I think Summer soccer is a lot better,Teams are fitter playing in Europe and games arent getting canceled with water logged pitches etc etc. I hope it never gose back to winter soccer.
I think Summer soccer is a lot better,Teams are fitter playing in Europe and games arent getting canceled with water logged pitches etc etc. I hope it never gose back to winter soccer.
And the reasons are obvious to all who have had the pleasure of watching them this season, and it has nothing to do with the fact it's not raining.Quote:
Originally Posted by tiktok
Crowd or no crowd we'll all be at the games & I'd say we'd all prefer the sunshine to the rain, hail, sleet & snow. Hands freezing off - remember that sh1t! Summer is for the fans.
Summer football works because sunshine beats rain and warmth is better than cold. What the EL needs is a marketing campaign, well-run clubs and people who actually believe in the product rather than a bunch of fools looking for the latest all-conquering panacea.
Remember games in January?
My missus only realised I went to Rovers every week when the summer season began, because you can do things and go places when the weather's good. Let's make the EL worth supporting cos anything les is just a waste of time.
Voted for summer football, but there should probably be a two week break in the middle to allow players to holiday with their families. Summer football should be here to stay because of better pitches and better prepared teams in Europe. The reason crowds are not as good as they could be (and it was the same in winter) is down to a poor marketing strategy and the bias of barstoolers and non eircom league supporters towards the english game. We have to work harder to get bums on seats and increase standards and facilities!
Ok bit of balance here;
Yes the clubs that play in Europe with one notable exception have benefitted from summer soccer. Yes the players get to train on better surfaces and the managers and coaches benefit from having longer daylight hours in the evening in the early part of the season to work on things with the players. However for every one of these positives there are an equally large number of negatives.
The fact remains that 6 clubs excepted it is a largely part-time league. Players and fans both have to take holidays.
Last night was a night of summer football it p***ed rain. People don't go to matches in large numbers in the p***ing rain no matter how warm it is.
Again in the interests of balance UCD V Drogheda game had over 800 at the game. Not bad you might argue. I would contend on a better night weather wise 4 figures would have been a certainty and have last season's Cup tie attendance figure to back me on that. Right pineapple?
The fact also remains that people do not go to matches in July or August in large numbers because of holidays and counter attractions. Adolescents doing State exams for example do not go to games in June either. Cork City aside, every one of the other 21 League teams have noticed a drop in attendances during the summer months so a change of some sort is required.
Perhaps a mid season break would be a good idea? However last time this was proposed the Eircom League in it's wisdom did not implement it. Next summer for example the EL will get bugger all coverage in June because of the World Cup. I think a mid season break should be tried on a trial basis because otherwise the pro-winter season lobby will win the day.
And I also believe that in spite of what many people believe the coverage of the EL gets squeezed by Thugball in the summer. And coverage in the so-called broadsheet newspapers has actually reduced in recent years.
Another example Newstalk 106's Off The Ball programme used to devote the guts of an hour to the EL on a Thursday night. This week it scarcely got 15 minutes!
Now that the Premiersh*t is back they are re-broadcasting Radio 5 Live commentaries of games, even on Monday nights when there are EL or F.A.I. Cup games taking place . This however would happen anyway even if the EL had a winter season as is being advocated by Alan Matthews and others.
Colie while I agree with the broad thrust of your weather argument invoking sunshine is counterproductive.. we live in Ireland for Chrissakes not Crete! :DQuote:
Originally Posted by Colie
I don't understand. A while ago everyone was praising summer football, and now this?
I'd say: keep it as it is, they should consider it everywhere but the southern European countries. I remember in Belgium we had postponed games every winter, the league table was a disaster as no team had played an equal nr of games as the other teams, crowds did not really look forward to another game in the cold and wet winter, ...
I hope they introduce summer football up here as well. I think it can give Northern Irish football the boost it needs. Glens and Linfield did show they can survive a few rounds in Europe, but against Shels and Halmstads (two teams in the middle of the season) they had a lack of fitness (and probably quality as well, but still the fitness played it role as well).
