Centrally Contracted LOI Players

Is centrally contracted players in the league a possibility. It works for the rugby players and all the players equally get a good deal and the money that could be earned from such a system could go back into academies here and continually improve the league.

It would take alot of vision and ambition on behalf of the league and its administration but if it cut out the underhanded dealings that clubs suffer from here then it surely has to be a good thing.

Having it managed centrally would go some way to eliminate the corrupt side of things like tapping up players etc.

What do you think?

I don't know if having the FAI running that would be a good idea.

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Originally Posted by gufcfan

I don't know if having the FAI running that would be a good idea.

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To be honest, we'll have to get to a stage where we could trust the FAI to run it, and the FAI need to get to a stage where they can do something like that and be able to live up to it.

With the competency the FAI has shown in many issues, refereeing for example, I would be sceptical such a plan.

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Originally Posted by gufcfan

With the competency the FAI has shown in many issues, refereeing for example, I would be sceptical such a plan.

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What, increasing the amount of refs by four fold? Actually all the work they are doing on this its amazing its not improved, but the refs themselves have to step up for that award. Some of them are unreal but the way the FAI are going about it lends itself to improving. Not much else they can do on this one.

I am not happy with clubs having to pay for ref travel expenses when refs are decided by the FAI. Dub refs refing games in Cork against Derry. Why do we have to pay extra for a ref from Dublin when a ref from work would have done. All clubs should pay a flat rate and then decide from there who refs what games. And would it be fairer, i'd be guessing it would be.

But can we discuss the idea of centrally contracted players in this thread?

I think it's a different issue, really.

It works in rugby because those players are contracted to the IRFU to, first and foremost, play for the national team. Obviously, that would not be the case with FAI players.

What I would say is that something has to be done to stop the Irish game competing with other leauges in terms of money. We can't do it, so we need to look for another way.

Have been thinking about this a lot recently. It could work but not with every player contracted centrally.How would you decide which player plays for which club? The MLS in America centrally contracted players at the start and allocated players to teams but I think they only did that with 'superstars' such as Mo Johnston :eek: and other foreign players while the club had to sign and develop local players.

Imagne if the FAI signed Robbie Keane,Shay Given and Richard Dunne et al and allocated them to teams in our league! Complete fantasy I know but wouldnt it be funny to see Shay Given at Harps and Keane at Rovers!

I think it could work in a situation where the FAI used their regional academies to develop players up to the age of 18 and at that stage they are assigned to teams following a US style draft system. It would take a massive change in attitude from all involved in football in the country to have any chance of success.

Better, I think, would be to encourage clubs to develop their own academies with the FAI providing expert assistance and coaching, also ensuring that the already massive and highly successful schoolboy clubs in the country see the Eircom League as a viable career path for their emerging talent (or even for their clubs). The FAI would have to place even stricter controls on players contracts and place an emphasis on player welfare, without unsustainable wages.

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Originally Posted by A face

I am not happy with clubs having to pay for ref travel expenses when refs are decided by the FAI. Dub refs refing games in Cork against Derry. Why do we have to pay extra for a ref from Dublin when a ref from work would have done.

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Bias. One from Limerick, Kerry or Waterford should be used but having a ref from Cork ref a Cork match is going to cause trouble. Yes, I know, Dub refs ref Dublin games all the time but becuase Dublin is the population centre of the country, there's going to be a large amount of Dub refs.

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Originally Posted by A face

All clubs should pay a flat rate and then decide from there who refs what games. And would it be fairer, i'd be guessing it would be.

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Hmm...sounds an awful lot like what Lucianno Moggi and Juve did during the 90's.

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Originally Posted by superfrank

Yes, I know, Dub refs ref Dublin games all the time but becuase Dublin is the population centre of the country, there's going to be a large amount of Dub refs.

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What about a Donegal ref doing a game in Ballybofey? Happened when we were last in the first division against Harps. This season we had a Donegal linesman for our match in Finn Park, he disallowed a prefectly good goal too;).

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Originally Posted by sligoman

What about a Donegal ref doing a game in Ballybofey? Happened when we were last in the first division against Harps. This season we had a Donegal linesman for our match in Finn Park, he disallowed a prefectly good goal too;).

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That's wrong. But if people like A face are going to complain about the prices, then they can't complain if they're stuck with local refs who have a bias.

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Originally Posted by superfrank

That's wrong. But if people like A face are going to complain about the prices, then they can't complain if they're stuck with local refs who have a bias.

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No Frankie no .... you have an uncanny habit of twisting points being made.

