Rugby now more popular than football AND GAA?!

I had to do some research into all this last year.

The Irish Sports Monitor published by the Irish Sports Council and ESRI are the best we can get for participation, volunteering, attendance etc. You can find them online - just google it.

I had to ask for TV viewing figures directly from the agency that provides the research for RTE. It only covers 2008 and 2009. I posted the results earlier in this thread, but unfortunately it was sent to me in s'sheet format so I just posted the summaries. It's all much of a muchness really. Big GAA, soccer & rugby events all get good figures, less big events don't. The soccer numbers stacked up well versus rugby in 2009. Peak soccer was higher, average soccer was lower but I think it's fair to say Grand Slam expectations from the start would haver bolstered rugby's figures whereas games against Georgia, Cyrprus & Montenegro didn't do the soccer averages any good. That said, Italy v Ireland in the rugby wasn't great.

Figures given to me directly from the FAI:

450,000 regular participants
3,000 clubs
96 leagues
Strong growth in female participation, but this still has a good way to go.

Stuttgart do you know how they defined 'participation'?
I'm involved in research myself so I'm always keen to read the fine print in these things.

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Originally Posted by Stuttgart88

I had to do some research into all this last year.

The Irish Sports Monitor published by the Irish Sports Council and ESRI backs up GS's participation claims. Unfortunately 2007 & 2008 I think are the most up-to-date. You can find them online.

I had to ask for TV viewing figures directly from the agency that provides the research for RTE. Again, it only goes back 2 years. I posted the results earlier in this thread, but unfortunately it was sent in s'sheet format so I just posted the summaries.

Figures given to me directly from the FAI:

450,000 regular participants
3,000 clubs
96 leagues
Strong growth in female participation, but this still has a good way to go.

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Including men and women there are definitely more participants in Gaelic(camogie/hurling/gaelic football/wootball) than soccer.

The eSRI study mentioned by Stutts is the most recent and most referenced.

The first study I recall was in 1986 announced as Jack Charlton was becoming Irish manager. In fairness then it was greatly skewed by Dublin (i.e. GAA was stronger in the rest of the country) however since then the gap has got wider - off the top of my head it was 13% for football and 8% for gaelic.

Note these are figures for the Republic of Ireland. The GAA claim to be the biggest sporting organisation as they combine their 2 sports and take the whole island.

Even without researching the studys just take a look at the number of leagues and clubs throughout the country. The star or the Herald have excellent supplements.

Re the tv viewing figures I use www.medialive2.com or you can search here on foot.ie for the figures which have been produced before. Rememebr also that the football matches are also on Sky (in HD) or the British channels whereas the GAA matches are typically only on RTE. Furthermore there is far more of a culture of going to the pub to watch a big football match than there is in the GAA.

The GAA is miles behind football in terms of participation and interest although the interest is in Liverpool and Man Utd and the national team. That is a fact and the studies bear that out no matter what you think.

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Originally Posted by Jinxy

Stuttgart do you know how they defined 'participation'?
I'm involved in research myself so I'm always keen to read the fine print in these things.

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registered players eg playing for a club whether it be St. Kevins Boys, Ballyboden St Endas or Blackrock.

it doesn't cover things like astro parks, work leagues etc

I think GAA wins on most counts. Volunteering, attendance, participation. It helps that 2 very different sports are counted as GAA though! :) Soccer stacks up very well and beats rugby by a mile. Soccer & GAA participation & attendance fell. ESRI says this is definitely recession-linked. Overall soccer attendance was second only to gaelic football and was higher than hurling. Rugby participation grew, but still to a relatively small leve vs. GAA and soccer.

I'm too lazy to go throgh it with a fine-toothed comb but

http://www.esri.ie/UserFiles/publica...BKMNEXT155.pdf

p29 & 30 are probably most of interest.

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Originally Posted by gspain

The eSRI study mentioned by Stutts is the most recent and most referenced.

The first study I recall was in 1986 announced as Jack Charlton was becoming Irish manager. In fairness then it was greatly skewed by Dublin (i.e. GAA was stronger in the rest of the country) however since then the gap has got wider - off the top of my head it was 13% for football and 8% for gaelic.

Note these are figures for the Republic of Ireland. The GAA claim to be the biggest sporting organisation as they combine their 2 sports and take the whole island.

