League structures below the first team, any news?

Has anyone heard whether the A league will be continued next season or not? There has been rumours of it being "done away with" but nothing confirming either way as of yet.

Also the Under 20 League: Some are saying that it will be changed to Under 19's for next season but the same 4 group format.
Personally that's a load of sh!te and Packie Bonner needs to get the finger out and re-structure the underage system for senior clubs.
12 games in 12 months is not enough for a young player, you need a minimum of 25-30 games to offer.

I know a few clubs have asked for a national under 18 league but again the is nothing coming from the FAI on this.

Sorry for doing an IorfaJim on it folks.

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Originally Posted by Sam_Heggy

Has anyone heard whether the A league will be continued next season or not? There has been rumours of it being "done away with" but nothing confirming either way as of yet.

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Nothing concrete yet, but I'd guess it's gone.
I doubt the FAI would be more or less promising us First Division football next season if the A Championship was still to exist. They'd have a host of A Championship clubs asking why we're being allowed to jump the 'queue'.

nothing will be changing , and why would it with everything going swimmingly ,gates up ,debt down sure isnt it great.
at least thats the impression from planet abbotstown

I wonder why they'd look to get rid of it so early though.

What did clubs/fans think of it ? Was it deemed useful/a success ?

I wouldn't be surprised if the fact the A'League has teed-up two tiny Galway clubs to join senior football has put them off the whole thing now. That's the downside of a pyramid structure - you lose the ability to pick and choose new entrants 'strategically'.

The FAI should be expanding structures below the first team, not reducing them. Maybe the clubs don't like it, but it's for their own good.

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Originally Posted by Sam_Heggy

Has anyone heard whether the A league will be continued next season or not? There has been rumours of it being "done away with" but nothing confirming either way as of yet.

Also the Under 20 League: Some are saying that it will be changed to Under 19's for next season but the same 4 group format.
Personally that's a load of sh!te and Packie Bonner needs to get the finger out and re-structure the underage system for senior clubs.
12 games in 12 months is not enough for a young player, you need a minimum of 25-30 games to offer.

I know a few clubs have asked for a national under 18 league but again the is nothing coming from the FAI on this.

Sorry for doing an IorfaJim on it folks.

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I play under age soccer(not the league of Ireland or any other youth system)
and i play more games 12 a year id say its something like 25 per year,Id complain if there was only 12 per year!!

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Originally Posted by dcfcsteve

What did clubs/fans think of it ? Was it deemed useful/a success ?

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We lost most of our first team after relegation but also won the A League the same year. Most of that A League team played in the First Division, and we bounced back to win the league immediately.

Anyone who wants the A League (or any manner of reserve league) gone is nuts. Many clubs don't take it seriously, but that doesn't mean it should go. Pure short-termism if it gets cut.

I think we should have a national reserve league for all Loi clubs and for it to be seperate from the Youth League, also i would be in favour of bringing it down to U19

No comments in any of the Kerry papers about any changes, Tralee are operating on the basis that there will be an A league in 2010. I'd say all the first teams would call it a success, in that beforehand the LoI was seen as a closed shop, and I'm not sure most teams could have afforded going senior if the decision had been to expand the First Division immediately.

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Originally Posted by pineapple stu

Anyone who wants the A League (or any manner of reserve league) gone is nuts. Many clubs don't take it seriously, but that doesn't mean it should go. Pure short-termism if it gets cut.

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I agree. Most clubs can't or don't want to see past their immediate future. Not having an under-age structure at Galway United has had a small part in a declining "hardcore" at the club. They seem like they are pretty unrelated, but the sense of community brought by a youth structure is hard to understate. Players, coaches, parents. The idea of being a club belonging to the community has long been lost.

I feel sorry for Nick Leeson, but the reality is, calling us a community club is a joke. I was never a much a player as a young lad, but I always saw the Galway United under-age as something to aspire to. It seemed natural to me that a young player should look to be playing for a youth team within a League of Ireland club. It will soon be 10 years since such a thing was possible at Galway. I think that Mervue has no place in the league and that they will never be able to attract any sort of a crowd, but I have to concede that they will always have a community feel to the club, even if it never translates into attendances.

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Originally Posted by Riddickcule

I think we should have a national reserve league for all Loi clubs and for it to be seperate from the Youth League, also i would be in favour of bringing it down to U19

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There might be opposition to that, but I think that clubs have to be forced into these things for their own good.

I've mentioned it on here before, but I think that clubs should be forced to have an under-age structure. No club should be permitted to affiliated with a junior club's youth team for convenience's sake either.

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Originally Posted by gufcfan

I think that clubs should be forced to have an under-age structure.

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I agree with that in principle, although you're looking at a lot of extra volunteers to keep such a set-up going. I'm sure there's some clubs who'd struggle with it. I know we would (and we have five or six teams all told already).

