According to the back page of a national newspaper today discussions regarding an all-ireland league are at "advanced" stages, and GUFC are one of the "top 6 professional clubs" pushing for this along with drogs, pats, cork, etc.
Anyone know anything about this?
ithink it could be good for the standard, hopefully utd will be competing with the top teams on the pitch if/when this does come about!
Belfast not such an easy away trip though....
"I'd rather have a full bottle in front of me than a full frontal labotomy."
Fred Allen.
The irish league has no fully pro clubs, afaik.Originally Posted by Square Heir
someone prove me wrong but, i think its mad to want to merge
i have absolutely no interest
I think it will happen the Setanta cup was lets test the water sort of thing and it has seemed to have done well ( would it be by ant chance be called the Setanta league as they would like to be part of it ? ) so going forward one thinks that a merger will happen . Now for this to happen the FAI & the IFA will be on side and then that will leave the door open for an all Ireland Team . Will it happen I think it will as it's only a matter of time and without a shadow of a doubt I would welcome it .
much more commercially attractive.
more exposure. more money. better quality.
more bigger games for eg V linfield, glentoran & cliftonville.
it would be good imo.
i dont really have much interest in the northern teams myself - but if it meant a higher standard of football with better crowds im all for it
more water!
Yesterday's Sunday Independent had this:
---
THE G6 of the eircom League are playing a high-risk strategy by hitching their wagons to Fintan Drury's Platinum-driven chariot for a new All-Ireland League. Drury told FAI CEO John Delaney last week that plans were continuing apace for the League, with support from clubs on both sides of the border, including Linfield, and the intention was to kick off next September.
Unimpressed, Delaney issued a statement declaring a meeting between the FAI and the IFA next month to discuss matters of "mutual interest." The message was clear: if any All-Ireland League is to take off, it has to be a joint FAI/IFA production.
The six rebels; Drogheda United, Cork City, Derry City, St Pat's, Bohemians and Galway United, need to be wary. With the League starting on March 7, the FAI need to know who is inside their tent, and who's not.
If the 'G6' can't commit, they risk expulsion. Also, the FAI won't nominate Drogheda, Cork, St Pat's and Bohs for European club competition.
The 16 clubs outside the loop are watching developments keenly. If the FAI stand firm, Shamrock Rovers could find themselves in the qualifying rounds of the Champions League, while Waterford United and Longford Town would be re-instated to the Premier Division.
This thing has obviously been discussed amoung the Eircom League clubs for a while now.
I can't help but feel it's being done behind the backs of the fans.
Personally, I'm not in favour of it. If the club were to release a statement regarding their plans for it, it might not meet with such resistance, as i'm sure it will, if no consultation is made with the fans.
Its strange that some GUFC fans are against this AIL as your club is one of the G6 that is pressing for it!!
Aye its a long way to travel but its not much further away than Derry in terms of distance anyway! out of interest How many would you take to the Brandywell anyway? Also Belfast has changed alot in the past 10-15 years theres a lot of money has come in and I think you would get a warm welcome from Linfield and Glentoran fans!Belfast not such an easy away trip though....
From my experience anyway there are a lot of bar stool Republicans down here and I'm sure a lot of them would want to go and see a game between GUFC and Linfield (the Irish Rangers!) so it may get more people interested in the game in that sense anyway!i dont really have much interest in the northern teams myself - but if it meant a higher standard of football with better crowds im all for it
I've no problem with the northern clubs. I've been in Belfast and all over the north many times, and I quite like the place. The first time was over 20 years ago.
Im sure they would welcome us...
But that is not the point... well not the point I have alluded to in the past. I just don't think that an AIL is the way to go...
I have yet to see any evidence to the contrary,
but I put that statement out there to be contradicted by anyone who can make a valid arguement.
And SolitudeRed, with all due respect to Linfield, the Republican barstoolers, as you so adequately described them, are most likely indifferent, in their attitude towards Protestant clubs north of the border.
If you were to ask a barstooler in Ireland who the Rangers of the north were, many, I suspect, would not know.
Maybe I'm wrong, but that's my two cents.
As far as the G6 are concerned, why are Galway United part of the group.
I'm not saying that the club I support and follow around the country are not worthy of being at the top table of Irish soccer,
but I ask the question in curiousity more than anything else.
Was it that other clubs were approached regarding negotiations, but they decided to opt out, or is the club attempting to be progressive, in making sure they are well clued into any changes that might occur in the future.
