Qqqq1q1
Printable View
Qqqq1q1
A commentary on the Greenlandic pyramid?
A fair point. Makes you think.Quote:
Originally Posted by El-Pietro
Uber-nerd that I am, your witty comment caused me to google Icelandic* football.Quote:
Originally Posted by culloty82
Seems that they have a 4 tier pyramid, each tier consisting of 12 teams, with full P&R between them.
Beneath that there is also a 5th tier, currently consisting of four divisions, one of 6 teams but the others of 8 teams each. And although those 30 clubs must all be amateur and regionalised etc, nonetheless they still have two promotion places to the 4th tier, determined by play-offs:
http://www.league321.com/iceland-foo...ue-tables.html
* - Not even I am nerdy enough to investigate Greenlandic footy :D
Greenlandic football is pretty interesting, Steve Menary's Outcasts had a chapter on it. There's about 14 sides, they do some very basic qualification rounds on a regional basis, then the best five do a round robin over the course of a week or so in a centralised location, because of how remote the settlements are and how expensive travel is. I vaguely recall that the tournament had a surprisingly big sponsor in Coca Cola or some other big name fizzy brand because Greenland was one of the few places in the world where they had no penetration. You'd think the best team would get to travel to the Danish Cup, or maybe that's a matter of national sovereignty or something.
https://westernpeople.ie/2022/08/18/...of-facilities/
I wonder if this is an indicator of some kind of move for Westport.... If Westport are not trying to move to LOI, but another Mayo team is, this looks like a misuse of public money.
Sounds like it's community facilities primarily (though I'm not sure what an 'international-sized 4G astro pitch' is). If it was to create a stand etc then I'd be inclined to think it was with an eye on senior football.Quote:
Originally Posted by Kiki Balboa
Also - I wonder if those contributing to the Immigrant Investor Fund get a say in where and how it's spent ?
Crikey that's a lot of moolah for facilities.
Well that's a fund I wouldnt have thought of for clubs to apply to! It helps flag up if clubs are not trying to get a piece of whats on offer. Politicians tend to know whats on the go and claim credit for an allocation - I will be p!ssed off if Louth GAA, clubs or county get a wedge.
I find this a bit mad to be honest, handing out that kind of money to one junior club. They are getting a new gym and a new clubhouse, and dont have to share it with any other sport. Such a complete inefficient use of funds. As far as I can tell, Mayo LOI Underage is based out of Castlebar, and won't be involved in this (could be wrong).
It really stinks to high heavens when you read into it. It comes from the Department of Justice, and for a way for people to 'buy' residency in Ireland.
https://www.irishimmigration.ie/comi...st-in-ireland/
"2.8 million and we're not sending any of it back. Hopefully we'll have our facilities in the next three years and I might be here myself to open it" - so declares Deputy Michael Ring.
Very slimey statement to top it off. It would be great if Westport Utd used it to develop into a top club in the west, but this is just a senior Fine Gael politician throwing money around to buy votes.
If there's to be a representative Mayo side in the LOI in the coming years, investing into facilities there to cater to more than one area is a smart move. If you had senior team playing out of Milebush Park in Castlebar and underage sides in Westport, with the odd senior friendly there too, it would be a great move for them, and a great way to include more areas of the county in their side.
Otherwise, it's fantastic to see more grassroots sides improve on their facilities. For too long we'd have seen this sort of money going towards GAA clubs, so it's nice to see grassroots football getting a slice of the cake too.
The Healy-Rae's better deliver for Kerry FC! Michael Ring has set the standard.Quote:
Originally Posted by Kiki Balboa
A friend of mine who worked for the IFA and got a trip out there for some reason and he told me Icelandic football had a major overhaul and restructure about 15 years ago and now all coaches get paid even at amateur level and down to kids. I believe the pay is structured. Icelandic FA put huge resources into grass roots football as well as coaching they promote diet and wellbeing as well as other social skills. About 5 years after the restructure their National team got to the semi final of the Euros. In saying that we don't hear much about them nowQuote:
Originally Posted by EalingGreen
The guardian did a good article and covered it back in 2016.Quote:
Originally Posted by Shinkicker
https://www.theguardian.com/football...lars-lagerback
Basically, Iceland poured tonnes of money into football, but in typical Nordic style they did it in a very sensible way through coaches and facilities. Every school has a perfect astro built beside it, and every town and village in the country had an I door astro hall and loads of full time coaches.
