A Championship

[Sam_Heggy]

As jebus said, they're not allowed step up into the division their first team is in.

A couple of anecdotes:
I seem to recall Athletico Madrid being saved from relegation by their B team winning the second flight, though perhaps I've some detail wrong.
Quentin Fortune was signed by Manchester United from Barcelona B after he helped that team win the second flight.

I like the A league as a concept. It should be helpful as a tier for new teams to step into the league, and it may be more competitive than the reserve set-up, which will help the top teams develop young players.

I think we all agree that this would/could be a good thing for LOI but the funding aspect would be my main concern.
I think a competitive u-20 league and a reserve A league would be great for developing new players.

[dcfcsteve]

It won't though. The Under 20 league will replace the current u21 league so this is a whole new team for the club to run. They'll be obliged to run 3 teams at national level now.

The A-League looks like it'll be regionalised, not at national level. I would expect U20 to continue being very regional as well. So only the senior team would be national....

Again, is it really too much to ask of our Premier teams - not all, just the Premier ones - that they have a second and third-string team in regionalised competitions ? How thread-bare do we want our clubs to be operating otherwise ?? If one of our financially weaker Premier teams can't have a 2nd and 3rd string-side, how would they ever hope to handle the cost of competing in Europe should they get the through the Cup, for example ?

[Dodge]

Again, is it really too much to ask of our Premier teams - not all, just the Premier ones - that they have a second and third-string team in regionalised competitions ? How thread-bare do we want our clubs to be operating otherwise ?? If one of our financially weaker Premier teams can't have a 2nd and 3rd string-side, how would they ever hope to handle the cost of competing in Europe should they get the through the Cup, for example ?

Thats a ridiculous comparison. Doing well in the cup and qualifying for europe will obviously bring more finances into the club.

Nobody is saying the A league is a bad idea. People are just saying that obliging the clubs to create a thrid team will make extra demands on already stretched budgets. In Derry's case they could be put in the same region as Dublin. Do you consider 8 trips to Dublin as local? The FAI have dropped this on clubs with no help at all. Just like UEFA licensing. Again, I think it’s a gret idea but if any club has reservations about it, I think you're being a bit unkind by dismissing it so lightly

[John83]

...People are just saying that obliging the clubs to create a thrid team will make extra demands on already stretched budgets. In Derry's case they could be put in the same region as Dublin. Do you consider 8 trips to Dublin as local?..

8 trips to Dublin? So about €5,000 so? Are budgets really that tight?

Who am I kidding? Shels didn't nearly get sucked under in a vacuum.

[Poor Student]

Good to see Salthill have declared an interest. Although they have no spectator facilities their setup is very good. There's plenty of space to put up a stand or two to rectify that issue. They also won the Dr. O'Neill U-21 Champonship last year so they have the playing and development structure in place. Are they actually based in Salthill though? Thought I remember someone saying that their ground isn't actually there?

[pineapple stu]

Are they actually based in Salthill though?

They're based in Drom, which is in the arse end of nowhere.

[Tis-smeee]

What if you charged supporter 300 euro to fill the squad, leave everyone make there own way to games, Saves the clubs the problem of paying Mediocre players and could raise thousands