it will be interesting to see if any of the doomsday scenario's the UCD boys are peddling were actually part of the more detailed plan 18 of 22 accepted
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it will be interesting to see if any of the doomsday scenario's the UCD boys are peddling were actually part of the more detailed plan 18 of 22 accepted
Errr - because the proposed changes won't happen until the following season ? This season is business as usual.Quote:
Originally Posted by sniffa
Because there's still trophies to be played for and won ?
Because if you want your team to have the best chance possible of surviving any shake-up in Irish football, then they'll need as much money and support as possible right now ?
All fairly solid reasons in my opinion....
Thank you,Quote:
Originally Posted by sniffa
Yeah the crowds in the 1st division are rubbish, we get crowds of around 200, When I was down in Limerick id say there was less than 200, When I went to Richmond when we played Dublin City there was about 250 same and when I was down in Kilkenny there was only about 150 there.Quote:
Am I the only one who sees plummeting attendences outside the top half of the Premier? Particularly the First Division.
What do you mean peddling? We can only go on the info we're given. What are we supposed to do if the only info given reveals impending doom?Quote:
Originally Posted by Roverstillidie
Well PS, if you think about it ... whats the benefit in playing in a shíte league, its doesn't matter where you are ranked .... If the FAI fúck this up, we will all suffer. One of the few things we had going for us in August (circa time focus was swinging back over to Eng. Prem) this year was the league still have three teams in the running, that was brilliant for the league. If we end up with a league like SPL for example, who'll want to watch that ?? Dont know about the rest of the country but here in Cork we'll get no new supporters that way.Quote:
Originally Posted by Poor Student
I said earlier (different thread i think) that fact that the league may well be manufactured wont help things, remember teams might not be there on merit and might not last kissing time, not the same as being in the leauge on merit, alot of hard work will have been done, experience gained etc. .... if clubs dont have that, then they might go straight back down. The FAI might think the league is a puppet with strings, but if it does start to do what they want, where will it leave us ...... think of their track record, i mean .... thats pretty much all we have to go on here !!
Sound reasons if you support one of the top sides in the premier division and have Europe on the horizon. Not very good reasoning if you support a club like Kildare County or a similar small club. The League and FAI Cups are a nice romantic dream but really is just that, a dream. The only competition that we could have an chance of winning, the league, is now a non starter. Even if we ran away with it we will be denied promotion.Quote:
Originally Posted by dcfcsteve
What do you make of all this Steve?Quote:
Originally Posted by dcfcsteve
You were very outspoken against franchise football a few weeks ago when we were discussing Dublin City.
i don't get why people(or just the ucd fans) think attendances will plummet :confused: the same trophies are still there to be played for, same european places too. 18 out of 22 suggests there's somethin good here, obviously the 4 dissidents are the ones who will get f*cked over but, unfortunately, tough sh*t lads(i've gotten very bitter after going to places like mons, kildare&dublin city for the last 6 years). somethin had to be done with our league cos it can't really get any worse. i'd like to hear the full details of the proposals b4 passing any definitive judgement but i don't think the fai is "out to screw everyone". if they were to be truly negligent they would have just left the league to rot.
Bring on 2007.......oh ya 2006 as well
but thats not quite true. the FAI are being deliberatly vague. you are filling in blanks with worst case scenarios.Quote:
Originally Posted by Poor Student
again, have any of the doomsday scenarios peddled by the UCD boys actually arisen in the documents 18 of the 22 clubs voted for.
and can we stop guessing who the 4 naysayers are? totally unhelpful.
Spoke to somebody who was in Limerick. Apparently there is still alot yet to come out (ok, we knew that:rolleyes: ) but that it won't be as straighforward as "We don't like UCD, Bray and Dublin so please eff off"
Can't elaborate any more, but will know more during the week.
Delaney may have bitten off more than he can chew on this one...we can only hope.
I am not a UCD fan and have just read the main document and its attachment.Quote:
Originally Posted by Roverstillidie
Am even more confused and concerned.
Spoke with anumber of club reps and they are unsure of what they were asked to vote on, what they voted on and what it means for the season ahead, yet they voted for it. One suggested to me that he went in favour from a business perspective and not from a football one. He also said the football managment side of his club were against the proposals but that their objections were not relevant.
