10 team league. Good or bad idea?

**micls** · 14/07/2008, 9:32 PM

How would promotion/relegation work here with 16 teams? playoffs from regional sections?

We only have 7 extra teams from the current EL one. Could we get more in to make a first division?

**Battery Rover** · 14/07/2008, 9:50 PM

Personally I think it is a bad idea. It would be of more benifit to the league as a whole for all teams to be put into the one pot for a couple of seasons to give them a chance to improve their faciliites through the extra income that teams would make from the bigger clubs visiting them once a season.

After a couple of seasons we could sit down again and look through improvements clubs have made on attendance and infrastructure and decide the best way to split the league again from there

**micls** · 14/07/2008, 9:59 PM

I dont think having all teams in one pot would necessarily increase income that much, especiall when you've 16 teams with nothing to play for basically.

**mypost** · 14/07/2008, 10:05 PM

Absolutely against a 10-team league, I don't want to be playing the same teams every couple of weeks. The prospects of playing the likes of UCD and Bray 6 times next season, including cup games does nothing for the league. Don't fancy having to go to Dalyer, Cork, Derry, UCD twice next year either. It's overkill, and we're bound to lose at least one, if not two games against them. This year, we only have to go once, barring cup games. It's very hard for fans to go to, and part-time players to play 50 games a season in all competitions. Then there's postponements. Re-scheduling games will be a nightmare.

**Battery Rover** · 14/07/2008, 10:11 PM

It would increase it above the levels we are at down here at the moment despite trying everything off the field.

I am on the radio 5 days a week, have given out 200 free season tickets for under 16s, we put up 200 posters a week. After all this all you get is an average of 400 every home game and from ones that don't go its I would go down there if you were playing a better team like Cork, Rovers etc.

There is miniscule travelling support in the first division. Other than Dundalk and Shels we probably have the biggest travelling support every week and that doesn't top 30 other than travelling to Longford and Galway. Bigger clubs bring more people and attract the sunshiners just going down to have a look.

Maybe if the FAI looked into giving CPOs across the board then we might be able to do something but without extra income our hands are tied. We are hosting an intercultural / equality evening for the Limerick 37 game next month hopefully that will have an effect in the community.

**Rovers Maniac** · 14/07/2008, 10:25 PM

BR i feel for you the Irish sporting public possess an appetite for live sport, we have a terrible culture here. We have a lovely footballing team the past few seasons and while this season are crowds are ok overall we still could have seen an improvement. FAI don't help things with these type decisions they now cater for only a few clubs and their friends. Provincial are now seen as a waste of time, the time will come with these clubs don't have a stich and it will be too late as there will have been to much damage done to the country clubs.

**blackholesun** · 14/07/2008, 10:33 PM

Similar thread going on here ...

http://srfcultrasforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6670

including this opinion that I agree strongly with

"The 10 team premier is driven by greed, so called "big clubs" looking for more derby type games to help cover the wages they cant afford. Id prefer a 16 team premier with big polulation centers of Waterford, Limerick and Galway all guarenteed to be kept up for five years to begin with. They could then focus on building club structures rather than the promotion / survival rat race. Football in this country would be better for it at the end of the 5 years."

and IMO I'd add that Ollie was a big driver of the 10 team league for obvious reasons ...

10 team league is boring, I prefer more teams and more wins against the weeker teams, than watching tight, niggly games all the time is boring.

bhs

**sligoman** · 14/07/2008, 11:15 PM

Get the FAI out of the league, they're the problem.

**sullanefc** · 15/07/2008, 9:55 AM

Originally Posted by TonyD

I'm absolutely in favour of increasing the Premier Division. not reducing it. If we're looking to only have a leagaue with the cream of the crop, then where do you stop ? It's common consensus (I think) that there's a fairly big gap at the moment between the top 5 (Pats, Bohs, Derry, Cork, Drogs) and the rest. does this mean we reduce it to a 5 team league ? After all, we'd be left with the best qualiy then, wouldn't we ? Half a minutes thought however and you realise how ridiculous that would be. A 16 team league would potentially re-introduce teams like Waterford, Dundalk and Limerick to the top Division, and I'm sure would do wonders for those clubs. The would have a chance to build too, without the constant all consuming fear of relegation which they'd have at the moment if they get promoted. The aim should be to increase the spread and appeal of the league,(particularly in geographical terms) not narrow it to stupid levels. There is the very real possibility that a 10 team division in a season or two could consist of Pats, Bohs, Rovers, Shels, UCD Bray, Drogheda, Sporting Fingal, Cork and Derry. That would be a disaster. We need Galway, Waterford, Dundalk, Sligo, Limerick and Finn Harps to have strong teams. There is much more chance of that if they are in the top division. So what if some teams have relatively little to play for come the end of the season ? as has been pointed out already this is the situation with leagues all over Europe. Of course 16 teams are not going to be able to sustain a full time set up (at least not in the near to medium future) but the top few will probably notice little difference to how things are now, and for the rest, it may reduce the feeling that they have to overstretch themselves and go out on a limb, paying wages they can't afford simply to try and stay in the league.(Galway) So we may have a mixture of some full time teams and mostly part time teams. Nothing wrong with that. Clubs will find their level, and over time strive to improve their position.

