2008 attendances

[Mr A]

I think the tradition of the Boxing day games helps the IL derbies get really good crowds. These seem to be big events regardless of how the season is going for the clubs. The eircom league has no such equivalent. Also, the teams tend to play each other more often, which detracts from the attraction.

I'd be willing to bet the average derby crowd in the North will drop next year with more league games between the sides.

[dcfcsteve]

What surprises me about the LOI is how bad the derby crowds are.

LOI get more support than the IL, that is fact and I accept that as fact. But your derby crowds are not great at all.

In a league match between Linfield and Glentoran would get the very minimum of 6,000 and that would be a very bad crowd. In the last few years, there has been 14,000 at the Oval on the infamous Morgan day and Boxing day always gets 5 figure attendance regardless of league situation and recently there was around 10,000 at Windsor and factor in that Glentoran has a massive ticket problem and thousands where unable to get tickets, we would have had a far bigger crowd at Windsor.

Coleraine vs Ballymena regulary get 3500+, Portadown vs Glenavon would get more and in the past have got upwards of 10,000 (and I’m not talking 20 years ago).

Derry City vs Finn Harps, get 4000 – 6000. Which is good, but this is by far and away the biggest attended derby of LOI. Which is poor.

Anyway, the whole point of this post isn’t to be a WUM, I do have a genuine question behind all this.

In Northern Ireland there are many people who are fair weather supporters, who do have an interest but do not go to the bread and butter games. So the potential is there to expand, it’s just whether we can tempt them to come to every game.

Do the LOI have the same sort of interest? Or have you got the majority of people who are interested going to games? Do you feel there is a lot of interest for the league but just don’t go? (similar to IL)

The key issue I believe is that there is a football culture throughout Northern Ireland, which is lacking in the Republic.

Northern Ireland is and always has been the footballing heart-land of the island. Bar the odd hick village in Tyrone or Derry, or the Hurling-loving Glens of Antrim, there are no towns in the North where soccer isn't the number one sport through and through. Furtehrmore, it's been the number one game throughout the north since time began. As a result, most people in parts of the north that have an IL team will know people who are supporters of the game, and many will have been to matches themselves

In the Republic, on the other hand, large swathes of the country have historically not had a culture of supporting soccer (and often darn-right hostility towards it). There are huge areas where GAA, and even rugby, have always been more popular than soccer. Even where EL teams do exist, outside of the main cities (and often inside as well) these are teams with much less history and longevity behind them than your average IL team. The likes of Galway, Limerick, Drogheda, Longford, etc haven't the support - both active and latent - built-up over many decades that the likes of Portadown, Ballymena, Coleraine etc do. It's no accident that of the 6 new spaces (and the 11 or so different teams who've fille dthem) that were added added to the LOI in 1985 - 23yrs ago - the only club that's had good support (City) is the one from a hard-core soccer city in the north where the team had a latent pool of support to tap into. There is nowhere near the same latent pool of support for the local game in the south as there is in the north. You could spend your whole life in Dublin without meeting anyone who's ever been to an Eircom League game. Depending on the circles you move within, that would be a lot harder to do in Belfast I believe.

What primarily killed football in the Republic was, i believe, the glittering lights of English/Scottish football and the promise of something much better elsewhere. What did the same for the IL, I believe, had more to do with the sectarian strife impacting on the game. That would suggest that the latent pool is still there to be tapped. But i don't believe, in this modern age, that the extremely parochial IL has the draw to fully tap that latent potential (I think an AIL would have a much better chance).

[kingdomkerry]

Cork City have a bigger support than Derry City. There are too many teams in dublin thats why a big top of table derby can only get 2,000. If there was one team for northside one team for southside it would be far better.

[Raheny Red]

The key issue I believe is that there is a football culture throughout Northern Ireland, which is lacking in the Republic.

Less travelling up the north is the key imo...

[Keen2win]

Cork City have a bigger support than Derry City. There are too many teams in dublin thats why a big top of table derby can only get 2,000. If there was one team for northside one team for northside it would be far better.

South I'd imagine.

[Paddyfield]

Galway United v St Pat's - official attendance - 1,003

[Green&whitearmy]

great crowd in bray tonight, about 1000 rovers at least. i'd say the attendance would be about 2200-2300, im open to correction on that now.

[sonofstan]

You could spend your whole life in Dublin without meeting anyone who's ever been to an Eircom League game.

I agree with most of the rest of what you say, but that statement is only true if you stick a '4' after the word 'Dublin' - certainly, in North or West Dublin, you would have to move in very select circles to avoid LoI fans completely

[Rovers fan]

Its going to be very tough to change people's outlook towards the eloi. So many people who are interested in football have never been to a league of ireland game. I think a few campaigns in secondary schools could change things,its young people's attitudes that can change. Its so frustrating talking to people who are interested in football and asking them why they don't go to games,they say "cos its sh**",but sure they've never been at a game so how would they know?!

[dcfcsteve]

Less travelling up the north is the key imo...

But it's all relative.

