Originally Posted by
EatYerGreens
What is very telling in NI football is its demographics. Only about 10-15% of the clubs in the 3 divisions at the top of the NI pyramid are from areas which would be considered to have a majority nationalist background (and one or two more which would be evenly balanced/neutral) The rest are in areas which are very strongly unionist - Coleraine, Ballymena, Larne, Carrick, Ballyclare, Loughhall, Dundela, Ballinamallard, Portadown, Ards, Bangor, Knockbreda, Banbridge, Tobermore, Limavady, Portstewart. I could go on, but it's clear that the vast majority of teams in the Northern pyramid system are from very unionist-dominated areas. Which basically makes one of my key points for me - about the impact that football being only the 4th most popular spectator sport in the south has. Unionists turn their backs on the GAA (no breaking news there), so it's not a competitor in large swathes of the north. But in the places where GAA is strong, Irish League club football is weak or non-existent. So the north proves the point re the impact football in the south faces from having a uniquely high number of more popular spectator sports. And as someone who wants football to prosper, it is deeply worrying how polarised the senior game is in the north. Especially when you consider that NI itself is at demographic parity, and about to have a catholic/nationalist majority population. The Irish league is becoming a bit of a minority entity in terms of participants and supporters, which is in no-ones interests. I wouldn't call any of that healthy in such a divided place. And I don't see the pyramid system there changing it either.