first division. covergae etc.

**padjoe** · 08/10/2004, 7:13 AM

hey there just wondering how you think the first division needs to improve and will the new ten team structure work.
how is the division going to get the coverage it deserves and is it time to start relegating teams to shake it up a bit.
please dont hold back tell me the lot.
i am a journalist working on a piece about the first division and the financial state of the clubs.
cheers everybody.

**dapman1** · 08/10/2004, 8:42 AM

There is a previous thread about the ten team div 1 situation. Losing three teams this year will have a negative effect in many ways, including:

Financially, less games means less cash.
Crowds, the biggest teams leaving the division and being replaced by Dublin City means smaller crowds due to less interest, meaning less cash, again.
Geographically, while the premier division is almost another version of the Dublin league, Div 1 is truly nationwide. Meaning further travel for teams, less away fans and less cash.

**lefty** · 08/10/2004, 10:19 AM

They should deffinitely have relegation from the 1st division. That would bring at least some more interest in it as there are just going to be to many teams who will have nothing to play for due to being stuck in mid or bottom 1st division obscurity. Relegate 1 at least and then promote from the senior leagues. The teams are good enough.

**joeSoap** · 08/10/2004, 10:28 AM

Basically we've gotta get a one division league going, 20 teams.

**NY Hoop** · 08/10/2004, 11:00 AM

Originally Posted by joeSoap

Basically we've gotta get a one division league going, 20 teams.

You've started drinking early!! Daft suggestion.

What we need is 2 leagues of 10 teams. Every club plays the same amount of games. Regarding media coverage we need all 10 games then to be covered by cameras and TV3 to air their programme for one hour at 10pm monday night.

The 2 teams to lose out should be Dublin City and Monaghan United. IMO they bring nothing to the league. They have fans in the double figures and anybody who has been to Century Homes Park doesnt want to go back.

Relegating teams from the first division is a non runner because the junior teams would have worse facilities, if that's possible!

If all this happens and the clubs are run by professionals this league of ours will be a vibrant product and more fans will come. If not it will just struggle on from crisis to crisis.

Unless we learn from history we are destined to repeat it. And this league is not learning...........

KOH

**wakenuppaddy** · 08/10/2004, 9:36 PM

Agree about Dublin city to lose out, but Monaghan?? At least they have a ground Mr Shamrock Rover!
I personally think UCD bring nothing to the league.They have only a few supporters and put all other teams at a disadvantage with their ability to attract top young players with their scholarship scheme.+ it is another bloody trip to Dublin.
If I were involved with any of the top sides in Dublin I would be looking to take over one of these clubs!
As a lifelong fan of Irish football I don't honestly believe it matters how many teams are in each division because for coverage etc we are so far behind the gaa and british football that it doesn't matter.
2 small examples of the how the fai treat the league; Harps v.Bray in the fai cup final in '99 had to be fixed around the fact that the top brass in the fai wanted to attend the english cup final!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Also the marketing of the league this season whiched was bumed up by the fai only lasted 2-3 weeks into the season---might as well have not bothered !!
So as for our league looking for ways to improve,it doesn't matter when we have the FAI (F ##k A ll I interest)

**sligoman** · 08/10/2004, 10:07 PM

I think whoever finishes last in First division each season, should play a non-league team, over 2 legs.Lose they're now a non-league team,and other team promoted.Win and you know how it goes.It would make teams like Limerick and Monaghan and Kilkenny fight harder for points

**A face** · 09/10/2004, 1:09 AM

Originally Posted by padjoe

i am a journalist working on a piece about the first division and the financial state of the clubs.

What paper/mag ??

**padjoe** · 11/10/2004, 12:44 PM

Originally Posted by A face

What paper/mag ??

college newspaper in dublin and hopefully the evening echo or the herald if they buy it. i am a freelance with echo already.
you might have read my stuff but they wont let me into the eircom league at the moment. i have done two matches but i am down the pecking order behind ken, noel and pat mccauliffe.
its killing me all i want to do is write eircom league.

**NY Hoop** · 14/10/2004, 4:38 PM

[QUOTE=wakenuppaddy]Agree about Dublin city to lose out, but Monaghan?? At least they have a ground Mr Shamrock Rover!
I personally think UCD bring nothing to the league.They have only a few supporters and put all other teams at a disadvantage with their ability to attract top young players with their scholarship scheme.+ it is another bloody trip to Dublin.

Ah that old chestnut! So cos we're having problems trying to get to Tallaght that excludes me from debate? Get real. If you want to take it further their ground is better than yours!!

Google seagull scene. It's a bray unofficial site. In there they have pics of their game in monaghan.

UCD bring a lot more to the league than monaghan ever will IMO. They were in europe only a few seasons back and did the league proud. And nobody can tell me that monaghan have more support even though the town's population is 7,000 and they are the only senior side around. And all this "another trip to dublin" nonsense is getting very old and a lazy way out for country teams.