I do prefer football in darkness with floodlights, as I simply prefer night over day. But bothing as nice as a nice semi-warm summernight with a game of football, then to celebrate the victory in the nocturnal southern atmosphere of the city...
went for winter simply because i like the atmosphere of winter game obviously away games that is :( :o . I dont agree with matthews crowd rubbish because its the football on show that is the problem nothing else. btw longford fans happy to beat waterford pats etc is not sumthing boast about in terms of ambition!
Went for winter.In longford anyway summer football hasnt worked,yeah yeah people aren't going to come out to see bad football blah blah blah,the football we played in winters seasons wasnt so hot either but our attendances were much higher.We're 4th in the league and they still wont come out.Attendances are a disaster for us in july and august.People simply have plenty of other things to do during the summer on a saturday evening whereas during the winter there is nothing and i mean nothing to do during the winter,so a town game is alot more attractive-this is the main reason for our low attendances in my opinion.Also summer football clashes with the gaa season which is big in longford and unlike other counties we do not have a big enough population to draw big crowds for both.Summer football has certainly worked for cork and shels,you have both done the league proud in europe but dont be soo quick to criticise people who it hasnt worked for.We in longford love watching ye winning in europe in front of huge crowds and then opening our papers in the morning to hear about your fantastic achievements.I dont see why we should complain,I love going out to flancare these days only to be dissapointed again and again by our ever decreasing crowds regardless of the fact that we are doing so well in the league.Maybe we should just keep quiet in the hope that maybe next week the crowds will come and maybe one day we will reach the heights of our dublin and cork friends.As for some of you,you've let yourselves down.Matthews calls for changes,sure he is a negative thinking,hoof balling ******!How could he be right about anything?Lets not have a debate and listen to other peoples views,lets just call matthews a ****** and bullying everyone into thinking our way.Grow up will ye,just beacuse things aren't as rosie here in the midlands as in the south doesnt mean we should keep quiet and continue to lose out.
Yes but do you really think Longfords crowds will magically rise because it's raining?
That's living in fantasy land if you do. You have poor crowds for a few reasons, one is obviously you've a smaller population to draw from. Two is you play football nobody but the commited (or is it the should be commited) will pay to see. Thirdly, the novelty of the club emerging from almost nowhere and winning the cups is wearing off, Irish people are event junkies, they aren't interested in 4th place in the league and the bangwagon has slowed down, that was always going to be on the cards. It isn't good but sadly that's the way Irish sports fans work. With no chance of winning anything even if you're doing better in the league you wont get the bandwagon support.
If you think changing to winter will suddenly change all that then that is laughable really.
Voted for winter because IMO there is a better atmosphere under the lights,especially in the 1st Division.Trying to get an atmosphere going in Monaghan during a sunny summers day is ****e!.But tbh i couldn't care less,as long as my team are winning it doesn't bother me waht time of the year it is.Summer soccer is better in general for the league but in Galway it's very hard to compete and get crowds with all the stuff going on during the summer...ie...the Races,Arts festival etc.So for United-WInter but for the good of the league-Summer.
Summer football all the way for me (though i can see why some people might want it back to the winter football)
It is nothing to do with weather as far as i'm concerned.Our lowest crowds this summer were when the weather was best,because as i said there are plenty of other things to do and nothing to do during the winter.Its not going to magically change but it would be much easier imo to get people out without anything to compete with.Quote:
Originally Posted by Slash/ED
Exagerating a bit.Our football isnt half as bad as certain fans would have you beieve.Certainly at our last few games the football has been fantastic(wasnt in derry last night).As as far as i can remember we gave you a lesson in how football should be played at the end of last season and you werent too impressive when ye were in flancare earlier this year(one of the worst games from both teams i have witnessed in a while).Quote:
Originally Posted by Slash/ED
This is also a major factor,alot of people i have been talking to have said that they cant see themselves coming out to flancare for a while because the team aren't even going to win anything this year!Idiots!The club need to do something drastic and it doesnt seem to be happening.Everyone in longford knows about de town and we are unigue in that way,we need to take advantage of this and try to get bums on seats or preferably standing on seats ;) .A while ago 1,000 would have been a terrible attendance,at this stage its thought as a good enough crowdQuote:
Originally Posted by Slash/ED
Yes but crowds are always lowest mid season. The buzz of the season returning has disappeared and the buzz of the end of season approaching where everything is sorted out hasn't yet approached, same any league any season.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bosco
It is that very match against Shels that makes me so frustrated when watching Longford, you're more than capable of playing good football yet choose not to.Quote:
Exagerating a bit.Our football isnt half as bad as certain fans would have you beieve.Certainly at our last few games the football has been fantastic(wasnt in derry last night).As as far as i can remember we gave you a lesson in how football should be played at the end of last season and you werent too impressive when ye were in flancare earlier this year(one of the worst games from both teams i have witnessed in a while).
