Printable View
Exactly. And the Irish community in Britain is no longer the size it was in 1991 when a ridiculous ammount of tickets were applied for the Irish end at Wembley. Personally, it benefits me hugely, but there is no way I'd vote for it for competitive internationals. Friendlies another matter, given the GAA refusal to allow them to be played there.Quote:
Originally Posted by Collyontour
i think it was a matter of the fai not raising the issue for the gaa to discuss. they havent said no yet, just havent been asked. any chance of the football equivalent of saturdays match coming up??Quote:
Originally Posted by lopez
well defo b able to play there as the gaa r making to much from renting out the place.i work in the hospitality section in croker for all match days and the gaa insist it is a sit down meal for all irfu+fai games meaning an awful lot more revenue being created,this is not the case for any gaa match and i am reliably informed that congress will have not prob backing the opening for the duration of the proposed lansdowne works as they are earning too much money which the clubs are benefiting greatly from.
Agree with this. Despite a vested interest in having games in London it would be just embarassing. Would rather we played at the RDS! (By the way I think you'd sell out a 30,000 for a competitive match even against San Marino in London but thats irrelevant.)Quote:
Originally Posted by lopez
I just think that, here on this island, we talk a lot of platitudinal sh1te about our diaspora and this was a missed opportunity to do something REAL and substantial for them beyond a copper statue of scrawny famine victims heading for a coffin ship. There's no small number I'm sure who have to get the ferry or a flight for all our games -home or away -and we had a chance to acknowledge that which we've passed up. We could've played a couple in London and maybe one each in Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester.Quote:
Originally Posted by Collyontour
Now the inconvenience to regular match go-ers here at home is not inconsiderable BUT I don't think that was the deciding factor anyway. I think closer to the core of the matter are local TDs who'd be sweating hard if the matches were taken out of Dublin and the clamour from publicans and various hoteliers who's takings would be down.
You don't reckon they'll travel for a San Marino or equivalent? Fine. Play San Marino in Tolka fcukin park where a small tight crowd (10,000? for a EC/WC qualifier?) might push the team on more rather than the grimness of Lansdowne when the crowd sense the team isn't firing on all cylinders.
But of course if we play a small team in a small stadium -takings will be down for the FAI and they're never going to swallow that either.