I think we should also have a Member of Parliament in Westminster to represent Ireland in the world's greatest democracy. After all, if Irish football would be best served by having a club in the EPL, Irish politics cannot be taken seriously on a global scale until we have a representative in England. Teckno is the obvious choice and is assured of my vote.
Too right BL.Originally Posted by Billy Lord
If only them damn Shinners would start taking their seats in Westminister, the Celts might have a chance of getting into the EPL as well.
Absolutel joke from Cullen. Given football was the only sport in RTE review of the year where foreign action featured, why are we surprised?
We're not paranoid, but that doesn't mean they aren't out to get us.
Last edited by MariborKev; 22/12/2008 at 12:09 AM.
To promote a foreign league, not our league. And if posts on here are to be believed, football is already the most-played sport in Ireland.
One club will cater for every Irish footballer who wants to play in UK leagues? How big will the squad be?
Fans who are willing to travel to the UK to watch games are not willing to cross the road to watch LOI football. How will making premiership football even more accessible to those fans help to increase LOI attendences?
Is this club just going to hand over money to help develop clubs who would be competing directly for the same fanbase? Or will the club actually be run by the FAI?
Your arguments seem to be based on the idea that football fans in Ireland are actually not aware of the existence of the LOI, and that having a premiership club in Ireland is going to make these fans more aware of, and attracted to, a domestic league which would get even less media exposure than it currently does.
Last edited by osarusan; 22/12/2008 at 12:15 AM.
I don't see how they would expect to get 50,000 at Landsdown rd for Dublin Utd V York in the Blue square premier league as that would probably be the point of english foorball that entry would begin.
What a load of toss.
So if you think Bohs are big read this. http://www.astronomy.ie/perpespective.html
The irony in all this is that due to the hype the premiership has in Ireland it appears to that there's a large minority of people like Cullen et al who probably believe the premiership represents Irish football in the same way Celtic does and believe it's Ireland's RIGHT that a team from Dublin be given entry diretly into the Premiership. Quite extraordinary really , and embarassing in this day and age that "Uncle Tom" figures such as Cullen are political representatives of an independent state.
Oh well, happy Christmas from Australia to all LoI fans and lets hope 2009 proves to be a better year for the game.
The MK Dons move would suggest that a consortium could quite easily buy an ailing club and simply move them….
Ok it wouldn’t be simple as they would be moving out of the jurisdiction of the FA, so not quite the same as moving from Merton to Milton Keynes but the principal of franchise football has already been established. If lets say a club like Scunthorpe (picked completely at random) were about to go under, the Football League & FA may very well say "ok" if the only offer on the table included them moving to Dublin. Lot’s of hype & promotion to the championship in year one, they would then get good crowds in the Championship with plenty of money invested and no need to build a new stadium there would be a feel good factor (a bit like SundIreland’s promotion run) which would draw in the crowds and once promoted they might have to be mid-table for a couple of seasons but again with proper investment and a good Irish manager (Martin O’Neil for example) they may well be pushing for Cups and/or the SkyBig4.
For Sky it would be a massive coup to have an Irish team in there, a sizeable market for its products would be given a boost and there would be and added marketing angle, how long before Dublin Utd V’s Liverpool became a Super Sunday Derby Clash??
I am to a large degree playing devils advocate, it’s very easy to say “It’ll never happen” but Wimbledon fans probably thought the same thing…
The reasons I think it won’t happen are
It would need the support of both the FAI & UEFA, this would probably be the biggest stumbling block as clearly the domestic league would suffer and despite the suggestion that it could benefit local sides I can’t see the likes of Shels, Rovers, Pats & Bohs especially being supportive of a new super club which would basically drain them of any potential fan base growth. The FAI would need to either cut themselves off completely from the project, which would in turn imho mean UEFA would intervene to block it or else the FAI would have to essentially cut their ties with the LOI which you would hope would see a large scale protest from domestic teams causing UEFA again to intervene.
They would need to rent LR from the IRFU, not as simple a proposition as you might think, obviously money talks etc.. but what would happen during the 6 nations when Ireland have 3 games in 4/5 weeks, along with Leinsters Heineken cup games & other Domestic/Schools Rugby games there would be a lot of weekends where the pitch would be in use 2 or 3 days in a row, this happens in the UK with clubs who share with RU sides (Watford & Saracens, Reading & London Irish etc..) but imagine 4 games on a pitch in 8 days in February, what state would the pitch end up in?? Also obviously as owners the IRFU would have first call on its use which would make organizing games a nightmare, not an insurmountable obstacle but an obstacle none the less.