Four clubs abstained as they coudn't vote to accept something that may or may not be on the table come a "special general" meeting.
at least you have seen the document, so you are somewhat qulified to speak.
all previous posts on this are heresay and agenda driven.
At the moment as a Ramblers fan I wouldn't be as worried as you say, I know the board of the club have brought in a lot of new faces to attempt to get out of the first, (as have other clubs). They are also redeveloping the ground and should make substantial progress within the next 10 months.Quote:
Originally Posted by dcfcsteve
As regards potential, that is undoubtedly there, the club is on the doorstep of a catchment area of around 250,000 and have got pretty good crowds in the past when they did well.
I know almost all other clubs can claim the same, I would like to see the detail (if there is any) on these new proposals before I cast my final judgement.
Regarding a new top flight, there would have to be a realistic chance of promotion for the clubs in the new first division, also these clubs should be given every assistance in the interim to get their facilities in order.
If thats true (and it more than likely is coming from soccerc), then why did clubs vote for something they dont know the details of? :confused:Quote:
Originally Posted by soccerc
Btw I'm not for or against the proposals as I dont know the details of whats being proposed.
according the the UCD and CHF fans, its something to do with plague, pestilence and horsemen of the apocolypse. or someting like that.Quote:
Originally Posted by Cosmo
I agree that all the doomsday posts without knowing exactly what's going on are a bit daft, though Soccercs post is worrying.
were playing for the league and to get into Europe lads
FORZA SHELS
One thing I would say on this is that if this process is based more on quantifiables rather than subjective issues there probably should be some very high profile casualties from this. However, I would guess that whatever issues will keep the big clubs out will be fudged and only those issues that will allow the chosen clubs to be in the premier will be strictly enforced.
According to Gerry McDermott during the week (and Jim Roddy didn't deny it) there was a strong threat of a breakaway if this wasn't passed, so maybe that explains it. Or maybe it really was just an agreement in principal. One is for certain, the FAI's first step towards a brave new world was poorly handled and a PR disaster. Hardly confidence inspiring.
This is fcuking ridiculous. How can you have two leagues with no promotion/relegation? Only the FAI could come up with such a thing:mad:.Quote:
Originally Posted by Risteard
Are the clubs who voted for and against gonna be named? Fair play to those who rejected it and those who voted for it, must know something that's not been said to the fans yet.
Think about it. If there's no relegation, are fans of a club in the bottom two or three of the premier going to be more or less interested in going to see their club, with presumably a poor team (being in the bottom two or three of the league and all), playing other poor teams? A relegation deciding game or a meaningless game between two poor sides?Quote:
Originally Posted by Red4Eva
Seen as you all like to look into newspaper articles and pull out whats bad, why have you failed to add in that the bottom two in the premier will be ranked 13th and 14th ?
They have never said there will be nothing to play for ??? :confused:
There is a league title in both divisions for a start. Setanta Cup spots and European placings. In the First it would do your club well to be in the top two spots I would imagine. If there is no point as you say and you finish rock bottom of the first do you think you will be regarded the same when it comes to selection as a team who won the first division?
The point is Higggins that nobody was told how much on the field acheivement counts. if someone is ranked 13th solely on reulsts but then results only count for 5% of the total, its worhless. I don't think it'll be anywhere near that but then nobody knows
They'd better not. And after reading this I say a big NO to an all-Ireland league as well. It's simply crazy that a league is being composed out of teams selected on off-field criteria. Honestly and sorry for all of you, but UEFA should cancel Ireland's European entries until the FAI ditches this ridiculous plan.Quote:
Originally Posted by dcfcsteve
I'm glad I see Irish League these days, maybe not the best competition but at least everything's decided on the pitch. Please keep the leagues seperate before the northern football gets messed up as well.
Sorry for these pessimistic statements (glad though that I am not the only one having problems with the idea) but I find it too insane for words what is happening.
Clubs can break away all they like but at the end of the day the FAI hold the franchaise for european places and europe is a big part of every clubs plans these days.
Lads, the SPL has promotion and relegation, yet, they can refuse a team entry if that team does not meet certain requirements. To the best of my knowledge this happens between the conference and football league in England. So why can't we do it here?
