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I think it's high time we returned League of Ireland football to its rightful place in the calendar and abandoned this summer football lark.i can't see any major improvements in crowds,entertainment,European performance etc since we changed to summer football.Ok the pitches are better but recent winters have been milder and dryer making this less of a factor.does anyone agree...
Bray is cold enough in July never mind December.
I doubt it would make any difference to crowds. Clubs would have to consider installing 3G pitches or investing a lot more money in pitch maintenance and training pitches. Winter football would be a disaster for any clubs participating in Europe.
no thank you.
Whatever about anything else European performances have improved greatly
I'm more likely to go to games outside the the GAA championships window. I'll be in Thomond Park on Friday night.
It's a tough one regards winter or summer. It's the right decision to have league action when the clubs are in European action. Haven't seen a need for change.
I wonder whether that affects many teams? The GAA competitions are pretty inconsequential in Louth.Quote:
Originally Posted by legendz
Massively affects Harps over the summer.Quote:
Originally Posted by White Horse
I'd be in favour of a return to winter football. Would take it in a heartbeat.
European performances have improved hugely. That's a definite benefit - and why I wouldn't want to go back. If that wasn't the case, I'd prefer winter where we could distance ourselves from the GAA.
Disagree with this. When Louth Champ games are on same time as Oriel, or a full round of League games are on which the 6 Dundalk sides are invovled, The attendance in Oriel is hit by at least 200!Quote:
Originally Posted by White Horse
1 group of lads who go to the Shed, play GAA for one of the town sides, and their is about 15/20 of them who dont be in Oriel when they have club games/training etc... Id imagine all other clubs are the same!
The clubs in surrounding areas, Dromiskin, Knockbridge,. Cooley, Lordship etc... would all have a good few that would goto Oriel when the GAA is not on!
Id never go back to Winter Football though!
Quote:
Originally Posted by PartySaint
Best possible answer
I'd change back today if we could. It was ill conceived from the start. Have European performances really improved that much (worth discommoding the rest of the league, for a few games for a few clubs)? I don't think so. Same as it ever was, the better teams in terms of budget and personnel are doing better.
Suddenly after a few seasons, a return to winter football requires artificial pitches or a bankrupting amount of maintenance? Give me a feckin break.
For me, it's much much harder to get away to a match in the summer than it is in the winter. Too much else happening with the family, children, holidays, weekend trips etc. I'm not alone, last time I checked attendance figures (which dip in the summer).
As ever we need to get away from anecdotes though - the first step should be a proper assessment of what summer football has brought us in terms of money (including crowds), coverage, and if it has reduced costs. Then a proper investigation of what might change with going back to winter. We changed to summer on whim, with no identified tangibles to judge its success or otherwise. We shouldn't repeat that f**k up.
The saints have progressed several rounds for a couple of seasons and Rovers took part in the group stages of a major competition, id call that progression.Things have slipped lately but still much better than during winter football.I for one would never go back to winter football, the pitches would be awful and that would affect the quality of the football.Quote:
Have European performances really improved that much
Attendances would be the exact same, the same people would go to games, numbers would dip in December/January like they do in July/August but the reason would be Christmas/bad weather instead of Holiday/Gaa.
I'm happy with the summer football but a shorter off season would be nice.
Amen to that.Quote:
Originally Posted by PartySaint
People would find other reasons not to attend....it was raining, too cold, too dark to be going out on a night like that etc.
Winter football is a disaster for FHFC so I'd move back in a heartbeat. Plus I always liked the frosty nights or even some of the rough ones as the players battled it out under the lights. Can't see it happening though, I don't think there's many clubs that want to revert.
On there being a slump in crowds in mid Winter- I seem to recall some very good crowds for games on December 26th. Certainly in the Irish league that date gets the biggest crowds of the season.
It is true in fairness. If people really want to go, they will go. Friday evenings in fairness isn't clashing with everything and the rest of the weekend is free.Quote:
Originally Posted by GCdfc
You'd easily know we're approaching the start of the silly season, when this old chestnut comes up again.
We had enough games postponed this season so I can't see how winter football could even be possible if the pitches can't take the rain we get during the so called summer season. Would love a return to winner otherwise.