Return to Winter Football
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Meh
It's a fair point. Winter football is not the answer. A move to a 16 team Premier would've been something new, bring top flight football to more parts of the country. There is talk at the moment that Division One will be two sections of 8 below the Premier of 12. They could easily have one division of 8 below a Premier of 16 and work to build on the number of clubs in Division One through the A Championship.
How on earth is sport supposed to thrive in the current conditions? Dublin practically shut down last week and you want us to market a product that gets people to stand outside for 2 hours in that weather? It's a ridiculous suggestion to begin with.
Summer/ Winter football isn't the cause of the LOI's problems, but for God's sake lets not make the near on impossible task of making the league into a sustainable identity harder for ourselves.
You don't need any evidence, its simply common sense.
MD
It's barely a point at all. If you want to say something's not the answer, say why it's not the answer. "Cancer is bad" isn't a point. That's the problem with this whole debate - people by and large are taking sides, sticking rigidly to their viewpoint and not offering a single mite of evidence in favour of their position.
Again, this is the whole problem. Of course you need evidence. This winter and last winter were bad; that's evidence, but it's also short-term thinking. Most of the ones before that weren't bad; that's also evidence.Originally Posted by mrtndvn
So again - saying something that is ridiculous, or that it doesn't need evidence or that is self-evidently common sense is going to get this thread locked.
over the years ive heard every argument for not attending LOI games from football is crap, not enough locals playing,facuilities are **** etc ,they are to me nonsense and excuses nothing more and the move from summer to winter is no different if you support your team/club you will be there regardless if you are a fair weather supporter you will find a excuse why you cant go.Summer football is not the solution to all our problems but it is the best time to view our league and ive never found one reason why a return to winter would help in any way.
.
I wish i did not know then what I dont know now
Stu, either way, it's not a massive problem. Someone said that because the league survived that winter football shouldn't be ruled out.
Simply "surviving " shouldn't be a barometer for anything, which was where I was going with my cancer example.
It won't make or break the league. I haven't done a survey, but I don't know anyone in this country who would prefer to stand outside in minus 3 compared to 10-15 degrees.
I love a good debate with valid points made on both sides, but there is no debate in this. It's a non issue.
It's such a non issue, I wish the moron's running our clubs and league would spend their time and energy more productively and work on some of the leagues actual problems.
MD
I honestly think there's pretty much nothing to choose either way. It's basically not that important in terms of helping the league improve.
cant really say its a non issue while i strongly disagree with winter football im aware that some clubs feel very passiontly about this and are intitled to their opinion
I wish i did not know then what I dont know now
Can anyone give me 3 good reasons why Summer Football is so superior??
I'll give ye a hint "Europe" and "the weather" don't count.
the answer is in the question summer is better than winter unless your sport is downhill skiing
anyway
1. better pitches
2. better football
3. travel (teams and Supporters)
I wish i did not know then what I dont know now
I don't think this has been posted yet. Ex-Bohs striker Jon Daly has suggested Scottish sides should follow suit and adopt summer football.
http://www.thecourier.co.uk/Sport/Fo...-football.htmlJon Daly signals support for summer football
Dundee United striker Jon Daly insists the SPL should switch to summer football like Ireland — and reap the benefits by watching their stock rise in Europe.
Dubliner Daly is convinced one of the key reasons Irish outfits like Bohemians and Shelbourne have punched above their weight in the European arena in recent seasons is the timing of their domestic season which runs from March until to November to beat the big freeze.
The Emerald Isle campaign just finished last month with champions Shamrock Rovers now looking forward to their foray into next season's Champions League qualifiers.
United skipper Daly, who led the Tangerines into Europe when they took on AEK Athens earlier in the season, would love to see Scotland copy their example as the current cold snap continues to wreak havoc here.
Daly said, "It's worked beyond all doubt back in Ireland so I can't think of any reason why it wouldn't be just as successful here in Scotland.
