QuoteMightnt have got across what i meant. i dont want to see AI league either as it would be a disaster for my club but was trying to say that no-one up north here has a problem with it politically.Originally Posted by -lamb-
um, i disagree. i mind.
what exactly would an all ireland league do for my team?
either you have the possiblity of having to travel far too far for an all ireland second division or you play localised second divisions which is much the same as things are now but minus the bigger gates.
why exactly wouldn't i mind?
Larne FC for Larne Town. Inver Park for the people.
Mightnt have got across what i meant. i dont want to see AI league either as it would be a disaster for my club but was trying to say that no-one up north here has a problem with it politically.
Not being funny now lamb, but just wanna ask here, do you not want to try in play in the first division ?? Why did you (automatically it seems) think you'd be in the second all the time ??
For the record, i dont know how it is with ye, but every club in the first division down here aspires to be in the premier division and more than 50% of them have been contenders in recent season. Dont know if i am fully right on this but to my knowledge all, that ALL of those clubs have looked like contenders to come up at one stage in the last 8-9 years.
I'm not being funny now but is it right that clubs who cant/wont compete for promotion or at least dont aspire to, hold back the league from progressing.
What i am saying is that, there is a chance here at hand to get every bar-stooler off their seat and into a ground near them, only if there is a decent TV deal, sponsorship and swell of support. That can happen if there is a united league. In my opinion that renewed energy will effect every club, even the ones at the end, i know you'll say exponentially but how is that different to now ? You are saying you rely on a few big gates, can i ask roughly what kind of percentage is this in relation to your overall attendance ?
Either way, i think it is completely mad that while both leagues suffer there is a means to resolve it right on our door step, and think about it .... how many poor mouth stories have you heard in your time involved in football, all clubs feeling the pinch at some stage and then you'd turn this down ?
The SFAI are the governing body for grassroots football in Ireland, not the FAI. Its success or the lack of is all down to them.
well going by continual speculation, clubs like larne and loughgall just wont be invited to join this new wonderful AI league. The big 2 and the ports seem to be the only ones wanted. also it seems that it wont be a brand new league and it will instead be an EL with Linfield,Glens and ports invited to join. for me this isnt acceptable. Also as the cup has shown with attendances it really has gripped the imagination.
Linfield where tired on monday night and never really got going untill the second half when they got the ball down and played a bit of football and got in behind derry a few times only to be let down by poor crossing,but lets not forget these lads played a tough match two days previous and have had over 30 games under their belt not to mention they all work full time jobs and then train 3 nights a week,derry city never even looked like scoring although they played some nice football at times,both sets of keepers never had a save to make all night and derry scored a pen which isn't to much to shout about
Didn't look like scoringLinfield where tired on monday night and never really got going untill the second half when they got the ball down and played a bit of football and got in behind derry a few times only to be let down by poor crossing,but lets not forget these lads played a tough match two days previous and have had over 30 games under their belt not to mention they all work full time jobs and then train 3 nights a week,derry city never even looked like scoring although they played some nice football at times,both sets of keepers never had a save to make all night and derry scored a pen which isn't to much to shout about
One of your defenders cleared off the line from a corner, Oman missed an open net which he headed over, after your keeper went for a walk and Noel Bailie made a super block as McCourt looked set to score.
And Derry City players are Part-time as well, most have other jobs.
Just going by tabloid articles especially an article I seen in the Mirror by a Journalist called Doyle. not sure his first name. appeared about a month ago or so.
Dazza, i know you're saying it was a journo ... but think about it, do you think any clubs down here would sign up for something like that ? We have all said on here in the past that it would be all or nothing, clubs down here will have the exact same concerns down here and they will have to be addressed. I think its in everyones interest that the best possible deal is made available to clubs when signing up for this.
This hand-picking idea was not welcome by eL fans aswell.
The SFAI are the governing body for grassroots football in Ireland, not the FAI. Its success or the lack of is all down to them.
i'm just being realistic, not necessarily unambitious. i see our top 4-6 teams joining this league and, due mostly to lack of funds, the rest left behind. this will mean an even bigger financial split between the likes of my club and the lucky few in the top league.
you forget that we are already in the premier league (just) so why would i want to be dumped into a 2nd tier?
this leads to my view of larne being in some form of second division. i have to ask myself do i want to make a 400 round trip for a mid table all-ireland second division match? you have to take into account that i havent missed a single match, home or away, friendly or competitive, in about 3 years. i still think its unlikely that i'd take that trip, ESPECIALLY not midweek.
the only other options left are a regionalised 2nd div (less income for my club, less big games) or try to buy our way through the leagues, likely leaving us in huge debt which we only just came out of last year. not an option.
so, for me (and i'm sure a lot of IL fans if they really thought about it) an all-ireland league offers only out of reach dreams of success and wealth which larne have not much hope of achieving unless they are in from close to the start.
in terms of crowds i'd say we sit behind linfield, glentoran, ballymena, glenavon, portadown and coleraine but ahead of the rest. we are probably averaging 500 but we aren't exactly achieving much success on the pitch other than reaching cup finals. the blues and glens treble and quadruple that average. the one good thing is that we still have the potential to drag the crowds out at a hint of success. with a brand new stadium looking to be on the way this should increase.