Even without researching the studys just take a look at the number of leagues and clubs throughout the country. The star or the Herald have excellent supplements.

Re the tv viewing figures I use www.medialive2.com or you can search here on foot.ie for the figures which have been produced before. Rememebr also that the football matches are also on Sky (in HD) or the British channels whereas the GAA matches are typically only on RTE. Furthermore there is far more of a culture of going to the pub to watch a big football match than there is in the GAA.

The GAA is miles behind football in terms of participation and interest although the interest is in Liverpool and Man Utd and the national team. That is a fact and the studies bear that out no matter what you think.

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You see it's hard to take you seriously when you throw out a comment like that because it's not based on facts, just a personal desire for this to be the case.

Ballpark Figures from 2007, ISC & ESRI. I think it's fair to say that this is a bit out of date.

The attendance figures are not consistent with the figures in the ISM linked above, unless GAA has fallen, soccer risen.

Jinxy, I think GS has a point to some extent: I'd love to see a poll: who is more popular in Ireland, Man United or Leinster? Man United and Leinster / Munster combined?

Whatever about the FAI and LOI's self-inflicted wounds it is simply not possible to have the standard of football played regularly in Ireland that would attracts tens of thousands of spectators regularly. The wage bills required would be unaffordable.

As I mentioned before, the bottom of the football pyramid is very strong, but international pressures outside of our control mean that the middle and top of the pyramid are in poorer shape. I'm sure more can be done to make the underage-to-senior / junior-intermediate-senior progression more seemless, but even if rectified the wage level required by domestic football to have a spectacle that can compete with Magners League rugby is impossible.

The only "free market" solution would be if we had a large franchise team competing in a European-wide super league, like the G-14 used to threaten a decade ago. Let's see how well that'd go down, if it wasn't a pipe dream in the first place!

I neither know nor care whether soccer is higher or lower than GAA. I do know that at "grass roots" it is a mile more popular than rugby, but even that isn't a great concern.

My biggest concern is that soccer doesn't get a fair crack of the whip in the press. Comparing IRL v ENG in rugby to IRL v Macedonia in soccer is ridiculous. Ignoring Shane Long, Seamus Coleman & Jon Walters at the expense of creating hysteria over Stephen Ireland, James McCarthy and Robbie "I'm going to walk out on Ireland of not picked" Keane is what gets my goat. It gives ill-informed punters a stick to beat soccer with. That "stick" has been taken up by the many rugby fans I know.

Sure, some footy players are scumbags, but an Irish rugby guy gouging another Irish guy's eye in a European semi-final is pretty scummy too.

Eamon Sweeney's view linked above is much more accurate and balanced.

Ireland needs all 3 big team codes to be thriving in my opinion. I want it to happen and there's room for it to happen.

I suppose we could argue the toss endlessly over what defines 'popularity'.
Look at the most popular programmes on TV.
Soap operas and reality song contests.
Rugby has a profile completely disproportionate to it's profile nationwide in my opinion.
The media have taken the only group of professional sportsmen we have in this country and turned them into celebrities.
You can't open a paper without seeing some rugby lad and his model girlfriend out on the town.
In my opinion this aspirational lifestyle is what feeds much of rugbys popularity.
It's a sport for movers and shakers.
The guys that come over from England, France, Italy and Scotland are largely from the same social strata as the rugby fans here.
The captains of industry in this country, be it the media, banking, law or whatever are generally ex-rugby school types.
Look at the price of corporate hospitality tickets in rugby.
People spend crazy money for a bit of grub and some hackneyed anecdotes from some washed-up international.
Wales is different as it can lay claim to being the only country (in Europe anyway) where rugby is the sport of the working classes.
Advertisers love these folks that are attracted to the rugby scene as they are the ones who buy stuff.
Hence sponsorship/advertising money pours in and we're bombarded with 'This is rugby country' ads on TV and billboards.
It inflates the perception that this is truly the sport of the people in Ireland.
Throw in some lad with a vaguely culchie-ish accent (although it's always more gentleman farmer than rural publican) talking about 'pride', 'passion' etc. and people start to go "Yeah, I can really relate to these guys that went to fee-paying schools and have model girlfriends and lucrative endorsement deals. They're just like me. Not like those sullen, petulant millionaires that play for the soccer team'.
But it's one thing for somebody to think that, it's another thing altogether for them to go out and join a rugby club.
Most of them wouldn't know where the nearest one was.
Rugbys relative success is down to its packaging more than its product.
I can only speak for myself but on the ground in reality I just don't see this massive upsurge in rugby popularity.
I think it can only ever get so far in terms of participation and like I said before, adult playing numbers are actually falling.
That's the downside to glamourising the lifestyle of professional rugby players.
When kids leave school and realise they're never going to hit that level, they just jack it in altogether.
And for all the animosity towards the GAA you often see here, I've never heard any GAA man I know coming out with the level of anti-soccer bile I regularly here from my rugby pals.
Don't believe the hype.