I think it is a good thing as you are forcing teams to invest in infrastructure rather than playing staff. And if a team fails on infrastructure requirements then they don't get in.
People are saying on this website that there will be NO promotion/relegation in 2007. There will be promotion and relegation in 2007 if the top 2 teams in the first division meet the requirements.
Stop whinging and read this....
Quote:
Originally Posted by Wikipedia - Falkirk FC
It doesn't work, don't you see? Falkirk were denied promotion because they couldn't have a 10,000 all seater ready yet ICT were promoted despite missing the same deadline and the criteria was reduced. The SPL had to shift the goalposts as the system wasn't working. This has been unfair on Falkirk who were denied promotion in 99/00 and 02/03 yet ICT were able to get away with it in 03/04. It was also unfair on Partick Thistle who ordinarily would have been saved from relegation like Aberdeen in 99/00 and Motherwell in 02/03.
Now, you have to ask yourself this also, what is going on next season? Are we cutting the league down to 10 teams or retaining 12? In the event that we cut it to 10 are the top 10 teams in the Premier Division going to comprise this new league? For example if UCD are 9th and Dub City are 10th and say Pat's and Waterford are 11th and 12th will the latter two be relegated and the former two be part of this new league? In the event that we stay with 12 teams will the top two in the 1st Division replace Waterford and Pat's in this example? Or are we just going to see the new league made up of teams chosen arbitrarily on non-sporting off-field non-quantifiable criteria like fanbase and potential marketability? If so then the situation is not comparable at all to the SPL. When the SPL was launched all clubs who didn't meet the criteria for promotion hopefuls were allowed to stay and were given quite some time to get their facilities up to date after the formation of the new league. Also there was no dodgy criteria like fanbase or marketability and certainly no hint of balancing things geographically. By what is suggested in the media and the Genesis report (upon which this is based) it seems to be the latter approach which will be taken, that of wiping the slate clean and asking all clubs to apply for their place in the new league.
Another reason the SPL isn't a great exampl of the way forward for a viable league is that clubs there regularly still get into massive financial difficulty.
I think clubs must have proper facilites for the crowds they have a realistic chance of getting, they should be closely monitored to make sure they are not overspending or cooking the books, they should have a youth program and other than that football should decide who plays in what division.
Poor Student do you really think Belfield is deserving of a place for a Premier Division club in this new look league?
Its a sad day if Belfield meets the new criteria.. I seen in another thread you say your moving to a new ground but lets deal with today and what we have in place. If UCD were to win the premier and be thrown into the First division on grounds issues it would be fair enough in my opinion.
I think when 10 clubs are selected that we go from there. Any promoted team has to meet x,y and z before they can get into the Premier, even if the current 10 in the Premier didnt match x,y and z to start off with.
I think its great your fighting the good fight for your club but do you think you should be in this new premier? Its a 10 team league for a start so Id be happy if for 1 year only they apply the geography rule and where to say the top 2/3/4 dublin clubs make it in.
Higgins, if we finish from 1-10 then I firmly believe we deserve our place. We're a club who has no difficulty playing its players, has top quality facilities (training and physio not ground), has a good structure in place and does a good job at developing players including having 2 players currently in the U-21 squad. Belfield is not brilliant but it has about 800 covered seats, a shop, a gantry, floodlights and a dressing room. We have real plans to sort out our ground and they will be realised. There's currently a state of the art dressing room and physio facilities down where we're going to move to. Plus the ground is already in place, it's just a bit shabby. As I already pointed out, when the SPL decided to impose certain criteria they let the clubs already in place have a good deal of time to get theirs up to that standard after it started and did not boot them out. Also after several years of no promotion and relegation the fans and media got so annoyed that they had to reduce the standards. It might sound like a positive idea in theory but it hasn't worked so well in Scotland.
On the geography issue, what's the point? The Premier has 6 (if we count Bray) Dublin clubs because they are among the 12 best teams in the country. That is how it is. If you go meddling around on geography then you'll only put teams of better quality below teams of worse quality. Also if you haven't fecked the demoted Dublin clubs too badly it'll just fix itself out again rendering the exercise useless. On the other hand if you have killed clubs by doing this then that is disgusting.