I was saying the costs should be covered equally by clubs, you know, make it fairer !!! :eek: Where ever the refs come from after that is fine then, they could even all come from Bray .... thats how much i care about it.

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Originally Posted by A face

I was saying the costs should be covered equally by clubs, you know, make it fairer !!! :eek: Where ever the refs come from after that is fine then, they could even all come from Bray .... thats how much i care about it.

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I know what you meant. I understand the words "flat rate".

It's the bit about deciding which ref does which match that bothers me. Clubs deciding that will inevitably lead to problems and when refs make wrong decisions, there'll be more trouble.

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Originally Posted by A face

Is centrally contracted players in the league a possibility. It works for the rugby players and all the players equally get a good deal and the money that could be earned from such a system could go back into academies here and continually improve the league.

It would take alot of vision and ambition on behalf of the league and its administration but if it cut out the underhanded dealings that clubs suffer from here then it surely has to be a good thing.

Having it managed centrally would go some way to eliminate the corrupt side of things like tapping up players etc.

What do you think?

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The rugby players are contracted to the IRFU and assigned to the provinces, who in turn have players attached to clubs. The system serves a purpose.

Centrally contracting players can only work if it is to a national association who get a return on them. The IRFU gets the return from filling Croker/Lansdowne and the corporate sector deals.


The EL is very different and its not really feasible. Its up to clubs to run themselves properly.

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Originally Posted by brianw82

What I would say is that something has to be done to stop the Irish game competing with other leauges in terms of money. We can't do it, so we need to look for another way.

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very small population, badly supported sport, too many teams, foreign product more attractive to sponsors/general masses, too many sports in the country, lack of media interest.... and much more problems.

We will never regain the heights of the 50's, 60's and 70's in the same way that club football is now much more important to international football. Globalisation has destroyed the indigenous leagues of most (if not all) small to mid-sized countries and it ain't for changing.

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Originally Posted by superfrank

I know what you meant. I understand the words "flat rate".

It's the bit about deciding which ref does which match that bothers me. Clubs deciding that will inevitably lead to problems and when refs make wrong decisions, there'll be more trouble.

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I'm not suggesting that clubs decide who refs what games, obviously if it were in Cork, a ref from Limerick or Waterford would be best provided it isn't Limerick or Waterford if you know what i mean.

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Originally Posted by galwayhoop

very small population, badly supported sport, too many teams, foreign product more attractive to sponsors/general masses, too many sports in the country, lack of media interest.... and much more problems.

We will never regain the heights of the 50's, 60's and 70's in the same way that club football is now much more important to international football. Globalisation has destroyed the indigenous leagues of most (if not all) small to mid-sized countries and it ain't for changing.

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And that is exactly why the clubs need to stop competing with each other on an 'I can spend more than you!' basis. I don't know if central contracts are the answer, but we've got to (at least) get players starting their careers with LOI clubs. Most of our international players have never even played in the LOI, so followers of the national team can hardly identify with it.

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Originally Posted by brianw82

And that is exactly why the clubs need to stop competing with each other on an 'I can spend more than you!' basis. I don't know if central contracts are the answer, but we've got to (at least) get players starting their careers with LOI clubs. Most of our international players have never even played in the LOI, so followers of the national team can hardly identify with it.

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I think to the FAI's credit the emerging talent programmes are a step in the right direction. The numbers of players going across the water has decreased massively over the last few years so perhaps a natural progression for the FAI/eL is to introduce either a localised selection or draft process for these players.

Whether centralised contracts is another progression of this I don't know - maybe it would work.

I actually think that we need to stop mimicking the British system and look to others as more appropriate to our own in order to progress the game.

Incidentally I don't share the view that players need to have played in the LoI in order for supporters to relate to them. The fact that international players earn millions of euro per year and live existences akin to celebrities means that we won't relate to them whether they played a season or two for Cork City or came through the Charlton academy.

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Originally Posted by galwayhoop

The fact that international players earn millions of euro per year and live existences akin to celebrities means that we won't relate to them whether they played a season or two for Cork City or came through the Charlton academy.

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You could hardly use that argument to describe Kevin Doyle?

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Originally Posted by brianw82

You could hardly use that argument to describe Kevin Doyle?

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I identify no more with Kevin Doyle than I do with Glenn Whelan or John O'Shea.

Just because a player plays LoI makes him no more or less entitled to play for the national team than a player who spends their career in Britain. All of the tyeam getting a grounding in the LoI would not make them any better or worse, you make some valid points about central contracts etc but the one about players being more identifiable to regular Irish people due to having played some LoI football is a closeted viewpoint imo.