish teams could really compete over a 30-odd game season against teams from Holland, Belgium and Portugal say?

[TonyD]

Ok. So forget the Premiership. Compare it to other European leagues. Do you think Irish teams could really compete over a 30-odd game season against teams from Holland, Belgium and Portugal say?


So, your point is, Frank ? That people shouldn't support their local team because there are leagues of a higher standard elsewhere ? I'm sorry, but the logic of that escapes me. Speaking personally, I couldn't give a toss about what goes on elsewhere. I'll watch English games, or Spanish ones, or champions league, and often enjoy them, but it doesn't mean a thing to me who wins (though I have a slight fondness for Barcelona I confess) The point is that NOTHING compares to supporting St Patricks Athletic for me, nor ever could. I know if we were to play Man Who next week we'd get thumped, but since when is that the point of supporting a team ? Of course we're preaching to the converted on this forum, so as Gareth says, we shouldn't let it get to us too much.

[superfrank]

So, your point is, Frank ? That people shouldn't support their local team because there are leagues of a higher standard elsewhere ? I'm sorry, but the logic of that escapes me.My point was that Gustavo was saying it's unfair to compare the standard of football here to the Premiership. I was merely asking what should it be compared to then.

I personally think people should support whoever they want to and they shouldn't be judged by people for not supporting there local team. There's an awful lot of people on here who are elitist. They think they're great because they support their local team and that everybody else who doesn't needs to feel guilty about not supporting their local side. You're not going to win people over like that. People are going to make the choice themselves. Bullying tactics and guilt-trips won't work.

[sonofstan]

A few of us tried to explain to a Mexican friend of mine today that all the people in the pub we were in were watching an English league match - she knows nothing about football, but struggled with the idea of her countrymen or women taking such an interest in any US sport, and was frankly shocked when the situation here was outlined. For once, in her eyes at least, I, and my Pats supporting mate who was there, appeared the sane ones.

What was even odder was the way people who know I go to every Bohs match I can started slagging me about Arsenal, the prem team i nominally support; when I said I was much more looking forward to next friday than I was disappointed about the Blackburn result, they just look puzzled; that's not 'real' football even though I really go and watch it in the place where it really happens quite close to the real players and surrounded by real fans. Real football is played by 4 teams in England and Celtic, apparently.

[don ramo]

ya but how are you a fan of football when you cant even follow your local team, and say you love a team 200 miles away, who youve seen live 4 our 5 times in your life and you pay overpriced ticket costs travel acomodation and the likes for a product thats at your doorstep, and all you hear it the EL is s*** that not an answear, some football fans a watch more football than them they only watch "there" team and no one else, i watch my team, celtic, man utd, barecelona, even go see cork city when i wanna watch a game, if were not playin the weekend at home, cause you cant beat goin out and watchin it live, TV is no substitution for a live game atmosphere our not

[osarusan]

but most times its really good football, the likes of man utd and liverpool and the rest play s***e football too just cause its on the tv means notin


This is all wrong. In no way, shape or form can you say that any LOI team play better football than a Premiership team.

Trying to help the league improve is a great thing, but just blindly hyping it up and just saying it is better than it really is, when it clearly is not, doesnt help anything.

[harry crumb]

My point was that Gustavo was saying it's unfair to compare the standard of football here to the Premiership. I was merely asking what should it be compared to then.

I personally think people should support whoever they want to and they shouldn't be judged by people for not supporting there local team. There's an awful lot of people on here who are elitist. They think they're great because they support their local team and that everybody else who doesn't needs to feel guilty about not supporting their local side. You're not going to win people over like that. People are going to make the choice themselves. Bullying tactics and guilt-trips won't work.

Will this envy of Cork City FC ever end!

[passerrby]

slick marketing verses poor administration at all levels but we will get there if we stop sending out the wrong messages

[don ramo]

This is all wrong. In no way, shape or form can you say that any LOI team play better football than a Premiership team.

Trying to help the league improve is a great thing, but just blindly hyping it up and just saying it is better than it really is, when it clearly is not, doesnt help anything.

as i said play good football meaning attractive football not sayin were better than the premiership just pointing out that just cause its on tv doesnt make it the best football in the world you get the slick passing and sublime goals but really how many sublime goals do you see every year when you watch your team play with no tv camera around to catch it, iv seen some marvelous free kicks and shots from range that would show up some superstars now it not as consistent as the top players in the premiership but it doent devalue the goal either,

im not an idiot i dont think my team will go over and beat these top teams they have millions at there disposal to go out and get the best players in the world, it will be a long time before we get to that level,

[CollegeTillIDie]

Ok let's get a bit of perspective. As regards value for money the EL stacks up well ( 15 Euro to a game in the Premier here) cause if those Premiershi* fans in bars had to pay the real cost of actually going to a game overseas, not to mention their overinflated ticket prices, even they would come to realise, that for the price of 3 pints in an Dublin Bar with late licence , they could experience the whole gamut of emotions tied into the live football experience. And this would come at a fraction of the cost of either a) going to a game cross channel or b) a SKY SPORTS subscription.

