Radio 1 NOW - Des Cahill talking about leagues problems

**A face** · 25/10/2006, 5:55 PM

Radio 1 - Des Cahill talking about leagues problems, financial mostly.

Can someone post up a link to this station?

**DmanDmythDledge** · 25/10/2006, 5:57 PM

Who is that talking at the moment?

**Jamjar** · 25/10/2006, 6:00 PM

Originally Posted by A face

Radio 1 - Des Cahill talking

Talking shiite and through his nose as usual no doubt.

**DmanDmythDledge** · 25/10/2006, 6:02 PM

I don't know who it was but there was someone on that said that the top average gate in the league was 5,500.

**sonofstan** · 25/10/2006, 6:32 PM

Someone from the Star I think - Gary Cooke? Northie? and someone from Cork City called Kiely, I think. CC bloke said their average attendance last year was 5,500, and this year its 2,500 - that'd be that Cork wit, no doubt. Point was EL clubs can't afford professionalism, but if they go back to semi-pro days the league will be finished

**LukeO** · 25/10/2006, 6:49 PM

Originally Posted by sonofstan

Someone from the Star I think - Gary Cooke? Northie? and someone from Cork City called Kiely, I think. CC bloke said their average attendance last year was 5,500, and this year its 2,500 - that'd be that Cork wit, no doubt. Point was EL clubs can't afford professionalism, but if they go back to semi-pro days the league will be finished

Nordy journalist called Garry? Garry Doyle from the Mirror?

**chippie0001** · 25/10/2006, 6:58 PM

Originally Posted by sonofstan

Point was EL clubs can't afford professionalism, but if they go back to semi-pro days the league will be finished

Anyone who thinks that clubs can sustain professional football on an ongoing basis in this league at present are, well, idiots. The model is not sustainable just look at the clubs and the mess they have been in or the mess they are still in. Worst case look at this years Bohs accounts and look at the team that come third last and how much they will lose.

Rubgy is only professional with IRFU help, the provinces could not do it alone and there are only 4 of them. The teams below that no hope. GAA could not do it and also at the same time build new stadiums etc. Horses and Greyhounds are just funded by the taxpayers. In short no sport is fully sustainable on its own, we all tried it in various forms and failed. Unless either the FAI come aboard like the IRFU or the Government join in, ultimately it will fail.

That is of course unless you believe the new super dooper John Delaney league will have the tens of thousands out week in week out. Can't wait for a sold out Dalymount.

**passerrby** · 25/10/2006, 7:05 PM

I think your spot on chip ambition clouded in aspiration wrapped up in pure fantasy, the arse will fall out of this professional league and then we will have a proper debate on the future of el football

**sonofstan** · 25/10/2006, 7:15 PM

Originally Posted by Luke O'Riordan

Nordy journalist called Garry? Garry Doyle from the Mirror?

That's it - was driving at the time and you know the way everyone forgets how to drive at the first drop of rain? so I wasn't giving it my full attention

**OneRedArmy** · 25/10/2006, 7:30 PM

Originally Posted by passerrby

I think your spot on chip ambition clouded in aspiration wrapped up in pure fantasy, the arse will fall out of this professional league and then we will have a proper debate on the future of el football

Why not do it the other way around?

**Jerry The Saint** · 26/10/2006, 9:36 AM

Typical. God forbid that Dessie would use his show to preview the actual football matches taking place this weekend, y'know there's a couple of kinda important ones.

There clearly is such a thing as negative publicity and its the only thing about the game here that most media outlets are interested in.

**dcfcsteve** · 26/10/2006, 12:17 PM

Originally Posted by chippie0001

Anyone who thinks that clubs can sustain professional football on an ongoing basis in this league at present are, well, idiots. The model is not sustainable just look at the clubs and the mess they have been in or the mess they are still in. Worst case look at this years Bohs accounts and look at the team that come third last and how much they will lose.

It's all about how your run your club and where it's based (i.e. its catchment area).

I believe strongly that there is room for a small number of professional clubs in the league (including Cork, Derry, and one or two Dublin teams if they could lift their crowds). Cork and Derry are already as good as professional at the moment and are being run within budget (don't mention the Cork revenue payment, as that appears to have been a one-off and was easily covered). I don't believe that we can have a fully professional league with the currrent support levels, and common sense backs that up, but there's no reason why a small number of well-run clubs can't continue to exist professionally.