Anyway - away crowds are generally poor at IL games, and if you're talking about derby games there's little travel involved in those games eitehr side of the border.

[dcfcsteve]

Cork City have a bigger support than Derry City.

Not sure what your point is...? It's a much bigger city anyway.

There are too many teams in dublin thats why a big top of table derby can only get 2,000. If there was one team for northside one team for southside it would be far better.

There are too many teams in Dublin, but I don't believe that's why derbies there get poor crowds. There's an even biggger 'club density' problem, and a much smaller population, in Belfast - Yet Linfield v Glens can atract 10,000. The number of clubs isn't so much of a problem re individual games's attendances if you have a couple of big, well supported clubs (or clubs with latent support). We don't have that in Dublin, but they do in Belfast. The big question is - why is that ?

[Candystripe]

What surprises me about the LOI is how bad the derby crowds are.

LOI get more support than the IL, that is fact and I accept that as fact. But your derby crowds are not great at all.

In a league match between Linfield and Glentoran would get the very minimum of 6,000 and that would be a very bad crowd. In the last few years, there has been 14,000 at the Oval on the infamous Morgan day and Boxing day always gets 5 figure attendance regardless of league situation and recently there was around 10,000 at Windsor and factor in that Glentoran has a massive ticket problem and thousands where unable to get tickets, we would have had a far bigger crowd at Windsor.

Coleraine vs Ballymena regulary get 3500+, Portadown vs Glenavon would get more and in the past have got upwards of 10,000 (and I’m not talking 20 years ago).

Derry City vs Finn Harps, get 4000 – 6000. Which is good, but this is by far and away the biggest attended derby of LOI. Which is poor.

Anyway, the whole point of this post isn’t to be a WUM, I do have a genuine question behind all this.

In Northern Ireland there are many people who are fair weather supporters, who do have an interest but do not go to the bread and butter games. So the potential is there to expand, it’s just whether we can tempt them to come to every game.

Do the LOI have the same sort of interest? Or have you got the majority of people who are interested going to games? Do you feel there is a lot of interest for the league but just don’t go? (similar to IL)

How many was at the Setanta derby games in Belfast?

It didn't seem to many the past two seasons. Defo not more than 4,000 reading through the old threads on ILS forums.

As for the mid Ulster derby, it's been only twice in 14 years since the crowd exceeded 5,000.

The north coast derby barely gets 2,000 nowadays.

Things will hopefully improve with the 12/14 team league.

[pineapple stu]

Woeful crowd at Belfield tonight; no official figures available for the foreseeable future, but it was about 200.

Edit - 230 on the RTÉ report and on the radio, so that appears to be an official figure.

[harry crumb]

Listening on radio on the way home from home from Dublin.

When a crowd of 230 was announced by Pat McCaullive a shudder went through my body.

Thats the equivilant of the the attendance of an u-10 streets league final in Cork.

Good win though.

[oldyouth]

Serious question for UCD fans. Are attendances effected by the terms at college. i.e. Are most of the supporters students, who disperse to various parts of the country during the summer months or are there many of your fans who don't go to UCD but live in the area??

[DmanDmythDledge]

Serious question for UCD fans. Are attendances effected by the terms at college. i.e. Are most of the supporters students, who disperse to various parts of the country during the summer months or are there many of your fans who don't go to UCD but live in the area??

No, a very small part of our support is made up of students. The most students we had this season was around 120 against Drogheda. We usually only get around 20, although I don't think anyone has been keeping check lately.

[gufct]

if there was 230 there you can be sure 70/80 were Harps supporters at the very least so just 150 home fans and neutrals.Most 1st division Teams have bigger support than that.

[DmanDmythDledge]

if there was 230 there you can be sure 70/80 were Harps supporters at the very least so just 150 home fans and neutrals.Most 1st division Teams have bigger support than that.

How can you be so sure? Not sure what difference it makes but there was about 50 Harps fans at most, and that would be being generous. Yet again you come marching in thinking you know it all when you don't have a clue.

[Buller]

What surprises me about the LOI is how bad the derby crowds are.

Derry City vs Finn Harps, get 4000 – 6000. Which is good, but this is by far and away the biggest attended derby of LOI. Which is poor.

Do the LOI have the same sort of interest? Or have you got the majority of people who are interested going to games? Do you feel there is a lot of interest for the league but just don’t go? (similar to IL)

Derry vs Finn Harps would get on average 6,000 to 7,000. (that 4,000 crowd was on a tuesday night)

The last Rovers-Bohs derby in Tolka there were at least 4,500 at it with an incredible atmosphere. So the north-west derby isn't "far and away" the biggest attended derby in the LOI. In tallaght I can assure you we will easily sell out this derby (6,000). But yeah, it is bad considering you's can get 14,000 for the glentoran-lindfield derby - I think that is an incredible crowd considering both clubs average attendences are around 2,500. (guess) The event junkie mentality on this island is obviously very prevelent up north.

[passinginterest]

901 announced at Shels v Youths.