QuoteNot sure what to make of this tbh.
https://www.irishexaminer.com/breaki...21-955878.html
The League of Ireland is heading for a three-tier split format from 2021 if, as expected, clubs rubber-stamp proposals next month.
In an attempt to inject purpose into more games, the main proposal is for the top-six to breakaway after the first series of games.
The second group will be formed by the bottom four in the Premier accompanied by the top four from the First Division.
They will see out the season fighting for promotion or avoiding relegation, with the last six going into a third pot.
The proposals were yesterday presented to all 20 clubs and the Players Football Association of Ireland (PFAI) by a working group at a meeting in Dublin.
Those eight representatives from the clubs had met regularly since July, obtaining in the process crucial information from the FAI on the league’s commercial value.
It is understood the details which weren’t forthcoming under former FAI chief executive John Delaney and were eventually furnished by interim general manager Noel Mooney.
In essence, the league just about breaks even by receiving the €1.5m it costs to run the operation.
Any prospect of the League of Ireland merging with the Irish league to form an All-Island entity appears to be mothballed in the short-term. The man behind the concept, Kieran Lucid, will gather clubs from both sides to a meeting in Dundalk on October 24 but the appetite is waning.
What is more likely to emerge is a standalone Champions League-style Cup competition, similar to the Setanta Sports which ran for nine years up till 2014.
The other significant development from yesterday’s summit was overhauling the National League Executive Committee. The NLEC is the highest organ of decision-making for the league and was traditionally dominated by FAI-appointed members.
Following recommendations into FAI structures by the governance review group, clubs have now gained control of the forum.
Shamrock Rovers director Noel Byrne will serve as its first president. He is joined by Drogheda’s McArdle with Dundalk’s Martin Connolly and St Patrick’s Athletic’s Anthony Delaney also elected.
Galway United’s Peadar Ryan will represent the First Division clubs on the NLEC with the FAI’s board and senior Council both to nominate one member each who cannot have an association with a club.
The NLEC can also co-opt two external specialists to the committee, subject to the approval of the FAI board, meaning they’ll have seven of the nine members.
Mooney, due to return to Uefa next month from his seconded role with his former employers in the FAI, chaired yesterday’s gathering.
“The League of Ireland Working Group have created a tangible vision for professional football in Ireland that offers us the opportunity to deliver upon the potential of our league,” he said.
“What was clear again today is that we all want the same things - greater interest, bigger attendances, revenues and viewership figures, better facilities, youth academies, and a number of other key pillars required to achieve our ambitions.
“Notwithstanding the external discussions on an All-Island League which continues to be of interest to our clubs, the way forward is now clearer, should the clubs decide to take it.
“This really is an exciting time for the league and we must grab the opportunity with both hands.”
The working group will remain active until the new format takes off in 2021. It is believed that will appoint experts to evaluate the potential commercial worth of the FAI. Uefa have already been involved in advising on broadcast deals and the European governing body will likely sponsor the costs of engaging the specialists.
Niall Quinn and his visionary group withdrew their offer to provide assistance to the clubs.
Manager: Fergal, have you your boots with ya?
Fergal: Ya, I have them here.
Manager: Ah good stuff, well give them to this man so, he forgot his!
Not sure what to make of this tbh.
Manager: Fergal, have you your boots with ya?
Fergal: Ya, I have them here.
Manager: Ah good stuff, well give them to this man so, he forgot his!
Hi ALL,
This is my take on the format proposal;
So, the 10 teams in the Premier will play each team home & away for an initial 18 games. The top 6 breakaway and play each other home and away for a further 10 games making it a 28 game season.
The bottom 4 from the premier and top 4 from the first division play each other home and away for a further 14 games making it a 32 game season.
After the 10 teams in the First Division have played each team home & away for an initial 18 games, the bottom 6 in this division play each other home and away for a further 10 games making it a 28 game season.
Anyone else with their take on the format proposal?
Certainly better than an 8-team Premier, but like all solutions before it, there's no even attempt at an explanation as to how this latest reshuffle is supposed to magically fix things.
Usual ****** from the FAI, who remain clueless despite the changes lately.
Interesting that the article says that Quinn withdrew despite earlier reports today from him saying he hadn't.
And in a major shock, the AIL is a non-runner, which makes you wonder about Lucid's credentials for being involved in the first place when he trumped something which so obviously wasn't going to happen.
So basically you lose 4 home games against the bottom 4 teams but eliminate midweek games with poor crowds.
Potentially from clubs perspectives the gate receipts might not change much. (for top 6 teams)
Also solves fixture congestion.
While all that sounds reasonable is a 28 game season to short...i think so
Sounds like a lot of dead rubber, unless they manage to find something that the bottom 6 FD teams can play for. Doesn't exactly help to get people through the gates at clubs that are struggling anyway.Originally Posted by nr637
The whole thing sounds convoluted and like rearranging the deck chairs on the titanic.
I kinda like the idea TBH. Would like the winners and possibly second team of middle tier to be in playoffs for Europe though possibly with 3rd / fourth from top section.
Also a key detail is how any points from first half would translate to second half for the middle tier. If you start from nothing there could be a lot of dead rubbers heading into the mid season, potentially pretty much all of them for a team like us! On the other hand, the D1 teams would be picking up points for playing much easier teams. Tricky one to balance that properly.