Originally Posted by chippie0001

Rubgy is only professional with IRFU help, the provinces could not do it alone and there are only 4 of them. The teams below that no hope. GAA could not do it and also at the same time build new stadiums etc. Horses and Greyhounds are just funded by the taxpayers.

Munster would easily survive as a professional team without IRFU financial support. Are you sure they actually even get any ? Their merchandise sales alone must be huge.

The major GAA counties could easily survive as professional teams as well. You telling me that Dublin, Cork or Kerry couldn't afford to pay their players given the huge attendances and merchandise sales they get ? The one thing that would work against them is the lack of games in a year, but that could easily be tackled through eitehr more games or alternative fund-raising operations (if you have players being paid for a full year, you'd want to use them one way or another). GAA as a whole is swimmijng in money. They may well take hand-outs to build uber-stadiums - but that's through choice, not necessity. People have been flocking to GAA in Ireland for decades, often despite the facilities.

There's no many in greyhounds, but horse racing is more than sustainable on its own. Just because they ask and get money to make their facilities all-singing, all-dancing doesn't mean they'd be abject failures without doing that. If money is available, of course you take it - but its no an admission of failure by any means. In fact - in Ireland it's actually the richest, most viable sports that tend to get the goverment funding (hence the EL gets next to nothing).

Originally Posted by chippie0001

In short no sport is fully sustainable on its own, we all tried it in various forms and failed. Unless either the FAI come aboard like the IRFU or the Government join in, ultimately it will fail.

Assuming you're only talking about Ireland there, I disagree. GAA is. Provincial rugby is in at least Munster. Horse Racing certainly is. And there's room for a very small number of professional soccer teams under current conditions.

**TonyD** · 26/10/2006, 12:28 PM

Small point, but one that always annoys me. Any club who pays their players is professional, that's what it means. Therefore we have a professional league, and have had for many years. Could people stop implying that players who aren't full time are not professional. I know the media don't know any better, but I'd expect more from people on here.

**drinkfeckarse** · 26/10/2006, 12:40 PM

I wouldn't agree with that Tony. You don't either have to be A or B. I was always classed as semi-pro when I got paid.

**Schumi** · 26/10/2006, 1:13 PM

Originally Posted by dcfcsteve

Cork and Derry are already as good as professional at the moment and are being run within budget

What started this debate was that Cork are seriously considering going part-time next year as they can't afford their current expenditure.

Munster would easily survive as a professional team without IRFU financial support. Are you sure they actually even get any?

Yes and it's quite substantial as far as I know. I think the IRFU pays their international players too. The controversy over Connacht continuing as a professional team a few years ago was mostly over Munster, Leinster and Ulster wanting a larger subvention from the IRFU.

*edit* Meant to add, the Cork guy on the radio yesterday didn't make much sense. He was blaming Cork's fall in attendance on the shed being gone, which makes no sense as (as far as I know) the ground hasn't been full all year so there's no reason why anyone couldn't go.

**chippie0001** · 26/10/2006, 1:31 PM

Originally Posted by Schumi

What started this debate was that Cork are seriously considering going part-time next year as they can't afford their current expenditure.

Yes and it's quite substantial as far as I know. I think the IRFU pays their international players too. The controversy over Connacht continuing as a professional team a few years ago was mostly over Munster, Leinster and Ulster wanting a larger subvention from the IRFU.

The international Munster players, which is most of them are paid by the IRFU not Munster. Since that is their biggest cost by far I would love to see them build that team of players on their own. Thats the problem the Engligh clubs had and have had to cut down dramatically.

**Mr A** · 26/10/2006, 1:33 PM

CC bloke said their average attendance last year was 5,500, and this year its 2,500

That can't be right can it!?! A drop of 3000 in average home gate, assuming those people are paying an average of €10 equates to a drop of 15k a week in income over the season or about half a million euro over a 36 week season.

Ouch.

Edit- according to the attendance thread Corks average is down about 700 on last year and 1100 on the year before (I'd put a lot of that down to over-reporting that year). That would make the fall in income from last year about 3.5k (again based on an average of €10 a head) and a mere 126k over the season.