That meant that you had provincial clubs like Limerick, Sligo, Dundalk, Athlone and Waterford having a near monopoly on League wins for six or seven years?
Were the Dublins clubs particularly poor for some reason?
Were the provincial clubs particularly good for some reason?
Was it all just coincidence?
Time to shine history buffs/elderly people. :)
Apart from a single Dublin win in 1978 (bohs) the league winners from 1976 to 1983 was a a non Dublin affair. Lge wins were as follows during that period. This does not take into account the superb Waterford side, and to a lesser extent Cork Hibs, but I`m too young to recall their lge winning years !! So in answer to your question, yes Dublin clubs must have been a lot weaker then, but the standard was a lot more widespread throughout the regions. The below is a list from 1976 - 1990.
Dundalk (1976)) Sligo (77) Dundalk (79), Limerick (80), Athlone (81) Dundalk (82), Athlone (83) Rovers (84-87)) Dundalk (88), to complete the 80`s St Pats (89) & Derry (89/90)
A period of time that was an anomaly in the LOI.
If you look through the records it was many years before a non-Dublin team won the League, that being Dundalk.
We were the next non-Dublin team to win it, that being in 1937.
Every so often you had a brief provincial dynasty that maybe won 2 or 3 on the trot or within a few years of each other but inevitably the Dublin clubs would once again dominate.