Promoting Irish football

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Originally Posted by Colbert Report

Sorry if I come across as a wind-up artist. I'm being serious. The top leagues here in Canada are total rubbish, so I have no interest in watching them unless I know someone off of one of the top teams, which I usually do. Any LOI club would come out here and destroy all the top teams. Unfortunately, the same can be said for English vs. Irish football. Any Premiership team could come to Ireland and destroy all the teams in Ireland.

Why would I waste my time on such a terrible product when I can switch over to Setanta and watch Chelsea vs. Manchester United? Don't tell me I'm not a lover of the beautiful game - I watch at least four or five full length matches every week, along with playing and training at least three times a week myself.

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You kind of prove my point - you want to be entertained, enjoy the "product", have your can of carling and sit back and enjoy, passive support in the comfort of your own home. Thats fine, but please dont pretend you are a real fan of the game.
Most football is rubbish - look at most of the teams in the EPL - Bolton, Stoke, Blackburn, etc etc. We watch football because its football - nothing else

And by the way - the standard of football in the LOI is not as bad as many (barstoolers mostly) make out. Most of the games I have seen this year I have thoroughly enjoyed

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Originally Posted by bennocelt

You kind of prove my point - you want to be entertained, enjoy the "product", have your can of carling and sit back and enjoy, passive support in the comfort of your own home. Thats fine, but please dont pretend you are a real fan of the game.
Most football is rubbish - look at most of the teams in the EPL - Bolton, Stoke, Blackburn, etc etc. We watch football because its football - nothing else

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In all fairness, I think that the lack of quality ceases to be so important only after the blind and tribal nature of support has got into your blood, or under your skin, or whatever the best expression is.

To take a person with only a passing interest in football to a game, and reply to their criticisms regarding the quality of football and facilities by saying "It's got nothing to do with enjoying it" is not going to be a very persuasive argument.

For what it's worth (shag all probably), there was a one page feature on the upcoming FAI Cup final in Saturday night's programme, and a short little box in the corner on Bohs winning the league.

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Originally Posted by WoodquayBoy

For what it's worth (shag all probably), there was a one page feature on the upcoming FAI Cup final in Saturday night's programme, and a short little box in the corner on Bohs winning the league.

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Not good enough

What's the point in trying to promote the LOI to the barstoolers?

Better to promote it to 'real football fans' - encourage fans of english and scottish teams to come over here, in their off season, and get back to proper football. Course if this was successful we might have to deal with the barstoolers, cos if the english like it... :o (but that's probably a discussion for that other thread)

While we're at it we could sell a few storylines to hollyoaks or some such.

You know what i'd love,

If Liverpool, Celtic, Man United and Chelsea all went bust...

Just to see what the reaction would be like over here

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Originally Posted by Riddickcule

You know what i'd love,

If Liverpool, Celtic, Man United and Chelsea all went bust...

Just to see what the reaction would be like over here

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They'd just start supporting Man City, Tottenham, Arsenal etc...

It's not the clubs themselves but their success that attracts them.

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Originally Posted by galwayjames

They'd just start supporting Man City, Tottenham, Arsenal etc...

It's not the clubs themselves but their success that attracts them.

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Yeah, i think i've finally figured that out ofter all these years :rolleyes:

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Originally Posted by A N Mouse

What's the point in trying to promote the LOI to the barstoolers?

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Absolutey no point whatsoever, nor to the likes of Colbert Report either who doesn't and never will get it.

Irish soccer has improved enormously over the last number of years and hopefully will continue to do so and I think the best possible way to build up attendances in a sustainable way is to focus on the younger generations coming up - kids involved with youth soccer clubs and the like - get them in early and if the product is half decent they will stay.

Leave the barstoolers where they are, it's their loss.

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Originally Posted by osarusan

To take a person with only a passing interest in football to a game, and reply to their criticisms regarding the quality of football and facilities by saying "It's got nothing to do with enjoying it" is not going to be a very persuasive argument.

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Yeah but its not in my interest in converting people to the football - if they can't see the beauty of it then its their loss

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Originally Posted by HulaHoop

I'm sorry but you are wrong. Under the contract between the FAI and the GAA for the use of Croke Park, the FAI are precluded from promoting the game of association football within the confines of Croke Park. This was a stipulation the GAA insisted on during negotiations.

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"Precluding from promoting the game of association of football"
I would have thought that agreeing(and rightly so) to hold matches for 80k fans in modern stadium was hardly precluding the promotion of either football or rugby?

In fairness, guys with chips on shoulders will never be happy:
- they moaned before rules were changed that they weren't allowed play in croker
- they moaned about the pitch but italy and france both seemed to cope
- they bitched then that stadium wasn't suitable for great atmosphere. Italy/france matches have proven that it wasn't a stadium issue but a fan issue

- now that the LOI champions weren't paraded (unfortuantely most would pick glenn close out of line up before they'd spot glenn crowe), its the gaa fault.
Were they ever paraded in the old landsdowne? I don't recall it happneing at any match I was at.
It would certainly be worth doing I think.
Of more beneift would be if FAI had highlights package on big screens that showed best goals of month etc from LOI and decent crowds from the likes of Tallaght etc.

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Originally Posted by A N Mouse

What's the point in trying to promote the LOI to the barstoolers?