As for us, we play sh*t football too, or have been anyway, we've improved latley. And the result? Our crowds have dropped on early season too. Nothing to do with anything other than the fact we're playing poorly and that always has a knock on effect on crowds, we look back on form now and if we continue to do so our crowds will rise again.
Agreed, Longford should be able to get people out as the club is well seen around town which is rare for an EL club, but it's difficult to get anything out of people with the event junkie mentality that alot of Irish people have.Quote:
This is also a major factor,alot of people i have been talking to have said that they cant see themselves coming out to flancare for a while because the team aren't even going to win anything this year!Idiots!The club need to do something drastic and it doesnt seem to be happening.Everyone in longford knows about de town and we are unigue in that way,we need to take advantage of this and try to get bums on seats or preferably standing on seats ;) .A while ago 1,000 would have been a terrible attendance,at this stage its thought as a good enough crowd
I just don't see how a return to winter football is going to magcally solve these problems. To me it smacks of looking for an easy solution to a difficult problem.
Thats all very easy to say but its common sense that in july and august alot of people take holidays and there are also alot of events going on for people to go to.Quote:
Originally Posted by Slash/ED
Very true and it is that very match that has got alot of longford fans ****ed off.The way we play is mixed,we can play good passing football one week and then defensive hoof ball next week.Its not really mostly one or the other but the matches were we play defensive are always highlighted and blown out of all proportion such as the league cup game against cork,we were traveled down on a tuesday night with a 2nd string team against a big turners cross crowd and very few fans of our own,i cant imagine the players had the cofidence to do anything but defend.Quote:
Originally Posted by Slash/ED
You could be exactly right there.To be honest i'm not pushing for winter football but i just wanted to make it clear to some people that just becaue they are doing so well doesnt mean others are aswell.Quote:
Originally Posted by Slash/ED
Can someone change the title of this thread
I voted winter because I like games under the Floodlights :)
I think clubs are better off with summer soccer as Pat Scully made a great point last week, he mentioned that teams now had more daylight on a better surface and could train properly. Trianing in the rain and darkness all the time cant be the same can it??
I dont think it had a great effect on the crowds and I dont think its the reason we are doing so well in europe, I think that happened due to more players turning professional and the clubs adapting a more professional approach to things. I mean Djurgarden were as much in season as Cork, did it matter then?? No! as Cork were the better side, simple as that.
Im voting Winter for the floodlights no other practical reason :D
Would it have mattered if Cork were out of season at the time? Yes, and chances are that away goals win would have turned into a loss, no matter how much better Cork were and they were better.Quote:
Originally Posted by higgins
I wondered recently on a visit to flancare, why the crowd was pretty sparce.Ye were still in the FAI Cup and yer league form this season had improved hence the 4th position in the table at the time. I wondered what competition Longford Town had in terms of getting people through the gates at Flancare. I couldnt come up with any. Its hardly a case of successful inter county GAA teams although i hadnt really considered local GAA.Surely thats not real competition.Quote:
Originally Posted by Macy
Ye had between 6-10,000 at yer FAI Cup finals.Surely there's a reason the crowds have dropped at flancare.I dont think summer soccer is it :ball:
I don't know why anyone can want winter football back. I think the competing thing is bull too. The GAA season is pretty much year-round.
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Originally Posted by Macy
I'm not going to read every post but I'll reply to Macy's, its not disagreeing with Cork, its disagreeing with results, Longford are the only team to have embarassed themselves in Europe since the switch was fully enforced, we have to keep summer soccer!!!
