QuoteOriginally Posted by Crosby87
It cannot be ruled out, and there has been more than a whiff of backscratching about the whole thing.
You have no idea how irrelevant that is in the context of getting the required number of votes.
Also, how does Dodge know this random stuff?! Jesper Gronkjaer once played in the Plassey Bowl in Limerick! Is that the pitch in UL or where is it?
Last edited by pineapple stu; 03/12/2010 at 12:16 PM.
It cannot be ruled out, and there has been more than a whiff of backscratching about the whole thing.
I once had a teacher who said 'We Irish think the whole world loves us but in reality most of them dont even know we exist', which I would agree with apart from a vague awareness in some quarters, of our ability to drink, terrorise and more recently be spectacularly skint. After Englands humbling yesterday, I would doubt they are saying, or are likely to feel a link up with Ireland would have made the difference. Nor would it have, or be in any way likely to in future.
Its not that random. Plus, you know, I'm a geek.
2 lads I went to school with were on the provisional Irish squad for it too.
BTW wiki is wrong. The games they have listed for the Iveagh Grounds were actually played in Richmond Park. When it was announced Richmond wasn't re-opened (happened in Dec 93) but the games were 100% in Inchicore and not Crumlin
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/
Is there anyone that doesn't think that would be a more pertinent question.
Is there anyone who'd be remotely surprised?
yeah, that's the pitch in UL. It's behind the arena, where the 50m swimming pool is. Munster use it for training.
I went to one of the games at the bowl, but can't remember who was playing
It's not quite the same thing, but I remember about 15/20 years ago, there was a meeting somewhere and the purpose was to have people interested in hosting the olympics to come along and see all the details of what hosting the tournament entailed. There was a reporter from RTE at the meeting, and when he was asked if it was feasible that Ireland would be able to host the olympics at some point in the future, his reply was that he didn't think we even had the facilities to host the meeting he'd just been at.
I know it's not the same thing, as the olympics are a far far broader tournament, but the world cup (and Euros) is totally out of range. An underage tournament that saw 5-10 stadia developed into say 5,000 capacity all-seaters would be feasible and good for LOI as well.
Last edited by osarusan; 03/12/2010 at 2:29 PM.
Professional soccer at the top level is run by such odious individuals and the circus that they oversee is so grotesque most of the time, would we even want them here? I'm more than happy to view it from afar. Can you imagine the stomach-churning behaviour our oily politicians would no doubt engage in? I reckon even the Europa League Final next year will be a cringe-inducing few days apart from what's really important, the fans, the buzz in the city and the game itself.
Thank God we don't have that problem here.
Sure did us a lot of favours in the Henry'gate episode.
What a completely ridiculous post. Ireland would add very little (if anything) to an English bid. Other than 'we like a bit o craic' any other tangible benefits (that England dont already have) we would bring to the table to help land England a World Cup?
I thought you were off the drink Ronnie?
"No, I drink to help me mind my own business....can I get you one? (c) Ronnie Drew
England have no influence in UEFA or FIFA circles. For example, Beckenbauer is not just a famous figurehead, he's an influential German football administrator and football politician. Bobby Charlton is just a FA / MUFC mascot. Just like as with the EU, they just don't play the politcal game well. Only getting one additional vote was a disaster though.
In fairness to the FAI, I understand they played the UEFA political game very well to secure the Europa League Final.
It's pretty well acknowledged in academic circles that politicians and other vested interests vastly overstate the economic benefits of staging mega-events. Specialist sports economist Stefan Szymanski and Simon Kuper of the FT have written extensively on it, as have others. Sport tourists often deter other tourists, sports tourists typically spend less than regular tourists, "multipliers" are usually vastly overstated etc. Legacies are usually overstated too and countries are left saddled with debts and white elephant venues. Szymanski says that all you're doing is paying to stage a party, not creating a proper stimulus.
In Ireland's case you'd probably get a Keynesian style demand-boost due to the current depressed nature of the economy but it'd whittle out. Anyway, do we really need another construction-driven growth spurt?