Last edited by -lamb-; 22/02/2006 at 5:35 PM.
Larne FC for Larne Town. Inver Park for the people.
blueman1886, are you blind or what hi!!
Derry totally outplayed you's the other nite and if thats all you's have to offer to EL clubs, then you will never hold on to the Setanta!
Don't be a Mug and catch yourself on man!
We shall not be moved!!!!
Red & White Army
BEST FANS IN THE LAND
to be fair linfield HAVE had a seriously hectic run of matches recently. it's no great surprise they were tired.
Larne FC for Larne Town. Inver Park for the people.
Easy excuse for a bad preformance. We might have only got a point from the match but the difference in class was apparent. Do Linfield have a midfield? Didn't look like it the other night and Noel Baillie MOTM? every time he came up against Stevo or Farren he ran away.
"The Derry fans were fantastic in both matches. They sang their hearts out all the time and created an even better atmosphere than the Cup Final. They were brilliant. - David Graham, Gretna striker
Lamb ... just read this and see what you think?
The SFAI are the governing body for grassroots football in Ireland, not the FAI. Its success or the lack of is all down to them.
it's easy because it happens to be true. they've been tiring for a few games now, as their performances have shown. it's not a pro-linfield excuse, far from it. just observation.
at the end of the day it still took a penalty for a fresh derry city to get only a draw, different class or not.
@ a face - i've read the thread. an interesting point about older fai clubs reapplying to the ifa. i wonder.......
i've still to see how things would benefit my club or its supporters though.
for the supporters - if the class is so much better in the eircom then we'd get stuffed as we can't afford to strengthen much more. if not then whats the attraction of the extra travelling?
for the club - if there's more money in the league and still the same talent pool and same % income gap then how does the club benefit? our better players would get picked up by a top league club as we get put into a lower league.
obviously SOME clubs will benefit and the football might improve in the top league but for the rest of us i think we'd end up the losers here.
i'm not worried about euro places as larne have never been in europe in its 117 years existance, nor am i worried about my national team as if there was a worry this all-ireland league would be a no go from the start. i speak purely as a larne fc fan, a mid-sized club from a mid-sized town.
Last edited by -lamb-; 25/02/2006 at 7:36 PM.
Larne FC for Larne Town. Inver Park for the people.
Good post. I was surprised at the physical difference of both teams, more than one of the Linfield players looked overweight imop. To be fair to Linfield we have to take the word of the lads on here who know their team better than we do, makes the remainder of their games in the comp even more interesting
Is that not a bit contradictory? if linfield are the ILs best team and they go the whole season winning every game but one, yet our top 4 teams arent far off them, then how is theyre standard better than ours?
To suggest that teams in the IL are generally of a higher standard is sheer lunacy. Ourselves and Cork pulled away from the pack last year big time and $hels are of a similar standard. IMO there is no club on the island that can meet this level. It involves a bit of guesswork but if Linfield were in the EL I think they would finish mid table at best.
"The Derry fans were fantastic in both matches. They sang their hearts out all the time and created an even better atmosphere than the Cup Final. They were brilliant. - David Graham, Gretna striker
so shels, cork and derry are quite a bit better than the rest of the eircom league, linfield would finish no higher than mid table..........and yet linfield won the setanta, finished the league a poor second (in football style terms at least) to glentoran and portadown gave cork a run for their money. (i'm not even going to use glens this year as a comparison as everyone knows they've fallen to bits this season and have a ton of injuries, lost their manager etc)
your logic looks just a little rose tinted speranza.
i'm not saying there is more class in the IL or in the eircom as i just don't know for sure, but on those same terms, neither do you.
i doubt the top level of player is any better really, but there should be more top level players available to eircom teams solely on numbers alone. this may mean more teams with a higher % top level players in the eircom but not necessarily any more skilled than the top il teams.
tbh i think if the il and eircom were merged the il teams would be spread evenly from top of your premier all the way down into your div2
Last edited by -lamb-; 26/02/2006 at 9:46 AM.
Larne FC for Larne Town. Inver Park for the people.
I think the fitness level of the el players last year played a big part. As I said the top three in the el are pulling away big time and this showed in Windsor last week. Ferguson and Thompson who have tore the IL apart this year got nothing and the goal itself came from a defensive error.
This years Setanta will tell us much more as the el teams are well prepared. Every El team has had foreign training camps and appear to be taking the competition more seriously.
"The Derry fans were fantastic in both matches. They sang their hearts out all the time and created an even better atmosphere than the Cup Final. They were brilliant. - David Graham, Gretna striker
so the eircom teams have spent their time totally focused on the setanta cup whilst the il clubs have all sorts of other stuff to contend with, namely the irish cup, league, fighting for euro spots and to a lesser extent (for linfield) the county antrim shield?
what exactly was your point again?
Larne FC for Larne Town. Inver Park for the people.
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