2013 Attendances

**osarusan** · 06/07/2013, 11:22 PM

Originally Posted by bluewhitearmy

Find it a bit sad from the club tbh.

Yeah, no need for any comment at all.

Which paper was it?

**bluewhitearmy** · 06/07/2013, 11:39 PM

Originally Posted by osarusan

Yeah, no need for any comment at all.

Which paper was it?

Whoever Dolan writes for think its the Star.

**Charlie Darwin** · 06/07/2013, 11:41 PM

Dolan does indeed write for the Star. But bear in mind that anything less than 20,000 for every club is below Dolan's expectations. The fact that Limerick took a calcuated gamble on Thomond and have expanded their attendance as a result is irrelevant because he needs results NOW.

Limerick's attendance this season has been a resounding success. Anybody who says otherwise is not worth the time of day.

**Eminence Grise** · 06/07/2013, 11:42 PM

Originally Posted by NeverFeltBetter

The "Limerick Football Club" FB page had this to say today:

"Some of our supporters ...

...they can contact info@limerickFC.ie"

I think that challenging lazy journalism is the kind of proactive PR that every club should do. These are the same journalists who will gripe about the league not being professional enough at the drop of a hat, but can't be bothered to do a little fact checking to back up their self-important opinions. When they consistently master the art of accurate reporting, then - maybe - they can start writing op eds.

The piece also gives credit where it's due - to the fans who did turn up - and that's good PR too.

Edit - didn't see that it was attributed to Dolan. I presume his stuff is ghost written? Above still applies, though, whether it's amateur hackery or professional.

**Charlie Darwin** · 06/07/2013, 11:53 PM

Originally Posted by Eminence Grise

I think that challenging lazy journalism is the kind of proactive PR that every club should do. These are the same journalists who will gripe about the league not being professional enough at the drop of a hat, but can't be bothered to do a little fact checking to back up their self-important opinions. When they consistently master the art of accurate reporting, then - maybe - they can start writing op eds.

The piece also gives credit where it's due - to the fans who did turn up - and that's good PR too.

Edit - didn't see that it was attributed to Dolan. I presume his stuff is ghost written? Above still applies, though, whether it's amateur hackery or professional.

Yeah but why not directly criticise it then instead of "a national newspaper"? This sort of innuendo is bad PR. Send a letter to the Star, signed by Pat O'Sullivan or Stuart Taylor. Ring up the editor and ask for a right of reply. People do actually do read the reply sections in newspapers, and editors do take personal correspondence seriously. Passive-aggressive facebook posts are fundamentally useless and at worst they're actively counter-productive. You can have no doubt Pat knows who this post is aimed at and has probably taken it as vindication of his position.

**oriel** · 07/07/2013, 12:04 AM

Originally Posted by nigel-harps1954

1,538 in Cork
1,147 in Dalymount

At a guess, there was around 300 in Finn Park last night. Things are getting to a very scary stage.

So are these the final figures from Fri night?

Cork, 1,538
Bohs, 1,147
Bray, 2,200 (est)
Derry, 1,700 (est0

Drogs playing at 3pm tomorrow is not going to be a good attendance, but are any of the above really that unexpected? Bohs are on huge decline from the championship winning years, Cork would prob have expected twice that on any other season, but their awful form and results of late would have been a huge factor for the much lower crowd.

Bray would have been very happy with this crowd, and obviously no game for Pats.

There are 3 decent games next weekend, these should give us a much better view on the current appetite, as good crowds will be expected for Sligo v Pats, Rovers v Derry and Dundalk v Bohs.

**nigel-harps1954** · 07/07/2013, 12:35 AM

What's equally as depressing, is that the highest attendance in the First Division this week topped just over 300.

**Dalymountrower** · 07/07/2013, 7:10 AM

Bohs continuing to get 1100-1400 for the least attractive fixtures is remarkable , particularly when we have lost 6 home games in a row and scored only once!

**Spudulika** · 07/07/2013, 7:26 AM

Originally Posted by peadar1987

Do you reckon it's crowd violence and the weather keeping people away? Or is it a combination of factors? Just out of interest, do you know what things were like in the Soviet era? Were football crowds cracked down on, or was more of a blind eye turned to hooliganism?

Crowd violence plays a massive part, weather too (when it's -10 it's pretty tough to keep your core temp up and not great for kids). So you're right, a combo effect. In the USSR there was some violence, it was kind of allowed as there is a Russian tradition of faction fighting, usually in the winter when the young men were cheesed off and wanted to let loose. It still happens though now under the guise of club fights (bandy, football, hockey). There are the usual numpties who go on about being hardcore and hoolies from the year dot, but it's myth. Spartak were never the "peoples club", like the church they were thoroughly communised, for real hardcore you'd have to go to ex-Yugoslavia where it is in their nature - some of the stories about what happened with the gravediggers, bad blue boys and torcida, though recent, were still under Tito's rule and pretty horrible.

**Jofspring** · 07/07/2013, 9:57 AM

I'd expect our attendance for the next home game vs Bray on Tuesday to be way down. In Limerick all the junior football teams will have returned to training on Tuesday night and a huge portion of our crowd this season has been the junior football community.

**Spudulika** · 07/07/2013, 10:48 AM

Originally Posted by Jofspring

I'd expect our attendance for the next home game vs Bray on Tuesday to be way down. In Limerick all the junior football teams will have returned to training on Tuesday night and a huge portion of our crowd this season has been the junior football community.

I know Limerick is something of an anomaly in this regard, but this is positive for the league - not the fall in attendances. Great to see the strides the club is making and they were right to fight their corner, and in a positive community praising way.

**Acornvilla** · 07/07/2013, 11:29 AM

Originally Posted by nigel-harps1954

What's equally as depressing, is that the highest attendance in the First Division this week topped just over 300.

403 at the Town match apparently

**ATFC-1887** · 07/07/2013, 2:03 PM

Originally Posted by Acornvilla

403 at the Town match apparently

Thats shocking for 2 clubs in the top 3

**Acornvilla** · 07/07/2013, 2:43 PM

Yup, but its well above the season average, it is what it is.. We won't get crowds until we're promoted, and even then 1,000 would be an achievement.

**nigel-harps1954** · 07/07/2013, 4:02 PM

403 is a disaster indeed for two teams pushing for promotion.

**ATFC-1887** · 07/07/2013, 5:39 PM

Originally Posted by Acornvilla

Yup, but its well above the season average, it is what it is.. We won't get crowds until we're promoted, and even then 1,000 would be an achievement.

Why is it people wont get out and support ye though?

**Acornvilla** · 07/07/2013, 5:58 PM

If that riddle could be solved, then the league would be in a much better state.. Longford are hardly alone in the paltry crowd department.

**ATFC-1887** · 07/07/2013, 6:07 PM

Oh i know ye are not alone, but ye are top of the league (well not for long

) and get crowds of just over 300. Would expect alot more. We are 2nd and getting 600-700

**Acornvilla** · 07/07/2013, 6:16 PM

Your seasons average attendance is 456, ours is 354 excluding last nights crowd of 403.

Also you know, there are over 20k people living in Athlone, Longford's closer to 10k. Chances are you'd have a bigger fan base. I'm sure we both pick up fans from outside the towns too, but you get the idea.