KOH

**Bald Student** · 14/10/2004, 6:02 PM

Originally Posted by wakenuppaddy

If I were involved with any of the top sides in Dublin I would be looking to take over one of these clubs!

How would you go about taking the clubs over? Neither Club is up for sale (indeed UCD Soccer Club is not even a limited company).

**pineapple stu** · 14/10/2004, 6:12 PM

Originally Posted by wakenuppaddy

UCD...put all other teams at a disadvantage with their ability to attract top young players with their scholarship scheme.

Awww...did the nasty UCD team sign someone else's players? Don't be silly - there's no disadvantage, we were just clever enough to come up with a good idea, one which many other clubs are now copying, including Harps. That's just a lazy excuse to justify a petty dislike of us.

**pineapple stu** · 14/10/2004, 6:16 PM

Originally Posted by dapman1

Financially, less games means less cash.

Technically not true - the ten-team divisions have 36 games, while the twelve-team divisions have 33. Also, a bigger Premier makes it easier to get into and get much higher crowds.

**eoinh** · 14/10/2004, 6:49 PM

The main reason i think its ignored is because its mostly composed of non-dublin teams. LOI media commentators keep going on about how the premier division is Dublin-centric. Yet these same critics dont go to matchs outside Dublin. For instance the Irish times didnt send a reporter to the FAI cup semi-final in Derry. Not once did they send a reporter to cover any of citys euro games in Turners Cross (and you can forget about abroad). If memeory serves me right they didnt send a reporter either to Longford to cover their UEFA Cup match (and as Longford fans keep reminding us - Vaduz are a quality of a team seldom seen in this country). We havent seen them once in Turners Cross for a league game.

Now when city play at home I usually get the examiner the next day.

**NY Hoop** · 15/10/2004, 9:12 AM

Originally Posted by eoinh

The main reason i think its ignored is because its mostly composed of non-dublin teams. LOI media commentators keep going on about how the premier division is Dublin-centric. Yet these same critics dont go to matchs outside Dublin. For instance the Irish times didnt send a reporter to the FAI cup semi-final in Derry. Not once did they send a reporter to cover any of citys euro games in Turners Cross (and you can forget about abroad). If memeory serves me right they didnt send a reporter either to Longford to cover their UEFA Cup match (and as Longford fans keep reminding us - Vaduz are a quality of a team seldom seen in this country). We havent seen them once in Turners Cross for a league game.

Now when city play at home I usually get the examiner the next day.

Not true. The first division would be ignored no matter how many Dublin teams were in it. This anti Dublin bias is getting very old. You have your own paper down there, the examiner, which is one of the best for EL coverage so keep buying it and ignore the Irish Times!!

KOH

**CuanaD** · 15/10/2004, 10:43 AM

I dont know about relegating teams from the 1st division - any team coming up would have to have the minimum facilities (800 covered stand? etc) - would they be able to conform?
On the other hand I feel we need 2 extra teams in the division (24 altogether) both from outside the Dublin area (Kerry & Mayo or Tipp?) & move 1 Dub team to Meath, all to give the league a bit more variety.

After that, in a few years more North-south competitions with all teams involved (I have it all worked out). Its all down 2 tv money so I really hope that setanta do well out of their cup comp. - its a step on the way forward for the whole league.

**Terry** · 15/10/2004, 11:11 AM

Originally Posted by CuanaD

I dont know about relegating teams from the 1st division - any team coming up would have to have the minimum facilities (800 covered stand? etc) - would they be able to conform?

The mayo league and Kerry league already have that in place, and Im sure other clubs do too, e.g. mullingar, tullamore????

**gufcfan** · 19/10/2004, 4:25 PM

Originally Posted by CuanaD

After that, in a few years more North-south competitions with all teams involved (I have it all worked out). Its all down 2 tv money so I really hope that setanta do well out of their cup comp. - its a step on the way forward for the whole league.

Is there any recent news on the setanta cup? Is there any chance of it going ahead?

**lefty** · 19/10/2004, 10:08 PM

Plenty of non league sides have decent enough grounds look at Kildare County playing at Newbridge Towns ground and limerick playing at Pike Rovers ground. I say the bottom team should go down or even better a four way playoff between the Leinster, Munster, Connacht/Ulster winners and the bottom team. Surely this couldnt be bad for the 1st division

**A face** · 20/10/2004, 12:04 AM

Originally Posted by lefty

Surely this couldnt be bad for the 1st division

It would certainly go towards bridging the gap between teams not in the league and the ones at the end. It would also breath new life into the first.

It would be great to see it happen as non-league clubs dont get enough opportunities to play league clubs often enough. The thing about the first is it is running on an awful lot of effort and good will. The travelling is thankless and alot of effort is put in by players just to get to games. There definitely is not enough resources/effort/thought given to the first but the league is never made answer for this. This is just another reason why the FAI should take over the league.