East of Ireland Football Association

Its hard to get your head around the fact that Cork and Derry will be playing each other in a lower division this season but no way either could they have held their position in the top section.
Location wise it is going to be a bit of a disaster for football this year with the bulk of the clubs coming from Dublin and the North East. Apart from Shams and Bohs it will be the same old story of nearly empty grounds and cost wise it has to favour the Dublin sides very much as they can practically hop on a bus for all but a few of their matches, while Sligo have missed out on at least four matches against Derry and will have a lot more expense You have to realy say well done to the Rovers and their supporters for keeping the clubs head above water, great effort by everyone. After the financial disasters of the last few years it can only be hoped that clubs have learned that they cannot throw money at their players, it was so obvious what the outcome was going to be. The likes of Bohs and Fingal will have to run a very tight ship as I cannot see either of their backers being in a position to pour money in. From what we know of the signings that we have up to this point, I honestly think third in the league is a realistic target for the BOR. Lets pack the Showground for the opening League match against Shams, what a start a win would give us, for various reasons getting anything out of Tallagh will be extremely difficult.

I've heard a few allude to the fact that alot of the clubs are around the dublin area. dublin district league being one. No doubt the calls for the league being uncompetitive will surface once more. The best and most well run clubs deserve to be in the top flight with location not coming into it. We have indeed lost two big regional clubs from the premier division but that is entirely their fault. I've no doubt that both will be back up in no time at all. It's encouraging to see wateford and monaghan with a premier licence which shows if the 10 team format get's extended that we would see some regional clubs come into it - not for the sake of it but becuase they are well run. I think the 10 team format should stay for a while - 2 out of 10 clubs failing wasnt the best scenario and undermines the good work of the rest of the clubs. i would not like to see the prem extended for the sake of it and clubs being tempted to spend too much to stay competitive and then end up in bad shape.

I agree 100 % that it can be a good year for rovers. alot will depend on how quickly the team settle and gel together. hopefully we can hit the ground running. the showgrounds will be packed for the first game and i hope his can give us the platform to get some momentum going throughout the club and see us compete higher up the league. i expect bohs and shams to get the first & second (i think shams will win the league this year). after that clubs like fingal and dundalk will be competitive and there's no reason we cant aim for 3rd. Everyone should get behind the club, support the fundraisers and stay positive. last year showed with hard work and support from everyone then the rewards will follow. C'mon the bit o'red !!!