QuoteI'd rather a third party was involved. Anything the FAI do will be a shambles.
A lot boils down to this turning heads 'Sunday Life Sport has been told that a new All-Ireland League backed by UEFA, the IFA and the FAI will bring in significantly more finance than the Lucid proposal' and actually showing clubs evidence of funding.Originally Posted by Source
I'd rather a third party was involved. Anything the FAI do will be a shambles.
Lucid seemed nothing but a bluffer at best though. The extent of his research seemed to be "we'll make X amount of money because of course we will and it would be nice to," whatever about the merits of an All-Ireland league he's no loss. I always thought it was telling too that he was unwilling to get involved with the current setup and try to build from there.
Or invest any of his own money to get it off the ground
Does anybody know any place to read the Norn Irish perspective on the All Ireland league? From reading about it , I thought the football fans in the North would welcome it, but plenty of the hanger on's (the lads who support Rangers over Irish football and were rioting last night) would be hard against it..... but I have no clue really.
The Irish League Supporters Forum is a good place to start, there is a lengthy thread about the prospect of an AIL in the general section, and there's also a few threads within some clubs' sections for more club-specific reaction.
There are a couple of groups on Facebook as well - occasionally there's a sudden outbreak of reasoned debate amidst the 'Irish League Fans' Facebook group, so it might be worth a look. The other main group 'Irish League Banter' is best avoided unless you like incessant posts about the Old Firm.
As for my own take on it - I'm not against the idea of having an All-Ireland League, but I just don't think it would be the best thing to do by my club (Glenavon). In my opinion, clubs like ourselves, Ballymena, Coleraine, Cliftonville etc. don't really have a great deal to gain from an AIL - in all likelihood, they will take turns at being 'yo-yo' clubs between the top two divisions, with maybe an occasional excursion into mid-table if things are going well.
Those clubs might put themselves under significant financial strain to stay in an AIL Premier Division, or else they'll play in a regionalised second tier that may be of a standard that is no better than what currently exists.
If I was a Linfield or Glentoran supporter, I'd probably support an AIL, because those clubs do have the potential to become 'superclubs' in an Irish context, along with Rovers, Dundalk etc. For what it's worth, I would happily support the creation of a proper All-Ireland cup competition - if nothing else, the away days would be mighty.
Before anyone gets carried away, you should go back and read the headline and contrast it with the actual content.
Was the feasibility study he funded Hypercube to conduct was free of charge?
I can't say. I didn't see the invoice.
If the findings of the report were anything to go by he'd probably have gotten change back on a tenner.
Never underestimate the pathological desire of those in the north from a particular background to reject anything to do with the south. And to be happy to be left sitting in a pile of dung, just so long as it's their wee pile of dung (with a flag on top).
There are also many in the north who seem to think that the Irish League is as good if not better than the LOI and that it's going through some sort of major growth period at the moment. There is a lot of arrogance and dismissiveness shown towards the LOI up there (despite the results of the Setanta Cup, Unite the Union Cup, European football etc).
In fairness, there's a lot of arrogance and dismissiveness towards the IL from the LoI side too.
We're the ones with a bankrupt FAI, no pyramid system, top clubs continually going bankrupt, junior and underage and senior clubs barely talking to each other. We're the ones having random businessmen pulling figures out of their arses and then criticising the IL for not seeing what's best for them and jumping on board.
I think that side of things is worth keeping in mind too
Last edited by pineapple stu; 04/04/2021 at 2:02 PM.
Absolutely. Though I don't see the same attitude in the south towards the IL as there is in the north towards us. Which when you factor in results between the 2 leagues is genuinely baffling.
I think the same attitude is there; we can be very dismissive of the IL here. Your own post was a minor example of it for example, describing the league as a "wee pile of dung". The reasons for the attitude may ultimately be more sectarian up the North, but the end attitude is fairly similar nonetheless.
The LoI is a stronger league overall than the IL, but I'm not sure why you're solely focussing on that. There's more to a league than its strength, otherwise none of us would follow the LoI.
We dont know as finances were secret until everyone signed up!
Apart from the subtle change to yer post I thought you were being ironic EYG as as far as I can recall the standard of IL was looked down upon from LoI circles with plenty of scoffing at a lack of professionalism with players and managers on holidays during European games and grounds rented out clashing with home legs. Progress on ground developments was generally acknowledged too though.
Only I didn't describe the Irish league as a wee pile of dung
I said that there was an isolationist mentality in some quarters of the north which would be happy to sit in a pile of turds so long as it was their own wee pile with a flag in it. That's an observation about life up there, not just football.
But the results - in Europe, Setanta and Unite the Union Cup - generally bear out the view that the LOI is stronger than the IL. That's therefore just a statement of fact. Yet plenty in the north still look down their nose at us.
But so what if the results are better? Are results the be all and end all? We look down on the Premier League to an extend and I don't fancy many LoI teams' chances against Sheffield United or Burnley.
Would the Irish League not have a much more 'mixing of both sides' on the playing/participation side than the other main (non GAA) sports like Rugby, Hockey and Cricket. I know it is a class thing but I always find it interesting that this is often overlooked when there is talk of integration in education for example being something that should be done. RTE recently had a rugby player on their programme on a United Ireland putting forward the Unionist case.
Anyone with good knowledge of the Irish League be able to give an estimate of the percentage of Nationalists players there?
Also on average how many players from the south who cross the boarder to play each year?
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