LIttle things that annoy you about the league.....

[dundalkfc10]

i'll complain about all grounds, i'm not biased. but what annoys me is places like drogheda, finn harps, carlisle grounds and so on is year after year there never seems to be even the slighest improvements. they wouldn't have to be big ones just at least a slight change maybe. you look at utd park and has it changed any in the last 30-40 years? i'm not that old but since i was a child watching LOI about 20 years it looks the exact same. its 2017 and still some grounds are not fit to host a kick around you might have with your friends.

The grounds are not half as bad as made out! Heres my view on away ends

Bray: Away end is grand..Seats at 1st bit for elder support/families, good space for more vocal crowd past the Tv Gantry. Cant see the sideline on the away side (not really an issue, as you cant in most grounds)

Bohs: Away end is a bit of a dump, but its covered and has ample space. Viewing can be pretty poor if a large away crowd.

Cork: Top Quality Away End

Drogheda: My personal favourite, When the Cow Shed (away end) has 7/800 in it, the noise it generates is fantastic. Cant see the sideline though and theres plenty of Poles.

Derry: Plenty of space, very far away from the pitch. As for getting home on a bus

Sligo: Good space, covered. Cant see half of one pitch with all them fences up seperating home and away fans.

Rovers: Fantastic, apart from the atmosphere being non-exsistent.

Galway: Top notch, Plenty of space (we never really bring a crowd for some reason) Covered

Finn Harps: As bad as Oriel, but not as bad as people make out

Pats: Stand is grand, apart from not being able see one sideline. Behind the goals entrance side is grand once standing up the back. Shed is shocking!

Limerick: Decent pop up stand, good atmosphere! Great City and the locals love an old sing song before and after the match

[EatYerGreens]

This might sound like a trivial thing, but when I see LOI on TV I’m frequently frustrated by how poor the product looks, mostly due to the poor positioning of the gantry.

Most casual soccer fans in Ireland are used to watching CL and PL soccer from the perfect viewing angle on TV. If LOI grounds look better on TV, it might convince viewers to actually attend the games in person and it could even encourage TV networks to show more matches.

LOI games get little TV coverage as it is, so the clubs should really make sure that the product looks as good as possible on camera. Derry are probably the worst culprits. They’ve a brilliant curved stand, but the gantry sits inside it, facing the other side, which is extremely unsightly. Whenever Setanta/Eir are there for a live game they must erect a scaffold or something because they always have the camera pointed at the curved stand and it looks great. Luckily this should be fixed with the creation of the new stand but they should have erected a permanent gantry on that side years ago.

Sligo’s gantry is too close to the side-line and too low, as is the case with many grounds, like Longford, Bray, Drogheda, Wexford and Dundalk.

Richmond park look’s half decent on TV, but the bloody floodlight poles are frequently in the way of the play. This looks awful when matches are broadcast live, as was the case with the cup semi final vs cork last yr.

Athlone have some scrub land behind one of the goals and it looks dreadful.

Luckily it’s not all bad. Cork, Sham rovers, Bohs, Galway, Shels and Limerick all have their gantry placement at a decent height and distance from the pitch, and the cameras point towards their best stands.

I'd agree with this.

I guess the problem is that a lot of LOI grounds have one side that's in good condition, and another that's less so - a bi like Scottish lower league and English non-league grounds. And the facilities all tend to be put into the good side - including the TV gantry - so you get a camera view taken above a busy stand which is looking over at an empty part of the ground.

That's not the case for all grounds, but seems to be the rule for many of them.

[Mr A]

People slagging off the Gabay Report for saying small details are important, then saying small details are important

[Charlie Darwin]

Drogheda: My personal favourite, When the Cow Shed (away end) has 7/800 in it, the noise it generates is fantastic. Cant see the sideline though and theres plenty of Poles.

Racist.

[bluewhitearmy]

Any away section with no cover is a joke for the top tier of football in the country imo. Buncrana exceptionally awful where you had the choice of stand at the back near the wall to stay some way dry and not be able to see anything or see the game and get soaked, no food hot or cold available to away fans either really annoying.

