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This might sound like an incredibly dense question, but what exactly is the reason for the "standard" football calendar being Autumn-Summer at junior and senior level?
Closest I can figure is that it coincides with the school calendar and that summer is GAA country.
If this is an incredibly dense question, feel free to humiliate me.
Tradition, I presume. Following the pattern established in England.
Wasn't football played by cricket clubs there during the winter.
Any time I'ver seen it questioned people have just said "cause it's the way it's always been".
Because it's better that way.
Sounds right to me. (Well, not entirely sure about cricket clubs playing football as well - could be the case, but the rest of your post seems spot on)Quote:
Originally Posted by White Horse
Yeah that's spot on. Not all football clubs played cricket but some did. A few of the Italian clubs were set up as both, Genoa's official name is Genoa Cricket and Football Club.Quote:
Originally Posted by pineapple stu
CD, there's a long history in it and the nutshell is this - school years were based on when kids weren't needed to help out - ie when there were no crops in the field (no Country music jokes). So when the crops were coming in kids went back to school around that time. In order to get kids into the right streams they needed an age cut off, so the first schoolday (1st of September) was used, moreso in the UK and Ireland. This meant that cut offs for age group events were September 1st so those born after were okay, born before and they're a year up. As a result the beginning of many events (for kids) began from this point.Quote:
Originally Posted by Charlie Darwin
Okay, that's age group talk, but the season element builds into it - Summers were busy for the Victorian gentry as they were off romping around Greece etc or making sure the peasants/mill workers/colonials were doing what they were supposed to. So they weren't really up for "organising" mass participation sports. Once there was down time (Autumn-Spring) and just a little less outdoor work to be done, they had their mass sports to keep the oiks from kicking up. Also in milder weather countries this worked as sports could be played outdoors without great difficulty.
Before anyone jumps on this, I picked it up in a symposium in NUI Maynooth and Ray Gillespie discussed it - it was based on the Roman bread and games motif. Basically, when the masses are not busy, they're thinking, so keep them busy - cheap booze, sports, cheap entertainment and enough food to keep them from rioting in the streets. I guess the Greeks mustn't be into sports, or fetid cheese.
Tradition. And that's not a poor reason.Quote:
Originally Posted by Charlie Darwin
That's an awful reason. Things should always be open to change.Quote:
Originally Posted by Macy
Traditionally, pubs were closed on Sundays.
Personally, I don't see the point in winter football in this country. We just don't have the weather for it.
I don't see the point in summer football, we just don't have the weather for it
Was avoiding getting into the old debate. But what's measurable benefits has summer football brought us? Measurable benefits, not the bs reasons that were given when we were sold the pup.Quote:
Originally Posted by brendy_éire
Coming off the summer we had, are you really using the weather as a reason? Seriously?
Dont want to get into this either, so I'll keep it short.Quote:
Originally Posted by Macy
Yes, weather. It rains less and it's warmer.
I still go to a fair few IL matches, it's far more comfortable in the summer.
It's better because Brendy and his buddies won't be as cold as they wear shorts to most away games.
I just think summer evenings are very nice. If I had a family I'd be much more likely to bring kids on a summer's night than a winter's night.
Summer evenings may be very nice.. but that doesn't actually seem to encourage people to come to games.
It's hard to quantify really. I think it is more receptive to families but it might discourage other people from coming.
On nice summer evenings, from what I see, attendances seem to go down.Quote:
Originally Posted by Charlie Darwin
It's the dull, cold, dark winters night that used to bring in the crowds.
You'd more than likely have a missus who'd prefer to be in a park or on a beach or numerous others places. Far more option available to people in the summer in my experienceQuote:
Originally Posted by Charlie Darwin
As with everything, it needs to be marketed. The LOI wasn't marketed as a summer evening activity, bring the family, wear shorts and a T-shirt, have a nice barbecue while watching the game. And so everyone who used to come still comes, and everyone who stayed away still stays away, for the same reasons they always did.
I miss aspects of winter football. At least in part because the off-season seems to be ridiculously long now with a break from November-March.
You rarely see LOI games being postponed due to weather now, that'd probably worsen if we went back to winter football. On the flip side we'd avoid clashing with the bogball and stickball sports.
Mostly I don't see it happening though because of the hassle/expense/disadvantage it causes for teams in Europe. And when we're back in Europe I'll be happier with summer footie again!