Finally the FA, while they may love the money, it also creates a headache for the English FA, you could well have the regular issue of European qualification that we seen when Cardiff reached the Cup final this season. The other issue would be that it also would mean an entire club that would have no need to pander to the needs of the English national team, Yeah I know Arsenal are virtually there!! For the FA to have a club based outside of England with no English players (and I am guessing here but I would imagine that Dublin Utd would not have (m)any English players as its whole ethos would be to play on the national pride for Irish players, we could maybe have the odd overseas Superstar but surely not anyone from the Auld enemy!) would go against the FA’s supposed focus on hosting and winning the World Cup in the not too distant future.
please crawl under a stone
i have emailed, but my message was a bit strong!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Amazing to think that we have a (very sizeable) population so gullible to the marketing of Sky Sports that they believe they know what's best for the game of football in Ireland.
Aren't Sunderland Irish? Martin, waht next are you going to claim our great Glasgow club Tweedledum aren't Irish too?
This is the idiot who came up with evoting machines that use 20 yearold computer technology and then spends millions storing machines that were obsolete years before he even bought them.
Ha good one! You do realise that to compete in the English top-flight, Dublin Utd or whatever they might be called would need as much revenue as possible from these fantastical attendences. So very little money would filter back to the LoI.
Another thing. You'd get 4 games sold out. United, Liverpool, chelsea and Arsenal. How many people would go to see games against Stoke, Bolton, etc?
Anyhow, its a stupid idea,
Here they come! It’s the charge of the “Thanks” Brigade!
Which buddy of George Bush, anti-democratic oil sheikh, Russian mineral wealth thief or south-east Asian torturer would own Dublin United?
A sure why dosent cullen abolish league of ireland football altogether or better still get himself a season ticket cross channel and leave us alone GOB****E
No - you show a basic lack of understnading of how football works. Just because there is a team in an area doesen't mean that our best young players go there. If a Premiership franchise was set up in Dublin it would want to be successful, thus it would take its players from all over the world and no more than at Man U or Celtic only a very small number of players from here would make it over the longer term. You also assume that the fans of British clubs in Ireland would support a new team - there are over a million United fans in Ireland, throw in Liverpool and Celtic and you probaly cover half the population, or 90% of soccer fans, they would not be changing their allegiance.(Thats aside from the fact that its an insult to our own clubs).
Firstly, how the hell does this 'team' constructed from thin air and ministerial fecal matter gain entry into a league that some 60 other clubs in the UK have to compete to enter?
Secondly, entering an Irish team in a UK competition amounts to an admission that we are practically one in the same. We are an (almost) independent nation which should be fully capable of sustaining a decent league (look at Scotland who have a similar population). Any such move would only detract from the LOI. You want to increase interest in the LOI by having people watch another league?
Thirdly, the problem of young Irish players being snapped up by UK clubs is hardly one which is overstated but one to which this hairbrained scheme offers no solution.
Finally, what guarantees do we have that this team would be filled from the Irish ranks and if it were then how competitive would it be?
If anything that has ever been said or done by our government has made me ashamed of this country (and there have been numerous examples this year alone) this is right up there.
We tend to believe that words enable thought. But words can also substitute for thought.
- Richard A. Posner
The funny thing is that if this was posted by one of the numerous idiots on this forum, it'd be sent to rubbish. There are plenty of reason why it won't happen, and even more reasons why it'd fail if it was allowed to happen.
Laughable if it didn't show, once agin, what we're up against it
54,321 sold - wws will never die - ***
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New blog if anyone's interested - http://loihistory.wordpress.com/
LOI section on balls.ie - http://balls.ie/league-of-ireland/
Jesus relax! Its Christmas. Marty had obviously had a sherry or two and decided to let us in on his own pipe dream. It wont happen. It cant happen. Pineapple Stu is as we speak listing the reasons and UEFA/FIFA rules that will prevent it from happening. He should have the full list by October next year theres that many of them.
I didnt anything after this, he's clearly taking the **** or just someone who would enfuriate me.
"Give franchise football the red card."
Briogáid Dearg, FTA
I think we all know it won't happen. It's more about pointing out where the priorities of the Minister of Sport in this country lies.
As Dodge said, it just shows what you're up against
I could see 50,000 turning up every second week, only problem is they would all be supporting the English teams.Edit; And also no way are 50,000 irish people gonna show up twice a week. The only kind of people this idiotic idea would attract are event junkies and no way are 50,000 thousand of them gonna show up to watch a dublin franchise team play the likes of Boro, Wigan and Fulham etc. I'm not too worried about this as thee is no chance of it taking off.
Chuck Norris don't want it.
That is all.
On a serious note though (accepting that it won't happen for the reasons noted), would the barstoolers of the country ditch Liverpool/Man Utd/Arsenal/whoever to take up watching a team in Dublin? It'd sell out with "away" "fans" for the big games only and be a damp squib the rest of the time.
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