A bit easier in Maynooth than UCD have it you'd imagine/hope as they'd be the only show in town so to speak?
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It'd probably depend how much local interest they could tap up, and the merger with the local club can only help in that regard. How much will it help though? I can't imagine they'd be breaking any First Division records, for sure. but yeah, as slk says, I don't see it being directly comparable to the UCD situation.
If they could join the league with a bit of momentum behind them - winning the LSL and getting promotion - that would be another help towards getting some sort of local backing. But of course we don't do that...
Buckley Park was no lazy stroll from the centre of Kilkenny either.
Kildare's representative side is quite decent at schoolboy level, and there is absolutely savage work done for a long time in Newbridge and Athy, while Naas have a really good setup. There are some top coaches at those clubs, with a couple of ex-LoI legends involved.
Newbridge is an ideal football town for a League of Ireland club. Station Road was a superb setup for it's time.
Station Road was as perfect a location for a football ground as you could want. 10 min walk to the centre of town. Literally at the train station on the line to the capital and the majority of teams in Ireland (just about), and on the two loop roads around the town. perfect.
Interesting piece in this week's Kerryman - mentions that the Kerry District League recently took over the admin of the underage LoI teams from the Kerry Schoolboys' League, and its chairman Seán O'Keeffe states "our ultimate aim down the line is to have a senior team in the League of Ireland. While it may be a few years before we will be in a position to try and play League of Ireland football at senior level, it is attainable, and that will be our goal going into the future."
https://westernpeople.ie/2021/03/12/...ue-of-ireland/
A similar piece concerning Mayo
Maynooth is too close to Dublin and adding another Dublin team is not the answer.Maybe some clubs would follow the Cabinteely/Bray move. Longford and Athlone merge to have a real competitive club in the Longford Westmeath area. Kildare look towards Newbridge to try and avail of Naas support but also tie in with football in Laois.
Wexford and Kilkenny another option.
To get a competitive country team it will not survive just based on a local town and local support. The leagues are more difficult and expensive to play in and if Premier is the goal then funding and support are key.
I'm not sure if that post is serious Stav, I really hope it isn't.
I'll tell you what - if we all merged, we'd be guaranteed CL football every year.
The FAI, or someone giving a presentation on their behalf, was floating the idea of mergers such as between Longford and Athlone at the time they were taking over the league. Predictably went down like a fart in a spacesuit then too.
Merging could be an option for junior clubs who don't yet have any significant fan bases, but it would be a very difficult sell for most established league of Ireland clubs.
Still, it's happened elsewhere in Europe