They briefly became the poster boys of Europe for how to develop football success. Even England looked at their model - which was fairly laughable given that the 2 countries could not be more different when it comes to the sport. There's always something you can learn from somewhere else, but England shouldn't need to be picking up tips from a frozen country with a population smaller than Nottingham.Quote:
Originally Posted by Philosophizer
A small country like Iceland will be able to achieve only fleeting moments of success, which is exactly what has transpired. As stated, ni-one talks about them any more now that their brief window of success has passed. The attention deficit approach of orgs like the English FA constantly chasing around after 'the next big thing' is fairly comical really.
Yet if they weren't receptive to new ideas, even from somewhere like Little Iceland, then they'd get accused of being Little Englanders.Quote:
Originally Posted by EatYerGreens
When Iceland went on their great adventure 10 or 15 years ago, they took two, even three steps forward.Quote:
Originally Posted by EatYerGreens
Meaning that if they've since fallen back a step or two, they're still ahead of where they had been.
In English club terms, its a bit like a National League side getting promoted to the Championship for a couple of seasons, before dropping down to League One or League Two.
Apart from which, you're only looking at half the picture of Iceland's footballing transformation - their womens' team qualified for the Euro Finals this summer, where they performed creditably to achieve 3 draws and finish ahead of Italy in their group.
Iceland is a bit of a strange one were league spectator facilities have been developed beyond support base levels. Behind that though are excellent multisport facilities and plenty of capacity for youth development irrespective of weather. Publicly financed also and it did show some value when the fortunes of the international side had a big upturn though it was also having a number of decent players just happening to be coming through at the same stage of development. Most of their top players were abroad but the squad also had home based players.
Just seen in Dan McDonnell's newsletter that Monaghan United have withdrawn from the Ulster Senior League, which doesn't suggest they would be likely third-tier candidates?
It's more likely they're walking from the shambles that is the Ulster Senior League to prepare for 2024.Quote:
Originally Posted by culloty82
Should Monaghan be part of the youth leagues if they are preparing for a return? We should be getting to a stage where any potential newcomer are backing up their application with youth teams integrated into the underage league structure.Quote:
Originally Posted by nigel-harps1954
Is the USL on the way out Nigel? Seen Jazza McLaughlin’s article the last day and he doesn’t sound confident….Quote:
Originally Posted by nigel-harps1954
Can't really see the Donegal League and Inishowen Leagues working together to create a top tier Intermediate Division between them as he suggests doing. Otherwise nobody wants to enter the USL while the existing clubs in there can afford to pay their players.Quote:
Originally Posted by joey B
Would imagine many of their players would be currently involved with the Cavan-Monaghan squad, so going it alone wouldn't be much of a wrench or a culture shock.Quote:
Originally Posted by legendz
3 different entities in 1 county pulling in different directions,a good metaphor for football this country….Quote:
Originally Posted by nigel-harps1954
The Premier Division had 12 teams for many years, with 10 in the First Division. There was a switch for a few years with 10 in the Premier and 12 in the First.
Cork, Galway and Waterford would make a case for the Premier expanding to 12, if new clubs can make the step up to the First Division.
5 step expansion route for the league:
1) PD 10, FD 10
2) PD 10, FD 11
3) PD 10, FD 12
4) PD 12, FD 11
5) PD 12, FD 12
I'm personally in favour of a 12 team PD. But there aren't 3 clubs looking to join the FD currently - just one. And there doesn't seem to be much of a queue forming behind Kerry either.Quote:
Originally Posted by legendz
Realistically we're stuck withb 10 / 10 until the Third Division arises (assuming it does) and acts as a conduit for future potential expansion of the top tier(s).
The problem with a 12 team division is you end up with 33 games instead of 36........ 15 or 16 home matches instead of 18 and 3 matches against your closest rivals (which tends to generate the biggest crowds) instead of the current 4.
