Play-offs proposed

Thursday September 1st 2005


ONE of the world's leading football finance experts has suggested that the Eircom League should end the regular season with a championship play-off.

Dr Bill Gerrard, who is a professor in sport management and finance at Leeds University Business School, believes it would greatly enhance the profile and increase attendances if there was a title showdown.

Professor Gerrard was speaking at a marketing seminar organised by the Eircom League which was held yesterday in the National College of Ireland in Dublin.

Professor Gerrard also suggested the introduction of a salary cap, would allow Irish clubs to exercise greater financial control, and suggested the league could be marketed as 'a young guns league' but with the addition of veteran stars as marquee players, as has happened in the Australian league.

© Irish Independent
http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/ & http://www.unison.ie/

so what, you play all your league games and then whoever comes first and second has a play off for the league ?? even if one team is 15 points clear ?? bollócks I say.

any other ideas :confused:

Play offs are for oher sports and countries who just don't get football. Nothing wrong with them, pretty workable, think it would create much more media focus but still wouldn't welcome them with open arms.

Remember the last league play offs? The secound round played at nutral grounds like Cork playing in Turners' Cross :)

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Originally Posted by Cop on

Talkin' through his ar$e. Interestingly he hasn't proposed the same for other leagues such as the premiership.

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Actually he is a fairly clued in guy and a football man through and through. I don't agree with play-offs (not because it is 'for other sports') but because I don't think it's fair that the league should come down to a knock-out competition.

He probably didn't suggest it for the premiership because they don't have low attendances and clubs struggling to survive.

The proposal would increase attendances for those games, no doubt. But it should not be increase attendances at all costs.

Also, the idea of a salary cap might have merit. If we could trust clubs' accounts. ;)

i hate the promotion relegation play off...never mind that crap

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Originally Posted by wild rover

i hate the promotion relegation play off...never mind that crap

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you'll love, it'll be great for you ;)

If this is the kind of advise the league is payng for then we have no hope.

Playoff may get more money & attention but belittles a league competition based over 33 games.

The eL tried that crap idea of golden oldie players years ago & was waste of cash & no long term gain. The eL is already a "young guns" league as average age of teams would be in low 20's.

Salary cap is obviously going to happen based on percentage of turnover.

Stupid idea. Play-offs after a league don't make sense and lead to less credible winners.

Maybe this is a new tactic to allow Shels to win the league.

The team that finishes first will play Shelbourne every year and the winning team will be considered for the league title after all other avenues of getting Shels into the Setanta Cup have been explored. :eek:

I'm all for the play offs idea. Top three into a play off, one and two in a semi final and three gets a bye to the final to be held at the most appropriate venue out of all the league grounds, which I'm sure you'll all agree is Tolka Park. That man is a genius.

I like Playoffs tbh. But not for the eircom league. The league itself has to be left alone for about 10 years and allow to grow. I've been following the league for about 10 years now and it's so confusing the whole how many going up/down this year. they change it ebout every 3 years. :rolleyes:

If the EL wants to be taken seriously as a good but small european league then it should adopt best practice and whats done in every other league. Play off dont happen in any other soccer league so I dont think we should blaze the way and risk being laughed at.

There has already been so many changes each year and if teams want bigger attendences then they need to improve the grounds and quality of play from players and improving the refereeing decisions.

People were probably saying the same thing when the playoffs were brought into the English leagues, but frankly that was a fanastic move.

It keeps teams seasons going, whereas if it was just 3 up and 3 down you would have a load of teams playing meaningless mid-table games.

I don't think you can declare the champions after a playoff though - maybe have a playoff for the last European place or something?

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Originally Posted by TheOwl

People were probably saying the same thing when the playoffs were brought into the English leagues, but frankly that was a fanastic move.

It keeps teams seasons going, whereas if it was just 3 up and 3 down you would have a load of teams playing meaningless mid-table games.

I don't think you can declare the champions after a playoff though - maybe have a playoff for the last European place or something?

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They have something like that in Holland. I agree, if we're going down the play offs route, let it be for a European place or something. No way should a title be decided on a play off. I'm against them completley really but we'll see how the European ones go in Holland.

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Originally Posted by Ringo

you'll love, it'll be great for you ;)

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itll be the only way Dublin will get decent crowds-away fans :p

I think the promotion/religation playoffs are great, but in the experimental 3 1st div and 1 prem team format.

Playoff for the Prem is not a good idea though (although it would have ment that Cork would prob have won the league last year).

This auld fellas idea is cr@p though. If there is an old star who wants to play then they'll go to Kuiwate (sp) and get paid a fortune. Its not like Roy Keane is going to come home and finish off his career here is it? The last players to do that were Liam O'Brien and Curtis Flemming, and they have done little/nothing to raise their clubs profiles.

over here in the states they have playoffs (obviously :rolleyes: )

It's an absolute joke. Last season there were 10 teams in the league and EIGHT of them made the playoffs!!! There's absolutely nothing to play for. Once you're better than 2 teams then you're there. The quarter finals are two legs, so ho home advantage, the semis are one game so better league position gives home advantage and same for final.

It's a joke of a system.

On a side note, the team from Salt Lake City (one of the 2 new teams in the new 12 team league), have decided to call themselves Real Salt Lake (as in Real Madrid). Stupid!

I think it's a great name :D

Better than the salt lake city warriors or some such crap.

Farcical. How about running the league professionally, throwing out convicted criminals running clubs, a proper one hour dedicated football programme at a decent hour, a 10 team premier and proper facilities just to start?

The play offs in 93 were a joke. A salary cap while a good idea would never work. Think of what the PFAI would say.


KOH

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A salary cap while a good idea would never work.

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Thats exactly what the FAI are going to introduce when they take over the league. Delaneys reckons as much anyway. The FAI are meant to produce some document on the FAI taking over some of these weeks arent they ?