Four new clubs in eircom League of Ireland

[John83]

This is typical of the FAI. Short-sighted policy which is mirrored in the Junior game too, to the detriment of existing clubs. Anybody can start a football club, anywhere in Ireland, even if there is already a club in that very area. It fragments the game and should not be allowed. This doesn't happen in the GAA, hence the magnificent facilities all over the country.

This would be the organisation with a club in every frigging parish in the country?

[galwayhoop]

heres my two pence worth;

Mervue and Salthill have both been looking to play senior football for a few years. Both have genuinely progressive juvenile sections, great facilities (especially Salthill) good boards behind them, excellent fund raising/(grant getting) abilities and a hankering to play at a higher level than Junior A football.

The CSL was abandoned a few years back and there was talk of it being re-inxstated this season but afaik only 5 clubs in the provence applied to enter so it was shelved again.

I am seriously surprised that both clubs have been accepted and although I thought that one of them should get the nod I am extremely, extremely surprised at both.

There is a genuine feeling from some in the game locally that Galway would rather it's own players to be playing senior football and not mercenaries from, for exampe, Dublin coming down picking up their cheque and not givving a damn. Most agree that this would mean a team who will only languish in the first division. A sort of successful (supposidly) team V local team scenario.

Personally I feel that both clubs (Mervue and Salthill) aspire to reach the first division and provide local players the opportunity to play senior football. The fact that both clubs are in the A league will totally diminish each others chances of reaching the next level and as someone said above chances are that at least one of them will be crap....

[drummerboy]

This would be the organisation with a club in every frigging parish in the country?

Yes indeed, but it is better to have one well organised club than 4 badly run, under-funded clubs in each parish.

[galwayhoop]

Yes indeed, but it is better to have one well organised club than 4 badly run, under-funded clubs in each parish.

in fairness all 3 clubs (GUFC, Salthill, Mervue) are very well run in their own right.

[JC_GUFC]

Will Salthill and Mervue be resigning their Junior status and enter this league exclusively?

Also what are the implications for the FAI Cup? I assume the A-League sides will automatically be entered into the First Round. How does that impact on the other non-league qualifiers - do the Intermediate or Junior Cup lose places?

Finally and slightly off topic what, if any, is the difference between a Junior club and an Intermediate club?

As far as I can tell Killester United are the best non-league club in the country but they're a Junior club. Is there a prospect that the Junior/Intermediate grades could be merged so that Irish football has a proper football pyramid like in every other country. It seems to me now that they're only 3 Intermediate leagues in the whole country - Leinster Senior League, Munster Senior League and Ulster Senior League. -

[Dodge]

Junior is below Intermediate. In dublin terms its quite a bit below.

[JC_GUFC]

I know it's "below" but why? What is the definition of a "junior club" and an "intermediate club"

It's not as if Killester can get promoted from the AUL Premier up to LSL and it seems to me as if tomorrow I want to set up a club, if I'm in the Southside I'll join the LSL and on the Northside it's AUL.

[LeixlipRed]

Think the difference between Junior and Intermediate has something to do with the use of public pitches

[Dodge]

It's not as if Killester can get promoted from the AUL Premier up to LSL and it seems to me as if tomorrow I want to set up a club, if I'm in the Southside I'll join the LSL and on the Northside it's AUL.

Mmmm not really true.

As raheny red said, teams in the LSL can't play on public parks. Previously junior sides didn't have access to the FAI senior cup.

At the bottom, there's little defference between the playing levels of junior and intermediate, but there's dozens of leagues in the LSL. The top teams in the LSl will pay their manager and some players too

[JC_GUFC]

Well if you look at the AUL in Dublin most clubs now have their own ground.

St Kevin's pitch and clubhouse is one of the best I've ever seen, although they've no room for development. Likewise Killester's ground is decent. There's no way either of these clubs would have any intention of leaving the AUL to join the LSL but to me both would have as much to offer to the eL as Cherry Orchard or Belgrove.

I know it's completely off topic but in my view the structures of Irish football are a total mess. I actually think the A-League is a good idea to get some sort of pyramid system in place but on a regional level it needs to be better organised.

[Dodge]

Well if you look at the AUL in Dublin most clubs now have their own ground.

But they don't have to...

