Well done Shams

[1st time post]

Mathematics Class:

12 points available, and you get 2 points. 12-2 =

Are you for real??Fair play to Shams on winning the league,i always think the table never lies and no matter what we started we ended up on 63 points which is enough to make us the 3rd best team in the league this season which seems about right to me,the fact that we didnt beat bohs or shams in the league this season is why we werent that little bit closer but looking forward to the Cup final and next year already.

[eelmonster]

Don't you know Sham Rovers get 2 points for a draw. Fookin FAI Dublin bias.

[harleyleeds]

mathematics class 2 : shams + officials + fai = league

[El-Pietro]

The difference is Rovers didnt cheat to win they league like the rest of them
I think....

what exactly did City do wrong in 05? it wasnt until 08 that Arkaga started spending ridiculous amounts

[Dixie Dean]

Christ almighty, the amount of actual football talk on here is almost non-existent with the amount of cringeily unfunny jibes everyone has to try to make all the time. Now we just need SkStu to show up and mention 4%, Reiteoir to mention a plastic bottle and then someone just to say the words Model Club and the cycle will be complete again.

We throw the bait you bite, its great craic, are you not enjoying it?

[Model Club]

mathematics class 2 : shams + officials + fai = league

The sadness in this post is what really gets to me.
I can handle most "banter" from opposition fans but as someone who attended 99% of Rovers games home and away,this season and most of the last 20,I can honestly say we have suffered as much as anyone with dodgy refereeing decisions,and of course we have benefitted from their ineptitude aswell.Some big and some small.

An example how fans differ in their opinion was brought home to me this year as I left Tallaght after a Sligo game were I felt the referee gave us nothing I overheard a Sligo fan saying something like,"How can we beat 12 men".I was so taken aback I took him up on his statement but he didn't want to know!
Which one of us was right,probably both.

The FAI "bias" is a bit more complex but all I can say is that the FAI has helped out many clubs in difficult circumstances over the years.Bohs and Drogheda spring to mind both with regard to their home grounds.
We have also rightly been on the receiving end of the FAI when they relegated us for submitting the wrong accounts.This fate has happened with Cork,Derry,Shels of course,all correctly.
People argue clubs like Dublin City and Kilkenny didn't recieve much help from the FAI but then I don't think they deserved help as they failed to attract a core support to prove these clubs had an appetite for long term survival.Cobh fans will I'd imagine suggest the FAI did feck all to help them but from the little I know a lot of the people down there wanted to be demoted in order to get their house in order.Their unfortunate timing with regard to the building of the aviva stadium and the FAI's lack of funds didn't help either.

To sum up I dont feel the FAI treated us any different than another club in our position in a fight to the last against the GAA.
Nor do I blame them for constantly refeering to us when trying to preach a gospel of sustainability in this car crash of a league-Who do you think they should refer to ??
In time the "model club" tag adopted with sarcastic distain by many will dilute as clubs like Derry,Cork.Drogheda,Cobh become "model clubs" themselves.
Rovers are just the first to rise from the ashes and are all the FAI can use in their propaganda war trying to defend and promote this league.

Rovers won the league because they scored more goals than bohs.The fact that we done so against a club living way beyond their means makes it all the sweeter.Their budget may have been in the same region but the difference is we could/can afford ours-They obviously can't.

Will Rovers be the first team since we last won the league not to go bust?.....Only time will tell,but all the wishful thinking from bohs fans among others won't affect this-No matter how hard they try.Having come through what I personally have supporting my team 20+ years and knowing those in charge well I am truly confident Rovers are here for the long haul.

[harleyleeds]

you won the league because bray second goal was not givin and it wasn't even a close call .

[legendz]

I'm not going discuss what players earn what or what they do for a living, but since to pick two of the above you listed have talked about it in the press, Pat Flynn works for Coca-Cola, Craig Sives for an electronics shop. Training sessions have to be organised around this which makes things very difficult. So yes, we are a part-time club and to win the league as such is a great achievement.

Good read in the Indo touching on the finances side:
http://www.independent.ie/sport/socc...n-2401327.html

[bingoballs]

Congrats Shams, best team over the full season. I just hope we bring the FAI Cup home with us.

[Nah Nah Nah Nah]

Mathematics Class:

12 points available, and you get 2 points. 12-2 =

Good comeback but most people would generally be talking about how many points their own team got from the games and not how many points they stopped the other team from getting

[BohsPartisan]

Did those other teams turn profits in the year they won the league?

http://www.tribune.ie/business/artic...ise-to-620570/

We were always at war with Eurasia.

