GAA gets higher ratings than Ireland Qualifier

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Originally Posted by CarrickFan

Ridiculous!!!

first of all neither Andy O'Brien or Dean Kiely are involved in the Irish team anymore...9 of the 11 starters on Saturday night were Irish born and no matter what peoples opinion on him as a player Kevin Kilbanes commitment to Ireland can not be questioned..the man has beeb ever-presant for 10 years....

do you honestly expect our top players not to go abroad and play for Europes top clubs and play at the highest levels of the sport and earn a living??
do you think Duff should play for Bohs,Keane for Shams etc? because you think they should be part of our community in order to play for Ireland??
...i never come on here to abuse people as everyone is entitled to their opinion but you are living in a world of your own

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I didn't say they should play in Ireland under the current conditions, I said it's a shame conditions don't permit so they can't.

My main point were that Ireland, Kiely and Andy O Brien were players who I respected and followed at one and they all let me down by being disrespectful to our countries team. And having your national team crapped all over like that by 3 different players in 2 years as well as Joey O Brien's "play me or I'll reject call ups" stance really makes it difficult to be proud with the setup. Not least to mention the assistant under stan called our team "british".

I'm proud of individuals on the team like Doyle, Dunne, Hunt, Duff, Kilbane and Given, mind.

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Originally Posted by eirebhoy

Anyway, I'm sure the Sky Sports viewing figures would make up the difference in TV ratings.

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Yes, I would imagine that many watched on Sky.

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Originally Posted by CarrickFan

it doesnt happen because as Soccer people we/they dont feel the need to have a chip on their shoulder or belittle other peoples sports..as i've said..each to their own..whatever sports you enjoy is fine..why always make comparisons and say one is better than another..

do you mind if i ask do you like soccer yourself or how have you come to post here?..genuine queation..just curious...i like Foot.ie as its about our league and usually a good spot for chat about the LOI and the national squad...dont come on here to talk about the GAA.

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ha, I didn't come here on to talk about GAA, I saw some very unfair things being said about people who enjoy GAA matches and spoke out against them, thats all.

I am a soccer fan, mostly for European leagues, I don't follow the LOI in depth so I'm here for the national forum.

How can you consider yourself an Irishman if you don't involve yourself passionately enough in your community to support your local league team?

Why is that whenever the Gah is mentioned on this site everyone goes gaga?

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Originally Posted by pineapple stu

How can you consider yourself an Irishman if you don't involve yourself passionately enough in your community to support your local league team?

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In fairness Stu, in defence of the lad, you could ask the same question to the vast majority of people who support football in this country. Sad perhaps but true.

Absolutely you could. I just wanted to draw attention to the seeming contradiction in his argument.

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Originally Posted by kingdom hoop

Why is that whenever the Gah is mentioned on this site everyone goes gaga?

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I think we're quite tame and generally fair, there is even a dedicated thread in the other sports section to discuss gaa amongst those of us who have an interest of sorts. Compare that to the barrage of abuse that is thrown when soccer is discussed on some gaa forums, an fear rua for example but that is tame compared to the likes of premierview where you may well be castrated for such talk. seriously.

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Originally Posted by elroy

I think we're quite tame and generally fair...

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Yep, I agree. There is a certain amount of rising blood pressure, but my post was more an attempt at lightening the mood than anything else really.

Maybe I should've spelled "gaga" GahGah. :)

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Originally Posted by Murfinator

Even look at today, were the Irish national soccer team is struggling to get 10,000 into a stadium Munster fill regularly with ease.

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Have a look at Munsters average turnout over the season for Magners League games and then come back to me and tell me they fill Thomond or Musgrave Park with ease.

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Originally Posted by Murfinator

I didn't say they should play in Ireland under the current conditions, I said it's a shame conditions don't permit so they can't.

My main point were that Ireland, Kiely and Andy O Brien were players who I respected and followed at one and they all let me down by being disrespectful to our countries team. And having your national team crapped all over like that by 3 different players in 2 years as well as Joey O Brien's "play me or I'll reject call ups" stance really makes it difficult to be proud with the setup. Not least to mention the assistant under stan called our team "british".

I'm proud of individuals on the team like Doyle, Dunne, Hunt, Duff, Kilbane and Given, mind.

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i take ur points Murfinator and agree with you..you may explain about the "british" remark?..i dont recall it..Kevin Mc Donald was it?...ur other points are true tho...Cant explain Ireland..J O' Brien was living in dream world if he thought he should be playing..Andy seemed to think he got unfair abuse after Cyprus and Kiely may have had a point....

at the end of the day(to use a football Cliche) im a proud Irishman and a passionate soccer fan and have been going to Ireland matches since 1989 and will continue to support and follow them no matter who is in charge or where the players are playing or whatever.

