2846 at Derry v Drogs.
What is it with the Derry home support?
Is there no faith in the Tieran Lynch or what!
2846 at Derry v Drogs.
What is it with the Derry home support?
Is there no faith in the Tieran Lynch or what!
Separating crowd noise from commentary wouldn't be easy as they're all transferred together to LOITV.Originally Posted by Longfordian
Fair enough so. Can understand the concerns around the commentary.
The looser the waistband, the deeper the quicksand..
You can only support what exists. The clubs in Belfast you mention are long-standing and part of the NI pyramid. There is no stampede of other Dublin clubs to join the LOI currently (beyond the new 3rd tier, which is a very separate animal really).
So the very simple answer to your question is that there is no credible demand for more Dublin clubs. There isn't even demand for UCD if we're being honest, and they're realistically only kept going by their university connection.
I would flip your question back on you and argue that there are just too many Belfast clubs in NI. The players aren't there for them all to function at a good level, and it's also indicative of how the Irish League has long been geographically massively-skewed (way beyond the population skew there). It's also much easier to keep a small poorly-supported club going in the north than it is in the LOI, as travel costs are much lower up there - and the limited number of full-time teams makes it easier for everyone who isnt to compete on much more of a shoestring. Dundela, Newington and Queens woulnd't stand a chance in the LOI First Division.
Longford seem to be overstating attendances by about 200 people or 55% based on an analysis of the UCD game! Probably for sponsors etc. I do want them to win their games etc, but at some stage they will need to train in Longford after 30 years like every other club in world football. Currently they are training at St. Francis and giving talks etc to St Francis academy players.. not sure if that can continue when St Francis is in the league should really be looking at linking our academy to first team before it's too late!
On the above about Dublin teams, you could probably have 10 competitive Dublin teams in LOI the way it is now.. They have strength in depth when it comes to players definitely and for LTFC it is an easy option to just outsource the football to Dublin but it's extremely disappointing for local players, coaches and their families. I appreciate some people don't care, but they aren't involved in the game locally. I have heard it my whole life about LTFC training in Dublin. Hanley is probably afraid of having to pay accommodation for players in fairness to him.
Public funding will hopefully necessitate building the game/industry in the midlands. We get academy players from Leitrim, Roscommon, Cavan, Westmeath etc. Ultimately if they train in Longford, these players will still have to prove themselves but at least they won't be shafted by the status quo operational decision to base the first team in Dublin. I scouted 2 players in Abbeycartron, there are players around 100% they just need and deserve opportunity. The facilities exist for academy teams so they exist for a senior team also, and the argument that they don't exist - as made by a committee member here - isn't even an argument as if the facilities aren't there you don't get a license! Best of luck to Mr Groves but he should be training in Longford. He should think of it like St Mels College in the GAA - 29 Leinsters 4 All Irelands we used to sing, I think it might be 30 Leinsters now. The majority of these came when Mels was a boarding school and players from around the midlands went there for their Gaelic Football. Or Mullinalaghta beating Kilmacud Crokes to win a Leinster, a very small village with players commuting to training from England. If there's a will, there's a way!
The playoff system has changed so much throughout the years. Questionable if it has changed for the worse while offering a necessary lifeline. 2018 and 2019 gave 2nd a bye to the FD playoff final while 3rd v 4th battled it out in a semi final. Promotion/relegation playoff was over two legs as well.
More than one way to skin a cat in rearranging the deck chairs of the FD playoff lifeline. A more incentive based approach would be along the lines of...
QF 4th home to 5th.
SF 3rd home to QF winner.
FINAL 2nd v SF winner over two legs.
The promotion relegation playoff then in a one off neutral venue or back to being over two legs - down to the clubs really to stick or twist on that one.
How do you mean? Its the same with any team throughout the league. When a team gets a bit of momentum and wins games you see a rise in attendances, Same when a team is under performing you get a drop off in support.
Derry has always had a core support of 2500 - 3000 that will attend games no matter what. The rest come and go.
On Tiernan Lynch however id say there is little support overall.
I suspect there may have been more at the match that what's reported.
But no, most want Lynch out.
This. 100%
What's that 200 about? Where's that coming from or what analysis is this?