Last edited by gufcfan; 11/01/2008 at 1:19 AM.
i think you are wrong here.
the Genesis report stated that 22 teams in a the LoI is unsustainable in the 26 counties. from a support and financial viewpoint. it argued that the most commercially viable route was a smaller number of teams covering all regions of the 26c. now to bring that further if the teams in the 6c were incorporated this would/should increase the commercial attractiveness of the individual teams and consequently the league itself.
imagine a 10 team super league covering the 2 jurisdictions. it would be much more sell able to the TV companies which in all reality is where the money is. it would/should be not too far away, in standard, to the SPL. perhaps in a few years time one (or preferably 2 teams) would excel and become a Celtic or rangers style outfit capable of playing regularly in the CL and competing, to a degree.
the league, in it's current guise, will continue to live off the crumbs left behind from British football and will wallow in mediocrity for decades to come - or worse will cease to exist. this week alone athlone, limerick 37 and kilkenny city have been mentioned as teams who are in serious financial trouble - one or more of them may not be around for the start of the season. last season the premier division champions went to the wall and were relegated, shamrock rovers (historically the country's biggest team) have been homeless for 2 decades.
there is no real future for the league as it stands today imo. if you look at it objectively crowds are sh1te, stadia are tiny and generally either rickety or thrown together, media coverage is minuscule, the interest from the general public is non-existent.
the eLoI today is like the small family owned shop on Shop Street being squeezed out by the multi-nationals. true some loyal punters still go in and buy their wares but they do it out of loyalty. it is time to change and move with the times or remain as you have been for a few decades and close in a couple of years when you have no choice!!!
obriens will never close on shop street!!!
(probably because its williams street!)
more water!
But as you said its not on Shop Street,which is a common mistake people make.
to answer somebodies question:utd are part of this G6 movement as are the other clubs mainly because of the salary cap issue.yes,they did sign up to it but then realised how constricting it would be as reguards quality of players to be bring in,squad sizes etc and so it started from there and has snowballed into talks on this AIL now,very welcome i say.i just wish there was more info about talks coming out from people.
Spot on, I agree whole-heartedly with this post. The league is definately struggling as it is.
"I'd rather have a full bottle in front of me than a full frontal labotomy."
Fred Allen.
I actually couldnt make up my mind till i read this and now i agree but only if it were to get massive media publicity. Another thing is.... do you not think that Clubs like athlone and Killkenny would die anyway if they where excluded from the top flight or is it a sase of tidying up the league
In response to the responses i got for my post...
Look... I take on board the points yee are makin, but i'm not convinced that the AIL will work.
I would like to be proved otherwise, but that's my opinion.
I respect all your opinions, but i don't see it being very popular.
Hope i'm wrong though, because I see it happening in the next 3-5 years.
i presume the structure would be for a 'Super League' of 10 teams made up from the cream of the eLoI & IL. the premier div (combined with the first division) in both RoI and NI to remain with the top team from each either playing off each other or getting promoted directly to the 'Super League'. perhaps for the first few seasons the AIL could be a bit like the Setanta with teams being 'invited' as opposed to qualifing by right. This might be needed as a carrot for the Northern teams who might fear that they will be left with only one or 2 teams in the league after a couple of seasons.Another thing is.... do you not think that Clubs like athlone and Killkenny would die anyway if they where excluded from the top flight or is it a sase of tidying up the league
A split of 6 eLoI teams and 4 IL teams would be fine by me. Maybe the bottom eLoi & IL teams to be relegated and replaced by the top team from each jurisdiction (if invited and meeting certain criteria - like they have to do in the SPL) for a while until it gets up and running.
as for the likes of athlone or kilkenny, it's a tough one but if i am to be cruel it should be up to each club to ensure it can float or else they have to sink. if we really want a league that is competitive with others around europe and one that provides at least some players to our national squad then the AIL is the only way to go imo.
I have to say I agree with galwayhoop the AIL is the logical and perhaps only way forward but people are justifiably sceptical about it as it seems that the details of it have not been fully worked out by those who are proposing this new league!
Also I can't help wonder how the hell the IL teams are gonna be able to make the switch to full-time football given their limited financial resources! out of interest when did Galway United become a full-time team? and how did you afford it? was it all down to the Nick Leeson factor
last season was our first season as a full time outfit.out of interest when did Galway United become a full-time team? and how did you afford it? was it all down to the Nick Leeson factor
i suppose you could say we were able to afford it through the 'nick leeson factor' or to be more accurate through commercial sponsorship, fund-raising events and the friendly with sunderland all helped. the income from season tickets, match day tickets etc would have made up about 25 - 30% of the overall budget.
last season we were run on €1.1m. this season i think the budget is to be increased to €1.4m (i am sure gufct or someone will correct me here if i am wrong).
in fairness it is a paltry sum for a full time club to operate on but it is all that we can possibly afford at this moment in time.
the problem as i see it is there is no TV revenue to speak of at the moment (is it €5k per televised game???). clubs in our league are just delighted at the exposure from appearing on TV and there is no competition to secure the TV rights.
as i see it an AIL would increase the chances of TV stations actually bidding for the right to screen matches and put the AIL in a strong position. Perhaps SKY (who actually need football nowadays as you can see with them showing conference football on a monday night!!), Setanta, BBC NI, UTV/TV3, RTE and TG4 may all wish to show some and therefore increase the pool of money to be divided between the clubs. It would probably be structured like the Setanta coverage of the SPL where no team is shown at home more than 4 times, therefore all teams get shown live and are entitled to an equal (i think) slice of TV revenue.
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