Matthews calls for summer soccer to go as Longford show another lack of ambition

[ccfcgirl]

I think Summer soccer is a lot better,Teams are fitter playing in Europe and games arent getting canceled with water logged pitches etc etc. I hope it never gose back to winter soccer.

[Slash/ED]

Longford are doing well though while their crowds are dropping

And the reasons are obvious to all who have had the pleasure of watching them this season, and it has nothing to do with the fact it's not raining.

[Colie]

Crowd or no crowd we'll all be at the games & I'd say we'd all prefer the sunshine to the rain, hail, sleet & snow. Hands freezing off - remember that sh1t! Summer is for the fans.

[Billy Lord]

Summer football works because sunshine beats rain and warmth is better than cold. What the EL needs is a marketing campaign, well-run clubs and people who actually believe in the product rather than a bunch of fools looking for the latest all-conquering panacea.
Remember games in January?
My missus only realised I went to Rovers every week when the summer season began, because you can do things and go places when the weather's good. Let's make the EL worth supporting cos anything les is just a waste of time.

[Mayo Red]

Voted for summer football, but there should probably be a two week break in the middle to allow players to holiday with their families. Summer football should be here to stay because of better pitches and better prepared teams in Europe. The reason crowds are not as good as they could be (and it was the same in winter) is down to a poor marketing strategy and the bias of barstoolers and non eircom league supporters towards the english game. We have to work harder to get bums on seats and increase standards and facilities!

[CollegeTillIDie]

Ok bit of balance here;
Yes the clubs that play in Europe with one notable exception have benefitted from summer soccer. Yes the players get to train on better surfaces and the managers and coaches benefit from having longer daylight hours in the evening in the early part of the season to work on things with the players. However for every one of these positives there are an equally large number of negatives.


The fact remains that 6 clubs excepted it is a largely part-time league. Players and fans both have to take holidays.
Last night was a night of summer football it p***ed rain. People don't go to matches in large numbers in the p***ing rain no matter how warm it is.
Again in the interests of balance UCD V Drogheda game had over 800 at the game. Not bad you might argue. I would contend on a better night weather wise 4 figures would have been a certainty and have last season's Cup tie attendance figure to back me on that. Right pineapple?

The fact also remains that people do not go to matches in July or August in large numbers because of holidays and counter attractions. Adolescents doing State exams for example do not go to games in June either. Cork City aside, every one of the other 21 League teams have noticed a drop in attendances during the summer months so a change of some sort is required.
Perhaps a mid season break would be a good idea? However last time this was proposed the Eircom League in it's wisdom did not implement it. Next summer for example the EL will get bugger all coverage in June because of the World Cup. I think a mid season break should be tried on a trial basis because otherwise the pro-winter season lobby will win the day.


And I also believe that in spite of what many people believe the coverage of the EL gets squeezed by Thugball in the summer. And coverage in the so-called broadsheet newspapers has actually reduced in recent years.

Another example Newstalk 106's Off The Ball programme used to devote the guts of an hour to the EL on a Thursday night. This week it scarcely got 15 minutes!
Now that the Premiersh*t is back they are re-broadcasting Radio 5 Live commentaries of games, even on Monday nights when there are EL or F.A.I. Cup games taking place . This however would happen anyway even if the EL had a winter season as is being advocated by Alan Matthews and others.

[CollegeTillIDie]

Crowd or no crowd we'll all be at the games & I'd say we'd all prefer the sunshine to the rain, hail, sleet & snow. Hands freezing off - remember that sh1t! Summer is for the fans.

Colie while I agree with the broad thrust of your weather argument invoking sunshine is counterproductive.. we live in Ireland for Chrissakes not Crete!

[Gerrit]

I don't understand. A while ago everyone was praising summer football, and now this?

I'd say: keep it as it is, they should consider it everywhere but the southern European countries. I remember in Belgium we had postponed games every winter, the league table was a disaster as no team had played an equal nr of games as the other teams, crowds did not really look forward to another game in the cold and wet winter, ...

I hope they introduce summer football up here as well. I think it can give Northern Irish football the boost it needs. Glens and Linfield did show they can survive a few rounds in Europe, but against Shels and Halmstads (two teams in the middle of the season) they had a lack of fitness (and probably quality as well, but still the fitness played it role as well).

I do prefer football in darkness with floodlights, as I simply prefer night over day. But bothing as nice as a nice semi-warm summernight with a game of football, then to celebrate the victory in the nocturnal southern atmosphere of the city...

