A Championship

[Dodge]

They do have a reserve league for Premeir teams, but also a Carnegie First and Second Division below the Premier. Examples of teams in the Second Division would be Oxford United Stars (Derry), Moyola Park, Queens University, and Ballinamallard (who, I think, once hit the giddy heights of the Premier division about 5 years ago). So we're a good few years behind in the IFA here.


Thats nothing like our A league, thats basically just an extension of the league. Something its easy to do with no minimum ground requirements and no huge distances to travel. The Irish league 2nd division is the equivalent of the Munster Senior League ffs.

Our thing is totally different, and IMO, 100% better

[passerrby]

article last week in the istar says sporting fingal gave an undertaking to stay away from underage football how will that square with there licensing application which requires all clubs to have a juvinile section.

[dcfcsteve]

Thats nothing like our A league, thats basically just an extension of the league. Something its easy to do with no minimum ground requirements and no huge distances to travel. The Irish league 2nd division is the equivalent of the Munster Senior League ffs.

Our thing is totally different, and IMO, 100% better

It is the same - as it took what was previously the Intermediate League, renamed it, and made it an inter-linked lower rung of the footballing pyramid. It is still an intermediate league linked into the leagues above, which the Munster Senior League is most definitely not.

Of course the actual details beyond that basic structural similarity will differ. Few intermediate-type leagues around Europe are identical, as they have to reflect the unique circumstances within each country.

The IFA extended their pyramid down to an effectively intermediate rung a few years back. We're doing ours from next year - albeit in a way that reflects the differeing circumstances on-the-ground for our league.

[Sam_Heggy]

They do have a reserve league for Premeir teams, but also a Carnegie First and Second Division below the Premier. Examples of teams in the Second Division would be Oxford United Stars (Derry), Moyola Park, Queens University, and Ballinamallard (who, I think, once hit the giddy heights of the Premier division about 5 years ago). So we're a good few years behind in the IFA here.



There's only 6 applicants :



Not all of them might get in. So with the north-south split, you could feasibly have one of the 2 divisions with only one or two non-reserve clubs in it.


I think it is easier for the IFA as there is less travel involved. If you have the likes of Letterkenny rovers travelling to cork for a reserve match or Waterford reserves travelling to Fanad its kind of big expences that in all fairness will be extremely hard to re-coup. Ok so they split the league into North and South, so do they have top team in each section play-off for a crack at bottom in the first div?
€20k is alot of money on offer too for the winner of this. Do they only get it if they are promoted or do they get it for winnig the A league? :confused:
I suppose trial and error but will the FAI help out the clubs with their debts? You will have to pay these players, I presume all games will have to be played on Sat or Sunday's?
It will be interesting to see how it all pans out.

[dcfcsteve]

I think it is easier for the IFA as there is less travel involved. If you have the likes of Letterkenny rovers travelling to cork for a reserve match or Waterford reserves travelling to Fanad its kind of big expences that in all fairness will be extremely hard to re-coup. Ok so they split the league into North and South, so do they have top team in each section play-off for a crack at bottom in the first div?

If both divisions have a non-resevr team finishing ion their Top 4 - yes.


€20k is alot of money on offer too for the winner of this. Do they only get it if they are promoted or do they get it for winnig the A league? :confused:

Good question.


I suppose trial and error but will the FAI help out the clubs with their debts? You will have to pay these players, I presume all games will have to be played on Sat or Sunday's?
It will be interesting to see how it all pans out.

No way should the FAI cover debts - they don't even do it for long established Premier teams. As soon as you do that you encourage rash spending. Bottom line is that any club operating continually in debt shouldn't be in operation at that level (e.g. Shels in the Premier). The FAI isn't a charity for clubs living beyond their means.

[Dodge]

Steve, the A league is more about a reserve division than a pyramid structure. Thats the crucial difference

[Sam_Heggy]

No way should the FAI cover debts - they don't even do it for long established Premier teams. As soon as you do that you encourage rash spending. Bottom line is that any club operating continually in debt shouldn't be in operation at that level (e.g. Shels in the Premier). The FAI isn't a charity for clubs living beyond their means.

Isn't it compulsory to have a team in the A league if your in the Prem? So saying Longford stayed up, (just an example) they are/were having financial troubles, they would still have to enter a team into the A league and this would obviously add to the financial strain. Not every club have Bohs, Drogs or Pats money, some teams could really struggle because of this.
I know I'm being sceptical but it is the FAI we are talking about here. I hope they have put alot of thought into this and not just said "feck it, lets add another tier and make it like Spains one". All well and good compairing the Spainish system to ours, but they would have a good bit more euro in the bank than LOI clubs.

[dcfcsteve]

Steve, the A league is more about a reserve division than a pyramid structure. Thats the crucial difference

You're right that it's somewhere between the 2 in terms of membership.

