To paraphrase the angry one "...he was a crap journalist & is a crap Communications Officer..."Originally Posted by OneRedArmy
(s)chooligans are a problem in the Eircom League and needs to be sorted out, but I don`t go along with the idea that it stops the average punter going to games.
Its just an excuse that is used by barstoolers, I know of clowns who use that excuse for not going to games here but when they do go on the once a season trip to England they marvel in seeing the local scumbags out and about at games causing trouble.....its all part of the trip
Far more of this discussion has been devoted to hooliganism, phantom or otherwise, than was at the meeting itself.
That's because Herr Goebbels decided that a lack of fine-dining and on course bookies plus Daire Whelan's book as well as hordes of hooligans are at fault for the state of football in this country.
KOH
No One Likes Us, We Don't Care
Glad to hear it.
I am one of the people who would argue that we should be systematically banning people from games who cause trouble.
I am also a middle class dad who has no problem bringing his little darlings to LoI games. I read there was 'trouble' at the Shels-Bohs game the other week, somewhere on foot.ie. Well, maybe if you had a telescope and were looking for nothing else you might have found some, but I certainly didn't see any. There's no contradiction between arguing that the tiny number of people who offend should be gotten rid of, and arguing that the media tends to blow the issue up out of all proportion.
So I would argue that within our own clubs we should be making sure that any little amount of trouble there is is dealt with. But that in public fora -- including this one -- we don't give ammo to people trying to run the League down.
we have got to put this problem into perspective yes its a problem but one that should not take a genius to solve (because if it does we ****ed)
I wish i did not know then what I dont know now
I don't believe this. I've been at several Bohs-Rovers and Bohs-Shels games and never been near any trouble. I doubt I'm alone either.
We're not arrogant, we're just better.
Your safe as houses at bohs - rovers these days, as nearly every bloody Guard in Dublin is on duty around the stadium area. It's other areas of Dublin your not safe, where the fighting happens, Summerhill for example!
Not only did he swallow Delaney's blueprint he regurgitated it at the start of the meeting listing off all that the FAI does (futsal, women's game, underage internation teams etc. etc.) and this was after he put the boot into Daire Whelan for not talking to the FAI about their current forward planning. Having read the book, I saw plenty of comments in Whelan's book at the end from some people in the FAI but they are all behind the scenes sources complaing about Delaney.
McDermott also likened the way forward for the game here as to how Cinema's have moved on from the flea pits of old to the 14 screen cinemadrome's we have today!
In between this dross he made some good points on some positive movements in the game here.
Over 50 games will be live next season, winner of league will get e250,000 from FAI, e30,000 from Setanta Cup and e260,000 from UEFA. Each club in top flight next season will have a promotions' officer who will be out trying to improve attendences. FAI will contribute e15,000 in part funding of their salary. League will be run by a six man board. Next season, recommendation that only 65% of turnover will be spent on wages and in 2008 that will be a ruling.
He also talked about the "cancer of hooliganism" in the league and that for some "Friday night meant fight night". While being a catchy soundbite, I dispute his view of a "cancer of hooliganism", there is certainly a spectre of crowd trouble but maybe that is more symantics.
Gerry Conway touched on this when he stated that his head of security had written to the government a number of times looking for legislation for banning orders from football grounds but had not got any replies. The league needs clubs to stop looking purely after their own self interest and not spend money they dont have. He also talked about their tie up with DCU in terms of training and scholarships.
John Byrne also talked about Rovers' link with IT Tallaght and sponsorship of school kids in the Tallaght area and its community links. If the league is to have a future, we can't just blame sky. Its little steps putting clubs in a better position by running things properly. Clubs can't expect to be professional on the pitch without being professional off the pitch.
There were a quick show of hands votes at the end. Virtually all in the audience were supporters of the league here (so plenty of preaching to the converted comments). 3/4 thought the FAI taking over the league was a good thing and 3/4 thought there was a market for a fully professional league set up in this country.
I outlined the four professional clubs as being a copy of the rugby thing. It doesn't mean for one second that I would endorse that idea. What I would endorse is the following .. copying the MLS in the USA . I think the idea of players being contracted to the FAI and the Association paying them and allocating them to clubs might well come in. And the standard playing contract might well be step 1 on that particular journey. I don't particularly want to see only 4 teams in the League.
