Airtiricity League XI v Manchester United confirmed for Aviva Stadium on August 4

[MariborKev]

RLP,

The League cup semis are on the start of that week. Here is my five point marketing plan.

1. Spend the money that the FAI spent on bringing United over to publicise it
2. Play the two games on the one night
3. Charge a €5 or a €10 in
4. Offer every affliated club in Ireland the chance to buy two tickets to the game(Same way the GAA did for Dubs v Tyrone last year)
5. Have a shed load of promotions at the game

I could go on, but there in 30 seconds is more creativity than the FAI have shown.

[Razors left peg]

RLP,

No harm done. However I would say that the % of "sinn fein" attitude you speak is nothing in comparison to the % of people who seem to revel in talking down the domestic game. No one here has any illusions about it(how can a player than cost €10k compared with one that cost €40m) but there is nothing wrong in standing up for the domestic product. Decisions like this one just appear to be a slap in face for people.

Couldnt agree more that the % of people that talk the domestic game down is much higher, we are struggling to get crowds of a thousand in Terryland in a city whos pubs are full to the rafters every sunday for premiership games. But we need to find ways of changing peoples minds and I think games like these dont hurt at all and instead of dismissing them out of hand as just a bullsh1t money maker for the FAI we should just try to look on the positive side a bit more.

[Razors left peg]

RLP,

The League cup semis are on the start of that week. Here is my five point marketing plan.

1. Spend the money that the FAI spent on bringing United over to publicise it
2. Play the two games on the one night
3. Charge a €5 or a €10 in
4. Offer every affliated club in Ireland the chance to buy two tickets to the game(Same way the GAA did for Dubs v Tyrone last year)
5. Have a shed load of promotions at the game

I could go on, but there in 30 seconds is more creativity than the FAI have shown.

Cant argue with anything u said there really bar the first one. I think games like this should be used in conjuction with those and other ideas to get people through the gates.

[Lim till i die]

Fair enough the clubs probably wont benefit from it financially, but do you not think that the league could use all the positive publicity it can get?

There is ZERO positive publicity to be gained from watching a team of players their clubs aren't using being managed by an eccentric clown during a walk about against yawning Man United players infront of a crowd of plastic hammer wavin Antos.

I think instead of crappin all over the idea of it and saying it'll be rubbish coz it will be full of United fans,

I said nothing of the kind, Face it, if every LoI regular in the country went they wouldn't even half fill the place

as many league of ireland fans as possible should go to the game in their own teams colours

I wouldn't give the FAI a euro of my hard earned jobseekers allowance personally.

I know one friendly isnt gonna make feck all difference but everything helps.

In no way does this game help anyone except the FAI.

I dont think its minnowism to play against United in a friendly

It's minnowism to be grateful that the governing body of our game sees fit to arrange a Mickey Mouse friendly in the middle of a raft of important domestic and European fixtures and expects clubs to hand over players for it.

[Dodge]

instead of dismissing them out of hand as just a bullsh1t money maker for the FAI we should just try to look on the positive side a bit more.

So you thik the FAi will charge only enough to cover costs? Or do you think every penny they make will be put back into marketing the league

Or do you think they'll make a bit a cash and pay off some of the money they borrowed to pay for the stadium?

[Razors left peg]

Lim Til I die, how is this friendly any different to any other the other friendlies that all LOI clubs will play against british clubs over the summer? As I said Im glad that the LOI will be involved in the first game in the stadium and they have to play against someone. no point in saying it should have been 2 loi teams when we can even fill our own stadiums

[Razors left peg]

So you thik the FAi will charge only enough to cover costs? Or do you think every penny they make will be put back into marketing the league

Or do you think they'll make a bit a cash and pay off some of the money they borrowed to pay for the stadium?

Of course they will make money from it and yeah they will probably pay off some of the loans, I dont have a problem with that.

[Dodge]

Lim Til I die, how is this friendly any different to any other the other friendlies that all LOI clubs will play against british clubs over the summer?

I'll asnwer that if you don't mind LTID...

The difference is that LOI clubs make money from their own games.

[Lim till i die]

Lim Til I die, how is this friendly any different to any other the other friendlies that all LOI clubs will play against british clubs over the summer?

Erm, mainly the fact that if a LoI club arranges a friendly against foreign opposition and runs it properly the LoI club benefits.

Whereas all this does is keep the wolves away from the FAI's doors for another few months.

EDIT: Well played, mr Dodge

[Lim till i die]

of course they will make money from it and yeah they will probably pay off some of the loans, i dont have a problem with that.

ole, ole, ole, ole, ole, ole

[Dodge]

Of course they will make money from it and yeah they will probably pay off some of the loans, I dont have a problem with that.

But then why are you trying to claim its anything but a money maker? its not.