But the fact it is linked into the leagues above in terms of promotion/relegation means that it will be part of the pyramid. It would be possible for Sporting Fingal to go from the A League next year all the way to the Premier (God forbid...!), which no Reserve League or unlinked Intermediate league (e.g. the Munster League) would ever enable a club to do.


Isn't it compulsory to have a team in the A league if your in the Prem? So saying Longford stayed up, (just an example) they are/were having financial troubles, they would still have to enter a team into the A league and this would obviously add to the financial strain. Not every club have Bohs, Drogs or Pats money, some teams could really struggle because of this.

But it will effectively take the place of their Reserve team.

Any Premier division team who can't afford to run the equivalent of a reserve team would need to be taking a good look at themselves. How thread-bare do we want our Premier clubs to be...? :confused:

[Dodge]

But it will effectively take the place of their Reserve team.

Any Premier division team who can't afford to run the equivalent of a reserve team would need to be taking a good look at themselves. How thread-bare do we want our Premier clubs to be...? :confused:

It won't though. The Under 20 league will replace the current u21 league so this is a whole new team for the club to run. They'll be obliged to run 3 teams at national level now.

[John83]

So is it possible for Real Madraid B's to get promoted twice to the La Liga and end up playing against the first team or is there a rule to stop this occuring.
As jebus said, they're not allowed step up into the division their first team is in.

A couple of anecdotes:
I seem to recall Athletico Madrid being saved from relegation by their B team winning the second flight, though perhaps I've some detail wrong.
Quentin Fortune was signed by Manchester United from Barcelona B after he helped that team win the second flight.

I like the A league as a concept. It should be helpful as a tier for new teams to step into the league, and it may be more competitive than the reserve set-up, which will help the top teams develop young players.

[Sam_Heggy]

As jebus said, they're not allowed step up into the division their first team is in.

A couple of anecdotes:
I seem to recall Athletico Madrid being saved from relegation by their B team winning the second flight, though perhaps I've some detail wrong.
Quentin Fortune was signed by Manchester United from Barcelona B after he helped that team win the second flight.

I like the A league as a concept. It should be helpful as a tier for new teams to step into the league, and it may be more competitive than the reserve set-up, which will help the top teams develop young players.

I think we all agree that this would/could be a good thing for LOI but the funding aspect would be my main concern.
I think a competitive u-20 league and a reserve A league would be great for developing new players.

[dcfcsteve]

It won't though. The Under 20 league will replace the current u21 league so this is a whole new team for the club to run. They'll be obliged to run 3 teams at national level now.

The A-League looks like it'll be regionalised, not at national level. I would expect U20 to continue being very regional as well. So only the senior team would be national.... :confused:

Again, is it really too much to ask of our Premier teams - not all, just the Premier ones - that they have a second and third-string team in regionalised competitions ? How thread-bare do we want our clubs to be operating otherwise ?? If one of our financially weaker Premier teams can't have a 2nd and 3rd string-side, how would they ever hope to handle the cost of competing in Europe should they get the through the Cup, for example ?

[Dodge]

Again, is it really too much to ask of our Premier teams - not all, just the Premier ones - that they have a second and third-string team in regionalised competitions ? How thread-bare do we want our clubs to be operating otherwise ?? If one of our financially weaker Premier teams can't have a 2nd and 3rd string-side, how would they ever hope to handle the cost of competing in Europe should they get the through the Cup, for example ?

Thats a ridiculous comparison. Doing well in the cup and qualifying for europe will obviously bring more finances into the club.

Nobody is saying the A league is a bad idea. People are just saying that obliging the clubs to create a thrid team will make extra demands on already stretched budgets. In Derry's case they could be put in the same region as Dublin. Do you consider 8 trips to Dublin as local? The FAI have dropped this on clubs with no help at all. Just like UEFA licensing. Again, I think it’s a gret idea but if any club has reservations about it, I think you're being a bit unkind by dismissing it so lightly

[John83]

...People are just saying that obliging the clubs to create a thrid team will make extra demands on already stretched budgets. In Derry's case they could be put in the same region as Dublin. Do you consider 8 trips to Dublin as local?..
8 trips to Dublin? So about €5,000 so? Are budgets really that tight?

Who am I kidding? Shels didn't nearly get sucked under in a vacuum.

[Poor Student]

Good to see Salthill have declared an interest. Although they have no spectator facilities their setup is very good. There's plenty of space to put up a stand or two to rectify that issue. They also won the Dr. O'Neill U-21 Champonship last year so they have the playing and development structure in place. Are they actually based in Salthill though? Thought I remember someone saying that their ground isn't actually there?

[pineapple stu]

Are they actually based in Salthill though?
They're based in Drom, which is in the arse end of nowhere.

[Tis-smeee]

What if you charged supporter 300 euro to fill the squad, leave everyone make there own way to games, Saves the clubs the problem of paying Mediocre players and could raise thousands