Better to promote it to 'real football fans' - encourage fans of english and scottish teams to come over here, in their off season, and get back to proper football. Course if this was successful we might have to deal with the barstoolers, cos if the english like it... :o (but that's probably a discussion for that other thread)

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Isn't that exactly the people the LOI should trying to promote the league to? Wouldn't the majority of the 'real football fans' in Ireland already be following the league.
But just looking through this particular thread the one thing that astounds me is the absolute paranoia of the GAA! The trouble that the LOI has found itself in over the last few years really should convince the gah that they're not in direct competition with the league. Its totally insane that they allow the Irish team, comprising almost entirely of EPL players (a league thats a real threat to young kids playing GAA) to play in Croker but refuse to allow the FAI promote a league that half the country either don't know or care (unfortunately) about.

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Originally Posted by sixesandsevens

Isn't that exactly the people the LOI should trying to promote the league to? Wouldn't the majority of the 'real football fans' in Ireland already be following the league.

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I agree, and I've argued this repeatedly on this site.

The attitude that "we don't want barstoolers at our games" never ceases to amaze me. On the one hand claiming that barstoolers not being interested in LOI is the reason the league is so crap, on the other hand saying we don't want them near LOI grounds.

If we reject the tens of thousands who are interested in football, just not domestic football, who are we left with? People who don't like football at all.

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Originally Posted by osarusan

The attitude that "we don't want barstoolers at our games" never ceases to amaze me. On the one hand claiming that barstoolers not being interested in LOI is the reason the league is so crap, on the other hand saying we don't want them near LOI grounds.

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Honestly, I've never found this attitude to be that strong either on this site, or at games. From what I can see most people would love to see more people at their clubs games. Yes, coming up to cup finals and big matches there's naturally the odd moan about how loads of blow-ins have stolen someone's usual seats, but there's no real malice involved. And it's certainly not a general attitude.

I genuinely can't think of many examples of people saying we don't want new fans at games. I think it's an excuse used by people who don't go to games. If you're a so-called 'bar-stooler' and you go to a LOI match what are you afraid of might happen? Someone might ask you to name the number nine? Or to recite the 1969 cup-winning starting lineup? There are many poor excuses for not going but elitism isn't just a poor excuse, it's not a excuse at all.

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Originally Posted by thischarmingman

Honestly, I've never found this attitude to be that strong either on this site, or at games. From what I can see most people would love to see more people at their clubs games. Yes, coming up to cup finals and big matches there's naturally the odd moan about how loads of blow-ins have stolen someone's usual seats, but there's no real malice involved. And it's certainly not a general attitude.

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I'm just talking about here on Foot.

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Originally Posted by thischarmingman

I genuinely can't think of many examples of people saying we don't want new fans at games. I think it's an excuse used by people who don't go to games. If you're a so-called 'bar-stooler' and you go to a LOI match what are you afraid of might happen? Someone might ask you to name the number nine? Or to recite the 1969 cup-winning starting lineup? There are many poor excuses for not going but elitism isn't just a poor excuse, it's not a excuse at all.

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I've honestly never heard anybody make that excuse. The reason I've heard most often is that it's crap.

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Originally Posted by osarusan

I'm just talking about here on Foot.

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To be honest, I think it's just a reaction to the Barstoolers saying they wouldn't go if they were paid. When someone says something like that, it's just human nature (if a little childish) to respond with "Well we wouldn't want you anyway!". I doubt if that's what many people really think.

To clarify my own views, I said there's no point in worrying about people who say they wouldn't go if they were paid, as they just don't get it and therefore they're never going to be converted. That doesn't mean I wouldn't like them to be converted though.

An important point is that we don't just have die hard LOI fans on one side and die hard LOI-hating barstoolers on the other. There is a whole spectrum in between, and it's the people in the middle that we should be concentrating our efforts on.

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Originally Posted by osarusan

I'm just talking about here on Foot.


I've honestly never heard anybody make that excuse. The reason I've heard most often is that it's crap.

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I was talking about Foot.ie too, I read your post as implying that barstoolers weren't going to games because they were put off by an elitist "We don't want barstoolers" attitude, apologies if that's not what you meant, perhaps I joined the dots too quickly.

That said, I do still believe that there is not much evidence of that attitude from LOI fans on foot.ie. As someone commented on another thread, most LOI fans would love to support a club that's part of a bandwagon! Aside from the odd (understandable) digs at people who 'support' Liverpool over Bray, I don't think people actually actively don't want these people coming to games.

I'm someone who is mad about football. I play it myself and/or watch it on television every single day of my life, sometimes both, especially on weekends. Don't accuse me of not being a "true" fan of the game because I have no interest in freezing my arse off watching a poor standard of football like the MLS or LOI.

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Originally Posted by BohDiddley

Are those matches you play in total rubbish too?

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Absolutely they are, total rubbish. The only people that come to watch us play are wives/girlfriends and other family members. My team plays what I think is an attractive, attacking style of football on the ground but I still wouldn't ask or expect anyone to bear through ninety minutes of it when they can go home and watch Real Madrid vs. Barcelona live on GOLTV.

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Originally Posted by Colbert Report

Don't accuse me of not being a "true" fan of the game because I have no interest in freezing my arse off watching a poor standard of football like the MLS or LOI.

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But crap football in freezing conditions is every bit as much football as Real vs Barca games. Are you as "true" a football fan as somebody who will watch the former as well as the latter? You would not appear to be the same kind of fan as them.

I'm sure that I enjoy watching Barca v Real as much as anybody else, but the enjoyment derived from that is nothing compared the feeling I got when Limerick beat Waterford 2-1 about a month ago.

Is it fair to say that, rather than being a fan of a particular team, you are instead a fan of the beauty of the game itself? There's no doubt that there is more beauty to be found in leagues other than the LOI, but if you support a specific team, you'll find as much passion and determination in the LOI as any other league. I see no correlation whatsoever between the quality of football a team plays and the passion of the team's supporters (if they are true supporters of the team).