Why Ireland are Crap at Soccer

[backstothewall]

Thing is i would be willing to pay a bit more than a tenner to see decent football

Cardiff city v Preston is on sale right now online at £18.50stg and £5.50stg for adults and kids respectibly, seeing the likes of Jimmy Floyd Hasslebaink, Robbie Fowler, Ricky Shimeca, Trevor Sinclair, Micheal Oaks, Peter Whittingham, Callum Davidson, Darren Carter, Paul Gallagher, Wayne Henderson, Brett Ormerod, Neil Mellor and Patrick Agyemang. The Irish players include Stephen McPhail (whatever happened to him), Tony Capaldi and Willo Flood (though he's away on loan at the minute),Andy Lonergan and Sean St Ledger. I feel my statement is valid. Maybe less than a tenner is a bit optomistic, but getting value for money is not a fantasy, and Irish football is badly overpriced. Truth is i have other things i can do on a saturday.

I know it's hard to bother with long term goals and sacrifice and something the FAI have never encouraged, but there you go.

Not my job!! I do bother with those things, but when i do i do it for my own personal benefit. Maybe that makes me selfish, but I'm selfish with £20k outstanding on my mortage at 24 yo. Go figure.

Lifes hard and football isn't a charity, like it or not its in the entertainment business. I'm in belfast, and as a football fan the best sport i can see is Ice Hockey, Hurling or Rugby. I've paid to see all three, I've only paid to see Man United in this city, thats a disgrace in a footballing city and country, and it isn't my fault the product is too expensive and too poor.

And the point of all this is that a decent league benefits the international side, as local players get the chance of playing a decent standard of fooball, at home. We should have higher ambitions than beating Slovakia, the reigning champions of the competition we are failing to qualify for are Greece, and Denmark have won it before. Countries not that much bigger than this one.

[kingdomkerry]

Hears my plan to save Irish football.

It has to be an all ireland basis to have any chance. The only clubs that are eligible are clubs that have a possibiltiy of attracting big crowds ie large populations

1.Belfast Celtic (practically dont exist i know)

2.Dublin City (merger of north dublin clubs ie Bohs Shels etc)

3.Dubin United (merger of south dublin clubs pats, ucd etc)

4.Shamrock Rovers (Tallagh has a population of 100,000)

5.Cork City (big city if they played in the EPL they would have 40/50K every game.)

6.Munster FC (Based in Limerick merger of Limerick 37, Waterford, Kerry League, Tipp and Clare.

7.Connaght FC (based in galway)

8.Derry City

9.Linfield

10.Glentoran

11. North Leinster FC (based in louth).

12. South Leinster FC (based in Kilkenny)

All the clubs that merge would stay seperate for U21 etc.

Also an annual All Ireland Championship for ametuers/juniors with 32 teams one from each county. Same as GAA football championship.

Fantasy Land, but it would work!!!!!

[sligoman]

7.Connaght FC (based in galway)

Fantasy Land, but it would work!!!!!

Fantasy land indeed. I know I'd have no interest in supporting a team based in Galway and I'm fairly sure most Rovers fans wouldn't either. The whole Connacht thing means nothing to me.

[dfx-]

Not my job!! I do bother with those things, but when i do i do it for my own personal benefit. Maybe that makes me selfish, but I'm selfish with £20k outstanding on my mortage at 24 yo. Go figure.

Fair enough you then deserve the Ireland team that is on display on your snazzy tv and your mortgaged house. As with a lot of things, if you're not prepared to put the work in, then don't expect to get much return.

In having lofty expectations, aspirations and demands, you're expecting Irish football to run a marathon before it can crawl 10 yards. Good luck to you with that. Or is it that you can't discover the link between Irish football and the Ireland you see on your television?

[kingdomkerry]

Fantasy land indeed. I know I'd have no interest in supporting a team based in Galway and I'm fairly sure most Rovers fans wouldn't either. The whole Connacht thing means nothing to me.

See this is what is wrong with irish soccer. Sligo is a town of 30,000 it can never go anywhere. No offence but a team that plays in front of 500 people and a dog has no business in playing in the premier league of any proud soccer nation!!!!!! The provincial thing works brilliant with munster rugby, no reason the same thing could'nt work for Connaght in the soccer. You could still support Sligo Rovers maybe in the Connacht senior League or something.

[sligoman]

No offence but a team that plays in front of 500 people and a dog has no business in playing in the premier league of any proud soccer nation!!!!!!

I'm not offended by that because it's bull****. Did you do any research into our Premier Division attendances before guessing 500 people?...and a dog

[kingdomkerry]

I'm not offended by that because it's bull****. Did you do any research into our Premier Division attendances before guessing 500 people?...and a dog

Sorry about that. I meant 600 people and 2 dogs

[mackannovic]

THE SOLUTION:

(1) Stop promoting and supporting British clubs. Start supporting Irish clubs.