The problem is that at the moment it can be very hard for a senior club (outside of Dublin anyway) to have a proper youth set up. The local leagues don't want the big fish hoovering up the best players and winning everything, so it's hard for the clubs to find outlets for their young players. Without improved LOI structures at youth level its difficult for senior clubs to really advance themselves on the youth front.

I don't think Harps would have been able to field a side at times during the 2009 season had it not been for the A League.
We started the season with a few experienced players and a good few from the 2008 A League squad. As the season wore on we lost the experienced players, (Mukendi, Cullen, etc) loan signings Harkin and McDaid, Sean Houstan to UCD and had a hell of alot of injuries so, we had to dip into the 2009 A league squad. By the seasons end we were using players (5) from the Under 20 suqad just to fulfill the fixtures.

This season again we will be looking to start from scratch in the A League and Under 20/19's with the other lads having either proven their worth to be in the first team or others simply shown the door.

It's possitive that we can build an all local side that, hopefully, this season will be able to challenge for promotion. If it wasn't for the A League I doubt very much we could do that.

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Originally Posted by pineapple stu

I agree with that in principle, although you're looking at a lot of extra volunteers to keep such a set-up going. I'm sure there's some clubs who'd struggle with it. I know we would (and we have five or six teams all told already).

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I know there has to be a lot of volunteer involvement, but we aren't talking about setting up a massive operation. Granted, a lot of work goes into youth teams, but a minimum of perhaps 3 or 4 youth teams outside of the A Champ and U20 teams is achievable. Perhaps u11, u13, u15, u18. The vast majority will never get near the u-20's or A Championship teams, but what you will have is a steady stream, every year, of young people who have an attachment to the club.

It isn't the sort of thing that pops up overnight, but if a core of people work hard at it, it can turn into something that draws in others, namely parents of children.

It's great to see kids from the youth teams getting a run out against each other in LOI grounds around the country when I get the chance to travel to away games. It's something that United do, but we have to invite kids from other clubs, as we obviously have no youth players of our own.

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Originally Posted by Mr A

The local leagues don't want the big fish hoovering up the best players and winning everything, so it's hard for the clubs to find outlets for their young players.

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I agree with you to a point, but it isn't a league's place to dictate who plays in it. From what I know of clubs in Galway, they tend to be very clannish and would only really resist this sort of thing happening out of self interest.

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Originally Posted by Mr A

Without improved LOI structures at youth level its difficult for senior clubs to really advance themselves on the youth front.

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I don't think that more structures at youth level on a national scale are really the answer. The best players at any age group would benefit from playing against the best in the country, but I don't think it's viable. Perhaps regional leagues at u17 or u18 level, but it would be too much if it were expanded to younger age groups as well.

Clubs need to extend their reach on a local level. "Hoovering up the best talent" isn't necessarily a bad thing. Having the best players alongside each other is mutually beneficial for all concerned.

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Originally Posted by Sam_Heggy

It's positive that we can build an all local side that, hopefully, this season will be able to challenge for promotion. If it wasn't for the A League I doubt very much we could do that.

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I can see us dipping into our A league squad for next season quite a bit, as relatively weak as it is...

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Originally Posted by gufcfan

I can see us dipping into our A league squad for next season quite a bit, as relatively weak as it is...

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I think this is where the 3 teams in Galway will really hurt each other.
Salthill, Mervue and Galway are all so close that they are basically going to be chasing the same players.
This is where you really need a crafty and experienced local manager at A League level. Someone who is about the local leagues and is respected amoungst the local players. He doesn't nessicarily need to be experienced at LOI level.
Otherwise, I can see Galway United becoming a serious Casualty. Mervue and Salthill already have their underage sussed, have always played locally and still do.

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Originally Posted by gufcfan

I can see us dipping into our A league squad for next season quite a bit, as relatively weak as it is...

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We have an A squad? :rolleyes:.

I hope next year that we will have a system in place where the management team is capable of managing the U-20 side, and capable of playing matches

Put it this way, it wouldnt be the FAI to ill-inform both clubs and fans alike even with a week to go to a kick off regarding their plans for the new season.

I think the A League and under 20 league should be merged

Many A League teams are made up of 18-22 year olds anyway

maybe have a new A League with an age restriction for under 23's with a maximum of 3 overage players, similar to the olympics

no offence to the current under 20 league but if 18/19 year old lads can't hack it against lads a few years older than them they don't have a chance of surviving in LOI Premier or First

why not freshen it up, dont regionalise it. there should also be a cup competition aswell, not just the league. we had 10 games spaced out over 4months last season u20, the FAI need to make it more attrative than that

Today's Kerryman says the U-20 league will be renamed the Youth League and be for under-19's, doesn't mention group structure, but Dynamos will enter their Kingdom Boys team.