Its mainly local gaa which we compete with,inter-county football in longford tends to last about 2 games regarding the championship.Theres is alot of people involved in local gaa,players,trainers etc.Superfrank,march to september is hardly year round
will you please ever just shut up. Do you have to wreck every thread you post in? :mad:Quote:
Originally Posted by Cop on
spot onQuote:
Originally Posted by wws
Did you have to bring him into it? He's nothing to do with it. Bottom line is this: our club is ambitious, and as fans we share in that ambition. Where people see other clubs doing things/saying things which they view as contrary to that, they'll speak out about it. IMO Longford fans are taking this way too personally. Also, the fact is that most City fans have always had massive respect and admiration for LTFC as a club, and its only in the very recent past that this has changed- as far as I can see, thats mainly down to one individual: Matthews.Quote:
Originally Posted by Macy
:D :D LOL.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jerry The Saint
Personally I loved winter football, I thought the atmosphere was great, especially around christmas. From a personal point of view, and being totally selfish, I prefer winter football, but IMO the progress made under summer football is obvious, so it gets my vote.
:D :DQuote:
Originally Posted by Bosco
These are the shower of hypocrites who wanted to ban people attending games at their ground, - in July, I may add! What kind of message does that send out when you try to attract people to games?? No wonder the neutrals won't turn up!!
I haven't actually voted as I'm really not sure.
Maybe it's a Longford thing, but the county championship games draw up to and over a 1000 on the gate all summer long. In a small county maybe there's just too much competition.
Also I think there's much more to compete with during the summer. Billy Lord said that his wife only just noticed he goes to Rovers during the summer because you can go places and do things - that's exactly the problem imo. Maybe others don't have the understanding missus he has, or they simply have too much to do (the later in my case with a new house). At least in the winter the weather is too bad to do half the bloody chores....
On Europe, it's been pretty much 50-50 imo. We may have had the worst results no arguement from me, but Bohs haven't reached previous winter season heights either, and shels weren't too hot this year...
I can see the benefits of training and on pitches. However, I think most clubs trained on astro turf under lights anyway - not like most were trying to train in the dark. The pitches have definitely improved, and this is where Dundalks new pitch raises the stakes in the debate.
I'm still undecided, nudging towards winter. I just don't think the competition element for summer football was really thought through enough. When it was muted and I was single and mortgage free I didn't really think of the non-sport ones, even if I did have reservations about county's like Longford where the local GAA scene is so big.
Current results are heavily in favour of summer football. It does seem to be an urban v rural issue & in that case urban will always win out as the bigger clubs & crowds are urban based.
European football the is the big plus. Sure thats only for a few teams but i do think it brings a feel good factor to the whole league. I've never seen crowd of more than 1500 at Longford ever so don't see that crowds down that much. Maybe with a push for 3rd place in the league crowds will return.
The reality is that even in the "summer" football season we have October & November which are certainly winter months. Do crowds improve for those months?
That's a good post where you make a few decent points. I think the argument swings both ways and it is not possible to give a definitive answer one way or the other. Mind you attending a match in my shirtsleeves :D or freezing my bóllox off :( .....Quote:
Originally Posted by Macy
Jaysus,you cork lads are good for a laugh anyway,whats your ambition?maybe win something!!!How long is it now since a piece of silverware went Leeside apart from Mc Carthy cup that is.So lets look at where the mighty Cork is,2points clear of Derry in a mediocre league thats average entertainment for a Fri or Sat night before a few scoops in the local,hardly edge of the seat stuff even from your pro lot.Sure you will have a few decent away Euro games but you'll never win the bloody thing so come on back to planet earth and enjoy the EL for what it is,mediocre entertainment.Quote:
Originally Posted by Colm
As for Longford,well,I've gotten great value out of their 3 cup wins and for a bunch of part-timers their league position this season is amazing considering all the top pro outfits around like yourselves,BTW how are you fareing against them this season,an endless supply of goals from Flynn and co no doubt?????????.Not a great performance in the lovely valleys of Wales but what the hell we'll be in there again next year hopefully with a third spot finish and wont that realllllly pi*s you off.Anyway enough of this typing my fingertips are black (and red) and I have cows to milk so as city folk like yourself ,i,m sure, can enjoy your cornflakes in the morning.
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Originally Posted by johno
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Originally Posted by johno
Talk about proving our point for us!!
In terms of EL fans, only someone from Longford would refer to our league like that.