(2) Stop supporting GAA.

(3) Lobby Government for funding.

(4) Set up professional youth academies in each province and in Dublin.

(5) Ban FAI staff at all levels from acting as agents for UK clubs.

(6) Stop the exploitation of our young players by UK clubs.

Stop exporting and promote sustainability. We are one of the wealthiest nations in the world per capita but we have soccer federation who lack accountability and intellect.

All great points except for No. 2. The GAA will always be supported and it does'nt have to be at the expense of Soccer. I dont support any English Soccer team. I would'nt like to feel like a hypocrit cheering for players that i hope will break their legs when playing for England.

The way I see it Im not from Manchester or Liverpool so I would feel like a fool supporting Utd or Liverpool. Whats my alternative support my local team in Ireland.............O wait Kerry dont have a team in the LOI. Plan b support Kerry in the football!!! 35 All Irelands!!!!!!!!!

[/quote]


Maybe we could start by not appointing people with the mental capacity and social attributes of a 5 year old child to be the national coach.

[Not Brazil]

I don't think any of this is out of the realms of possibility with the right co-operation between both governments, FAI, IFA and TV companies.

Something tells me that relationships between the FAI and the IFA are about to get somewhat frosty.

Pity.

[eelmonster]

Hears my plan to save Irish football.

It has to be an all ireland basis to have any chance. The only clubs that are eligible are clubs that have a possibiltiy of attracting big crowds ie large populations

1.Belfast Celtic (practically dont exist i know)

2.Dublin City (merger of north dublin clubs ie Bohs Shels etc)

3.Dubin United (merger of south dublin clubs pats, ucd etc)

4.Shamrock Rovers (Tallagh has a population of 100,000)

5.Cork City (big city if they played in the EPL they would have 40/50K every game.)

6.Munster FC (Based in Limerick merger of Limerick 37, Waterford, Kerry League, Tipp and Clare.

7.Connaght FC (based in galway)

8.Derry City

9.Linfield

10.Glentoran

11. North Leinster FC (based in louth).

12. South Leinster FC (based in Kilkenny)

All the clubs that merge would stay seperate for U21 etc.

Also an annual All Ireland Championship for ametuers/juniors with 32 teams one from each county. Same as GAA football championship.

Fantasy Land, but it would work!!!!!

If it would work why haven't Kildare County managed to attract the support of the entire county of Kildare? Or why didn't Dublin City garner popular support from the unaffiliated football fans in the Hibernian metropolis?

But you're right, it is complete fantasy land and illogical: why keep Derry, Cork, Rovers, Linfield, imaginary Belfast Celtic and Glentoran yet merge the other teams in Dublin, Louth, the rest of Munster and Connaught? Where do Harps fit in? And Monaghan?

I'm not brow beating you, nor am I being completely rhetorical - I'm curious to know, because you're obviously not a avid follower of the LOI.

[backstothewall]

Fair enough you then deserve the Ireland team that is on display on your snazzy tv and your mortgaged house. As with a lot of things, if you're not prepared to put the work in, then don't expect to get much return.

In having lofty expectations, aspirations and demands, you're expecting Irish football to run a marathon before it can crawl 10 yards. Good luck to you with that. Or is it that you can't discover the link between Irish football and the Ireland you see on your television?

The Ireland team on display, with Doyle and a small few recent exceptions aside, have nothing to do with Irish football. They were trained and make their career in England, and have succeded in spite of the structures here, not because of them.

All I have suggested is what comparable nations across the continent have had in place for decades. If every single fan in Ireland turned up at the turnstile every week for the next year, it would make no difference, apart from more money to squander on another pointless corporate re-branding, and FAI council members flying super-duper class instead of business class to away trips in Finland or whoever we draw in the world cup.

The pie is being sliced to many ways, on clubs like Finn Harps and Drogheda who simply don't have the income, and never will. Having them in the league means interestless fixtures, and actually paying to watch them does nothing to benefit Irish football, it means the directors get a free bar.

The Setanta Cup has shown the future, but only with fixtures like Linfield v Shelbourne, not Drogheda United v Dungannon Swifts. That is why it was St. Pats and not Sligo playing in it this year. And if a decent league was formed, and the stadiums were full(er), and a decent TV deal was done, then the money will be there to improve facilities, which in turn will bring more people through the turnstiles.

The alternative is slow death, because people won't pay over the odds to watch glorified pub sides. As any Omagh Town fan you want

Something tells me that relationships between the FAI and the IFA are about to get somewhat frosty.

Pity.