Last edited by Stuttgart88; 03/12/2010 at 3:39 PM.
According to Wikipedia, and backed up by other things I'd heard and read at the time, Delaney was chasing the U-21 European Championships 2011 (possible a joint bid with IFA). I believe at one point he also declared finishing Lansdowne Road, hosting a major European final and hosting a major underage tournament as the main aims of his tenure? Think so anyway....
There was some talk at the time, from an authoritative source, that if the plans to redevelop the Brandywell had of gone forward, and DCFC hadn't imploded or the recession had somehow magicked itself away, then we would've had a good shout for being a host city.
Funny enough I was thinking yesterday - if there was an All-Ireland bid launched for 2030, running on a platform of hands across the border in perfect harmony, we'd definitely accrue more votes than England did yesterday. That's despite having no infrastructure to host, ongoing security problems, no money, two associations that hate each other and a bunch of stadiums with no seats we'd have to borrow from the GAH.
We'd still accrue more support - irrelevant, obviously, except to show just how ludicrous FIFA's buffet-fuelled and greasy palmed bid joust is.
Ou-est le Centre George Pompidou?
Indeed not!
Nah, but what we do have is more than enough for me, thanks. I like watching Coronation Street but I'd hate for the cast to come and live in my house. If you know what I mean.
Thats probably very true, I know its the way of the world but like the whole WC Bidding and Voting farce - I dont like all this political ar$e kissing and hoop jumping to get what votes you need. Im not sure whether the FAI deserves credit for playing the game well or not - Particularly if (as seems to be the general consensus) footballing authorities need a proper overhaul (perhaps UEFA are deemed to be cleaner than most?).
Out of interest when was the Europa League Final decision made? Pre or Post Henry'gate.......
I thought you were off the drink Ronnie?
"No, I drink to help me mind my own business....can I get you one? (c) Ronnie Drew
Against the England got the Champions League final at the same time...
Seriously though, there's just a little too much being read into these awards. There absolutely is a sense for some that its "their turn". The UEFA Cup has been around all the main countries. I think any peripheral country that wants it will get it now (and thats why we got it).
54,321 sold - wws will never die - ***
---
New blog if anyone's interested - http://loihistory.wordpress.com/
LOI section on balls.ie - http://balls.ie/league-of-ireland/
Don't each of the Home Nations have a person each on the UEFA board (or technical board)? I think it's been cited as an annoyance that they should have so much influence.
That's the board that decides rule changes. Four FIFA nominees and one each from the four British FAs.
We're not arrogant, we're just better.
The UK associations are guardians of the rules of the game with FIFA - their vote is needed to change those rules, apart from that they have no special/privileged influence on other matters.
Unlikely, I know, now more than ever, but I couldn't resist putting this together. I have some time on my hands on account of the snow.....
European Championships Stadium requirements:
2 stadia with 50,000 seats
3 stadia with 40,000 seats
4 stadia with 30,000 seats
3 others as contingency.
SCOTLAND
Celtic Park - 60,000
Hampden Park - 52,000
Murrayfield - 67,000
New Aberdeen Stadium - 30,000 (current plans of 21,000, would need expansion)
Dundee Stadium - 30,000 (this ground-share has been proposed twice and would be done in the event of a major tournament)
IRELAND
Croke Park - 74,000
Aviva Stadium - 51,700
Thomond Park - 30,000 (Currently 26,000, probably about 20,000 if made all seated so redevelopment needed)
Cork Stadium - 30,000 (Musgrave due to be redeveloped into 18,000, would need temporary expansion. Alternatively, Páirc Uí Chaoimh with much tidying)
CONTINGENCY
Ibrox Stadium - 51,000
Galway Stadium - 30,000 (To be dramatically reduced in size after, potentially to be used by Galway United + Connacht Rugby)
Gaelic Grounds - 30,000 (Already about 25,000, seats installed on terraccing, covers installed)
----------------------
It could be done. Not now but down the line.
City to Stadium Ratio - 7:9
Qatar's - 1:2
Last edited by fionnsci; 03/12/2010 at 5:43 PM.
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