Well said that man.

**jinxy lilywhite** · 15/07/2008, 12:16 PM

Personally I think the country has too far too few eloi clubs for two divisions to be run out of. I would like to see a 16 team premier and maybe 2 eight team divisions in the first. say a north and south or east/west to go easy on their travel expenses. Or if not then a 22 team league for 5 years and see how it gets on.

**RonnieB** · 15/07/2008, 12:32 PM

Playing teams four times is a pain in the hole...

**Black and White** · 15/07/2008, 12:39 PM

Very bad idea switching to 10 team premier division!!i no alot of teams are struggling financially atm but you have to look at the knock on effect that will have..if some of those teams where to drop down attendances will be poor...look at us..shels would bring the biggest crowd to oriel...no other team brings away support in the first division!Some of these teams are aslo outnumbered by our own support when we play away e.g. monaghan!!! It will also be harder for smaller teams to ever experience the premier div atmosphere as the same teams will be going up and down each year making it very boring to follow!!

**jebus** · 15/07/2008, 12:43 PM

Originally Posted by Black and White

shels would bring the biggest crowd to oriel...no other team brings away support in the first division!

Play your games on something more reasonable than a Thursday and you'll get away fans coming to Oriel. About time the FAI put an end to the farce of allowing Dundalk dictate when they want to play

**AnnaghRed** · 15/07/2008, 12:52 PM

8 and 10 team leagues totally killed attendances in the north in the mid 90's, playing each other 4 times in the league was just boring. Remember Portadown bringing out a corporate booklet and predicting average attendances of 4000, they'd have been lucky to have averaged 1500 in the 1996 championship winning season.

16 team premier in the south with 3 relegation spots and 3 regional feeder leagues.

**pineapple stu** · 15/07/2008, 12:55 PM

Originally Posted by AnnaghRed

3 regional feeder leagues.

Major problem with that is no one wants to enter them.

At present, a 16-team Premier would leave six other clubs plus three A League clubs. There's an ad out again for more A League clubs next year, but I'd be surprised if they got more than one or two, if any.

**Louth4sam** · 15/07/2008, 12:56 PM

Originally Posted by jebus

Play your games on something more reasonable than a Thursday and you'll get away fans coming to Oriel. About time the FAI put an end to the farce of allowing Dundalk dictate when they want to play

So how many fan's do limerick take to all the clubs that don't play on a Thursday?

**AnnaghRed** · 15/07/2008, 1:02 PM

Originally Posted by pineapple stu

Major problem with that is no one wants to enter them.

Maybe the lack of ambition is due to the current set-up though? Have any of the junior clubs said why they can't be bothered entering the A-League?

**jebus** · 15/07/2008, 1:02 PM

Originally Posted by Louth4sam

So how many fan's do limerick take to all the clubs that don't play on a Thursday?

minimum of 30 but usually around the 50-60 mark, sometimes rising to 70-80. I wasn't there but I think we had around the 60 mark in Tolka on Friday, other examples we have had this season is 80 in Morton Stadium on our only visit there, but we dropped to about 35 for Monaghan

**pineapple stu** · 15/07/2008, 1:03 PM

Originally Posted by AnnaghRed

Maybe the lack of ambition is due to the current set-up though? Have any of the junior clubs said why they can't be bothered entering the A-League?

Major divisions between junior and senior football in the country. Most junior clubs are happy where they are and many actively dislike the senior set up. Just ask the Limerick fans, for example!

**jebus** · 15/07/2008, 1:09 PM

Originally Posted by pineapple stu

Major divisions between junior and senior football in the country. Most junior clubs are happy where they are and many actively dislike the senior set up. Just ask the Limerick fans, for example!

Do you want to see me cry, is that what you want?!?