http://www.espnscrum.com/scrum/rugby/story/102547.html

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Originally Posted by Jinxy

Stuttgart do you know how they defined 'participation'?
I'm involved in research myself so I'm always keen to read the fine print in these things.

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I think it's "someone aged 16 or over who has played sport (other than walking) for 20 minutes or more in the last 7 days".

Defined in here somewhere.

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Originally Posted by Jinxy

And for all the animosity towards the GAA you often see here, I've never heard any GAA man I know coming out with the level of anti-soccer bile I regularly here from my rugby pals.
Don't believe the hype.

http://www.espnscrum.com/scrum/rugby/story/102547.html

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Jinxy I think you are been a bit sensitive if you think there is much animosity here towards the gaa, the references to it on this site and relatively few and far between. However you go to sites like anfearrua or premierview and I guarantee on an almost daily basis there is soccer threads and each threads will have a certain numbers of posts from people with a strong anti/dislike of soccer.

Figures have been produced here on numerous occasions, the Irish soccer team has pulled in the highest viewership figures on annual basis for a long time with a few exceptions. I think out of the last ten years, it has been no 1 sporting event 7 times. And even so in the grand slam winning year for rugby.

On a general level I think interest in soccer in Ireland is more widespread and less cyclical. Unfortunately the majority of this interest is focused on football elsewhere as opposed to Irish based. GAA hits its peak in the summer, no doubt and usually is the no 1 sport during these months. But there are areas of the country where hurling in particular barely registers. I recall been in Sligo/Leitrim area the day of an All Ireland hurling final not that long ago and to find a pub with the match on was quite difficult.

On a participation level, I think more people play soccer generally. But in actual registered numbers, well then I would fancy the gaa wins out. Football leagues are very strong in rural areas but far less organised and developed in rural areas. This is where the gaa are super strong, in the rural areas, strong underage structures, strong clubs in the commmunity etc. On a general level, football does not have this (there are exceptions obviously).

Rugby is strange one. Participation levels, as in registered players are low compared to the other main sports. However it does attract quite a following these days. The IRFU are the leading light in advertising and marketing and developing the game in recent years. However, the nature of their game assists them in comparison to football.....significantly less global competition and a much lower cost/wage base are two major differences.

All in all there is certainly room for all sports in this country, as most of us have a strong interest/participation in one sport but will follow/attend the others as well.

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Originally Posted by Stuttgart88

Jinxy, I think GS has a point to some extent: I'd love to see a poll: who is more popular in Ireland, Man United or Leinster? Man United and Leinster / Munster combined?

Whatever about the FAI and LOI's self-inflicted wounds it is simply not possible to have the standard of football played regularly in Ireland that would attracts tens of thousands of spectators regularly. The wage bills required would be unaffordable.

As I mentioned before, the bottom of the football pyramid is very strong, but international pressures outside of our control mean that the middle and top of the pyramid are in poorer shape. I'm sure more can be done to make the underage-to-senior / junior-intermediate-senior progression more seemless, but even if rectified the wage level required by domestic football to have a spectacle that can compete with Magners League rugby is impossible.

The only "free market" solution would be if we had a large franchise team competing in a European-wide super league, like the G-14 used to threaten a decade ago. Let's see how well that'd go down, if it wasn't a pipe dream in the first place!

I neither know nor care whether soccer is higher or lower than GAA. I do know that at "grass roots" it is a mile more popular than rugby, but even that isn't a great concern.

My biggest concern is that soccer doesn't get a fair crack of the whip in the press. Comparing IRL v ENG in rugby to IRL v Macedonia in soccer is ridiculous. Ignoring Shane Long, Seamus Coleman & Jon Walters at the expense of creating hysteria over Stephen Ireland, James McCarthy and Robbie "I'm going to walk out on Ireland of not picked" Keane is what gets my goat. It gives ill-informed punters a stick to beat soccer with. That "stick" has been taken up by the many rugby fans I know.