[Sonic]

went for winter simply because i like the atmosphere of winter game obviously away games that is . I dont agree with matthews crowd rubbish because its the football on show that is the problem nothing else. btw longford fans happy to beat waterford pats etc is not sumthing boast about in terms of ambition!

[Bosco]

Went for winter.In longford anyway summer football hasnt worked,yeah yeah people aren't going to come out to see bad football blah blah blah,the football we played in winters seasons wasnt so hot either but our attendances were much higher.We're 4th in the league and they still wont come out.Attendances are a disaster for us in july and august.People simply have plenty of other things to do during the summer on a saturday evening whereas during the winter there is nothing and i mean nothing to do during the winter,so a town game is alot more attractive-this is the main reason for our low attendances in my opinion.Also summer football clashes with the gaa season which is big in longford and unlike other counties we do not have a big enough population to draw big crowds for both.Summer football has certainly worked for cork and shels,you have both done the league proud in europe but dont be soo quick to criticise people who it hasnt worked for.We in longford love watching ye winning in europe in front of huge crowds and then opening our papers in the morning to hear about your fantastic achievements.I dont see why we should complain,I love going out to flancare these days only to be dissapointed again and again by our ever decreasing crowds regardless of the fact that we are doing so well in the league.Maybe we should just keep quiet in the hope that maybe next week the crowds will come and maybe one day we will reach the heights of our dublin and cork friends.As for some of you,you've let yourselves down.Matthews calls for changes,sure he is a negative thinking,hoof balling ******!How could he be right about anything?Lets not have a debate and listen to other peoples views,lets just call matthews a ****** and bullying everyone into thinking our way.Grow up will ye,just beacuse things aren't as rosie here in the midlands as in the south doesnt mean we should keep quiet and continue to lose out.

[Slash/ED]

Yes but do you really think Longfords crowds will magically rise because it's raining?

That's living in fantasy land if you do. You have poor crowds for a few reasons, one is obviously you've a smaller population to draw from. Two is you play football nobody but the commited (or is it the should be commited) will pay to see. Thirdly, the novelty of the club emerging from almost nowhere and winning the cups is wearing off, Irish people are event junkies, they aren't interested in 4th place in the league and the bangwagon has slowed down, that was always going to be on the cards. It isn't good but sadly that's the way Irish sports fans work. With no chance of winning anything even if you're doing better in the league you wont get the bandwagon support.

If you think changing to winter will suddenly change all that then that is laughable really.

[Conor H]

Voted for winter because IMO there is a better atmosphere under the lights,especially in the 1st Division.Trying to get an atmosphere going in Monaghan during a sunny summers day is ****e!.But tbh i couldn't care less,as long as my team are winning it doesn't bother me waht time of the year it is.Summer soccer is better in general for the league but in Galway it's very hard to compete and get crowds with all the stuff going on during the summer...ie...the Races,Arts festival etc.So for United-WInter but for the good of the league-Summer.

[Cosmo]

Summer football all the way for me (though i can see why some people might want it back to the winter football)

[Bosco]

Yes but do you really think Longfords crowds will magically rise because it's raining?

It is nothing to do with weather as far as i'm concerned.Our lowest crowds this summer were when the weather was best,because as i said there are plenty of other things to do and nothing to do during the winter.Its not going to magically change but it would be much easier imo to get people out without anything to compete with.

Two is you play football nobody but the commited (or is it the should be commited) will pay to see.

Exagerating a bit.Our football isnt half as bad as certain fans would have you beieve.Certainly at our last few games the football has been fantastic(wasnt in derry last night).As as far as i can remember we gave you a lesson in how football should be played at the end of last season and you werent too impressive when ye were in flancare earlier this year(one of the worst games from both teams i have witnessed in a while).

Thirdly, the novelty of the club emerging from almost nowhere and winning the cups is wearing off

This is also a major factor,alot of people i have been talking to have said that they cant see themselves coming out to flancare for a while because the team aren't even going to win anything this year!Idiots!The club need to do something drastic and it doesnt seem to be happening.Everyone in longford knows about de town and we are unigue in that way,we need to take advantage of this and try to get bums on seats or preferably standing on seats .A while ago 1,000 would have been a terrible attendance,at this stage its thought as a good enough crowd

[Slash/ED]

It is nothing to do with weather as far as i'm concerned.Our lowest crowds this summer were when the weather was best,because as i said there are plenty of other things to do and nothing to do during the winter.Its not going to magically change but it would be much easier imo to get people out without anything to compete with.

Yes but crowds are always lowest mid season. The buzz of the season returning has disappeared and the buzz of the end of season approaching where everything is sorted out hasn't yet approached, same any league any season.

