Merge it into the League of Ireland is grand. 2009 was the last year of it?
Marketplace into Off Topic I'd say.
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Merge it into the League of Ireland is grand. 2009 was the last year of it?
Marketplace into Off Topic I'd say.
POTM/POTY could either be deleted or archived. Otherwise that'd just as handy go into Off Topic as a subforum?
Marketplace to Off Topic.
A Championship to Football History
Womens/World Football to merge?
Other Sports could also to go Off Topic, seeing as they're technically off topic to a football board.
I'd also put World Cup forum into the new merged Womens/World Football forum, maybe labelled 'Other Football'.
After that, it'd look much slicker and cleaner in my view.
Maybe encourage a few people to start writing blogs or articles again? They seem to be a big enough thing at the minute.
I would rename 'Other Countries' in the International forum and merge in the World Cup forum. Other Countries could be renamed 'International Football (non-Ireland)' maybe, or something to that effect.
I would also rename 'World League Football' in the Other Football section. I think it should be called 'World Club Football'. I just think that would be clearer as to what it is.
I'd go further and merge international and club football together as "Other football".
Less is more here. I think people tend to browse by forum rather than by Latest Posts - so if all football (other than LoI and Ireland) is together, that'll help generate chat
I'm dubious about the value of a women's football forum. It almost seems a bit patronising to me. I don't post in the LOI forums so I'll leave handling the womens end of that up to those who do, but as someone shamelessly living my life in a middle class liberal bubble it seems to me that female football should be placed on the same terms as male football. I don't know if that means the covering the IWNT in the "Ireland" forum, or perhaps breaking it up into separate forums for Senior IMNT, Senior IWNT, and another one for the myriad of underage teams and other catagories the FAI now organise. Or perhaps someone else will have a better idea. I attended a WNT game against the north in Lurgan last year and didn't know if I should post my experience in the Ireland forum or the Women's Football forum.
Perhaps that is an area where we could get some growth in numbers. Female football is still small but it is growing rapidly and those involved are certainly committed enough that they might use a forum like this (if they knew about it).
Perhaps the forum could sponsor something to raise our profile in the Women's game? Maybe sell some merch to raise the funds? I'd pay over the odds for a foot.ie hoodie.
If the mods are being updated so there is someone keeping an eye on this i agree with all of this in principle, provided we can still keep out the viagra sellers and Nigerian princes.
I like that idea. I presume 'Other Football' would go in here?
Would you merge World League Football, Other Countries & World Cup into this? Leaving only Ireland in the International section?
If you're talking about sponsorship, you're dipping into dahamsta's pocket, and that's probably a place to be careful. :)
That said, if you were going to sponsor something, maybe a LoI podcast would be better? "The ExtraTime sportscast. In association with foot.ie - Talk Balls". And each site carries a link to the other on their home pages
I like this.
Is there a reason why the separate club fora shouldn't be deleted? I really do not see what purpose they serve in this day and age bar, perhaps, offering something for clubs without there own website/forum/SM page - are there any? I would recommend deleting these completely, not archiving.
Would the following work? What am I missing?
______________________
Football
LOI [sub - prediction]
Ireland [sub - away game chat]
Other Football [sub world cup chat; sub football history;]
_______________
Everything Else
Other Sports
Off Topic (move Marketplace in there as Nidgey suggests)
Current Affairs (I think there's a strong case to be made to merge with Off Topic but not a hill to die on)
Entertainment (could be merged with Off Topic too)
Football Feeds
_______________
Niche Football
Womens "Football"
Irish League (could this be deleted?)
Intermediate
Junior
Underage
Schoolboys
___________________
Foot.ie Admin/Requests etc
Delete
A Championship
Club Fora
POTM/POTY
Is there really a need for the two sub forums in Other Football? Both are very quiet as is; I think someone was saying they didn't even see the World Cup chat because it was in a separate forum. That's exactly the kind of thing we should look to avoid.
Lot of foot.ie history in there; don't see why they should be deleted. At one stage or another, Cork, Sligo, UCD, Longford, Limerick, Bray, Wexford, Drogheda, Sporting Fingal and maybe Harps (?) all used foot.it as their main forum. Now it's just Longford I think (partly because others have been sued out of existence)
I'd keep club fora. Otherwise, I quite like that layout proposed by SkStu. It's simple and cuts down the size of the main forum homepage.
I'd make one swap in it though. Maybe Womens football forum under the main football forum, and Other Football to the Niche Football section.
As suggested above, maybe a chance to get a few womens football fans on board. The rise of womens football in Ireland can't go unnoticed I suppose.
Thanks lads.
Nigel, I originally had Womens under the football section so yeah it would definitely work there too. And to your point might get the women as more active participants in other areas.
Stu, id be fine with getting rid of the subs under Other Football. Didn't take a look at them but yes they are quiet. I thought the most recent WC saw that forum more active than it had been for previous but there is definitely no real need to keep it.
What about archiving the club fora so that the history isn't lost? It is just so cluttered and still very infrequently used, that's all.
I wouldn't advocate deleting any forum really. As stated, there is some good stuff going back on the club ones.
Speaking of, is the Limerick forum deleted, or just hidden?
Good discussion lads.
I agree with the general sentiment of not deleting but maybe archiving. Also I have no issue with strict enough moderation.
Even though I dont post that much I would like to say that I genuinely appreciate this site and the discussion around issues in league of Ireland football. In particular when I lived abroad the site was my first port of call for league discussion and as mentioned it is way superior to commentary on social media or the main stream media. This is mainly thanks to the long standing posters who like to have engaging debate and discussion and is much appreciated so long may it last.
Okay, I think people are generally in agreement with P.Stu?
Do you just want to simplify it for dahamsta P.Stu and see if he can work his magic? Otherwise I can see this fizzling out and we'll be back in another two years suggesting the same changes. :)
Try and maybe encourage more Junior Leagues and members to start up league threads. You also run the risk of putting said threads under the league's microscope though.
Updated Structure:
(note: titles/descriptions should include more detail about what can be found/posted in a particular forum)
______________________
Football
LOI [sub - prediction]
Ireland [sub - away game chat]
Other Football [merge & delete: world cup chat; football history;]
Womens Football
_______________
Everything Else
Other Sports
Off Topic (merge & delete: Marketplace)
Current Affairs
Entertainment
Football Feeds
_______________
Niche Football
LOI Clubs [I still vote to archive but its cool]
Irish League
Intermediate
Junior
Underage
Schoolboys
___________________
Foot.ie Admin/Requests etc