Yeah I think you are right as I do remember reading Cabo having a huge crowd for their first game!Quote:
Originally Posted by Philosophizer
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Yeah I think you are right as I do remember reading Cabo having a huge crowd for their first game!Quote:
Originally Posted by Philosophizer
Think the vast majority of that was Cabo schoolboy players and their parents but yep, huge crowd, there was pyro and everything. No reason Kerry can't do the same and get all the local teams invited for the first gameQuote:
Originally Posted by Philosophizer
I reckon there is a big enough sports public in Tralee and the surrounds to support Kerry FC for their first year and if they are competitive and play a reasonable attractive game they will keep the interest. The days of only GAA is now a myth. There is so much sports interest and media coverage of sports available that Kerry and places like Tralee are typical areas that people are aware and want different sports to follow. I reckon there are a lot of soccer supporters, who would be delighted to have the option of being able to go to a League of Ireland game on a Friday night and now Tralee will be able to offer this entertainment choice.
My knowledge of football in Co Kerry is rather limited which of Killarney or Tralee would best suit Kerry FC?
If you mean for hosting matches, the KDL have spent the last two decades working on developing facilities, so whether it was a county application (as had been mooted before following the U21s success in the 2000s) or a club team, Tralee was always the likely venue.
It will be interesting to see where attendances are ten games in or so, if the side is making up the numbers in Div1 mid table or below.
Irish people like to support success & Kerry people particularly are used to supporting success. LOI core support Vs support when good times come are two very different sets of numbers.
In your opinion, culloty82, where are the club aiming, financially, in their opening season ? Is there a promotion budget possibility here ? It seems very well orchestrated, and I wouldn't be surprised if they meant business from the off.
Treaty are arguably the financial template they'll follow for the first few years, given you're proving that having a well-coached, well-motivated squad of largely local players isn't incompatible with success on the pitch. From what is known so far, the investors have a background in US college soccer and will be prepared to scale up the budget if necessary, but are content to let everything be organised from Kerry - in any case, Dennehy has been talking about a ten-year plan, which must be the first time a new club has wanted to dampen down expectations!
He said there was already plenty of places to stand on the other side.Quote:
Originally Posted by nr637
Tralee has a significantly larger population than Killarney (24,000 vs 14,000 in 2016, and probably a bigger gap since), so for that reason alone would make the most sense.Quote:
Originally Posted by Martinho II
Tralee is more accessible from North, South, East and West. Most clubs around the county are familiar with travelling to Mounthawk Park.Quote:
Originally Posted by EatYerGreens
Looks like the Kerry HR person is going to have a busy fortnight ahead of them:
https://twitter.com/KerryFC/status/1580256997672468480
Sadly, O'Donnell's, which was the pub/restaurant in the Mounthawk area, just closed down at the weekend, not that there's any shortage of dining options in the town centre itself, mind you.
This time the floodlights are being upgraded:
https://twitter.com/KerryFC/status/1580967409657470976
Limerick had over 3000 for their first game in Thomond Park. Numbers dropped soon after. Tends to be the trend for most clubs. The facilities couldn't be blamed.Quote:
Originally Posted by Philosophizer
Having support for season tickets and membership will be key. If they can get this right to start with, and avoid antagonising this support, they will do well.
Kerry will be doing well to challenge for 8th and 9th, should their application be successful. Kerry's first foray into the youth leagues of Ireland were challenging. Senior grade will bring more scrutiny.
A future newsletter may be rather mundane, but takes things out of the realm of the abstract:
https://kerryfc.com/
Membership and season tickets. Sign up now for more details.Quote:
Originally Posted by culloty82
Kerry a great addition to the league, wishing them huge success. If you are UCD right now, the look of the 1st Division from a travel perspective next season would frighten the life out of you. Away trips to Wexford, Cobh, Kerry, Limerick, Galway, Longford, Athlone, Galway, Harps, Waterford next season (excluding whichever one goes/stays up via playoffs) Not a single Dublin team (Bray aside). Talk about an incentive to stay up ! Those young students with exams to sit, talk about an incentive. Not to mention all the footballers in the league trying to do a day job and do that sort of round trip every second week for practically nothing. Fair play to the lot of them.
At least you have motorways to travel to most of those.Quote:
Originally Posted by The Bowler
The task is all the more daunting from a Harps perspective.
Isn't this just what the likes of Cork, Harps and Derry have to put up with every other weekend ?Quote:
Originally Posted by The Bowler
Genuinely wishing then the best, but fear it may end up like Monaghan - too much of a GAA stronghold.
