Mayo would be a great addition to the League. There's already a nice little ground there to get them started, about a 10 minute walk from the train station. There's not much in terms of bars or restaurants close by though.
What facilities has the proposed ground, is it another venue with a perimeter surround and fans only able to stand around on all four sides?Originally Posted by Buckett
If it's Celtic Park Castlebar, the capacity is about 1,500 with a small length of terracing on the club house side and a low wall perimeter pitch surround.
We do not need more underdeveloped grounds in the league.
Stadium Nerd/Groundhopper that I am, I googled "Umbro Park" (new sponsor) and it appears to be just a pitch with one small seated stand holding maybe 300(?) and, er, that's it.
Tbf there is also quite a big complex presumably housing changing rooms, toilets, meeting rooms, catering, bar etc; also an adjacent pitch and a reasonably big car park. But those presumably were built for the benefit of the Mayo FA, without doing anything much for paying spectators actually watching the match - i.e. no terracing, cover, turnstiles(?), segregation, media etc. While there doesn't appear to be a perimeter fence, never mind wall round the playing area?
And as noted earlier, it's not too far out the road from the train station, which is on the convenient side of the town, but otherwise it's in the countryside outside Castlebar, not the town itself.
https://earth.google.com/web/search/..._________8BEAA
Different ground, apparently.
Which brings up another aspect of such new County teams like Mayo FC and Kerry FC, i.e. that they basically press the Pause button on any hopes of rising to Senior status which ambitious existing clubs like Tralee Dynamos or Castlebar Celtic may have, since these new teams will inevitably attract wider support from the county itself, at least to start with.
Which is fine if the County teams succeed and become established over the long term, but what if they don't? You'll be back to where you started, except that those pre-existing clubs will be even further away from getting a foot on the ladder, if not discouraged completely.
Last edited by EalingGreen; 06/11/2024 at 11:38 AM.
Good thing we have plenty of clubs with highly developed grounds and stadiums waiting in the wings to join the third tier…
Beggars can’t be choosers and facilities will be minimal in the new division for at least the short term whoever gets picked.
Except that these clubs will be hard pushed enough to find the money for essential operating costs alone. Meaning that if they should generate extra revenues over and above that, and it's a choice between paying extra for managers' and players' wages to keep them competitive on the field versus putting money into facilities off it, which do you think they will choose?
And assuming it's the former, what sanction will the FAI have to compel them to fix up their facilities instead? Fines? Points deductions? Expulsion from the League? As you said yourself, beggars cannot choose. So that the short term will drift into the medium term and then to the long term.
(Aside from all of which, to construct a modest and serviceable ground to modern standards, holding regular crowds of maybe 500-1,000, and occasional crowds of 1,500, realistically won't leave you with any change from €1m these days. And where are these clubs going to find that?)
I know you're constantly talking about the need for a propoer pyramid in the LOI (which I haven't seen anyone on here say shouldn't be the aim), but you're also continually negative about the prospect of any new clubs joining the league. Even with a pyramid system, all the issues raised above would remain in place - so your argument is one for no expansion at all really.
The FAI should be engaging with government about the complete restructure of Irish football, with enabling grants for facilities as part of that. Clubs can also themselves independently bid for money from multiple sources as well. Not all is doom and gloom re the expansion of club football into new areas. It's still early days, but Kerry have shown that it is indeed possible. And the league is in a very different place now than it was even 5-10yrs ago when there was a revolving door of clubs who were probably never going to last the distance.
Would ya not concentrate on improving the pub league north of the border?
I'm not arguing "for" anything, merely observing that in the rush to find a solution, any solution, the FAI here seem to be cobbling together something for the short term which will likely only mean greater problems in the medium-to-long term, rather than fewer.
I mean, what is the purpose* of this new Third Tier? It cannot be to make it easier for other existing clubs to get a foot on the ladder from below (it won't), nor can it realistically provide for the normal promotion and relegation between tiers one, two and three, since any club climbing up from the Third would most likely fail to cope in the FD, never mind the Prem, while any club getting relegated from the FD could easily go bust entirely. And as for future Tiers Four, Five and Six etc...
* - My own suspicion is that it may be something for Canham to be able to point to as an "achievement" on his CV, so that he can bugger off before it goes the way of the 'A' League? While Courell, Cooke and the rest of the FAI can say to the government (and UEFA) that at least they're doing something
No argument from me about any of that.
But looking from the outside, this proposed new Third Tier looks to be more of a sticking plaster than the major surgery ("complete restructure") which you quite rightly point out needs to be done.
In a number of ways yes, but basically only in respect of the same 18 or 20 Senior clubs who've been around for decades.
While just because the previous attempt at expansion failed (i.e. completely new clubs), and the one before that (i.e. 'A' League), doesn't automatically mean that this latest attempt must therefore succeed.
And even if I'm wrong - always very possible tbf- and this Third Tier does become established, I could only see it entrenching, not alleviating, the present impossibility of mobility up and down the various levels in ROI, alongside the wider opportunity for expanding the game to new areas which such latter process normally brings.