Sure, some footy players are scumbags, but an Irish rugby guy gouging another Irish guy's eye in a European semi-final is pretty scummy too.

Eamon Sweeney's view linked above is much more accurate and balanced.

Ireland needs all 3 big team codes to be thriving in my opinion. I want it to happen and there's room for it to happen.

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great post.

I absolutely agree that there is room for all the big sports, I just think that the real popularity of rugby is wildly overstated.

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Originally Posted by Jinxy

I suppose we could argue the toss endlessly over what defines 'popularity'.
Look at the most popular programmes on TV.
Soap operas and reality song contests.
Rugby has a profile completely disproportionate to it's profile nationwide in my opinion.
The media have taken the only group of professional sportsmen we have in this country and turned them into celebrities.
You can't open a paper without seeing some rugby lad and his model girlfriend out on the town.
In my opinion this aspirational lifestyle is what feeds much of rugbys popularity.
It's a sport for movers and shakers.
The guys that come over from England, France, Italy and Scotland are largely from the same social strata as the rugby fans here.
The captains of industry in this country, be it the media, banking, law or whatever are generally ex-rugby school types.
Look at the price of corporate hospitality tickets in rugby.
People spend crazy money for a bit of grub and some hackneyed anecdotes from some washed-up international.
Wales is different as it can lay claim to being the only country (in Europe anyway) where rugby is the sport of the working classes.
Advertisers love these folks that are attracted to the rugby scene as they are the ones who buy stuff.
Hence sponsorship/advertising money pours in and we're bombarded with 'This is rugby country' ads on TV and billboards.
It inflates the perception that this is truly the sport of the people in Ireland.
Throw in some lad with a vaguely culchie-ish accent (although it's always more gentleman farmer than rural publican) talking about 'pride', 'passion' etc. and people start to go "Yeah, I can really relate to these guys that went to fee-paying schools and have model girlfriends and lucrative endorsement deals. They're just like me. Not like those sullen, petulant millionaires that play for the soccer team'.
But it's one thing for somebody to think that, it's another thing altogether for them to go out and join a rugby club.
Most of them wouldn't know where the nearest one was.
Rugbys relative success is down to its packaging more than its product.
I can only speak for myself but on the ground in reality I just don't see this massive upsurge in rugby popularity.
I think it can only ever get so far in terms of participation and like I said before, adult playing numbers are actually falling.
That's the downside to glamourising the lifestyle of professional rugby players.
When kids leave school and realise they're never going to hit that level, they just jack it in altogether.
And for all the animosity towards the GAA you often see here, I've never heard any GAA man I know coming out with the level of anti-soccer bile I regularly here from my rugby pals.
Don't believe the hype.

http://www.espnscrum.com/scrum/rugby/story/102547.html

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Thats got a date of septeber 15th 2009, yet he mentions the world cup play off in a few weeks? It was 2 months away. What was he on about? that aside even :)

This is what I'm saying.
The rugby media and an awful lot of rugby people totally look down their nose at soccer yet they're never pulled up on it.

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Originally Posted by Jinxy

This is what I'm saying.
The rugby media and an awful lot of rugby people totally look down their nose at soccer yet they're never pulled up on it.

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I brought a rugby-watching friend to the FAI Cup final last year at Lansdowne. She wasn't really interested in the game, just wanted to see the stadium cheaply. She asked me if the music they were playing before kick-off was to calm down the "animals" in the crowd, so they didn't cause trouble. Fair enough, she realised it was a stupid question immediately after saying it, but jeebus!

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Originally Posted by pineapple stu

Quite clearly described in his posts.

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not really. just the usual il-informed party line about the Irish rugby fans means, background etc

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Originally Posted by peadar1987

I brought a rugby-watching friend to the FAI Cup final last year at Lansdowne. She wasn't really interested in the game, just wanted to see the stadium cheaply. She asked me if the music they were playing before kick-off was to calm down the "animals" in the crowd, so they didn't cause trouble. Fair enough, she realised it was a stupid question immediately after saying it, but jeebus!

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I hope you got laid.

