Originally Posted by
Fivesilver
Hopefully I can get in and out of this thread before it degenerates into a GAA v soccer/town v country pointless slagging match...
I don't doubt for a moment that people have massive days out at GAA matches. The whole point is that's exactly what they are, and all the bigger and more precious because they're so few and far between. I'm pretty sure you weren't whooping it up at National League games away to Carlow or the likes.
The GAA Championship by its nature involves one or two big days a year. The vast majority of "fans" you bump into in McHale Park or the Hyde haven't seen the county team in the interim. Rovers play week in week out, so of course it's more difficult to get the same sense of occasion. Neither does the GAA have to contend with barstoolers who have a ready-made excuse not to support their local soccer team.
It's not a case of one or the other being incontrivertibly superior - they're two completely different products, and the LoI's problems won't be solved by trying to be "more like the GAA".