[Larry 'da' Wyse]

Pat Fenlon ;-)

Actually it annoys me when so much of the media refer to our league as the League of Ireland. If we are trying to attract sponsorship then the FAI should hammer home the SSE Airtricity league as much as possible. Branding is important in any attempt to attract new investment. It must drive the sponsors crazy to see their name dropped so frequently in the print, tv and radio coverage.

[Straightstory]

. Cork, Sham rovers, Bohs, Galway, Shels and Limerick all have their gantry placement at a decent height and distance from the pitch, and the cameras point towards their best stands.

Don't think that's true of Cork - the camera is situated in the main stand, so the view is of the much smaller one on the other side of the pitch.

[blueblood]

Don't think that's true of Cork - the camera is situated in the main stand, so the view is of the much smaller one on the other side of the pitch.

And shamrocks rovers fans are under the camera with the emptier stand shown on TV

[Philosophizer]

Don't think that's true of Cork - the camera is situated in the main stand, so the view is of the much smaller one on the other side of the pitch.

Fair point, although the main stand doesn't stretch the full length of the pitch.

[Philosophizer]

And shamrocks rovers fans are under the camera with the emptier stand shown on TV

The cameras do point at the larger stand in Tallaght though. You're right that the "ultras" tend to position themselves under the gantry in the east stand but i'd still say that the main stand usually has more ppl in it.

[Mr A]

Actually it annoys me when so much of the media refer to our league as the League of Ireland. If we are trying to attract sponsorship then the FAI should hammer home the SSE Airtricity league as much as possible. Branding is important in any attempt to attract new investment. It must drive the sponsors crazy to see their name dropped so frequently in the print, tv and radio coverage.

Disagree. League of Ireland is our brand- it is merely sponsored by Airtricity. I don't think we should change to name for sponsors, it cheapens our brand which in turn actually damages the value we can deliver to sponsors.

[ger121]

The use of the word 'Domestic' when referring to the League or before the word Football. To differentiate between real football i.e. The Premier League & the local yellow pack stuff, that is the alien version.

[nigel-harps1954]

The thing that annoys me most is the holier than thou League of Ireland fans who absolutely tear the arse out of English football fans and ridicule those who don't attend games.

How in the utter jaysis are you supposed to attract any new fans to games when you treat them like scum?

[oriel]

The use of the word 'Domestic' when referring to the League or before the word Football. To differentiate between real football i.e. The Premier League & the local yellow pack stuff, that is the alien version.

The Irish Times still has the section covering LOI in print and online as 'national league'

I think I recall that term for a few seasons when Harp Lager sponsored the league, around 96-99.

[White Horse]

The Irish Times still has the section covering LOI in print and online as 'national league'

I think I recall that term for a few seasons when Harp Lager sponsored the league, around 96-99.

I wouldn't be surprised if it is intentional.

[Charlie Darwin]

National League was the official name at one point, alright. Always thought it was strange it's still that way on their site though.

[SeanDrog]

Oh oh quiz time (no google)

How many different names has the league had

Eircom league
Bord gas league
Airtricity league
And ?

Plz note I don't know the answer just love to see what ppl remember

[nigel-harps1954]

Oh oh quiz time (no google)

How many different names has the league had

Eircom league
Bord gas league
Airtricity league
And ?

Plz note I don't know the answer just love to see what ppl remember

Famous Fried Chicken League was there during the 80's I think? Newstalk were sponsors for a year too between Airtricity and Eircom I believe.

On that note, I actually think the First Division should have a separate title sponsor and sponsorship money to boost it a little bit.

[Longfordian]

Pat Grace Famous Fried Chicken League. I don't actually remember it being called that but I'll never forget the name. Talk about a small time name.

[Charlie Darwin]

Pat Grace's Famous Fried Chicken in Rathmines closed recently and SSE Airtricity is still going strong. That's all the proof I need.