Wow, what a reply,anyway 2 little points for you,firstly what in Gods name is the point that your trying to prove,is it that your the best team in the EL because your not you know,Derry are better,better team,better manager,much much better fans and a bettttttter place to visit and I pray to the Dear Lord either above or below that Longford beat you on Sun and Derry go on to win the League.Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees,Happppppy Days.Quote:
Originally Posted by Colm
BTW you assume too much,like Cork winning the league,Cork progressing further in Europe,Cork,Cork,Cork and me being from Longford,actually i'm from a little place probably not to far from you called Clonakilty,now,put that in your pipe and smoke it.
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Originally Posted by johno
:confused: :rolleyes:Quote:
Originally Posted by johno
pathetic. absolutely pathetic. I've always thought that this league needs every fan it can get, but that kind of attitude is disgusting.Quote:
Originally Posted by johno
Thats why Derry are top, and have finished above us over the last couple of seasons........ oh no wait. Whoever wins the league will have the right to call themselves the best team in the country. I believe that team will be Cork City, but its up to us to prove it. If Derry win it, they'll have that right, and also my respect and congratulations.Quote:
Originally Posted by johno
Must be hard milking the cows with that huge chip on your shoulder :rolleyes:Quote:
Originally Posted by johno
what about the players who cant take skiing holidays because of winter soccer eh ? :mad: ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by Alan Matthews
Are you reaching for your sick bag already? Pathetic and disgusting only if it doesn't conform with your attitude maybe!! Now I consider myself a very reasnoble EL fan with no particular allegiance anywhere in particular but it is sad when you "big clubs" slag off the "small clubs" who have probably achieved more for their fans and given them a huge sense of pride with a fraction of your budget.Expectations aren't blown out of proportion by over zealous fans and limitations are acknowledged and accepted and this combination leads to a much more enjoyable atmosphere for this humble supporter anyway.Quote:
Originally Posted by Éanna
Derry will also get my respect and congratulations when they win the title.;)
Now I wonder where will the chip be on Sun night after Longford beat you and on what shoulder will it rest????:rolleyes:
BTW dont take any of this too personal,I'm a very cynical EL fan who loves taking the "urhyne" out of Cork,Shels,Bohs,Pats,Long....Ooops.;)
Interesting to hear the comments of Osam & Scully on TV3 last night.
Scully a manager of "small" 1st division cluib in GAA heartland welcomes sumemr football. Osam says that professional footballers have ajob to do so basically tough luck if can't take holidays. Afterall even part-time professional players get paid to play.
I presume that a good few of you saw eL weekly last night, for those of you who didn't, the presenter asked Scully and Osam what they thought about Matthew's idea of moving back to a winter season. Osam and Scully were both against the idea, this was because the training pitches are better and it is bright in the evenings. They both laughed at the idea that the change should be made to accomodate players going on holidays, stating that if they are a professional footballer that they should take holidays in the close season.
I think if that part time footballers want to take holidays in the summer -let them off and see if they can get back in the team when they return. I know some say that summer soccer is only benefitting the big clubs but would there really be the same buzz about the league if all of our teams had been knocked out of europe in the first round for the past few years?
I think that the other clubs should try and emulate the success of the bigger clubs rather than sit back and b!tch about it and try and drag the successfull clubs down to their level.
If some people are critical of the expense of having full time squads then too bad if they can't afford one. If other clubs decide to take the risk of a full time set up it is their decision and if they end up like Shamrock Rovers then so be it. I'd sooner see two or three full time clubs in a part time league than none at all.
As for other aspects to the winter change. Gerrit already made the point about matches postponed because of foul weather and a garbled league table -I remember these days well and it was a joke. I also remember clubs not having a match for 4 or 5 weeks and ending up in financial bother as they had no income to pay the players with.
It's a bit of a ridiculous idea coming from Longford to suggest that we return to cold, dark and wet evenings when only one side of their ground is covered!
As for the idea of people being distracted by other events or activities in the summer I think this can't be true -either you're an eL fan and you go to matches or you're not.
For those you talk about a preference for floodlight games, surely this is possible for most of the summer season?
Looks like majority of fans favour the summer foorball , we should do a poll of the clubs and the players and save the FAI a fortune, from what I heard Sligo rovers preferred winter football any other verdicts rom the clubs out there .