The ONLY reason a LOI side is involved is because it costs the FAI NOTHING to use them. Irish Club sides would expect a cut. Foreign sides would expect a fee. even international players get fees

[Lim till i die]

Listen to the Dodge, he knows what's up

[Razors left peg]

Lads ye are entitled to yer opinions, its after 1 and Im wrecked so this will my last word on it. Yes the FAI will make money on it and like I said I dont mind that,the loans on the stadium have to be paid so money does have to be made somehow.If u of the opinion that u hate the national team and dont want anything to do with the FAI paying for a stadium well then thats a whole different arguement.
I still think that a game like this will be good publicity for the league and I think more games like this should happen,but of course other things need to be done too. The timing of the game could be better but if the main reason people think its a bad idea is because it will make money for the big bad men of the FAI then theres not alot I can say to change their minds.
If it gets 10 extra people through the gates of Terryland from the publicity then I will be happy enough

[Lim till i die]

If it gets 10 extra people through the gates of Terryland from the publicity then I will be happy enough

Minnowism

[Dodge]

but if the main reason people think its a bad idea is because it will make money for the big bad men of the FAI then theres not alot I can say to change their minds.

Not one person gave that reason. Some are against it because the ONLY people to make money are the FAi and Man U. But if clubs were to benefit, I think most would be happy enough to see the FAi coveer their costs...

If it gets 10 extra people through the gates of Terryland from the publicity then I will be happy enough

Again, you've missed the point entirely. How will a game between a LOI selection (which should have no representations from galway if it was done on merit) and Man utd get one person through the gate at terryland? Everybody who's interested in football in galway is already aware of Galway United's existence, and they choose not to go. How will this game change their mind?

[Lim till i die]

How will this game change their mind?

It will be on Sky Sports and that.

Can you imagine if the English FA asked for a Premier League selection to play midweek in Wembley on a Champions League night?!

No, Neither could I.

[Charlie Darwin]

Correct me if I'm wrong (I was in the States at the time so I'm relying on second hand information), but weren't Rovers' home games sold out for the few weeks after the Real fixture? If this fixture boosts the profile of the AL even a small bit, it should be viewed in a positive light, and if the Airtricity XI do well then that's an added bonus. Plus, it should be a good opportunity to see Gibson, Evans and, possibly, O'Shea in action.

[Jicked]

Basically this game puts us on a par with Thailand and Malaysia and other such countries which invite Man Utd/Liverpool etc over to beat an invitational XI.

Perhaps I'm wrong but I don't know of Austria, Norway, Switzerland, Denmark, Cyprus, Hungary, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Czech Republic, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Poland and other countries with teams that aren't likely to dominate Europe, but have teams in direct competition with television audiences in Spain/Italy/England/Germany, lowering themselves to such an embarrassing degree.

The FAI, our national footballing governing body, basically ignore the fact we have a very competitive UEFA co-efficient league (good enough to put out teams from Russia, Scandinavia etc.) and embarass fans of football in Ireland in favour of selling 50,000 tickets to barstoolers, instead of selling 30,000 tickets by having a LoI game, or even an XI versus a team that isn't in direct comptetition with the FAI's market (i.e. not Man Utd/Liverpool/Celtic and play a prestigous foreign side, something a "small" "irrelevant" team like Shamrock Rovers were able to be a part of with huge success, to the point of being broadcast in just about every football playing country in the world....how many of you remember Thaliand XI losing by a cricket score to Spurs or whoever last yeah?)

I'm not an economics scholar, but at some stage someone at the FAI must have considered that hey, we're comparing the dregs of our product to the barstoolers wet dream that is Man Utd. If they were serious about promoting the league in this country that is suicide.

But we all know they're not. They're serious about doing whatever they possible can to get cash in the bank, even if it is to the detriment of football in this country. Just look at John Delaney is so mornonic that he thought football in Ireland would have been best served by getting our least glamrous fixtures out of the way first, to fill Lansdowne Road early on, instead of having the common sense to see that Irish football would be better served by having us qualify instead of having an extra 5,000 fans watch us beat Andorra 3-0.

In a normal country this would be enough to have Delaney's head on a platter.

Instead we should all look forward to Delaney talk about how he promoted the game in Ireland by standing behind Platini this evening in Hamburg. The pathetic Irish media will also gleefully report on the superstars like a crippled Owen Hargreaves and Fulham youth team prosepect Smalling opening the new Lansdowne Road, and focus the majority of their reports on how cool John Delaney's scarf looked on the telly, for fear of losing their press accreditation and losing the chance of asking Thomas Kuzkack what he thinks of the new stadium.

Does anyone else ever wonder what the f.c.king point is in having a League of Ireland?

As has already been mentioned before in this thread, I'd be delighted if this led to some sort of protest from Irish football fans. It's certainly the only way I'd ever consider going to such a cringeworthy game, it'd be great if Ultras groups could put aside rivalry for a night to embarass the FAI, and confessed Man Utd super fan John Delaney, in any way.

[Lim till i die]

Does anyone else ever wonder what the f.c.king point is in having a League of Ireland?

I think the FAI has to have one so they can keep going on the oul international junkets??

[Dodge]

The point of the LOI is so we can look down on the type of saps who are looking forward to this

obviously