EL season tickets used to be less than one of those packages is that still the case?

P.S. Poor domestic attendances is not a uniquely Irish phenomenon. The recent Red Star v Partizan Belgrade derby in the Marankhana had less than 30,000 at it. This at a time when Red Star are leading the League by 9 points and this was in a 55,000 capacity venue. Most of their other League games attract under 5,000. Oh yes Serbian TV are now showing the Premiershi* too as well as a lot of live domestic games.

[Claret Murph]

Lads if you have to choose well so be it , we live in a free world where people can vote for who they like so if people would like to wear Man U or Liverpool shirts let them . I support 3 teams and have done for quite some time
1/ Ireland, which is easy to say ( tickets to all home games )
2/ Burnley , as I spent most of my youth in the town ( Get to one or two games a season )
3/ Galway United , Live just outside of the city ( season ticket holder for the last number of years , and manage a few away games each year )

Now I have shirts for all 3 and wear them year round ,if anyone would like to say I have jumped on the bandwagon following an english club they should try and watch Burnley it 's enough to drive a man to drink .

[sligoman]

Now I have shirts for all 3 and wear them year roundJaysus, must be some stink off you come September/October time...:p.

[gustavo]

I dont know what chance the league has when people who are perceived as having knowledge of the league like Eamonn Sweeney write negative articles like the one he done in the Sunday Independent today

[pete]

The standard of play has improved to decent level but the facilities are still badly lacking. Even live tv games look poor due to facilities & crowds. There should be minimum ground standards to be considered for live games & if you not up to scratch then no home live games.

Support of English football is institutionalised in Ireland & won't change any time soon. English football is probably shown more on tv in the Scandinavian countries yet they have still managed to get decent crowds.

In a few years with FAI promotion & improved administration alongside a reduction in the top clubs (some clubs need to be left behind) things may be different...

[charliesboots]

What I don't get is how Irish peopkle who have nevered lived in Britain or contributed to a British club can actually feel an affinity to it. The use of "we" and "us" when talking about Man Utd or Liverpool is very odd.

I think its actually more of a group mentality thing and identifying with peers more than an anti eircom league thing.

[Claret Murph]

Yer I would have to get some sort of stick from Sligoman but not too worry as I am sure he will be very quite come the end of friday's nights game .

[superfrank]

Will this envy of Cork City FC ever end!
What the hell are you on about?

[Magicme]

"BUY A LOTTO TICKET NOW!!! Signed with your own blood if you have to. "

MagicMe, December 2006.

It worked didnt it!!! Even Curtis Fleming bought them!

As for bullying people into going to games thats not what I do. Its more a case of you talking to people and when they see how excited and ethusiastic you are about your club and the eL they mite start to get interested too. For example I have been tryin to convince a mate of mine for years to come to games. He is a massive Man Utd fan and every season I ask him will he come out to the Mons sometime. He always says no. Last nite he said he will come out to the first game and see what its all about and he has committed to coming on one of our infamous ROADTRIPS. It may have taken me 5 seasons but eventually he is giving in!

so basically, just show them how much you love it, your passion will eventually ignite their curiousity!

[jebus]

Was talking to a London born, former Chelsea fan earlier on today and he gave a different take on it. He's envious of us because we get to pay in and support our local clubs and be part of the community. He used to do this at Stamford Bridge but he and many like him were run off by the ticket prices, his mates not being able to afford to go anymore, and not feeling like he has any part of the club of anymore.

So basically he thinks we should hang on in there because soon enough we might have English fans being envious of us, leaving their local club and coming over here to watch the Eircom League, as he put it, it's a lot cheaper to get a plane across and watch footb all over here than ity is to go to Stamford these days

[Dodge]

Doubt that it'd happen but there's been many English/Scottish visitors to our games and every one I've talked to has been glowing in praise. Real football fans understand why we go to our league. The idiots will never get it. I gave up getting angry at them ages ago

[incident]

Just to add in my own take-

I'm English born (and proud), but lived in Dublin for a few years round the corner from Dalymount. Started going to watch Bohs as they were my local team - it seemed the obvious thing to do. The people I worked with in Dublin (with the exception of one Pats fan) all thought I was mad, including several who would think nothing about spending the money to go see various English sides, even ones that they didn't even support..

