What's the point when you can't beat us in Belfield in the league for 25 years?
LOI attendances are pathetic but that one is a joke teams like UCD have to ask themselves is it really worth it. What is the point if there seems to be no interest from the local area or even the student population.
What's the point when you can't beat us in Belfield in the league for 25 years?
Because football is first a participation sport and second a spectator sport. We have well over 1,000 players (which I understand makes us the biggest adult club in europe) and we provide a cereer path all the way up to U21 international level for the best of them. You can't say that the student population takes no interest when that many of them take to the field every week.Originally Posted by red bellied
Well where was your 1000 players Saturday night, to be in a top flight league you need some sort of fanbase UCD dont have one never did and never will. Where do they actually draw the few that do go.
First thing about being a Rovers supporter there is always interest bout the place either good or bad. I can safely say ye are hardly the talk of the town up there. I know that some of ye are fairly committed to the cause but if the club tomorrow was to drop out of the league no one in the local area would really give a ****.
I presume the majority were studying for today's exams but that's neither here not there.
To be in the top flight you need a team capable of competing in the top flight. Everything else is window dressing.
You looking to sign them?
We're not arrogant, we're just better.
No but ye could pay them extra in their grant to become season ticket holders!
We've spent practically all of the last decade in the top flight. We know and have what it takes.
I can understand the point you're making Goliath but I think you're playing down UCD's significance by comparing us to Dub City, a club which is a few years old and without any home ground or area. Also you play up the other clubs a bit by saying that they have a huge place in the community of their respective areas. Some do, most don't.
The bottom line is my mind is that there is no one model of what a club should be. You could pick a set of criteria and say that Sligo is a better club because you have a bigger ground and higher crowds. I could pick a different set of criteria and say UCD is better because we have a bigger astro park and better training facilities. At the end of the day, this is a football league and these things are judged on the pitch. We're level on points with just under a third of the season gone and we'll see how things pan out over the whole season.
No really. Any club can set up a link with a college. Some have. You're effectively making the point that we have a huge pool of players to choose from because we can sign players as well as play the ones we have. Sure that's the same as any other club.
Actually, that's not true. We had Doc O'Neill and Theo Dunne from 1979 to 1999, when the Doc died. Obviously they did well. Martin Moran was manager from 1999 to 2001 and, despite getting us to Europe playing some superb football, has gotten mixed reviews (I think he did a good job). Then we had Doolin, who was crap. And now we have Pete. Four managers (excluding Dermot Keely's eight games) in 26 years is hardly a long line.
What would you term a "real" team? There were 11 players out there on Saturday, which seems a good definition of a "real" team. They were good enough to beat your team - does that make you not "real"? Does a club have to have a large fanbase to be "real"? Do you think Kilkenny City, Monaghan United, Kildare County, Athlone Town or Cobh Ramblers have a huge place in the community? Do you think Longford Town, Waterford United or Shelbourne have a huge place in the community?
You'd be surprised how many people - especially kids - around the area would at least name UCD as their local side, even if they followed English football mainly. I hear it all the time.
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