Sporting Fingal to be offered First Division place

[drummerboy]

People forget that Swords is huge area which as regards Eircom League is virgin territory. It has a huge young population. Gannon has the capability to buy an English premiership club if he wanted. With his backing I expect SF to be in the top division next year and be playing in Europe within a couple more seasons. However I still can't figure out what in it for Gannon.

[duffbeer]

[QUOTE=TheFingallian;871006] Will shall see next Monday night in Corduff at the "launch". Interesting that they chose that location, over Swords for example.QUOTE]

Id imagine that D15 being another massive part of Fingal, it would only be wise not to alienate Blanchardstown. Not building the stadium in Abbotstown is one decision, but also to host the opening away from D15 would be bad PR.

[TheFingallian]

People forget that Swords is huge area which as regards Eircom League is virgin territory. It has a huge young population. Gannon has the capability to buy an English premiership club if he wanted. With his backing I expect SF to be in the top division next year and be playing in Europe within a couple more seasons. However I still can't figure out what in it for Gannon.

I'm one of those non-existent fans people speak of and even I wouldn't go that far. The first year will be to get a foot in to build on going into the second year. Maybe then we can make a promotion push presuming the seams don't start to fall off.

It could be that Gannon's a local man wanting to make something good happen for the community. Probably not though!

[dcfcsteve]

People forget that Swords is huge area which as regards Eircom League is virgin territory. It has a huge young population.

So what ? Dublin - nay the whole of Ireland - is effectively virgin territory for Eircom League clubs, giving that less than half a percent of the entire population of the country go to Eircom League games.

What is this ridiculous notion that an area with a big population and no existing EL club will therefore lead to success ?? You'd think there were thousands of frustrated Irish football supporters stranded around the country - just waiting for an EL club to appear on their doorstep to save them. It's just plain absurd !

If clubs that have existed for decades with generations of supporters struggle to secure big crowds, a team that lands from outers-apce with no tradition of support and which has no core area/name for people to identify with isn't going to magically be onto a good thing.

Individual clubs acting alone will not reverse the neglect of Irish football. The cloest we came to this in the last 25 years was Derry City - who bucked the trend of atrocious support in the late 80's and early 90's. But that was a unique situation and didn't last. Only through an nimage transformation for the league as a whole will we see substantial and sustainable increases in support levels.

This fanciful notion that virgin EL territory plus new club plus rich investor will lead to big support is just ridiculous in its simplcity and doesn't reflect the harsh reality of domestic football's current status in Ireland.

[pineapple stu]

Ronan Seery did not throw huge money behind anything...

What planet are people on when they think a million quid isn't big money to throw away on a club?!

[higgins]

A one million loss over how many years ???

and again I'd like to point out that with the amount of fans they had and the fact they were renting they had feck all income! From my comments you can see that I expect Swords to work for Sporting Fingal when they do eventually move.

One million for one man is a lot of money. One million for the club to lose over that many years ? no, it's nothing really, expecially when you think about the income they would have had. Sure it would have been costing Dublin City to hold home fixtures!! you can be sure a move to swords in a FCC backed stadium wont cost Sporting Fingal.

[Poor Student]

It'll be at least the entire lifespan of Dublin City before Fingal move to Swords.

[dcfcsteve]

A one million loss over how many years ???

Firstly - that is irrelevant. You said Seery didn't put a lot of money into the club. Everyone else has highlighted the fact that €1m would be accepted by most people to be a lot of money. You're now trying to back-track by claiming a million isn't a lot if it's spread over time. A million is a million, is a million. Stop trying to wangle out of it.

Secondly - Dublin City only lasted less than 6yrs. To play your game - he therefore put in over €166,000 on average for every year of their existence. Again - showe me the ordinary person who wouldn't think that is a lot of money ? He could've bought himself a one-bed flat mortgage-free in cash in large parts of the country every single year for that money.

and again I'd like to point out that with the amount of fans they had and the fact they were renting they had feck all income! From my comments you can see that I expect Swords to work for Sporting Fingal when they do eventually move.