I'm a Forest fan, and have a Season Ticket. Plenty (probably most) of the teams I've seen in League One this season have been a worse standard than an average EL side, yet even at League One level you get Irish fans travelling over to games who wouldn't want to go to their local EL ground.

It just doesn't make any sense to me. There's nothing wrong with travelling to see a match or a foreign side (hell, I've got 3 trips booked for Bohs matches this season), but what really really annoys me is that so many Irish fans can be so snobbish about their domestic product yet they'll happily spend time and money travelling to see something that's arguably inferior..

As regards what the Chelsea fan said - I really can't see anyone in England supporting an Irish team unless they've got some connection there already, but it's true that many fans are being turned off by the top flight. However I'd think they're more likely to go watch their local non-league side instead as it gives them a chance to get more involved. Plenty have already done this.

[jebus]

As regards what the Chelsea fan said - I really can't see anyone in England supporting an Irish team unless they've got some connection there already, but it's true that many fans are being turned off by the top flight. However I'd think they're more likely to go watch their local non-league side instead as it gives them a chance to get more involved. Plenty have already done this.

Yeah I know, I doubt we'll start getting English fans over, I think he was just emphasising how disillusioned a lot of top flight football fans have become with the whole thing in England

[Eoingull]

A couple of months ago, I decided to go see (relatively) nearby Darlington play...and had a little chuckle to myself when getting off the train there were loads of Darlington locals getting on the train to travel up to cheer on Newcastle. The community aspect means nowt to plenty of people, and not just at home.

[osarusan]

Real football fans understand why we go to our league. The idiots will never get it. I gave up getting angry at them ages ago

Dodge I half agree with you. Real football fans DO understand why we go to games, and realise that the emotions of supporting a huge club or a small club are exactly the same, if you are a true supporter.

But.......

The idiots will never get it.
If this is the case, then how do we attract new support?

I think that lots of people who support English clubs do so for a couple of reasons -
first,they think the LOI is sh!te, which is far from true.
second, they are basically unaware that the LOI even exists.

Those people need to be made aware of the LOI and what it has to offer.

How do we do that?

[don ramo]

well the first step is really underway, with 50 games to be broadcast this year even setanta are streaming them on the internet, that is a major step up in media saturation compared to last year when only TG4 were showing games, and fair deuce to them they done a great job, and now the others are joining them as they've seen there is demand for the games on tv as TG4s rating were up when they showed the games, now we need to put a glossy coat on it in the next two seasons, like instead of having a camera in your main stand, have it in the lesser stand faceing the main stand which is going to be full, TV3 have a great show in eircom league weekly which should be moved to a more prime time slot and not at midnight, and maybe get RTE in on the show in someway, it is true the more you advertise the more they will come, Mc Donalds spend millions a year advertising for that simple reason, and we dont even need to spend, the contract is signed, and were geting paid to broadcast our league to an even wider audience, now when i go down to my clubhouse on a friday our saturday night i will expect to see an eircom league game on one of the 4 tvs in the clubhouse,

we need a club progress report on a montly our even weekly basis to keep us infromed of what is happening in each club, how ther players are getting on, and what the club is advertisng, events wise in there grounds and clubhouses, the promotions officer may take care of that, need to get our local radio station in on the act to, they advertise but not as much as they should (for my club anyways, it more cork city),

arrange transfers around the general area, for people who wont come cause there to far away, like limerick done, each club should invest in a 20 odd seater bus, so when there home it runs round the area to collect fans and bring them to games (the gate will make up the petrol) and you can use the bus for away trips as the team bus, instead of hireing one every game,



thats 3 what next

[CollegeTillIDie]

Magic Me

Now that you've been in the paper and you're famous everyone will want to come along to the games ;)

[Lim till i die]

Magic Me

Now that you've been in the paper and you're famous everyone will want to come along to the games ;)

Limerick's always in the papers and no one wants to travel here :( :p

[Dodge]

compared to last year when only TG4 were showing games
Last year RTE, Setanta and TG4 showed live games...

[wws]

,........and BBC

[geysir]

Would more people watch a game on RTE2 than the same game on TG4?
I much prefer TG4's coverage.

[Dodge]

Would more people watch a game on RTE2 than the same game on TG4?