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Originally Posted by Jinxy

You see it's hard to take you seriously when you throw out a comment like that because it's not based on facts, just a personal desire for this to be the case.

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It is a fact based on participation numbers and viewing figures. also based on personal experience (albeit living and working in Dublin which would have a much lower interest in GAA than say Kilkenny).

Beleive me I wish they weren't interested in Man Utd and Liverpool and followed Irish football teams but unfortunately they don't.

There is an average of 4,000 people from this country and every Man Utd home game.

Regarding rugby, growing up in Limerick there was never any anti football stuff from the rugby crowd (plenty from certain GAA elements). Thomond Park
was always available if required and many rugby fans came to our big games. In Dublin I do see a difference although it is more of a class thing and pretty much the same way certain Limerick clubs were treated in the past.

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Originally Posted by paul_oshea

I hope you got laid.

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If I'd been trying to get laid I would have taken her to a chick flick and a nice restaurant. I probably wouldn't have made her pay for her own ticket either!

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Originally Posted by elroy

The IRFU are the leading light in advertising and marketing and developing the game in recent years. However, the nature of their game assists them in comparison to football.....significantly less global competition and a much lower cost/wage base are two major differences.

All in all there is certainly room for all sports in this country, as most of us have a strong interest/participation in one sport but will follow/attend the others as well.

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Bang on IMHO.

Anyone know the 'official' crossover between rugby and soccer fans, as in my experience it's not that great?

Virtually everyone I know who watches (and the fewer who play) GAA are all keen on soccer.
Generally most of them would be less keen on the rugby (usually armchair fans;some of the Munster heads would do the odd game), some will almost blank the national team (If it wasn't a UI team, the more 'political' would have no interest at all!) however.

Personally just an armchair egg-chasing fan;only seen an inevitable thrashing away to the AB's in '02 and the only games I'd be interested in paying for are game v.Eng.home or away, or Wales in Cardiff.
Or maybe a Rugby WC game, but my pal who's a veteran of the soccer, rugby and cricket (he has the money) says those prices are usually eye-watering. Around €100 per game in the last Rugby WC.
Now the Rugby Lge.team is a whole different ball game.....

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Originally Posted by ArdeeBhoy

.
Or maybe a Rugby WC game, but my pal who's a veteran of the soccer, rugby and cricket (he has the money) says those prices are usually eye-watering. Around €100 per game in the last Rugby WC.

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depended on the game. my ticket to the georgia match was about €30 but my ticket to the france match in paris was over €200 (last min decision to go and i paid for it!) although there were other categories available for about €50

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Originally Posted by gspain

registered players eg playing for a club whether it be St. Kevins Boys, Ballyboden St Endas or Blackrock.

it doesn't cover things like astro parks, work leagues etc

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Please read the definition for "participation" used by the esri survey, then come back.

Here, I'll save you the bother as you are not experienced in serious research and might get lost :rolleyes:
ESRI 2008

Introduction
1.3 Relationship to Previous Research

Thus, in addition to traditional competitive games, doing non-competitive exercise activities, such as going to the gym, attending fitness classes or swimming, is counted as ‘playing sport’. Moreover, playing sport casually among friends is given the same status as playing organised sport in a club setting.


Please lads, do proper research and accurately quote from same research.
Please don't make up sh*t as fits prejudices.

From the 4 year overview of 4 annual reports 2004 -2008
ESRI Ballpark figures

Spectator participation is defined as 'attended a fixture in the last 12 months'
GAA 57% Soccer 16% Rugby 8%

Club membership as defined by subscription
GAA 26%
Soccer 13%
Rugby not figured

Geysir,

I thought the Ballpark Figures report contradicted some of the Irish Sports Monitor

http://www.esri.ie/UserFiles/publica...BKMNEXT155.pdf

Of interest to me were Figures 5.2 (playing %), 5.3 (playing % male), 6.1 (volunteers) and 6.3 (attendance). When gaelic football and hurling are separate, soccer looks better. But the GAA attendance numbers mentioned in Ballpark Figures (and quoted above) absolutely hammer soccer, whereas in the ISM soccer is ahead of hurling but behind gaelic football. Maybe the definitions are different in each report.

I'd be interested to see 2008 - 2011 im sure Rugby would have increased, attendances anyway.....

As I said before, even if geysirs stats back that up, GAA is by far the biggest sport in Ireland whether that be attendance or whatever you want, you don't have to be a genius to open yer eyes and see.

