Weekend Thursday 23rd to Saturday 25th

[sbgawa]

Premier Division

Thursday 23rd 19:45

Waterford v Drogheda

Friday 24th

Galway v Dundalk 19:45
Bohemians v St Pats 19:45
Derry v Sligo 19:45
Shamrock Rovers v Shelbourne 20:00

First Division

Friday 24th (All 19:45)

Wexford v Bray
Kerry v Finn Harps
Cork v Treaty
Athlone v UCD

Saturday 25th

Longford v Cobh 19:30

[sbgawa]

So TV Thursday and Waterford and Drogs get to kick off the weekend, hopefully with a few goals and a decent audience live and on TV.
Can Stephen Kenny make it 3 losses in a row and contimnue his Ireland manger form and luck or will Bohs do the right thing and let him have a first one (it would be the socilist thing to do to be fair).
Rovers with a win over Shels can drag ourselves back into being within a win of top spot and its vital imo. With Europe coming we have to be top and a bit of a leed at that.
Duff will be up for this big time and knows he could strike a potentially fatel blow with a win to go nine points clear.....hopefully our supporters will deign to show up , Mondays crowd of 4041 versus Derry was dissapointing

Atlone v UCD the pick of the matches in division 1, UCD need to be winning these types of matches if theyh are going to challengeCork although even that looks like a lost cause with them 10 clear already

[wonder88]

Good to see Thursday night games back. UCD and Dundalk used to play at this time for a good few seasons, worth a try again perhaps.

[Nesta99]

Reasons Dundalk used to play Thursdays was that the Lilywhite Lounge would have had an extra night busy use eg 21st birthday parties on a Friday, Saturday, regular Sunday crowd and then a match night also which added up to significant income over a season, mostly PT those days. Fridays were also regular nights at Dundalk Stadium, dogs, horses or both. Little GAA on a Thursday bar training maybe. It did occasionally mean a lazy Friday morning at work. Mostly during the old winter season so under the floodlights which I always loved, I was regularly there in the old school uniform so going back a while, Not sure exactly which season became a regular Friday but I think it was a league wide decision with Sligo opting for Saturday evenings after the switch to Summer footy. Thursdays did impact on away crowds but not sure if it was that much tbh on balance with key fixtures sometimes moved to Sunday afternoons. While it'd be novel to be at a game on crisp Thursday night again there are enough midweek games to fill the gap. At the time other slots other than Thursdays saw lower gates, and now I think slots other than Fridays see a fall off in gates, exceptions being say family days v UCD for example...well you wouldnt have a family day in Oriel for a top of table clash with Rovers, Bohs, or even a relegation v Drogs these days.

[sbgawa]

So much for the new manager bounce in Pats. Not even a dead cat bounce at that.. you'd have to think kelliher will bail Kenny out in july anyway in terms of building a squad for a title tilt in 2025. Certainly under no pressure from the owner but another loss to bohs and some of the shine will be going off the appointment

[holidaysong]

Reasons Dundalk used to play Thursdays was that the Lilywhite Lounge would have had an extra night busy use eg 21st birthday parties on a Friday, Saturday, regular Sunday crowd and then a match night also which added up to significant income over a season, mostly PT those days. Fridays were also regular nights at Dundalk Stadium, dogs, horses or both. Little GAA on a Thursday bar training maybe. It did occasionally mean a lazy Friday morning at work. Mostly during the old winter season so under the floodlights which I always loved, I was regularly there in the old school uniform so going back a while, Not sure exactly which season became a regular Friday but I think it was a league wide decision with Sligo opting for Saturday evenings after the switch to Summer footy. Thursdays did impact on away crowds but not sure if it was that much tbh on balance with key fixtures sometimes moved to Sunday afternoons. While it'd be novel to be at a game on crisp Thursday night again there are enough midweek games to fill the gap. At the time other slots other than Thursdays saw lower gates, and now I think slots other than Fridays see a fall off in gates, exceptions being say family days v UCD for example...well you wouldnt have a family day in Oriel for a top of table clash with Rovers, Bohs, or even a relegation v Drogs these days.

We switched to Friday at the start of the 2009 season after getting promoted. I recall at the time that the FAI had put pressure on for us to change.