That depends very much on which clubs do get a place. If belfield's 800 seats don't meet the cut then realistically there's barely 10 clubs which do. Will Limerick, Harps or either of the Louth clubs make the cut? They've worse stadia but better geography.Quote:
Originally Posted by higgins
If Bray don't make the cut it raises the bar even higher.
The problem is that all this is actually covered by current UEFA Licencing laws. The FAI have had these powers for the past few years (and haven't seen fit to use them). Why do they now need a big hullaballo to give themselves the same powers? Answer - there has to be something extra to this.Quote:
Originally Posted by sullanefc
Ireland on Sunday named the four clubs as UCD, Dublin City, Monaghan and Kilkenny.
As I said elsewhere, you can't build a great new ground like that, especially when the FAI are in the process of losing your grants. Definite plans should be - and are - enough for the moment.Quote:
Originally Posted by higgins
No surprise thereQuote:
Originally Posted by pineapple stu
Interesting quote from eL spokesman Andy Needham in the Ireland on Sunday -
"This is seen as the first full step towards a full merger between the leaguea nd the FAI as recommended in the Genesis Report on the workings of the league, with clubs being placed in divisions according to their league placin, facilities and marketability."
Sounds fairly clear-cut...
How is marketability going to be assessed? Will the lads in the FAI do it themselves or will they get in someone independent to do it? If so will it be a bunch of unprofessional chancers like Genesis?
I think all you UCD fans can stop now as you wont get to the marketability part :pQuote:
with clubs being placed in divisions according to their league placing, facilities and marketability."
League Placing also puts to bed all the "nothing to play for" rubbish too!
I would like to see their marketability critera.
Higgins call me cynical but I think the league placing thing is a way to make it sound like they are being fair but it may not really be taken into account or just be a tie breaker or make up only a minimal part of this. Not a lot of real information forthcoming.
Hey, we've got the whole of South Dublin to market! Can't get much bigger than that!Quote:
Originally Posted by higgins
Don't think there are any yet. Criteria will be announced in June or July, I think.Quote:
Originally Posted by higgins
Text of the article in full, as it's apparently about the only decent article in the Sunday papers (how accurate it is is another story) -
Quote:
FAI A STEP CLOSER TO TAKING CONTROL OF EIRCOM LEAGUE
The FAI moved a step closer to assuming complete control of the eircom League after 18 of the 22 clubs coted to support the plan that would see the league come under the auspices of the association by the end of the 2006 season, which begins on 10 March.
Acceptance of the plan means there will be no automatic promotion or relegation between the Premier and First Divisions at the end of the forthcoming season.
However, the higher status of the bottom two Premier Division clubs will not be guaranteed.
Clubs that finish first and second will be ranked 11th and 12th in the proposed new structure, while the bottom two clubs in the Premier Division will be ranked 13th and 14th,
However, the two higher ranked clubs will still need to satisfy strict criteria relating to finances and facilities set out by the FAI to justify attaining top flight status. The proposed merger is subject fo full ratification at an EGM of the eircom League this June.
"This is seen as the first full step towards a full merger between the leaguea nd the FAI as recommended in the Genesis Report on the workings of the league, with clubs being placed in divisions according to their league placin, facilities and marketability.", said eircom League spokesperson Andy Needham.
While 18 clubs voted in favour of the change, four abstained - UCD, Dublin City, Monaghan United and Kilkenny City.
(Other stuff about teams being reelected and attendance figures (quoted elsewhere) omitted)
There is speculation that the FAI want to encuorage a greater geographical spread within the top flight, with suggestions that room should be found for Athlone, Galway United and Limerick City (sic), all presently in the second tier.
No there isnt so maybe it might be better to wait until there is some news before thinking the worst?Quote:
Not a lot of real information forthcoming.
If or When they say who is no longer going to be in the Premier they are going to have to give reasons. In fact they are going to draw up the criteria well before then so you can view it and work on areas you can.
Finishing as high up the Premier table as you can would be the best thing you could do id imagine!
So that means there's still time? Which comes first, the ratification or the clearly defined criteria?Quote:
Originally Posted by pineapple stu
That's jus the merger - the criteria and new league are separate issues, I think.