The Greatest League In The World- LOI Jersey Day 2015

Every year it seems the League of Ireland starts up again with little in the way of hype bar a few pullouts in the tabloids and excitement only among the people who are die-hards already. Clubs do try to generate a buzz, but with club volunteers flat out on a million different things it is not always possible to build things up as much as we'd like. On the other hand there are success stories- For example in 2010 Finn Harps ran a campaign and photo competitions via local media and facebook called “Revive and Thrive”. Over 1100 people paid in to the first home game against Salthill Devon with 300 children attending free, double what might otherwise have been expected for that game.

So this year let's try something, instead of complaining on here and elsewhere, let's try and get the buzz going ourselves. Let's try to harness the character, fun, togetherness, rivalry, colour, creativity, humour and sheer outright fecking insanity that you lot bring to the table. There is already a great example of fans drawing attention to their league- the #IrishLeagueBehavior hashtag ended up trending worldwide and got international attention as fan humour and passion struck a chord and the whole thing snowballed. The LOI already has a great hashtag- #GreatestLeagueInTheWorld with some great tweets illustrating the joy, the madness and what's good about our league.

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7310/...d9aac6615f.jpg

We can't compete with the premiership on quality of football, facilities or glamour but we have connection to community and locality, we get to watch live in better than HD in 3D with full surround sound, we get to be part of it in a way you never can with a club across the water. And we can all help get that message out there. We (me on behalf of FHFC) presented this idea at the Irish Supporters Network gathering in the Aviva last year and it was well received, so we've decided to put it out there and see if people are willing to help. We have nothing to lose by trying and we might get a few people curious about the league or tempt a few lapsed supporters back through the gates.

In general we're asking three things:

The idea is that people post about the league and/or their club using the hashtag #GreatestLeagueInTheWorld on twitter. Pictures, especially those with people in jerseys are especially welcome and we'd ask that people keep things as positive as possible.

Post pictures and comments on the facebook group and on their own, personal club and fan pages on facebook. Again, keep it light hearted and above all positive.

On LOI Jersey Day, wear your club shirt, take a photo somewhere interesting, with someone interesting or whatever and post it in all the above places.

But first of all we're asking for a bit of feedback- when should the jersey day be, the Friday or Saturday before the league starts or maybe even the Friday or Saturday that first weekend? Any other thoughts post away obviously. If people are willing to help in organising this post below or give me a shout via PM or email.

Great idea. Something positive that can be done quite easily.
I'm in New Zealand these days but will do something to keep the flag flying.
The main thing I miss from home is the league. Be grateful for what you've got.

Maybe the second week of the season would be a good time for the jersey day just to keep the momentum rolling over from the opening day and it might even entice a few passers by to a game when they see it all over social media. The idea is to tag other sporting accounts say the likes of paddy power, Boylesports, the FAI account etc and get them to RT a photo to promote LOI Jersey day and RT the fixtures for that weekend encouraging people to get out to a game.

Great thinking Outspoken. St Patricks day? Need to agree on a date.

Love that idea outspoken, and think Saint Patrick's Day would be perfect. Lots of interesting photo opportunities and most people are off so can wear what they like which may not be true on a normal weekday.

Good shout on that one outspoken. RT from the big players is a good one. Had thought getting celebs and irish internationals involved would be a good idea too.

Before we look for RTs and press coverage (a few promises lined up there from the Irish Supporters Network day) we need good content. So get posting people- and spread the word!

Easiest way on twitter is to RT these 2 introductory tweets:

https://twitter.com/aidanmcnelis/sta...68131889537024
https://twitter.com/aidanmcnelis/sta...70416367546368

I'll set up a dedicated twitter account this evening.

https://twitter.com/GLITW added as twitter account for this. I've retweeted a few of the recent contributions on the #GreatestLeagueInTheWorld hashtag.

A little more on the thinking behind this initiative- most LOI clubs are doing great stuff in their communities and with youth, but sometimes struggle to get that story out there. So apart from the banter, the craic and the messing, this is a chance for people to help increase awareness of the importance and contribution of clubs in their areas. People are so quick to run down the league and its clubs and we can do our wee bit to start changing perceptions for the better.

Cheers guys didn't even think about it being St Patrick's days, be great if there were a few LOI clubs in the parades too.

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Originally Posted by Mr A

Love that idea outspoken, and think Saint Patrick's Day would be perfect. Lots of interesting photo opportunities and most people are off so can wear what they like which may not be true on a normal weekday.

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Everyday is St Patricks day :cool:

(We have our own day ......etc)

not to put a downer on it but as the bloke who started using #GreatestLeagueInTheWorld for the LOI, it isn't always a positive thing. It's for the stuff that happens here that doesn't happen in other places. Sometimes good, sometimes bad. just unique

I don't think anyone can say I'm not positive about the league but we have to be able to make fun of where we fall down too

As we all know a lot of the coverage of the league tends to focus on the serious issues so it would be good if LOI supporters came together to show that it is actually enjoyable!

A Jersey day preceded by some good social media stuff is a simple idea but hopefully it would grow into something bigger.

There are already quite a few posts, including from me, that deal with the league's quirks and imperfections. I don't think anyone set out to paint it as all sweetness and light. We're never going to compete with the money machine across the water- but we can highlight that there are clubs doing really good things, great characters knocking around on and off the pitch, supporters who enjoy it all immensely and that there's rarely a dull moment.

Anyway, you're just annoyed because we included first division clubs.

Well when you tak about quirjy things, I assumed you'd include that.

I'm not annoyed (at all). I'm just saying be careful of relying on the hashtag as I, and others, use it sarcastically from time to time

Absolutely, but after many in depth consultations with various stakeholders in the LOI's brand value proposition we concluded that ownership of the foibles was a more beneficent approach than executing a strategy that may prove to have a less cromulent level of credibility with the cool kids.

That's some real blue sky thinking there Mr A.

League of Ireland fans argue over the use of a hashtag to generate interest in said league. #greatestleagueintheworld

Some great stuff on this so far, mostly humourous stuff to date. Would like to see more people just posting good things about the LOI and their clubs. Like the mural the Patron Saints got done at Richmond, the Cork family section initiative, Bohs and their murals and community programmes, schools programme at Harps, City Cubs at Derry etc etc. The more people helping out the better- and some of the tweets do get a lot of retweets and attention.

Also think we should get as many people as possible to tweet using the #GreatestLeagueInTheWorld hashtag on the day of the league's kickoff on March 6th in an effort to get it trending.

In terms of the jersey day- should we just encourage fans to wear their jerseys all day the day of their club's first home match?

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Originally Posted by Mr A

Some great stuff on this so far, mostly humourous stuff to date. Would like to see more people just posting good things about the LOI and their clubs. Like the mural the Patron Saints got done at Richmond, the Cork family section initiative, Bohs and their murals and community programmes, schools programme at Harps, City Cubs at Derry etc etc. The more people helping out the better- and some of the tweets do get a lot of retweets and attention.

Also think we should get as many people as possible to tweet using the #GreatestLeagueInTheWorld hashtag on the day of the league's kickoff on March 6th in an effort to get it trending.

In terms of the jersey day- should we just encourage fans to wear their jerseys all day the day of their club's first home match?

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Second Friday of the season for Jersey day, keep the momentum going from week 1. Flood social media with photos of fans in Jerseys.