Where I'm from football is rarely used for anything - it's Gaelic or soccer.
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Where I'm from football is rarely used for anything - it's Gaelic or soccer.
There's a huge swathe of the south midlands that has no interest in or tradition of LOI.
From North Tipperary, through Offaly, Laois, Kildare, Carlow to Kilkenny.
Yes, there were LOI teams in Kilkenny city and Newbridge but the suppport levels never reached any significant level.
The FAI should be looking at this vast area with a view to development of the game.
On the money Donie.
In general discussions about Association Football I call it soccer simply because I would be a huge Gaelic Football fan too.
Never get why some people get a bee in their bonnet to be honest.
'Soccer' is a slang term (like 'rugger') - from the word 'association'. Football is the proper term. 'Soccer' when used in England, is a somewhat old fashioned and rather quaint term.
Gaelic football is the proper term for... Gaelic football. (Although not a lot of 'football' involved: always seems to me to be fifteen goalkeepers against fifteen goalkeepers: horrible, horrible game.).
I've found you can get the odd rise out of some people who tell you they play football by asking 'Gaelic or proper'? Then tell them you follow the garrison game - spit it out like a verbal hand grenade (like Randal in Clerks II - 'it's cool. I'm taking it back.':cool:)
I guess the main issue with "soccer" is the similarity to the horrible Americanisation "saccer"
The term "soccer" was invented by the English (and not the Americans), of course, as an abbreviation of "association football", as Donie highlights.
Stutts made a good point in the World Cup thread (I think) a few weeks back. First, we mocked Americans for not getting the game. Now, we patronise them for "finally" getting it. Given the infrastructural shambles Irish football (domestic and international) finds itself in from top to bottom, it's argually we ourselves who don't get it!
FFS, not this again. It was called "soccer" as an equivalent abbreviation to the colloquialism "rugger", to differentiate the two codes in casual discourse at a time when "football" could have meant either. No-one would dream of saying "rugger" in any semi-formal context.
Sorry, wasn't necessarily responding to you in particular. Just adding my two cents generally.
Were you taking issue with something in particular I said or simply despairing at the general route the overall discussion has taken? Nevertheless, you make an insightful point; rugby would never have a serious league entitled something along the lines of 'Major League Rugger'.