Admittedly you could re arrange the league with a top half bottom half split etc etc to ensure some of the above but i favour the 10 myself.
Particularly as it means there are very few meaningless matches with 1 to 4 for the European places it normally means at least 6 teams dreaming of qualifying and 2 or 3 trying to avoid relegation/relegation play offs
Maybe when the third division comes in and there is a big overall shake up things might change.
An interesting aspect of the current 10/9 split is that the concentration of teams, combined with the longer season, has resulted in multiple Dublin derbies in the Premier, along with many Munster rivalries in the First, even if Cork's overdue return will affect that somewhat (let no Kerry chickens be counted yet!).
Sure these boyos would pull a few strokes!Quote:
Originally Posted by culloty82
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/i...EcPln3zMFtrI&s
Agreed. PD of 12 teams and FD of 12 teams is a few years away from being an option. Kildare, Mayo, Carlow Kilkenny and Cavan Monaghan, Monaghan United really as advised by the Harps correspondent, can follow Kerry FC's progress.Quote:
Originally Posted by EatYerGreens
If there's a reluctance by LoI clubs to field teams in a third tier, expansion of the LoI from 20 to 24 should be an option, if viable.
33 is not ideal but sometimes we have to cut out cloth with what's available.Quote:
Originally Posted by sbgawa
Usually with 33 games, they reverse the fixtures in the following year so that it balances out over a 2 year cycle.
A variant is that the first series of 11 matches is determined by the league placings of the previous year. The top 6 can start the season with 6/11 home games. The remaining 6 teams with 5/11 home games. Series 2 & 3 then can the regular home and away format over 22 games.
Going from 36 to 33 games doesn't affect weekend fixtures. It reduces the midweek games.
I like the current system play each other 4 times. If they do eventually get up to 12 teams and play each other 3 times and it would be a good time to bring back the league Cup. I dont like the idea of splitting leagues, teams are in that league to play teams of all abilities and take their chance.Quote:
Originally Posted by sbgawa
The European competitions are going to use a so-called Swiss model in the next 3 year cycle of never ending format changes. In the CL and EL, there will a 36 team group. All teams will play 8 games, 2 teams from 4 ranking levels.Quote:
Originally Posted by Shinkicker
The ECL will be a 36 team group with 6 matches each, 1 team from 6 ranking levels.
If a 10 team First Division wanted to maintain 32 games, the first series of games games could use the Swiss model format for the first 5 games of the season, playing 1 team from 5 ranking levels. Followed by 3 series of 9 games each, it would complete a 32 match season.
This is not a format that will be adopted any time soon, if ever. Just an example of a different approach to the split model. No divisive split at the end. Start the season playing an equal number of teams from each ranking level. It's about as fair as you'll get when 27 games for 10 teams is too short and 36 games for 10 teams might be too much.
This grant for the new facilities in Westport is also good news for Sligo Rovers, who announced an official partnership with Westport a few months ago - https://www.westportunited.com/articles/65842Quote:
Originally Posted by Kiki Balboa
Cork, Waterford and Galway should have the resources to become established in the Premier Division. That will have Drogheda and Shelbourne looking over their shoulders. Expanding the LoI from 19 to 24, if possible, in two divisions of 12 might suit many clubs instead of a third tier.
Would love to see a team from that part of the country again. I imagine it would be based in Buckley Park. Miss going to matches that part of the country. I havent being up there since 2005 when Kilkenny City knocked us out of the FAI cup.Quote:
Originally Posted by culloty82
CK United would be a terrible name for an LOI club - so from that point alone I would be surprised if it was a move down that route.
They also state that their ambition is to have sustainable first team football - which being in the LOI First Division would most probably be the antithesis of :D
The jokes write themselves there.
Yeah CK United FC is a poor name for a club, should’ve gone with Football Union of Carlow and Kilkenny which could obviously be abbreviated too if they feel it’s too long
'Clubs Of Carlow Kilkenny' is the winning name. Who wouldn't want to call themselves a C.O.C.K. fan ?Quote:
Originally Posted by 2 Year Contract