As for the training thing, I don't know how you'd approach that. The logistics of that would be so tricky. All well and good saying to move training to Longford, but would we find 20+ players capable of competing with first division teams? We're already up against it with the lads we have, and they'd have come from a level higher than Longford/midlands. You'd want to be very careful, if you kept it to all local lads there's a danger they'd not be up for it and be in for hammerings.
Just look at our academy results on FAI connect in last few seasons, there have been some bad beatings, and plenty of them. If that starts happening to the first team the attendances will plummet. I know myself I'd keep going, as would some of the other die hards, but lets face it, most won't stick around, even if they're local lads.
I do agree to some extent though. I'm still sick that Emmanuel James isn't around anymore. A player clearly good enough to at least be appearing regularly in our senior team. But presumably the Dublin training thing has to have been a factor in him not returning. Could they maybe move training to Kildare just to be a little bit closer to home, while still bring able to attract the lads we currently have?
Longford is one of the cheapest places to rent in Ireland so I wonder would the savings made on not paying rent for facilities in Dublin cover the cost of renting a couple of houses in Longford for players to stay?
No team outside of Dublin could survive on a "local players only" policy.
Having the players in Longford on a daily basis interacting with the local community could do wonders for attendances.
Very true.. But the point about Dublin is that there must be potential for established clubs, even if they are Intermediate, even Junior, to aspire to the level of eg the second tier Belfast clubs. Now this will need a clear programme, with adequate resourcing, and take (many) years. But that is an argument for starting now, not kicking it into the long grass. Unless, of course, the new NL can hasten that process, but that is separate as you say, so that I suspect it is a fig leaf to meet UEFA's demands that domestic leagues must operate a pyramid.
There is no formal "demand" at present, but there must be potential there waiting to be exploited - at least more than more sparsely populated/isolated rural areas which have never had much of a footballing tradition.
That is certainly an argument.
But what do you do about it? Try merging clubs? Good Luck with "Cruville" or "Lintoran"! The fact is, those Belfast clubs are there on merit, both sporting and sustainability (just!) and can/should only be replaced by other clubs which are better placed in those respects - see eg Larne.
And in any case, the situation was FAR worse back in the days of the 12 team Irish League single division, when you also had Belfast Celtic and Distillery as top teams. In fact Belfast Celtic are interesting, since after they folded, they were replaced by Crusaders in 1950, who were elected as a leading Intermediate club, having been a Junior club until 1931. And yet after having been a leading club until relatively recently, those very same Crues could even find themselves relegated from the Prem if they don't get their act together for the last few games of this season, where they could even find themselves replaced by Limavady or another newcomer, Annagh.
The point being that the increase in Belfast clubs in the League is a consequence of the same structural developments which were later to see a further expansion out in the country to areas which had never before had Senior football.
As a result, the League top tiers are the opposite of you claim of being "geographically massively skewed", as clubs have moved up the pyramid in hitherto neglected areas - eg Dungannon, Ballinamallard, Loughgall, Warrenpoint, or even eg Armagh, Limavady, Coagh, Castlederg for periods lower down. In fact if you were to look at a map, you'll see that Senior football is far more widespread throughout NI than its counterpart in ROI - and all that's without Derry City!
There's no doubt that travel is a major outlay in ROI that is much more of a disincentive than in NI.
But as against that, there is rather less disposable income in NI than in ROI to spend on discretionary activities like football; also rather fewer billionaire "sugar daddys" around to subsidise clubs as well. On top of which, NI clubs have to pay 20% VAT on all gate income, unlike their ROI counterparts, which must be a significant saver for the latter to help offset travel costs.
So I guess what I am saying is that while there is a whole lot that NI club football could learn from the situation in ROI (understatement), nonetheless in respect of exploiting and developing Senior football outside the present same old same old 18* LOI clubs, if a much smaller NI can do it, there is no good reason why ROI isn't a whole lot further on.
* - Excls DCFC and UCD, as exceptional cases.
No doubt, just as there are IL Prem clubs who would survive in your top tier. But that is a reflection of relative standards, esp since ROI's greater resources are rather more concentrated in a smaller number of clubs than NI's.
My point is is not one of standards, but one of untapped potential throughout ROI, most esp in Dublin, but also regionally.
Last edited by EalingGreen; 24/03/2026 at 2:46 PM.
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