Please justify - or at least sensibly explain - this conviction you have that Sporting Fingal will succeed ? What magic wand do they have that will make them a magnet for football fans, when 2 clubs within a few miles of them that have existed for over 100 years are struggling to do likewise ? Or is this conviction completed divorced from reality ?

[higgins]

I'm not back tracking over anything!
Dublin City was a joke, they lost money playing out of rented grounds with nobody turning up to watch them. One million over six years on a team that were going nowhere. Dublin City paid nearly everyone who worked on match nights, they never had a chance. That one million will go a lot further if Sporting Fingal can get to Swords while still having a few fans. Dublin City wasn't making any money! the one million added to the income was what exactly ?? When you talk about having money you have to add in the income as well as the loss from owners/investors.

I don't think one million over the six years is a lot of money in the context of making a football team successful in the Eircom League, which is what we are talking about.

Why I think Sporting Fingal will work ?
Swords
Can they get there in time is the only question I'd have.

[Mr A]

Weren't Shels planning to move out to that neck of the woods? Where does the arrival of Fingal on the scene leave them?

[higgins]

Shels had plans/dreams to move to Lissenhall, an area halfway between Swrods and Donabate off the M1 motorway and not in walking distance of 99% of the local population.

Sporting fingal are talking of including a ground in the Swords LAP.
Big difference...

[Mr A]

So what are Shels current plans?

Tallaght if Pats don't beat them to it?

[higgins]

Current plan is to win the first division and get out of this first division hole!

[dcfcsteve]

Why I think Sporting Fingal will work ?
Swords
Can they get there in time is the only question I'd have.

That doesn't answer the question though !! WHY will Swords make Sporting Fingal work ?

Is Swords some sort of magical El Dorado / Shangri-La for Irish football - a land beyond time where the local population are rendered completely powerless to resist the tractor-beam-esque draw of Irish domestic football, just so long as the magical ingredient of a club with the word 'Sporting' in its title is unleashed within a 2 square mile radius of them ?

Why will Swords be any different for Sporting than Drumcondra has been for Shels, Phibsboro for Bohs, Inchicore/Terenure for Pats, D4 for UCD, Bray for Bray, Drogheda for Drogheda, Kildare for Kildare.... you get the picture. Why is Swords the magic bullet that for Irish club football ?? *

*If you come back with the response 'Beacuise it's got a big population and a lot of young people' then I'll cyber-punch you in the nose for being stupid.... )

[Macy]

People forget that Swords is huge area which as regards Eircom League is virgin territory. It has a huge young population.

Would've thought much of the population of Swords was made up of people priced out of their home areas like Drumcondra forced to move out further. Whilst the area is clearly without an eL team before now, I'd be questioning whether the people really are...

[passerrby]

if theres a cyber fight my moneys on the derry guy them northies are dangerousbuggers .question for higgs how long to do think it would /should take to get that fan base to a substancle figure

[higgins]

I didn't say Swords offers anything different to Drumcondra for Shels, Inchicore for Pats etc. I just said that I think Swords will work for Sporting Fingal. No magic bullet, just a good location in one factor is keeping a football team in business and of all the areas I'd say Swords is the better location.

I'm not saying the people of Swords will turn up in the thousands regardless of everything else going on. I think that the stadium in swords coupled with the financial backing of this guy Gannon (assuming he is serious about success) will make Sporting Fingal successful.

I wasn't predicting Champions League glory within 10 years or anything. I was stating my belief that I don't think Sporting Fingal will go the way of Dublin City if what is being planned comes to pass. What they want to happen may never happen but if it does I think they will have success. Whats so wrong with that? You disagree with me, big deal... lets see who is right in 5 years time.

[Block G Raptor]

lets see who is right in 5 years time.

I give it 3 years tops

[John83]

Why will Swords be any different for Sporting than Drumcondra has been for Shels, Phibsboro for Bohs, Inchicore/Terenure for Pats, D4 for UCD, Bray for Bray, Drogheda for Drogheda, Kildare for Kildare.... you get the picture. Why is Swords the magic bullet that for Irish club football ?? *

*If you come back with the response 'Beacuise it's got a big population and a lot of young people' then I'll cyber-punch you in the nose for being stupid.... )

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[passerrby]

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well can he use this magic bullet then