Course they would. The average football fan wouldn't even think to check if tg4 showed a game or not. sad but true

[Dave77]

Dont know where the people get the idea that this is just an Irish thing, its not. I have lived and worked as a teacher in Scotland. Most students support the big two (Celtic Rangers) or an English side. At PE the lads all wore old firm jersies (we were around 150miles from Glasgow) or liverpool and Man u shirts. Its very simple people support whats glamourous and succesful. If you support EL club what chance is there of seeing your club in TV properly (mind you thought the coverage of setanta cup with Drogs and Linfield was heading in the right direction), what chance do you have of seeing your club compete at the highest European level. NONE!

I personally love wathchin EL games, why, because I love wathching live games. the atmosphere at soccer mathches even with 2000 supporters is much better then GAA or Rugby.

another point is, a friend of mine is from KIlkenny and is a keen GAA supporter, have brought him to tolka and dalyer. two good games Shels-Bohs, Drogs-IK Start. He said and in my opinion he is correct, the grounds looked run down and it was in no way inviting. until there is money put into places like tolka, dalymount and others the league does not seem inviting.

[BohsPartisan]

another point is, a friend of mine is from KIlkenny and is a keen GAA supporter, have brought him to tolka and dalyer. two good games Shels-Bohs, Drogs-IK Start. He said and in my opinion he is correct, the grounds looked run down and it was in no way inviting. until there is money put into places like tolka, dalymount and others the league does not seem inviting.

Thats a fair point but other than Croker, most GAA grounds look rubbish too.

[Lim till i die]

Thats a fair point but other than Croker, most GAA grounds look rubbish too.

Pairc na nGael, Semple Stadium, Fitzgerald Stadium, Pairc Ui Chaoimh, Nowlan Park, Pearse Stadium, Clones while lagging behind the athmosphere killing comfort of the English Premiership are still light years ahead of anything the LoI has to offer :ball:

And that's just off the top of my head, I'm sure there's more

[Kingdom]

Pairc na nGael, Semple Stadium, Fitzgerald Stadium, Pairc Ui Chaoimh, Nowlan Park, Pearse Stadium, Clones while lagging behind the athmosphere killing comfort of the English Premiership are still light years ahead of anything the LoI has to offer :ball:

And that's just off the top of my head, I'm sure there's more

Thats the big one for me. Another reason why the thread on stadium improvements is so Important. Turners Cross looking so well is great for the league. Its disappointing that the big clubs in the league have such poor facilities, or only 1 decent side that a camera can look on. Richmond had potential to be a great little stadium but the ends make it look stupid. Dalymount should be the pride of the country. If a bit of money was spent on it potentially its a cracker. Both ends are decent enough sized and there is loads of room for developing the connaght st stand. Would you fit 20k into a fully finished Dalymount?
Even tolka is a kip.
Limeirck 37 seem to have plans for development down there in Jackman. That should help them entice new fans if they've a good little ground.

[wws]

Thats the big one for me. Another reason why the thread on stadium improvements is so Important. Turners Cross looking so well is great for the league. Its disappointing that the big clubs in the league have such poor facilities, or only 1 decent side that a camera can look on. Richmond had potential to be a great little stadium but the ends make it look stupid. Dalymount should be the pride of the country. If a bit of money was spent on it potentially its a cracker. Both ends are decent enough sized and there is loads of room for developing the connaght st stand. Would you fit 20k into a fully finished Dalymount?
Even tolka is a kip.
Limeirck 37 seem to have plans for development down there in Jackman. That should help them entice new fans if they've a good little ground.

huh?

bohs sold dalymount
they are not gonna waste millions developing it for the short term - plus they never fill a ground that had two sides - why would they need to refurbish the rest?

I take your main point though - tragedy to see dalymount go

A very interesting piece on the radio last week by a Man City fan/journo - about the devastating effect soul less new stadia are having on clubs like Man City.

Raised an interesting point that more Manchester United jersies than everton are sold to the youth of Liverpool these days - as ordinary kids are just priced out of following their local teams they just follow the popular sides on TV.

[Magicme]

Magic Me

Now that you've been in the paper and you're famous everyone will want to come along to the games ;)

:D :o

[jebus]

Think there was an article in FourFourTwo a while back where a supporter of one of the Premierhsip clubs (can't remember which) had started going to watch League Two matches because they are affordable and he needs live football in his life. He said that he was starting to get into the club (think it was Macclesfield) and was starting to consider himself a Macclesfield supporter as he never got to watch his Premiership club anymore. I think this will start happening in England more and more