That said from a clubs point of view. I reckon in Roscommon there is more soccer clubs than Gaelic clubs, even if they do include some galway based clubs. Simply because tiny villages & townlands will pull a soccer club together easy enough, but a GAA club can spread across vilages & townlands(and also have junior teams also...).

Nonody is disputing that GAA attracts far bigger attendances. That is obvious.

This survey clearly shows that football is a much bigger participation sport. I think it is obvious to even the most diehard Airtricity League fan that the vast majority of football fans in this country support a British team.

Club membership is not an accurate guide of participation eother as most football clubs would only register playing members. Both rugby and the GAA have a tradition of allocating tickets to members and of course having "bar" members. This explains the discrepancy between playing numbers and memberships.

Non playing membership its called.

And that definitely does not come under registered players. Any club I know has registered players that are sent to the county board, but non playing membership is not.

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Originally Posted by paul_oshea

Non playing membership its called.

And that definitely does not come under registered players. Any club I know has registered players that are sent to the county board, but non playing membership is not.

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None of which detracts from gspain's point that the majority of Irish football people aren't registered. 90% of astro pitches in Dublin are booked solid 7pm-10pm every evening and most of these players aren't registered with a club. There's simply no argument that in terms of participation football has BY FAR the highest numbers. Likewise audience figures on TV show that football is the number one TV sport.

Go into 10 pubs in suburban Dublin on an all Ireland final day and I guarentee you 8 of them will be showing the English premiership on sky and not the highlight of the GAA calander. I'd say 6 or 7 of them would show the EPL instead of an Irish rugby international. The best supported sports teams in Ireland aren't Munster or Cork GAA or Dublin GAA but rather Manchester United, Liverpool and maybe even Celtic

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Originally Posted by Dodge

None of which detracts from gspain's point that the majority of Irish football people aren't registered. 90% of astro pitches in Dublin are booked solid 7pm-10pm every evening and most of these players aren't registered with a club. There's simply no argument that in terms of participation football has BY FAR the highest numbers. Likewise audience figures on TV show that football is the number one TV sport.

Go into 10 pubs in suburban Dublin on an all Ireland final day and I guarentee you 8 of them will be showing the English premiership on sky and not the highlight of the GAA calander. I'd say 6 or 7 of them would show the EPL instead of an Irish rugby international. The best supported sports teams in Ireland aren't Munster or Cork GAA or Dublin GAA but rather Manchester United, Liverpool and maybe even Celtic

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Carlsberg dont do stupid lazy and completely rubbish points.............but if they did!!

I lived in Ranelagh for 3 years. Hardly a GAA/Rugby stronghold. And if you think for one second that ANY and i mean ANY pub from Ranelagh to Walkinstown to Tallaght and Back to Artane, Donaghmede or Malahide would NOT have the All Ireland Football/Hurling Final on their tele, or would NOT show an Ireland International Rugby match, in favour of an EPL game.........your either delusional, or simply very very wrong. And its ridiculous to think so!! Seriously Dodge, we are well aware your not a Dubs fan or a Rugger Bugger but your bias towards soccer should not mean you become irrational.
And Gary, seriously, do you really think soccer is the top sport in Limerick......really.....i mean come on man!!!Drive around the suburbs any evening, any suburb, from Castletroy to Raheen to Dooradoyle to westbury to moyross to roxboro etc etc etc.......you will see FAR more young lads throwing around a gilbert on a patch of green than kicking a Mitre and you know that Gary!

THe Players lounge.

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Originally Posted by paul_oshea

THe Players lounge.

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The Players Lounge! In Fairview! The one with all the navy and blue bunting out the front, the signed Dubs jersey on the wall and the first stop towards Croker for thousands of Northside Dubs on match days before Gaffneys..........?? That Players Lounge!! Hardly :)

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I lived in Ranelagh for 3 years. Hardly a GAA/Rugby stronghold. And if you think for one second that ANY and i mean ANY pub from Ranelagh to Walkinstown to Tallaght and Back to Artane, Donaghmede or Malahide would NOT have the All Ireland Football/Hurling Final on their tele, or would NOT show an Ireland International Rugby match, in favour of an EPL game......... your either delusional, or simply very very wrong.