And that's before the hoary old subject of the playing Calendar, which could prove to be the final straw for progressive clubs outside the Third, causing them finally to say: "That's it, lads, there's nothing here for us at all."
Last edited by EalingGreen; 06/11/2024 at 1:22 PM.
There are, indeed, many problems with the IL set-up, but in this respect at least (Pyramid, expansion etc), we are addressing them, and reasonably successfully, too.
As are the leagues in England, Scotland and Wales, to one degree or another, in ways which the LOI is plainly struggling to adopt.
I know Castlebar Train station so that is handy if Mayo FC get in. Whether it will happen all depends on Dundalks fate I suppose!
Gary Cronin is he the right man to manage Longford Town?
"If Mayo get in". Do you mean get into the FD for 2025?
For I thought the proposal was for Mayo FC to get into a new Third Tier in 2026? Which shouldn't be affected by Dundalk unless they went out of existence and needed to be replaced in the FD (by Mayo) in an emergency.
P.S. In terms of branding and identity etc, could they not have come up with a better name than plain Mayo FC? I mean, Kerry surely missed an opportunity for Kerry Kings FC (or somesuch), though I'm not sure what Mayo could attach: "Mayo God Help Us FC"?
The Kings vs the Gods has a certain ring to it!
The Kerry Kings? 1980s America called, and woud like it's naming convention for High School sports teams back."If Mayo get in". Do you mean get into the FD for 2025?
For I thought the proposal was for Mayo FC to get into a new Third Tier in 2026? Which shouldn't be affected by Dundalk unless they went out of existence and needed to be replaced in the FD (by Mayo) in an emergency.
P.S. In terms of branding and identity etc, could they not have come up with a better name than plain Mayo FC? I mean, Kerry surely missed an opportunity for Kerry Kings FC (or somesuch), though I'm not sure what Mayo could attach: "Mayo God Help Us FC"?
The Kings vs the Gods has a certain ring to it!
What's wrong with just plain old Kerry? Or Mayo? Just like Coleraine. And Larne. And Bangor. And Ards....
P.S. Surely it would have to be Cinco de Mayo FC
The difference being that Coleraine, Larne, Bangor, Ards etc have had a century or more to establish their identity, but maybe you're right?The Kerry Kings? 1980s America called, and woud like it's naming convention for High School sports teams back.
What's wrong with just plain old Kerry? Or Mayo? Just like Coleraine. And Larne. And Bangor. And Ards....
P.S. Surely it would have to be Cinco de Mayo FC
And if you do feel that "Kings" is too corny* etc, maybe just a simple "Kerry County FC" (or "Mayo County FC")? That is already well known football suffix, as in Derby/Stockport/Newport/Ross etc. Of course it might annoy GAA supporters, who might claim that they've got the copyright on it, but if anything that would be a plus point!
"C'mon County!"
* - With you on "Klub Kildare FC", mind - dreadful.
That's not a big achievement. Ye have basically organised glorified junior clubs in a tiny area. There's a separate thread for the Irish league.
Fair comment. MH Park was fortunate due permitted. In fairness to everyone in the club, they put in the agreed work on lighting, pitch and main stand.
The pyramid is overstated. If the goal is a vibrant professional league, what is the benefit of a saturation of clubs in an area competing against each other?
A Mayo FC can attract larger base support than two or three clubs competing against each other.
There is no one size that fits all. Another area might be different. An Athlone - Mullingar rivalry might suit the Midlands.
An elite licence requires investment. Clubs who qualify for an elite licence, which should include academy structures, should be within an elite pyramid.
The local junior district league up to regional level, if not national level, should be a junior - intermediate pyramid.
People can support and be involved with their elite club but also support and be involved with their local junior or intermediate club. Both can benefit?
So overstated pretty much every country in Europe operates one?
Our lack of a pyramid is what caused three Galway clubs in the First Division btw. A pyramid - promotion on merit - would have made it much harder
https://m.independent.ie/irish-news/...612523296.html
Among the 16 conditions is a requirement for the FAI to carry out a “comprehensive review of league affiliate structures” at amateur level.
This must “include a review of grassroots league structures to deliver stable and geographically logical leagues for women, men and children”.
This is how the FAI can make the league's and club's restructure into a pyramid system; no change, no money.
Says the poster who brought the IL into this thread discussing the LOI Third Tier (#1288)
There is one decent seated stand in Milebush Park, a good sized car park, perimeter fencing all the way around the pitch and ample space to develop a nice ground right on the outskirts of Castlebar town.
They don't have much in the way of media gantry, turnstiles, or floodlights on their main pitch, but it wouldn't cost them an arm and a leg to bring it up to First Division standards. It's not a million miles away from being a similar kind of ground to Ferrycarrig Park in Wexford.
https://kesslereffect.bandcamp.com/album/kepler - New music. It's not that bad.
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