20 Teams, 2 Divisions, 1 National League

[legendz]

Anything below level 3 is a pipe dream. I’d say we’re getting the A Championship mark II and that’s it

Underwhelming if so. Pessimism understandable. If true - so much for the glossy Football Pathways Plan, setting out a 12-year vision to “maximise the potential of Irish football across all levels.”, that might just wind up collecting dust on the shelf like plans that have come and gone before it.
Small grounds for optimism are when Bray and Cabinteely merged, there was no stopgap in 2022. The big push to try and get all leagues aligned to the calendar year season was initially a positive move anyway before the push back. If the third tier is about quality and not quantity, that'll be positive too.
Time will tell if the A Championship mark II is it. Getting buy in from top district league clubs to join regional leagues will be a key step. If regional leagues get off the ground, linking regional leagues to the third tier should be smoother. If regional leagues don't get off the ground, it will be a case of getting the A Championship mark II and that’s it.

[brendy_�ire]

Derry not in talks with Sam Todd, so we can all assume he's definitely away to Bohs.
Chat of Ben Doherty following him, which would be strange. Always did the job for us, but maybe he's thinking he won't get as much game time next season, especially if McClean is coming in.

[legendz]

Derry not in talks with Sam Todd, so we can all assume he's definitely away to Bohs.
Chat of Ben Doherty following him, which would be strange. Always did the job for us, but maybe he's thinking he won't get as much game time next season, especially if McClean is coming in.

Wrong thread there but on McClean - did he play in the A Championship for Derry when he was breaking through?

[Roones26]

Lucan Utd posted a few days ago that there was big.news coming

youd wonder about the connection between Rovers and Lucan if they are in the National League

[sbgawa]

Lucan probably announcing their annual game with us, i cant see them.going Nathional league

[legendz]

"Although we weren’t chosen this time, the message from the selection committee was clear,
Trim Celtic has made a powerful impression and is now a serious contender for the national league pyramid.
We commend the efforts of our Tier 3 sub committee in preparing the submission and thank the FAI for their constructive feedback."

It was a positive reaction from Trim during the week anyway, despite missing out. The 2022 selection process for the First Division seemed to go professionally as well. Small positive signs that tiered expansion might be a thorough enough assessment process - that should ensure the new tier is built on solid foundations, and possibly more tiered expansion is actually achievable, despite understandable pessimism.

[nr637]

How much of the FAI's Third Tier application selection process will be based on facilities such as ground access, spectator capacity, covered seating and general layout and construction of an exsistng clubs venue!

[Burnsie]

I'm not sure if you're just trolling at this point but I'll engage with you in good faith.

As has been pointed out a number of times on this thread, facilities are the key criterion and there are very few examples at the requisite standard around the country, outside current LOI venues (many of which, of course, are themselves probably grandfathered in despite shortcomings....)

[Roones26]

How much of the FAI's Third Tier application selection process will be based on facilities such as ground access, spectator capacity, covered seating and general layout and construction of an exsistng clubs venue!

Don't and can't know until there is news and even then this is an unanswerable question

[legendz]

The Third Tier seems to be a done deal more or less for the end of next year. The youth leagues for a new age grade used to start off with a short season as well. U17 with a truncated season in 2015 and U15 in 2017. Seems a tried and tested introduction for a new league.

It'll be interesting to hear what noises come out about the fourth tier plans, if any.
1) Likely timescale, if in the pipeline.
2) Will it be split into two regions like the Third Tier or split into more regions. If the fourth tier has 3 or 4 regions, does linking to the MSL and LSL nearly become the next step by default.
3) At what stage are the MSL and LSL likely to become the next tier, if at all, and will there be regional leagues at a similar level.

[EatYerGreens]

The Third Tier seems to be a done deal more or less for the end of next year. The youth leagues for a new age grade used to start off with a short season as well. U17 with a truncated season in 2015 and U15 in 2017. Seems a tried and tested introduction for a new league.

It'll be interesting to hear what noises come out about the fourth tier plans, if any.
1) Likely timescale, if in the pipeline.
2) Will it be split into two regions like the Third Tier or split into more regions. If the fourth tier has 3 or 4 regions, does linking to the MSL and LSL nearly become the next step by default.
3) At what stage are the MSL and LSL likely to become the next tier, if at all, and will there be regional leagues at a similar level.

I'd say the FAI would be wise to give the new 3rd tier a few years to bed in and get fully up and running before making any waves about a 4th tier. Especially as that is likely to be about re-engineering what already exists, and thereby ruffling feathers and stepping on toes. They need to view the creation of a genuine pyramid here as a 5 or so year project, and not something to be rushed through.

[nigel-harps1954]

Some of the nonsense here is almost worse than the suggestion lists of teams.

There's been no mention anywhere of just 16 teams.

Theres been no mention anywhere of B teams.

There's been no discussion about a fourth tier. So suggestions towards that can be put on the back burner for now rather than derailing things even further.

[Buckett]

In fairness, the first line of the first post is "lets list possible teams for the proposed North and South Divisions." The thread is what it is, pure speculation.

Anyways, we're almost at the end of November now, so we'll soon find out what's happening.