#NeverStopNotGivingUp
F**king sick of these revamps.
Us LOI fans often think that it's the non-LOI people (FAI included) who have these stupid ideas about revamping the league, but was this one from the clubs themselves? Or was this the 'Visionary group'?
This apparently came from the 8 team working group.
#NeverStopNotGivingUp
Why is there an 8-team working group anyway?
This is just more tinkering ballax from the FAI.
We all know what the league needs :
1) Better prizemoney.
2) Proper and sustained marketing.
3) Public grants to get stadia up to an appropriate standard.
4) A governing body that gives a shi'te.
This isn't rocket science. Every possible version of the League of Ireland has been tried in the past in the hope that it would somehow be a magic bullet. None of them were. The league format isn't what's holding Irish football back, so tinkering with it is not what will help it move forward. It's just a way for Noel Mooney to head back to UEFA and claim that he did something to sort out club football in Ireland. In reality he'll have achieved fcuk all, like all the other suits.
How can the numerous clubs involved in these plans not see and spell all this out ?
Last edited by EatYerGreens; 09/10/2019 at 1:17 PM.
It was agreed at the July meeting with all clubs present. The idea was to keep it to a manageable number so as to be able to progress things. I could sympathize with that as certain club reps spoke on every point and dragged pretty much every discussion off topic. I would have preferred to see all clubs involved but broke out into different areas of responsibility, but again the risk is where ever those guys are allocated are going to be run into the ditch because of the blowhards.
I must say the general standard of contribution and attitude from club reps was pretty high.
#NeverStopNotGivingUp
So essentially you could be 10 points clear at the top of division one after 2 rounds of fixtures or be 7th in the premier and 10 points clear of relegation.
But once the split is done the 8 teams in the middle section will all start on 0points for a 14 game mini league to see who stays up.
Absolute madness if you ask me.
This is the thing that struck me. The middle tier is absolute ********. Either a) it doesn't matter how many points you gained in the first two series, and a team that finished 7th with 26 points starts level with the team that finished bottom with 4 points (and the team who finished 4th in the First Division!) or b) you have some weird formula to give Premier AND First Division teams points to carry over from the first half of the season. How on earth do you work the middle tier?
The third tier would be utterly grim of course, but perhaps a trophy and a half decent prize fund might retain some interest
Last edited by seand; 09/10/2019 at 3:41 PM.
That's the key part to the whole thing IMO, how do points carry over in the middle tier?
If they don't carry and you know you are not going to make the top six, every game until the break is effectively a dead rubber. If they do carry, how do you balance a win in Dundalk versus a home win over Wexford (just picking the top and bottom sides in the league here). If a fair formula can be found somehow this idea may work.
#NeverStopNotGivingUp
Also.. I wonder which club wasn't there. https://www.irishmirror.ie/sport/soc...paign=sharebar
#NeverStopNotGivingUp
I rather the AIL than the other proposal tbh.Thought the second to fifth place in playoffs in bottom division worked out well so feel sorry for the fifth placed team to miss out in this new proposal. Dont know what to make of it tbh!
Gary Cronin is he the right man to manage Longford Town?
Here's my take.
The big downside is that there'll be no First Division champions anymore. That title meant an awful lot to Harps in 2004, Wexford in 2015, UCD last year. It's a shame to simply scrap it with a no-incentive Tier 3 First Division shield nonsense.
The points transfer really worries me too. That really has to start at 0 points again, or a ranked points system to have any degree of fairness. 4th bottom getting 8 points, 3rd bottom 6, 2nd bottom 4, and bottom team starting on 2, or something similar might work, but there'll be some sort of disparity from the word go regardless.
I really feel that the second tier needs to be given a European spot as well. You're effectively playing for nothing otherwise. The likes of Harps would really struggle to break top 6, but realistically can look at that second tier every year otherwise. You'll find Premier teams cutting cloth if they end up in the second tier, and First Division teams pushing out the boat to get up to Premier level if they end up in it. It's a dangerous game.
The First Division shield isn't an altogether terrible idea, but only if they have more of an incentive than just a token trophy that means f*ck all. The winners of that should be guaranteed a Premier Division place for the following season, or a play-off for a Premier place with whoever finishes second in the Tier 2.
Bottom team in top 6 should be in a play-off as well. Otherwise teams getting cut adrift in that leave themselves with dead rubber games very early on in that series.
The following isn't completely ideal, but would at least give almost everyone an incentive to push themselves for the whole season.
Top team: Champions League
Second place: Europa League
Third Place: Europa League playoff vs Tier 2 winner
Top 5 Premier Division following season.
6th place: Relegation Playoff v Tier 2/3 winner
Tier 2 winners: Europa League playoff vs 3rd place Tier 1
Top 4: Premier Division promotion
Tier 2 fifth place: Promotion Playoff - vs Tier 3 winners
Bottom 4: First Division
Tier 3 winners: Promotion playoff - Tier 2 fifth place: Winner plays 6th Tier 1.
Last edited by nigel-harps1954; 09/10/2019 at 6:51 PM.
https://kesslereffect.bandcamp.com/album/kepler - New music. It's not that bad.
Seems like a plan designed to reduce the league within a few years to a single division of 10 teams- as if implemented as suggested can’t see why ‘second tier’ clubs would want to put in the effort !! So a back to the future where bottom team goes for re-election and or a non league team seeks their place .
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