I know it's completely off topic but in my view the structures of Irish football are a total mess. I actually think the A-League is a good idea to get some sort of pyramid system in place but on a regional level it needs to be better organised.

Agreed. But the vast vast majority of people involved in irish football on the admin side don't see the LOI as being the pinnacle and have no interest in it at all. They don't want a situation that makes them feel like a small part in a big pyramid They're happy living in their delusions of being "big clubs"

[galwayhoop]

Finally and slightly off topic what, if any, is the difference between a Junior club and an Intermediate club?

well from a connacht perspective:

Junior is Sh1te and....
































...we don't have intermediate!!!

[drummerboy]

I know it's "below" but why? What is the definition of a "junior club" and an "intermediate club"

It's not as if Killester can get promoted from the AUL Premier up to LSL and it seems to me as if tomorrow I want to set up a club, if I'm in the Southside I'll join the LSL and on the Northside it's AUL.

The top tier of the LSL is quite competitive. However, Killester and a couple of other AUL teams would hold their own. The overall standard of the AUL is not as high as the LSL intermediate divisions. Its not a northside, southside thing either, there are a large number of northside clubs in the LSL, Belgrove, Tolka Rovers, Skerries, Phoenix, Drums ect,. The big difference is the standard of facilities in the LSL. Take the 3rd division of the intermediate section, Beggsboro, Drums, Edenderry, Parkvilla (Navan) all play on Friday nights, with Celbridge and Larkview to follow shortly.

The fact of the matter is that clubs with wonderful facilities, like Arklow, Tolka Rovers don't seem to want to play in the Eircom League. I'm assuming the cost of such a venture is the biggest drawback.

[Athenryboy]

well from a connacht perspective:

Junior is Sh1te and....


...we don't have intermediate!!!

well galway , speaking from my own point of veiw the majority of soccer fans in galway follow the junior soccer scene before galway utd. and im in the same boat.its not out of disrespect for Utd, its just i would prefer watching local teams because thats exactly what they are,than have to watch to a side with little or no locals in the starting 11

Fair play to Utd in all their hard work over the last few years and i have taken in quite a few matches over the years, but i dont see mervue & salthill being in the A division would take away from Utd that much!
In relation to the standard of the 2 sides , at the moment i dont think either side would set the league alight, just look at the galway league, Athenry are flying ahead at the moment and we have no intention of moving from this league until we are well able to compete at the highest level consistantly and get another crack at the FAI Junior Cup!

[paudie]

If such a thing as the connacht senior League existed, you could argue this

I'm obviously not up to speed with the current structure of football in Connacht. Should never have let my subscription to the Connacht Tribune lapse

So Salthill and Mervue play in Galway junior league I presume?

[paudie]

this would leave cobh with 12 trips to the pale at least in the A league..... we will be broke

The other division will have Derry, Harps, Sligo and the Galway teams so much of a muchness as regards distances to travel I'd say.

[monutdfc]

I know one guy who played for Junior clubs in the AUL rather than LSL clubs because then he qualified for the Junior International side

[drummerboy]

I know one guy who played for Junior clubs in the AUL rather than LSL clubs because then he qualified for the Junior International side

That was the case until recently. Now the team is called an Amateur International team and can include LSL, MSL, and USL players once they have not played EL football

[passerrby]

I take it that means we are not entering passerby?
A pity imo. The costs to enter and then run a team in the A league are high though.

dont know to be honest but no team from eircom league want this so who exactly wants this. also i heard waterford (not Limerick)were the only team to express an interest in the new league i wonder why hmm

[finnpark]

Four clubs have today been formally entered into the eircom League of Ireland in order to compete in the new ‘A Championship’ division, which will commence during 2008.

The four clubs accepted into the A Championship are: Mervue United, Tullamore Town, Salthill Devon and Sporting Fingal.

These four clubs will be entered into the 2008 A Championship.

The A Championship will be the third layer of the eircom League of Ireland and competing in it will give Mervue United, Tullamore Town, Salthill Devon and Sporting Fingal the opportunity to win promotion to the First Division.

The prize money for winning the A Championship will be €20,000.

This is a joke.

3 Teams from Galway City. The chances of either new teams progressing to any decent standard are somewhere between slim and none. Did anyone ever see Saltill Devon's ground? It is in the middle of nowhere on top of a hill with no shelter. And yet another Dublin team. I personally have lost all respect and confidence in the FAI!