What else are you gonna do on a Friday? Sit in your fackin' armchair wankin' off to Sharon Ní Bheolain? Then try and avoid your wife's gaze as you struggle to come to terms with your sexless marriage? Then go and spunk your wages on chicken fillet rolls, fruit machines and brassers? fack that for a laugh! I know what I'd rather do. Dundalk away, laaaaaave it!
Galway United have recently recruited www.magnify.ie to boost maketing. This company was originally set up by Niall McGarry who owns joe.ie etc and he is still on the board of Magnify.
Nobody knows us, we don't care
Good points made by Stuey Byrne on Off The Ball tonight.
He points out that the positioning of Dalymount, Tolka, and Inchicore in very densely built up areas doesn't suit modern Dublin. People like to bring their kids to games in their car and park in a safe area close to the ground.
"People like to bring their kids to games" is an oxymoron in the context of football in Dublin.Originally Posted by White Horse
Tallaght being in the suburbs with lots of free parking (Dundalk fans might dispute it being safe) is undoubtedly a draw for some people, but the lack of it is not what's keeping people from games.
Last edited by Charlie Darwin; 29/04/2015 at 2:27 AM.
If you take Pats as an example. They have played lovely football for several years now. In a football mad city, why are only 1,200 people coming to see them? Compared to Cork, Dundalk, and Sligo, I see very few families with young children in Inchicore.
In Inchicore? There's loads in Inchicore, Drimnagh, Ballyfermot - during the boom it was one of the few places young people could buy a house. Granted, a lot of them wouldn't have much disposable income, but that goes for 95% of families here. Dublin's not a football-mad city - not in the way Sligo or, though I don't know as much about it, Dundalk is. People like football, sure, but they like other things more. Bear in mind Inchicore is one of the most linked-up places in Dublin with regards to transport. There's untapped potential there, sure, but it's not lack of facilities doing it. It's lack of visibility, among many other things, and just the fact Dublin people aren't interested in watching players many people think would struggle to get into their own pub teams. I'm sure Dundalk isn't all that different, but you at least have a pride in your town up there that's not really the case for Dublin.
I meant that I don't see many families in Richmond Park. When you go to games in Cork, Dundalk, and Sligo, the crowd contains a lot of families. I also notice a lot of families at games in Tallaght.
Provincial clubs do benefit from local pride, as the club represents the entire town. This is obviously different in the case of teams from Dublin.
That's a fair point. Parking around Dalymount is a nightmare. It's all extra cost. I travel in from Balbriggan and it's easier to get the bus than to park because 9/10 you are parked miles away. I'd be less likely to bring my kids to certain games. Then you have the cost and travel. A lot of Dubs had to move to places like Balbriggan, Stamullen etc. during the boom. So you have to travel for a home game. The hassle and the cost comes into effect. It was €60 for me to bring my kids to the Longford match and we weren't home until 11.00.
Places like Dundalk and Sligo have the averaged here. You can walk to Oriel Park from most places in Dundalk so a trip to a match isn't as expensive.
Sorry but this is a new one on me.
I used to live in Dublin up until not so long ago and often drove north from my gaff in the leafy suburbs of Dundrum to games in Dalymount. I could get parked in the street parking on Phibsboro road less than 5 mins from the ground for free. Stroll up and be finished and home by not long after 10. Even if they were playing Shams with a packed house it would never matter.
Pats a bit harder to access on a busy night fair enough.
I don't buy into this as a valid theory to explain poor attendances for a minute.
Stuey is enthusiastic about the game which is commendable but he's a bit simple at times.
There's LOADS of parking around Dalyer, most of it free after 7. There's also loads of free parking within 5 mins of Richmond and Tolka. Ok, it doesn't necessarily look or feel the most secure to be parking on the street particularly in Inchicore (no offence meant!) but parking should not be an issue... maybe it is an issue for the casual fan who doesn't know where to park I suppose but it's not a major issue. 10,000 cars manage to park near Croker when it comes to it.
Incidentally I've never had a problem parking at Dalyer, Tallaght, Tolka or Richmond.... not even the time I went to a Pats-Dundalk match and left the keys in the door of the car
It would take about 45mins to get from Phibsboro to Balbriggan if you're driving. If you get a bus it's well over an hour. Bare in mind that for a family of four it would be €40 (€15 adult €5child) add in petrol or bus fare it's €60 for before you buy food etc. That would discourage a lot of people from say Rush, Lusk, Skerries and Balbriggan from going to matches. When you think about how those towns have grown there's a lot of young fans. But places like Ballymun and Santry it isn't really an excuse. In fairness to the clubs they are trying to encourage people from the surrounding areas to go. Plus Dublin hasn't got that same drive provincial clubs and towns have. Even in GAA terms when you look at it, the country teams have a better fanbase than the Dubs
Ah, here, I can get from Dundalk to Dalymount or Tolka by car in about 50 mins on a Friday night.
Maybe but for some people travelling an hour or so to go to a football match is hassle and then there's the cost. It's €40 for a family of four is expensive. For a lot of people football is just entertainment and if the standard and facilities aren't up to scratch people will look else where.
This sounds a bit like when some people who complain about it being too expensive to go to a game but sit in the pub spending twice as much and then heading to a nightclub when the beers are on board thats costs the same or more to get in to than the football.
That's another argument though. Clubs will want families to go and sometimes they do make the effort. It's difficult for them to make everyone happy. They still had to make money. But the argument you make is different. If it's just me going it's a lot cheaper. For example, €50 would easily pay in for the match, get you a few pints and your bus home and that would a very cheap night.
I'm a bit confused GBC.... in a couple of posts you've gone from €60 is expensive for a family of 4 to €50 "would be a very cheap night" for one. Guessing you don't value the wife n kids too much ;-)
I should have said when it was just me going back in those glorious single days!
If you compare a night out to a football match, the match is cheaper is the point I making. Well trying to make!!
Can't understand this myself. Pats have a big catchment area to work from too, Inchicore, Ballyfermot, Drimnagh, Bluebell, Clondalkin etc. Decent transport links to the ground. Unless, as Charlie Darwin says, we're not really that football mad as a city. At least not to the extent of gong to games.
Out for a spell, got neglected, lay on the bench unselected.
A lot of it could be down to the fact that the Dublin clubs aren't seen as representing Dublin. Cork City unequivocally represent Cork, Sligo Rovers, Sligo, etc. That tends to galvanise people. Bohs seem to be more seen as representing Phibsboro, they wouldn't get much of an emotional response from people five miles down the road.
Doesn't explain why nobody comes to watch Bray though!
Cork has about 400,000 residents in the metropolitan area, so even 7,000 people is under 2%.
Glasgow is about 1.2 million if you don't include places like Hamilton, Motherwell and Greenock (which you shouldn't). Celtic average around 45,000 at their games, which is 3.75%. You've also got Rangers (32,000), Partick Thistle (3,300), St. Mirren (4,000) and Queen's Park (400), which adds up to about another 40,000, you're probably looking at 7%
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