review of eircom League weekly
filmireland site
Eircom League Weekly
The increasingly popular Eircom League Weekly, is presently filling the 11.30 slot on the TV3 Monday night schedule. The series will conclude around the end of October, after the domestic soccer league and cup competitions have been decided. Through Eircom League Weekly TV3 are responding well to the challenge of catering for the real soccer supporters in Ireland.
The commercial behemoth that is the English Premiership and the global cash cow that is the UEFA Champions League have done much to confine coverage of Irish soccer to the cracks and interstices of Irish television schedules. Domestic soccer has always struggled to capture the imagination of the public, with the majority of the league being made up of players that could not cut it for one reason or another in Britain, while facilities for supporters attending games have for many years been below par. So why is it that the niche audience for a late night sports show devoted to domestic soccer has been steadily increasing since the series started?
The Product
Bohemian FC and Shelbourne FC have both gone fully professional recently with their respective playing and coaching staff, with clubs like Cork City FC and Saint Patrick's Athletic not far behind. Pat Dolan, the present Cork City manager, has been the colourful figure of domestic soccer over the last decade, and the one clear voice on the league's virtues, while at the same time being derided for aiding in the re-naming of the cold war style bunker that is Richmond park as "the stadium of light".
The move to summer football has brought the crowds back out for balmy evening entertainment, while the Champions League anthem echoing around Phibsboro for the Bohemians versus Rosenborg game certainly captured the imagination of the local population, even if it was only the qualifier stage. The appointment of Fran Rooney as FAI Chief Executive has put the emphasis back on the Eircom League's strengths, while Brian Kerr as national manager is only too willing to include domestic talent in his squad.
The Coverage
To be fair to TV3, the footage quality of soccer matches has improved since Eircom League Weekly was first broadcast. Amateur digital video recordings of games have been the norm so far. A classic moment came in a Waterford United home game in the Regional Sports Complex, when a Waterford player was making a menacing run toward goal to end up one on one with the keeper, unfortunately we never see what happens as a Waterford fan anticipates what we can only imagine was a beautiful finish, a celebrating silhouette and culchie howl is all we see and hear, blocking all view of the match. TV3's camera positioning has been better since that blunder. However, another persistent flaw has been camera work consistently drifting in and out of focus.
Trevor Welch as presenter and Damien Richardson as pundit seem to be TV3's solid first choice pairing. Richardson does his best to avoid the usual soccer pundit clichés, time and again armchair fans must endure aged 1980's football icons uselessly talking the bored viewer through a sequence that the viewer's Ma could probably talk them through in a more entertaining fashion.
Richardson was manager of Shelbourne and Shamrock Rovers and he knows his domestic soccer. He has overtly dismissed both these teams on more than one occasion for their negative tactics. Richardson slams the opportune long ball hoofs and urges short intricate passing instead. However, Richardson's analysis has an over rehearsed feel to it (maybe conscious of the over used soccer jargon and trying to avoid it). A classic example was when he accounted for Bohemian's bad start to the 2003 season, claiming their "inter-departmental choreography" was not up to scratch. Hopefully Bohs manager Stephen Kenny took note of that one for his next half time rant, "lads! Where the **** was our inter- departmental choreography?!" It almost makes phibsboro sound like a centre for high culture, the Dalymount bolshoi ballet!
The problem is "inter-departmental choreography" does not have the spontaneity needed for the relaxed conversational approach aimed at between Welch and Richardson. One feels that Richardson is on co-pilot, spouting out all he drilled into his head a few hours previously. Welch does his best to tone down the verbal acrobatics, at times poking fun at Richardson's "big words".
FAI and TV3 versus GAA and RTE
Over the course of the summer months the only other Irish show of a similar format is Network 2's The Sunday Game. RTE resources are pumped into GAA coverage, with elaborate multi-camera set-ups at games. The Sunday Game set looks like Kubrick's war room with the lights on, with tracking cameras and overhead shots to compliment the punditry, all happening on a studio that looks like its orbiting somewhere above Dr Hyde Park, Roscommon. Unfortunately, Pat Spillane's cute Kerryman style, Jackie Healy rae, pseudo seanchai anecdotes about obscure saints is enough for anyone to despise RTE for letting him anchor the show, a bring back Michael Lester campaign is imminent.
Meanwhile the Eircom League Weekly conventional, static three camera set up looks like its being broadcast from a converted Tolka Rovers dressing room somewhere in Finglas. The contrast in resources between the two shows is startling. The success of Eircom League Weekly should be commended all the more for this reason. One has to admire the effort and honesty that goes into making this show happen. It is vital to those involved with domestic league soccer clubs that not only their games be broadcast, but that the highest quality of footage and camerawork be used to reflect the progress that has been made over the last five years, something our public service broadcaster RTE is unwilling to do. Long may Eircom League Weekly last. By the way, come on Bohs!
Colm O'Quinn
