Can understand the point about U20 teams.
But LoI is lower league. As the results have shown.
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Perhaps, but we've consistently outperformed all non Celtic Scottish clubs in Europe. I realise there is a gap in the LOI between the top and bottom of the Premier but entering this lowers the perception of the league as a whole. The league isn't perfect and there are biggest issues we need to face but it doesn't help us.
I don't begrudge any LOI fan a trip to see their team play in this competition but its a lose-lose situation. Best case scenario you win it and you get "sure you were supposed to be beating that lot". You don't win it and its "sure you couldn't even beat Celtics reserves".
I don't think the kind of people who would judge the league based on a loss to Falkirk are the kind of people who would be convinced to give it a go anyway in fairness.
I wouldn't be too worried about their view tbh.
Doesn't bother me in the slightest that we turned it down. I'm sure if it was financially rewarding then we would have gone for it.
Hoping for an away match. It’s as close to a European trip as we get these days.
imo the Irn Bru Cup would have more respect if it was a knock cup competion both home and away. why does it have to be in scotland the whole time I ask?
Scotland is a big/spread out country that's not very well inter-connected.
Knock Airport may be almost an hour down the road from Sligo, but where will it get you to in Scotland ? Just Edinburgh. With one flight a day. Six days a week. See how you get on travelling from Sligo to play someone like Peterhead or Elgin, via the Knock to Edinburgh flight.
In comparison Dublin Airport has multiple flights to Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Inverness. Plus also Carlisle, which could be handy for fixtures in the south-west of Scotland. The ferry from Belfast to Cairnryan is also much more doable from Dublin than it is from Sligo Handy for games against Stranraer, for example.
No matter what way you look at it is will be easier, quicker and cheaper for a Dublin club to fulfil fixtures in Scotland than it will be for Sligo. I appreciate it's annoying, but it's the way things are.
When was the last time an LOI side played a Scottish team in Europe though ? Since then, there have been 2 parallel dynamics which I think have changed things quite a bit.
Firstly - LOI teams are not as good as they were 10 or so years ago when there was a lot more money (and professional players) knocking around the league.
Secondly - the SPL is now less of an Old Firm stitch up, what with Rangers being out of it for 4 years and not finishing in the Top 2 since they got back. That appears to have allowed other teams to develop a bit e.g. Aberdeen and Hibs. You only have to look at how Aberdeen did against Burnley in Europe - registering two score draws, and only going out in extra time away from home. Would any LOI side have done the same against Burnley if we're honest ? I fear that both Aberdeen and Hibernians would knock any LOI side out of Europe these days.
City gave Burnley a game two weeks ago. Lost one nil with mostly our subs and some kids and trialists. I think English teams are beatable at this stage. West ham got beaten by a Maltese or Gibraltar side I think?
If you want a direct comparison take a look at Scottish and Irish teams records against Swedish teams.
I'd say if you wanted a direct comparison, you should compare Scottish and Irish teams' records against each other to be honest.
Comparing them against a country we happen to have an unusually good record against isn't a direct comparison.
Last IRL v SCO meeting in Europe was Derry v Gretna (featuring the memorable SuperGretna). Obviously that was the peak of the LoI bubble against a side just promoted from the Second Division (albeit with a lot of money behind them), so it's not a great comparison.
I think if you take out not just Cork and Dundalk - who are clearly well clear of the other clubs at the moment - but also the two other European qualifiers, then the Irn-Bru playing field is quite level.
F**kin dead right.
If I was a boez fan(😱) I'd be definitely pencilling this trip in.
It seems fans are here are "only thinking of my clubs finances" when they rubbish this tournament. What about their own selfish needs/wants?
What about going away with a group of lads & lasses on the pi$$ for 2/3 days in a foreign town, and having great craic.
Ive been away with Rovers on countless euro trips/ pre season friendlys etc and the buzz and camaraderie it creates amongst the fan base often made up for the dirge we were forced to watch on the pitch.
Why any LOI fan would want to turn that down is beyond me!!
It's a reward for suffering through the pains of LOI.
Presumably Pats will be paying their players the week of the early rounds anyway ? Only additional costs are potential travel costs, probably little more than a trip to Sligo or Cork ? As the FAI accepted the invitation to participate clubs should take up with them the issue of costs arirsing BEFORE the season starts (not like it was just invented).
Hilarious BTW, that a concern is 'progress in the tounrnament ' :rolleyes:
Fairly certain that travels costs for the teams from Ireland, the North, Wales and England are covered by the organisers
First off Im not saying its annoying. We are used to travelling to away games. Our away games are actually away games, unlike a lot of teams in the Pale. The price of a bus to Dublin or around Scotland isint going to be the make or break on finances when you consider whether to to take up the invitation to that competition.
The geography of the club isint an excuse or a burden, its just how it is. In fairness by your logic we would should probably not compete in Europe or even the LOI for that matter because we have to travel further. Sligo Rovers is sometimes called the North West Frontier in terms of football (there is pretty good book of that name by Conall Collier who follows Rovers around in the 1990s). It will give you a good insight into how much travelling has to be done. Travel costs us more than most clubs and fans. Its the way it is, we are well used.