QuoteSummer! Better pitch conditions and weather contribute largely to a better standard of football. Better standard of football means better results in europe and more fans...
I voted for winter, *dons his flame resistant pants and goggles and gets the marshmallows*
Last edited by RonnieB; 27/07/2006 at 10:23 PM.
Summer! Better pitch conditions and weather contribute largely to a better standard of football. Better standard of football means better results in europe and more fans...
It has yet to be proven that there's any correlation between those two.Originally Posted by Buller
Better results in europe mean more people attend CL & Uefa Cup games...
RonnieB said it best i think lads. He we are debating who's opinion is right. RonnieB gave his and is enjoying the marshmallows while we try to use a flamethrower on each others opinion.
Statistics can prove anything and its impossible to tell what would actually have happened had we stuck to mudball unless there is a parallel universe that is still playing winterball so we can compare the two. There will always be a factor that will throw off the stats.
So what else can we do but say what we prefer. For me its summerball.
I think the poster of the topic asked us to keep it that way to and someone else was wise enough to point out you will not change the opinion of the stubborn likes of us on this forum
The proof is in the pudding.
4 eL teams in Europe, 4 teams progress to the 2nd round.
3 still have a chance to go further.
Have Boot Disk, will travel
Yeah but if you think about it logically (not saying you are not using logic) summer football helps teams in Europe - because of this eventually an el team will qualify for the group stages of cl or Uefa - IMO when this happens the public will finally sit up and take notice to an extent - then I predict attendances will rise - maybe a considerable increase with the team(s) which has made the breakthrough. Also as Pete says Better results in europe mean more people attend CL & Uefa Cup games
Joema, I hope you're right. I'm just thinking back to Shelbourne coming within touching distance of the CL. Their attendances didn't appear to climb at all on the back of a great European campaign. I agree that it can only increase the league's credibility and reputation, however European successes seem to only fill the ground on the night and not the next week in the league games.
Cork have 5,500 for a game against Crvena Zvezda Beograd ( which is Red Star Belgrade in Serbian), and nothing like that for most of their league games. And folks Cork City are the best supported Club in the EL bar none.
The situation is simple, Summer soccer has improved performances in Europe, BUT HAS DONE NOTHING FOR ATTENDANCES AT THE EL. Quite the opposite , this season everyone's crowds are down!
Having said that I think a complete reversion to Winter football would not necessarily work either. Which is why I haven't voted as such!
Last edited by CollegeTillIDie; 28/07/2006 at 3:49 PM.
summer. attendances, going on official figures, have remained pretty much the same for the last 6 years, going up and down slightly. why does it not suprise me that two of the most degenerating clubs in the league, longford and bray who have taken massive steps backwards recently, are the ones whinging loudest.
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Fair point regarding Shels run in Europe and its effect on attendances. But if/when an el team does qualify with the amount of money they get and the players they may be able to attract I can see attendances increasing. If we revert back to winter football it will be ten times harder to progress in Europe
More european games means more games which means total crowd for the year will be higher therefore higher revenue. More euorpean games improves the profile of the league, more live tv matches & therefore sponsors should be willing to spend more on clubs. More european games means players ability improves & therefore their value increases.
I think no matter what season we play in & no matter how many games we play in europe it is very difficult to increase average attendances - the best we can hope for is big crowds at the biggest games - this is what happens throughout europe.
I don't know if will have immeadiate impact on attendances but no one can deny the eL results in europe haven't given a huge boost to everyone involved in our league this week.
Your points are well made however, one of the selling points for summer soccer was that EL crowds would improve as games would be played in better weather. This has patently not occurred. And apart from 1 or 2 clubs everyone has had reduced crowds this season even Shelbourne, who have the best ground in Dublin, play the best crowd pleasing football in Dublin etc.
Yes obviously there was no research done on the advantages summer football would bring. However we are now in a summer season so i think the way to look at the debate is what advantages would winter football bring i.e. its a big chance to move to a different season...
I won't, I'm afraid. The stats I have show a 22% drop in attendances this year compared to last (this year is yet to finish obviously, but previous seasons have shown that we'll be doing well to avoid a 15% decrease); 2005 showed a 2% decrease. Only seven clubs have attendances up this season on last - including Sligo Rovers and Dublin City (promoted), Dundalk (no longer playing in Monaghan), Athlone, Kildare and Monaghan (both as a result of boosted crowds against Rovers). You lose about 15-20% on Bank Holiday weekends. Certainly there's been a significant drop in away support at UCD games this season and last, although home support is increasing. Attendances are down this season, and quite significantly so.
I wonder how much of that can be directly attributed to summer football and not to just a change in attitude on the clubs' behalf? I agree summer football hasn't hurt, but the eL's first good season in Europe in this current run was arguably the 2000/01 season (UCD draw home and away against a Bulgarian side with numerous internationals, Bohs knock out Aberdeen and beat Kaiserslautern and Shels knock out Sloga Jugomagnat) - this was a winter season. So the clubs had shown themselves capable of good European performances in winter seasons as well. Those results could well have given clubs the confidence to have a proper go in Europe as well as show the rewards of getting through just one round in Europe (games against Kaiserslautern and Rosenborg).
I agree that to change back to winter football would be a huge move and one which would have to be properly looked at this time. My preference, however, is for winter football.
Just on the attendances issue in the Winter/Summer debate, no one has even mentioned the fact that no club seems to be making any inroad on barstoolers .... that is the biggest problem. If half the guys who actually like footie supported their local team then we would have this problem.
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.
So, the main sorry, only reason why we should play in winter, is because crowds would increase.Would they?
For nearly 20 years, I watched LOI football in the wind and rain in December, and January, and I saw hundreds of deserted stands/sandpits/grassy banks around the country every week. Crowds will not dramatically increase no matter when football is played in this country. Look at places like Galway, Limerick, and Waterford, one-team areas with massive catchment areas, and one Waterford fan here is moaning that a home game for him is a 60-mile round trip.If you're passionate about your team, you'll travel the 60 miles to go. Our own fans spend thousands of €'s on long-haul trips to Finn Harps, Limerick and Cobh every second week, because our fans have the attitude, the desire, and the passion to watch the team play. We doubled Kilkenny's weekly attendance when we went there, and increased Kildare's weekly attendances ten-fold, when we travelled to Newbridge to watch first-division football. And this is a club with no home ground! Everywhere we've gone, has seen the local side's biggest attendances this season. If fans of other clubs had the same desire to watch their team play, then attendances would improve everywhere, no matter when the games were on.
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This Party Political broadcast was brought to you by the 'Shamrock Rovers are Great Foundation'.So, the main sorry, only reason why we should play in winter, is because crowds would increase.
For nearly 20 years, I watched LOI football in the wind and rain in December, and January, and I saw hundreds of deserted stands/sandpits/grassy banks around the country every week. Crowds will not dramatically increase no matter when football is played in this country. Look at places like Galway, Limerick, and Waterford, one-team areas with massive catchment areas, and one Waterford fan here is moaning that a home game for him is a 60-mile round trip.
If the Winter campaigners aren't allowed to argue about crowds being down due to some clubs being rubbish now, the summer campaigners shouldn't be allowed use European results as IMO the change to Full time football has been more important in this regard. The point is its very very hard to say whether its worked or not when everyone here has such hugely differing views on what success is/isn't...
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