QuoteAll the figures on that are what were posted as official on the thread, presumably from the PA announcement during the game.
Our attendance figure for the season just gone is wrong on that thread. It was higher than the season before.Originally Posted by Sean South
All the figures on that are what were posted as official on the thread, presumably from the PA announcement during the game.
Mervue had to put in turnstiles to take money, whereas in Drom, three or four times last season you got in for free because they didn't have any stewards to collect money on the way in to the ground, not to mention the fact that the "fence" around the pitch in Drom is to mark the division between the pitches rather than keep anybody out.
My point was that just because something is cheap, doesn't mean that a lot more people will buy it. There is a limited interest in LOI in this country. Plus, whether they sold a lot of season tickets or not, to get people in the gate to watch their team play abysmally and get hammered every week is an achievement.
Some people will always find fault no matter what. GUST offered this initiative and saw it as an incentive to get bums on seats. It worked. The season ticket would have lost value/paid for itself after 9/10 games, but people still turned up and thats encouraging.
What GUST have done is created a hell of a lot of goodwill towards the club again, and have made some serious inroads in building the bridges that were so badly damaged in the previous regime.
If Mervue and Salthill believe that there will be an upturn in attendances as a result of our demise, then they're greatly mistaken.
They're not stupid, just jealous and spiteful. It may be hard for people outside of Galway to see anything other than infighting within the city, but you can take it as fact that GUST have never done anything to harm either club, or any club for that matter. Certain people within those clubs are working furiously behind the scenes, attempting to influence the decision of the licensing committee in their favour and against the well-being of football in the city and county of Galway.
Far more could be said about that, but I'll keep my mouth shut about it until there is official word from one party or the other.
Last edited by gufcfan; 08/01/2012 at 11:37 PM.
I've a good friend who played at a low enough level in Galway junior football and even he was telling me Mervue in particular actually hate(d) Galway United and there was no prospect of cooperation. Sad state of affairs.
Upwards to the vanguard where the pressure is too high.
In relation to this, the prospect of cooperation comes up every so often here on foot.ie, on the United forum or even in the local media in Galway. People aren't to know, especially those not from Galway, but United supporters come across as lunatics when we rubbish the idea. It simply isn't feasible. It really is genuine hatred. There's nothing wrong with a healthy rivalry, even though the clubs are not in competition with each other, whatever they may think themselves, but the energy they put into this lunacy just beggars belief.
Edit: What I said about rivalry sounds like a dig, but what I mean is that the football supporters of Galway City and County do not and will not ever indentify with teams they associate with housing estates. A friend with a passing interest in Irish football was shocked when I told him that Mervue were allowed compete in the LOI using Fahy's Field as a "stadium". The gist of what he said to me was that, he knows a lot of people knock the LOI and that it's a big joke to some, but can you really blame them when teams are playing on a field with a fence around it, without even a wall to stand against for cover.
Last edited by gufcfan; 09/01/2012 at 12:11 AM.
Honest question here: If there is so much rivalry and hatred between the Galway sides then how come that we dont see it here or on other football forums ??? I have never seen a MervueU Or SalthillDevon fan on this forum.
Without being dismissive as far as I can tell they don't actually have active fanbases that would have any interest in whipping up tensions online. It happens all over the country, junior clubs develop a pretty much one sided rivalry with the local senior club.
Upwards to the vanguard where the pressure is too high.
They just have very few fans. Their published attendance figures are inflated by a huge percentage. Mervue natives will vouch for that.
A number of people that I would know in Mervue United for example that are fans wouldn't be posting on internet forums and have more sense than us probably. They seem to be content with an online presence consisting of a club website and a P.R.O. that writes for extratime who at times isn't far off adding a zero onto the end of their actual attendance figures. There's a few people here that would go to see Mervue, but they are Galway United fans first and foremost and probably go up there for something to do when United are away to be honest. They would be a significant % of their actual attendances.
Thats because is there no real supporter groups of these clubs, just players past and present and family members. Im a mervue resident myself and I wouldn't go and watch them because of the disgraceful behaviour of one or two of their members towards all levels of football across the entire Galway DL never mind Galway United.
People would never believe these things (and I didn't myself at first) until you experience them first hand.
The attendance figures are laughable at best. Each one would have to be halved to give a more accurate figure.
Im not having a go at them as they earned there place in the league through the structure that was put in place at the time and they are a good footballing side with a good history at underage and junior levels, but when it comes to off the field antics it has to be said that the goings on are an absolute disgrace. GUST did offer the 2 clubs an olive branch to come to some arrangement which would strengthen Galway football in the forseeable future, but they were told where they could stick it. Thankfully there are other excellent football clubs across the district league (at least 90% of them) who are looking into forming agreements with GUST to give their players and clubs a new stepping stone when it comes to player, structural and financial development. These talks will continue to progress with Corrib rangers the first to link up.
It would be interesting to see what would happen to Mervue or Salthill's attendances if they were ever to reach the Premier Division (unlikely as it is).
They would treble due to away fans. I'm not joking when I say their attendance figures are massively overstated.
I wouldn't be exactly sure Spudulika so I wont comment, but it involved a lot of what the FAI were requesting for the clubs to consider when John Delaney was last in town. A GUST member would be able to say better than myself. A merger wasn't far off the books a good few years ago when Salthill Devon were actually running Galway United when the old board left (Gerry Grey CEO, Eamonn Naughton and one or two others now working up in abbotstown). There was a lot of talk back then that GUFC were changing there name to Galway Devon (actual statement from a salthill devon board member) but that board had a lot of internal bickering going on and the 2 clubs went there own way with board members leaving salthill to stay with united, this all occured during the time that the supporters abandoned being GUISA (Galway United Independent Supporters Association) and formed GUST in its place.
Last edited by Terry; 09/01/2012 at 4:54 AM.
Thanks a million for that Terry and this illuminates a little of the bitterness that exists. It would be great to see co-operation between clubs though in a limited market for players and resources there is always going to be a battle. I hope GUST get a club into the league and begin building from the ground up. There is a good season in prospect for local derbies that will prove competitive with decent crowds, plus Athlone and Longford are close enough to have a 5 team battle royale. Hope springs eternal!
exactly Spudulika, If GUSTFC were to get a licence, mervue and salthill would get gates of what GUFC were getting last season seeing as the GUFC supporters wouldn't even have to travel outside of the city or county. With as you said, athlone and longford only up the road, and not forgetting Limerick also, there is a great opporunity of an increase in gates across many clubs and not just the galway team
I forgot Limerick (for no reason other than having made a couple of trips from Limerick to Galway 4-5 years ago I'd have thought them further away). Gates for the 2 other sides in Galway would be terrific with GUST in play, and I am certain with some joined up thinking there would be a real sponsorship boost. Though this is where football in Ireland traditionally falls down. A Sligo friend told me that Galway usually get a decent away group with them, surely the FAI will take this into account.
It's motorway the whole way there pretty much, so it's quite a handy drive.
Sligo doesn't take all that long to get to, going up the N17. A lot of people who wouldn't tend to go to away matches make and effort to go to the derby match. Funnily enough, I was in the north for a couple of the pre-season games last year, but I haven't been to a game in Sligo for years.
Thanks gufcfan, that's a handy couple of matches for fans (Sligo and Limerick), it'd be great (in a way) if there was one big league put in place with 20 clubs playing 38 matches - you'd have some decent turnouts for the Sligo-Athlone-Longford-Salthill-Mervue-GUST-Limerick set of matches. Can never see it happening though, but nice to suppose it.
What's the rivalry like with Athlone and Longford?
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