University College Dublin

Neil · 01/06/2001, 5:52 PM

Will ye ever get lost UCD? These kind of clubs do nothing for the league, same as Shelbourne.

We need a league with a wide spread of teams around the country. All of whom are well-supported.

**wws** · 02/06/2001, 9:57 AM

of course they are an important part of the league.........not fans wise but football wise..........not a proper football club but the NL is so poorly supported that it can easily afford to accommodate a third level football acadamy type set up in its top flight posing as a football club

better than most of the dross in the first division, and some of the Premier...........their here to stay

Neil · 02/06/2001, 10:27 AM

ok, UCD have the ability and the structure to match most of the Premier teams - well they should considering the money and resources available to them. But, I still maintain that clubs like them will never do anything for promotion of the eL. They have no support, and never will. We need to aim for a situation in a few years time where each club has a following of over 5,000, week-in-week-out, rising to over 10,000 when the team is doing well. Agreed?

**wws** · 02/06/2001, 11:23 AM

Its never going to happen...that's why I don't agree. This country doesn't have the numbers of regular football fans to support the figures you mention nationwide.......witness the crowds of the double winners from the last 2 seasons! If they existed they'd go to the matches....they don't exist.

2 or 3,000 on a week in - week out basis would be more realistic. I'm not talking about the odd cup run or good season a la Longford (those crowds wont last)

I'm only stating facts. Of course I'd love if what you were saying was true..but its not and will probably never be. And its hardly UCD's fault......a lot of neutrals actually like watching UCD play cause they try and pay the game on the deck as much as they can and aren't as cynical as most NL sides. So they are not to blame for so called big clubs inability to attract crowds

But knocking them because they dont have a great support base in a league with Fuch all support is a bit much!

EddieL · 05/06/2001, 8:23 PM

Come off it,neil,have you forgotten how well UCD did in the InterToto last season? That they actually won the FAI Super cup and were runners-up in the League Cup?(to Pats,of course!!!)For a so-called "amateur" team that's excellant,to me anyway.OK,they struggled in the league and only avoided relegation in the play-offs,but I think they were just unlucky with injuries,ref's decisions and so forth.I saw them play Shels at Belfield and to this day I still cannot understand how they lost 2-1,they came back brilliantly from a goal down to equalise and then had a perfectly legitimate second goal disallowed for some strange reason.Then Shels got a very "dodgy" penalty at the death to win the match,I think that just about summed up UCD's season in the league.They definately deserve their place in the Premier Division.