Exagerating a bit.Our football isnt half as bad as certain fans would have you beieve.Certainly at our last few games the football has been fantastic(wasnt in derry last night).As as far as i can remember we gave you a lesson in how football should be played at the end of last season and you werent too impressive when ye were in flancare earlier this year(one of the worst games from both teams i have witnessed in a while).

It is that very match against Shels that makes me so frustrated when watching Longford, you're more than capable of playing good football yet choose not to.

As for us, we play sh*t football too, or have been anyway, we've improved latley. And the result? Our crowds have dropped on early season too. Nothing to do with anything other than the fact we're playing poorly and that always has a knock on effect on crowds, we look back on form now and if we continue to do so our crowds will rise again.

This is also a major factor,alot of people i have been talking to have said that they cant see themselves coming out to flancare for a while because the team aren't even going to win anything this year!Idiots!The club need to do something drastic and it doesnt seem to be happening.Everyone in longford knows about de town and we are unigue in that way,we need to take advantage of this and try to get bums on seats or preferably standing on seats .A while ago 1,000 would have been a terrible attendance,at this stage its thought as a good enough crowd

Agreed, Longford should be able to get people out as the club is well seen around town which is rare for an EL club, but it's difficult to get anything out of people with the event junkie mentality that alot of Irish people have.

I just don't see how a return to winter football is going to magcally solve these problems. To me it smacks of looking for an easy solution to a difficult problem.

[Bosco]

Yes but crowds are always lowest mid season. The buzz of the season returning has disappeared and the buzz of the end of season approaching where everything is sorted out hasn't yet approached, same any league any season.

Thats all very easy to say but its common sense that in july and august alot of people take holidays and there are also alot of events going on for people to go to.

It is that very match against Shels that makes me so frustrated when watching Longford, you're more than capable of playing good football yet choose not to.

Very true and it is that very match that has got alot of longford fans ****ed off.The way we play is mixed,we can play good passing football one week and then defensive hoof ball next week.Its not really mostly one or the other but the matches were we play defensive are always highlighted and blown out of all proportion such as the league cup game against cork,we were traveled down on a tuesday night with a 2nd string team against a big turners cross crowd and very few fans of our own,i cant imagine the players had the cofidence to do anything but defend.

To me it smacks of looking for an easy solution to a difficult problem.

You could be exactly right there.To be honest i'm not pushing for winter football but i just wanted to make it clear to some people that just becaue they are doing so well doesnt mean others are aswell.

Can someone change the title of this thread

[higgins]

I voted winter because I like games under the Floodlights

I think clubs are better off with summer soccer as Pat Scully made a great point last week, he mentioned that teams now had more daylight on a better surface and could train properly. Trianing in the rain and darkness all the time cant be the same can it??

I dont think it had a great effect on the crowds and I dont think its the reason we are doing so well in europe, I think that happened due to more players turning professional and the clubs adapting a more professional approach to things. I mean Djurgarden were as much in season as Cork, did it matter then?? No! as Cork were the better side, simple as that.

Im voting Winter for the floodlights no other practical reason

[Slash/ED]

I dont think it had a great effect on the crowds and I dont think its the reason we are doing so well in europe, I think that happened due to more players turning professional and the clubs adapting a more professional approach to things. I mean Djurgarden were as much in season as Cork, did it matter then?? No! as Cork were the better side, simple as that.

Would it have mattered if Cork were out of season at the time? Yes, and chances are that away goals win would have turned into a loss, no matter how much better Cork were and they were better.

[Copa Mundial]

Debate it without resorting to personal attacks the whole time. Criticise the idea with valid reasons, rather than the usual "lack of ambition" bull the whole time.

It'd be interesting to see what the other rural clubs think, rather than just the city clubs where there obviously isn't the same impact of going head to head with the GAA every weekend (training, junior matches, senior matches etc)

I wondered recently on a visit to flancare, why the crowd was pretty sparce.Ye were still in the FAI Cup and yer league form this season had improved hence the 4th position in the table at the time. I wondered what competition Longford Town had in terms of getting people through the gates at Flancare. I couldnt come up with any. Its hardly a case of successful inter county GAA teams although i hadnt really considered local GAA.Surely thats not real competition.
Ye had between 6-10,000 at yer FAI Cup finals.Surely there's a reason the crowds have dropped at flancare.I dont think summer soccer is it

[superfrank]

I don't know why anyone can want winter football back. I think the competing thing is bull too. The GAA season is pretty much year-round.