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Originally Posted by pineapple stu

How can you consider yourself an Irishman if you don't involve yourself passionately enough in your community to support your local league team?

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There's no team from my entire county in either divisions. :rolleyes:

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Originally Posted by lionelhutz

Have a look at Munsters average turnout over the season for Magners League games and then come back to me and tell me they fill Thomond or Musgrave Park with ease.

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http://www.magnersleague.com/statzon...dance.php#3543

They had an average attendance of almost 18,000 in the magners league. That figure is excluding showpiece games like the all blacks or Heineken Cup games which would be sell outs.

So a typical weekly game with the Munster reserves versus another Celtic team rakes in nearly double than the national Irish soccer team is getting. Can you see the extent of my point now?

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Originally Posted by CarrickFan

i take ur points Murfinator and agree with you..you may explain about the "british" remark?..i dont recall it..Kevin Mc Donald was it?...ur other points are true tho...Cant explain Ireland..J O' Brien was living in dream world if he thought he should be playing..Andy seemed to think he got unfair abuse after Cyprus and Kiely may have had a point....

at the end of the day(to use a football Cliche) im a proud Irishman and a passionate soccer fan and have been going to Ireland matches since 1989 and will continue to support and follow them no matter who is in charge or where the players are playing or whatever.

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Yeah it was Kevin McDonald, I actually saw the quote on these forums about 2 years ago, it was during a pre or post match interview on an american site where he was talking about some team where he said something along the lines of the weather conditions not suiting british teams. Sorry for the sketchy details but it was a while ago.

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Originally Posted by Murfinator

There's no team from my entire county in either divisions. :rolleyes:

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I mentioned nothing about your county. Plenty of inter-county support going on in the LoI.

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Originally Posted by CarrickFan

at the end of the day(to use a football Cliche) im a proud Irishman and a passionate soccer fan and have been going to Ireland matches since 1989 and will continue to support and follow them no matter who is in charge or where the players are playing or whatever.

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In fairness, I think the vast majority of fans have that attitude. But I think the point Murf was making was that for people who aren't really fans (or for people who might possibly become fans), for a lot of those people, it does make a difference that our players play in England and aren't visibly associated with Ireland except when they put the jersey on.

So the fact that our players play mostly in England makes no difference to a fan; but it does make a difference for people who only take a passing interest in the team.
I don't think it's much of a point myself as it has little substantive relevance: even if the players played in Ireland I don't think it would increase interest on a national level all that much.
It would make a bit of difference though: for example, in Kerry a lot of the Gaelic players are very visible around the county (eg working at the bank counter, teachers), and that certainly helps to create a bond between the team and people who wouldn't otherwise take a huge interest in the team. There's a great sense that "they're our lads" kind of thing. Of course for those of us who love the team anyway, they could work in Timbuktu for all we care; but I evidentially know for sure, and it stands to reason, that the peripheral support is greater because of the visibility and local link of the players.

It's a bit of a moot point in this context as we're a long way off having significant international representation sourced from the domestic league. But if there was, I'd bet viewing figures would be even higher. To close on a a more practical point - maybe the international players could do a bit more PR work in Ireland?

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Originally Posted by Murfinator

http://www.magnersleague.com/statzon...dance.php#3543

They had an average attendance of almost 18,000 in the magners league. That figure is excluding showpiece games like the all blacks or Heineken Cup games which would be sell outs.

So a typical weekly game with the Munster reserves versus another Celtic team rakes in nearly double than the national Irish soccer team is getting. Can you see the extent of my point now?

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Obviously Limerick is a rugby city. I think if the game was in Cork it would attract a lot more people.

As a little by the by to show the immense relevance of TAM ratings, The Rose Of Tralee had higher figures than the Cyrpus match.

I think this proves beyond all reasonable doubt that watching a retard like Ray D'Arcy has become a more attractive activity than watching the Irish football team. Despair! Irish football is in crisis!

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Originally Posted by pineapple stu

I mentioned nothing about your county. Plenty of inter-county support going on in the LoI.

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You said my local team, I don't have a local team. I'd have to travel over an hour to get to the nearest LoI venue.

It was their showpiece game for the year.

Personally, I dont understand the need to compare the figures or what they are actually trying to suggest. Are they simply saying that GAA games are better than "soccer" because the final got more viewers than the Cyprus away game? Surely, they cant be that petty.