Absolutely folks, huge challenge for Derry Harps Cork etc every week, just honing more into my personal view with relegation looming. Hats off to each and every player in the league outside those getting paid a proper wage, which is the bulk of both leagues
That's always a realistic concern, but given proposals for a Kerry LoI side have been variously on and off for the table for the last 20 years now, the only way to gauge what market for senior national soccer exists within the county is for some entity to ultimately take the plunge. Of course Kildare had a more developed tradition of intermediate clubs than most areas and only survived for eight years, but then Wexford is just as GAA-dominated as Kerry, and have proven to be the only new club in the last 30 years to remain permanently.Quote:
Originally Posted by Straightstory
A concern for sure. Kerry's rise to the LoI has been long overdue. Kerry League competed well in the League Cup for many years. Tralee Dynamos joined the A Championship. Kerry were part of the U21 league many years ago and the youth leagues in recent years.Quote:
Originally Posted by Straightstory
I don't think Monaghan and Kerry are similar in that regard. For a start Monaghan Town has less than 8,000 people whilst Tralee has more than 25,000. Kerry County has 155,000 people, whilst Monaghan County has less than 65,000. As a starting point therefore, a club in Tralee and Kerry has a much stronger population base to tap into (and football is an urban sport after all). If 10% of the population of Monaghan Town follows their local LOI club, they'll struggle even in the First Division. If 10% of Tralee follow their local LOI club, they'll be one of the best-supported in the Premier Division. So I wouldn't write Kerry off so quickly (especially as they seem to be well run). Let's see how they do first.Quote:
Originally Posted by Straightstory
There's also a much richer junior setup in Kerry and the south west than Monaghan. Cavan/Monaghan league only has a handful of teams and it's a very poor standard.
Tralee is accessible from all over the county. All KDL clubs would be familiar with travelling to Mounthawk Park. It's like a county ground, which is a typical Kerry thing. All this bodes well.
Treaty are to the East of Limerick. Waterford are to the East of Waterford. Bray are to the north of Wicklow. Tralee is central.
It'll be interesting to see how the local media come on board behind Kerry FC. The nightmare scenario would be to be cut a drift at the bottom of the First Division. If they can challenge for 9th or 8th, cut their cloth and have support on board for the conservative approach off the park, I'd be hopeful that the foundations would be set to become established in the LoI longterm.
The playoffs gives most in the First Division something to aim for long-term.
TBF, Radio Kerry and the local papers give decent coverage, particularly where the under-19s are concerned, and you would expect that to increase all the more in the case of a senior side. Half the PR battle next season would be maximising home form, as if Mounthawk Park gains a reputation as a tricky place to visit, then they'll be cut more slack when it comes to away matches.
Was just about to say the same thing. Tralee is a very well-connected town too, about 90 m NW of Cork and SE of Limerick. And with their location close to the North Kerry/West Limerick hinterland, in towns like Castleisland, Killarney, Listowel, Abbeyfeale etc there's access to thousands of potential fans if they can make a go of it.
There will have to be an acceptance of the level Kerry will be at. Initially trying to compete with 8th and 9th.
There was a bit of a gap between Treaty and Longford. Anyone outside the top 5 this year will be trying to catch Treaty.
The best case scenario for Kerry would be to be competing with Treaty. A rivalry there could be good for both.
Particularly when, as CorribsideSteve alludes, even Newcastlewest is roughly halfway between Tralee and Limerick.
Players wanting to play for the academy teams are asked to complete an expression of interest form - presumably the same will occur if/when applicable with adult players:
https://twitter.com/KerryFC/status/1584869125771653121
Sadly, the death has been announced of Pádraig Hartnett - it would be no exaggeration to describe him as "Mr Soccer" in the county, having reported on all levels from schoolboy/girl leagues to Kerry U19 League of Ireland games, so condolences to all who knew him.
If the planned new FAI schedule is still on track, then November sees final reports handed over to the Licensing Committee, with licences issued literally any day between now and the end of the month.
They weren't announced until 3rd February for this season. I'd be surprised to see them this side of Christmas.
The manual, TBF, has seen the timetable for expressions of interest, final submissions of applications, etc, all brought forward a number of months from last year already, so hopefully the last stage won't get dragged out.
Reading last year's version, for instance, new clubs didn't have to apply until the start of September, and final documentation submitted until mid-November, so 2022 is already three months ahead of last year.
https://m.independent.ie/sport/socce...-26432710.html
Kerry League knocking Waterford United out of the League Cup is probably the best result in Kerry's football history.
With Waterford in the First Division again next year, Waterford would be a good first home game should Kerry secure First Division football.
Waterford, Finn Harps, Galway, Longford, Treaty, Wexford, Bray, Athlone, Cobh and Kerry. The list of teams I want to see on next year's fixture list.
Tomorrow's the day!
https://www.independent.ie/regionals...-42146614.html
A lot of work has been put in in recent months. Hopefully that is rewarded.Quote:
Originally Posted by culloty82