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I’m speaking from experience. Can’t speak for all areas obviously, but I’m happy to stand by the claim. In particular I’d say in tallaght that the ONLY place to show the All Ireland hurling final in Tallaght would be Thomas Davis’ clubhouse. I know about 6/7 regular GAA attendees. Even these wouldn’t suggest Hurling has a national appeal 9as can be witnessed by the 25,000 who attend the Leinster hurling final last year)

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Seriously Dodge, we are well aware your not a Dubs fan or a Rugger Bugger but your bias towards soccer should not mean you become irrational.

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I am a rugby fan, and indeed a fan of most sports. I regularly attend Leinster games, and have done since they were playing in front of 1,500 in crappy donnybrook

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Originally Posted by an_ceannaire

Carlsberg dont do stupid lazy and completely rubbish points.............but if they did!!

I lived in Ranelagh for 3 years. Hardly a GAA/Rugby stronghold. And if you think for one second that ANY and i mean ANY pub from Ranelagh to Walkinstown to Tallaght and Back to Artane, Donaghmede or Malahide would NOT have the All Ireland Football/Hurling Final on their tele, or would NOT show an Ireland International Rugby match, in favour of an EPL game.........your either delusional, or simply very very wrong. And its ridiculous to think so!! Seriously Dodge, we are well aware your not a Dubs fan or a Rugger Bugger but your bias towards soccer should not mean you become irrational.
And Gary, seriously, do you really think soccer is the top sport in Limerick......really.....i mean come on man!!!Drive around the suburbs any evening, any suburb, from Castletroy to Raheen to Dooradoyle to westbury to moyross to roxboro etc etc etc.......you will see FAR more young lads throwing around a gilbert on a patch of green than kicking a Mitre and you know that Gary!

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I never claimed football was the most popular sport in Limerick. Although you'd be surprised how popular it is in the city and you'd be surprised how many people you'd see kicking a football rather than throwing a rugby ball. Likewise I'd imagine that in Kilkenny far more people would be pucking a sliothar.

I recall a letter i nthe paper a few years ago about a guy walking the South circular road in Dublin entering a few pubs trying to watch the All Ireland and not being able to but maybe he should have gone to Ranelagh.

I don't think the survey distinguished between playing and non playing memberships.

My only anecdote of Limerick is that my mate who lives minutes away from Thomond says that there is far more organised schoolboy soccer participation than rugby. I've no idea whether he's right or wrong, but he is certainly not biased, being an ex-player and huge fan of both sports, and his family being founders of Wexford Wanderers RFC.

an_ceannaire, is there still no acknowledgment that you were wildly wrong about the Paris versus Grand Slam viewing figures on RTE? Or do you just wait until your discredited "facts" become forgotten before reverting with more?

I have to say what Dodge says about the A-I finals on TV surprised me - although I used to live across the road from the Merrion Inn and watched EPL & SPL football there regularly, always to a full house. They never ever had the GAA on in the 1990s. But whether that's accurate or not is not the big issue here. The rest of Dodge's post was accurate and echoed what I have been saying: participation numbers of soccer are huge and the big English football teams are more popular than the big rugby franchises.

In fact I'd love to know how many Irish people a week travel to the UK to watch English or Scottish football, even now. Hundreds? Thousands? How many did up until 2007?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dodge

I regularly attend Leinster games, and have done since they were playing in front of 1,500 in crappy donnybrook

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Blow-in! I used to go when there'd only be a few hundred, when Ulster won it about 40 years in a row and it'd be effing freezing.

Firstly, Dodge, apologies for the language used in my post ie Delusional etc etc.....i gets carried away at times! So sorry about that mate.

Stutts, Your right. I was mistaken re the Viewership Figures for the GS game V the France game. Hands up on that I will admit when I am wrong. No hassles.

But might I suggest that one possible reason for the figures is this.
The France game was on a Wednesday, a school night. The vast vast majority of fans watched it at home so nearly every box in the country had it on.
The Rugby was on a Saturday. Nearly everyone watched it in the pub. So half the tv's in the country were switched off cos everyone was down the pub!

Fair Point?

Gary, re lads in town playing soccer or rugby on estate green's etc etc.....honestly Gary and I am not saying this on a wind up, and i admit to often being a wum on here in the past, apologies for that lads, but genuinely Gary, you really do see more young lads with a Gilbert than a Mitre.........would you accept that?