"They always start the season around March time so when the first European involvement comes round there's nobody ring-rusty.
"Everyone is raring to go and well into their stride by then and that's something which has been borne out by results.
"Back there I know for a fact the teams there put a lot of their success in Europe down to the timing of the domestic season.
"The players themselves tell you they relish turning out in better weather when you're able to get the ball down and play, which is what you need to do when you go into Europe.
"That's why I think here in Scotland we'd do well to really consider a similar approach.
"It's clearly got its benefits when you look at the bigger all-round picture both here and abroad.
Profile
"The SPL obviously needs to try to keep up its profile outwith Scotland, and if they were to change things around I doubt if they'd regret it."
Irish football is on the up and so much so that the state-of-the-art Aviva Stadium in Dublin has been chosen as the venue for the glamour Europa League final in May.
Republic of Ireland national boss Giovanni Trapattoni has also been busy scouring the Airtricity Irish League for home-grown talent to boost his squad.
Daly believes it makes perfect sense to close down in the bitter winter months.
Daly added, "I think the punters just about everywhere prefer to come out for a game when the weather is more favourable, which is true of Ireland as well.
"The crowds are up over there, which happens when there's a good product and the climate is more pleasant.
"There are a lot of other sporting attractions in Ireland so football has to make sure matches are played at the right time.
"They seem to have got it down to a fine art, though, so hats off to them for that.
"The crowds back there are healthy, too. It helps when you're not attempting to play games in the depths of winter when some people are finding it hard just to get out the house and get to work.
"To be honest, it's been horrendous here over the past week or so.
"At Dundee United, we've been restricted to indoor training recently which is never ideal.
"And this week it looks as though the gaffer will be giving us some beach running just to keep us ticking over."
Somebody better call England, Scotland, France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Holland, Greece, Brazil, Argentina and a couple more, tel them the error of their ways.
Eventhough all your 3 points basically boil down to "the weather is bad in December and January" I'll try deal with them anyway:
Debatable, a rubbish pitch tends to be a rubbish pitch all year round. A small bit of investment from clubs would see a lot of pitches fixed anyway but thats a debate for a different thread.1. better pitches
Humping the ball at the corner flag works just as well in Summer as Winter. 95% of the ball played in the First Division is appalling stuff, Rovers won the Premier with a tactic of "belt it in the general direction of Gary Twigg". If the football hasn't became samba like by now when will it happen??2. better football
Again that's really meh. People favouring Summer seem to have it in their heads that Ireland turns into a post apocalyptic waste ground during the winter months. They also assume that there would be no winter break when there's every possibility there could be one brought in. The league as is runs til mid November FFS.3. travel (teams and Supporters)
Ya, nice one Jon...............
Of course the crowds are healthy: summer football put an end to all the nasty coughs and colds you get standing round a field in the middle of winter.
Give me two reasons Fianna Fáil shouldn't run the country.
I'll give you a hint, corruption and incompetence don't count!
I don't get it :S
LTID,
As someone who has spent the guts of the last decade driving to nearly every game in a season there is no contest in terms of travel between travelling home from games in the summer and in the winter there is no comparison. Anyone claiming otherwise is being deliberate obtuse.
Where in any of what you quoted did I claim otherwise??
My point (I put in a bit of bold and all to emphasise it) was that everyone is getting into a massive lather without having any facts. Now if there was a WINTER BREAK which is a distinct possibility, then I wouldn't see the problem.... because there would be no problem, the season already runs to mid November FFS. You can get bad roads in September, October, November, Febuary, even into March and April, I remember it flogged rain in June once, it was crazy!!!!
Even if you were indifferent between summer and winter (i prefer summer BTW) the fact that the season is now summer gives it an advantage. You would have to have a VERY good reason to change and start the difficult process that switching seasons would involve and I can't think of a good enough reason to do it.
I'm what? I'm ants at a picnic?
?????
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