[dfx-]

Galway are the best team, the best city, best people outside Dublin so fairplay to Sligo for overcoming these disadvantages to finish ahead of them. Credit where credit is due and all that.

Not winning the league though. For one, the FAI weren't on your side

[Model Club]

We were always at war with Eurasia.

You clutch away there BP,I'm sure you'll find one last straw somewhere.

As usual,you think you know but you don't.

[Model Club]

you won the league because bray second goal was not givin and it wasn't even a close call .

Lets have a game of.........."we got more bogey decisions than you".It'll make the Cork and Derry threads last year look like single posts and be just as much fun as "your hooligans are worse than ours" thats been dragging on in the cup semi thread for weeks now.

Or you could just accept Shamrock Rovers won the league on friday.There,there little HL's,it'll all be over soon!

[BohsPartisan]

You clutch away there BP,I'm sure you'll find one last straw somewhere.

As usual,you think you know but you don't.

As usual? Where was I posting anything like this before? Anyway carry on, not like I want to stop your self destruction.

[SkStu]

em, just wanted to say...

4%.

[bingoballs]

"your hooligans are worse than ours"

Eh, nobody has hooligans quite like shams really, ye top the league on that front too so double congratulations to the model club.

[Rasputin]

You're right, it wouldn't matter, and you're wrong, we're not the worst team to win it.

2 years ago, it was claimed by a big points gap. Was that the worst league in years?
3 years ago, it was won by a team who like the other champions in the era, bought it with borrowed money? Was that the worst league in years?
9 years ago, Shels blew a 12 point gap, to lose the league on goal difference. Was that the worst league in years?
In 2002, Pats were deducted 15 points in order to let Shels win the league. Was that the worst league in years? Were they the worst team to win the league in years?

I could go on, and it may be something you don't understand, but there is NO greater feeling as a fan than winning your own country's top league. Doesn't matter what the year, or the quality of the opposition, it's a whole year's work to get to where we are now. It's not won over 10 games, or 5 games, or half a season, it's won in this country over 36 games. You test yourself against all kinds of opposition 4 times a year in all types of conditions, and if you're first, it means you were the best in the country over the season. There's no prizes for most beautiful football, or longest unbeaten run, or highest possession stats, you get them for getting to the line in front of everyone else.

Last year, we took 12 points from Sligo, this year we took 10 off them. So despite the prettier football, there is no argument over who is the better side results wise at this time.

Winning the league in turn results in CL football, where 2 rounds won = UEFA Cup group stage at least, and 1 round won = UEFA Cup playoffs at least. It leads to higher crowds at home and away games, and increased revenue which in turn attracts more sponsors and better players, and more success. We're not Cork, or Drogs, or Shels. Our board know what they're doing, and run the club as it should be run. It works.

Ive watched the league over the past decade and this Shams team is the worst footballing side to win the league in the past decade.
Nothing to do with statistics or that, just on watching your performances this season you were at best mediocre.
Now as you pointed out there that doesnt say much about the league, including ourselves.
Your absolutely right, the standard of the league this season has absolutely plummeted in comparison to years gone past.
Any impartial observer will tell you the same that Shams are the worst LOI winners in the past decade.
Also because I know the usual victimisation by Shams fans will be thrown out here, if for example that Bohs won the league on the last day instead of Shams I would be saying the exact same thing. Only difference is that Bohs fans seem to realise how bad their team actually was while Shams fans continue their delusions of grandeur.
And yes I know we have only knocked you out of the LC this season and havent beaten you in the league hence why you are more desrving winners than us.
Your the best of a very average and generally bad lot.

[legendz]

It was a poor league this season. The league did suffer from the loss of Cork and Derry. There was a quality deficit. Drogheda and Bray weren't good enough either. They should have been relegated last season and added little to the league this season with the second chance they had. It is a bit harsh on those clubs though. The Drog's have their problems and Bray had been preparing for life in Division One. Bray in fairness though have got their act together late in the season and I can see them surviving. I'm hoping for a better quality league next season, with all provinces represented.

[mypost]

Good comeback but most people would generally be talking about how many points their own team got from the games and not how many points they stopped the other team from getting

You've never heard of "1 point won, 2 points lost" so.

12-2 =

An Fear Sligeach: "8"

Try again. 12-2 =

"10"

Very good. You might get a gold star for the right answer. Except in your case, it's the bronze star for 3rd place.