2026 Attendances

[nr637]

2846 at Derry v Drogs.
What is it with the Derry home support?
Is there no faith in the Tieran Lynch or what!

[nigel-harps1954]

You wouldn't necessarily need to broadcast the commentary if you were just showing the goals? Could just have graphics and maybe crowd noise or someone introducing it. Not 100% ideal but better than not showing anything.

Separating crowd noise from commentary wouldn't be easy as they're all transferred together to LOITV.

[Longfordian]

Separating crowd noise from commentary wouldn't be easy as they're all transferred together to LOITV.

Fair enough so. Can understand the concerns around the commentary.

[EatYerGreens]

But I can't help wondering why Dublin, which is a genuine "football city" with a (wealthy) population of 1.3m (+ 750k in Greater Dublin?), cannot support more clubs to a high level. Compare that eg with Belfast, which has four clubs in the Prem and another four in the Championship.

You can only support what exists. The clubs in Belfast you mention are long-standing and part of the NI pyramid. There is no stampede of other Dublin clubs to join the LOI currently (beyond the new 3rd tier, which is a very separate animal really).

So the very simple answer to your question is that there is no credible demand for more Dublin clubs. There isn't even demand for UCD if we're being honest, and they're realistically only kept going by their university connection.

I would flip your question back on you and argue that there are just too many Belfast clubs in NI. The players aren't there for them all to function at a good level, and it's also indicative of how the Irish League has long been geographically massively-skewed (way beyond the population skew there). It's also much easier to keep a small poorly-supported club going in the north than it is in the LOI, as travel costs are much lower up there - and the limited number of full-time teams makes it easier for everyone who isnt to compete on much more of a shoestring. Dundela, Newington and Queens woulnd't stand a chance in the LOI First Division.