It is a pity, they need each other. I'm sure you can't enjoy those away trips to watch the Blues hammer Larne, Armagh and Institute. Any Linfield or Glens fans i know relished the competative matches Setanta brings, regardless of the politics of it. The blues fans in particular loved being "All Ireland Champions".

[Bucky-O'Hare]

See this is what is wrong with irish soccer. Sligo is a town of 30,000 it can never go anywhere.

So is Villareal and they almost reached the champions league final. Impossible is nothing my friend. Its time to start thinking outside the box! I bet it isn't only people from their small town that support Villareal otherwise they wouldn't be so successful. Rural football (of which I am one) supporters should recognise that there is a league in this country and it is entertaining. Yes I said it, the LOI IS ENTERTAINING! I pay a tenner every week to go the Brandywell as Im not a season ticket holder this year. After a weeks work theres no better way to spend a friday evening to kick off the weekend. Well worth a tenner!

[tetsujin1979]

Rural football (of which I am one) supporters should recognise that there is a league in this country and it is entertaining. Yes I said it, the LOI IS ENTERTAINING!

Can you really see people from Tipperary supporting a team based out of Limerick or Cork?

[Bucky-O'Hare]

Why not? Back in the 80's when Derry City were popular there were supporters clubs in strabane and a few towns in Inishowen! If people from those areas can support a team in Derry City then it can happen anywhere in Ireland!

[Lionel Ritchie]

Can you really see people from Tipperary supporting a team based out of Limerick or Cork?

My personal favourite was merging Waterford into a club based in Limerick -rendering half a dozen of their away games closer than their home games.

[OwlsFan]

Hmmmm, let me think. "Why Ireland hasn't won the World Cup?". A population of a few million, most of whom play the national game, Gaelic football or hurling and where playing soccer by them was banned up to a decade or so ago. Other than Holland, I am struggling to think of a country of comparable size that has achieved anything of note in world or European football. I wonder are the Scottish, Welsh, Latvian and Lithuanian boards full of people raging against their Associations, managers and players

Some people need to get a grip and lower their expectations. We are a pin***** of a country population wise with no decent home league with soccer very much the second sport. We can dream of course but that's different to living in fantasy land.

[gypsydownunder]

You want to pay £10/15euro to get and and at the same time expect to see ex premiership players. Good luck with that wee fantasy!
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I paid A$23 [that's less than 10 sterling] last weekend to see Sydney FC featuring none other than Juninho [and also Tony Popovic, ex Premier League Captain with Crystal Palace]. Sydney lost by the way, but that's not the point. The crowd was about 18,000. Modest. And a similar situation is entirely possibly in Ireland.

[gypsydownunder]

Other than Holland, I am struggling to think of a country of comparable size that has achieved anything of note in world or European football.

Well Uruguay have won TWO World Cups. Granted it was a long time ago.

But Denmark 92 is surely comparable?

And on the Holland thing, Ireland should have won in Gelsenkirchen!

[gspain]

There are a few different issues here

1) the national team

2) Domestic league football.

3) under age amateur football etc etc

Football is thriving in this country and underage amateur level etc. We have significantly more peole playing the game than any other sport ref the ESRI study 13% v 8% for next highest GAA. Football is now played in every corner of this country too. when it first overtook GAA as the most played sport in the early 80's it was mainly down to the sheer numbers in Dublin and other big towns and cities. The ending of the ban meaning that the likes of Shay Given's father would no longer have to travel to games in the boot of a car and that the captaining the Irish schoolboys is no longer considered serious enough for exulsion from school (aka Liam Brady) certainly helps here.

However this support does not translate into a successful domestic game. There are 4,000 people from this country at every Man Utd home game. I don't know the figures for Liverpool et al but they are also significant not to mention those on barstools and on sofas. Now those of us who follow the domestic game can say what we like but this is the reality. Frankly I still see it as an opportunity and a successful team here would have many bandwagon jumpers aka Sunderland. GAA and rugby have an huge advantage here. Nobody travels over from Limerick to watch Leicester or Wasps every weekend. GAA is really only played here.

The national team has in the recent past being comprised of players who headed off to England at 15 or 16 having played for one of the many well run schoolboy sides. This played alongside other young lads from England, Scotland et al. Now however English clubs are scouting the world for talent and this will mean we'll need to develop more and more players at home.

Banning the GAA nad rugby are not realistic and anyway banning playstations and alcopops would have a far greater effect.

The imperative to improve the domestic game is far greater now as it will also impact on the national team in the future. We don't have the easy option now of English clubs to develop our players.

[Dodge]

Spot on dfx and gspain. Well put, without resorting to the usual LOI tripe (that I've used in the past..)

Anybody who thinks the national coach/team manager is the most important position in Irish football is completely wide of the mark