As regards the number of teams in the capitol city , Dublin's percentage of the nation's population alone justifies having
5 teams in the League. But if certain club's financial problems are not resolved soon we may well have only 4 clubs in Dublin and none at all in Limerick.
Last edited by CollegeTillIDie; 02/12/2006 at 10:05 PM.
However dubliners proven inability to attend football matches in the city for at least the last 10 years shows no demand for 5 clubs. Just have a look at how Pats will be outnumbered by Derry City today for a game being held in Dublin.
The big four of Dublin are still among the biggest and best supported clubs in Ireland in spite of the fact that only one of them has enjoyed any sort of real success at the top level recently. Though UCD have a low support its fairly common to have smaller supported sides in a capital city, we just happen to be run exceptionally well. If the 5 clubs run themselves well and continue to exist then I don't see the issue. Show me an area where a club is in demand and will do better? The crowd at Wimbledon identified Milton Keynes as the biggest urban area without a club in Europe, it hasn't worked out too well though. Sometimes you have to accept what is in place and functions works better than a pipe dream.
No one could say the dublin clubs run any better or worse than those outside the pale. There is currently no demand for eL in Dublin. Irish U21 games in dublin get terrible crowds. Sure even the B International only got 3k people. If any of those games held in Galway, Cork or Wateford would match or better those numbers off smaller populations. Dublin clubs benefit greatly from the media being based here. Because RTE, TV3 & Setanta are dublin based they will cover a dublin game over non-dublin game given a chance so mire exposure to dublin teams.
Pete
I wouldn't be so sure of myself if I were a Corkonian. I started being interested in football in 1971. In that time, Cork Hibs folded(1976), Cork Celtic folded (1979). When the two Cork Clubs were at their peak there were anywhere from 15,000 - 20,000 fans on Leeside, capable of supporting two clubs in the City. In 1976 Albert Rovers who morphed into Cork Albert 1977 and eventually Cork United 1979 were in the League and by 1982 they too had folded. There were 2 entire season with no League club on Leeside.
Cork City under Plonk nearly went under in 1996. And Brian Lennox seems to have managed to prevent another similar disaster just recently.
I was watching a kids show this morning( RTE 2) The Loft which is made in Cork. There was a Cork born presenter interviewing 4 kids about soccer. They were all talking about Manchester United, you would if you didn't know better, you would get the impression , listening to the 5 of them, that Cork City do not exist. Now the malaise that you have identified in Dublin is alive and well in Cork.
And as I have pointed out above the actual support for League soccer in this country , in your city, and it's environs has fallen from 20,000 to around 3,000 in my life time. The population of the city and suburbs of Cork has risen by about 100% during the same period.
Three Cork Clubs have folded which is one more than have folded in Dublin during the same period. And you say Dublin clubs are no better run than clubs outside the capitol? Well I'd say they are better run than ones in Cork for one.
Spot on.
I'll give you a shout when Shoot Dogg is running in Harold's X next!
I phoned the speaking clock to hear a voice speak, it said - "At the tone you will be very much alone"
what has the past got to do with anything? City's attendances are the best in the country, and despite what you may ahve seen on "the loft", i would say at least every third or fourth kid i see around has some sort of city merchandise on them. in order of precidence i would see man. united, celtic, liverpool and cork city jersies. nobody is making money in this business and for every club that doesnt choose to just stagnate at the moment, its a case of financially passing the baton every few years. city have just done that and won't have to for a while, im sure every pther club will reach teh same stage in the next few years - except UCD perhaps, who'll continue to be a "legitimate" Dublin City. No fans, no future, no point.
Your Chairperson,
Gavin
Membership Advisory Board
"Ex Bardus , Vicis"
Hugely disillusioning but not at all unexpected that McDermott is still regurgitating the same reactionary tripe he did 18 months ago.
http://foot.ie/showthread.php?t=26653
Only now he's actually in an important position instead of just being a tired hack in a rush to spew out some rubbish before his deadline.
I'd forgotten about that. Reactionary nonsense that borders on fascism. If the FAI-run league operates in such a fashion there will be no point in going to football anymore. Knitting will be more exciting.
Nobody is making money at this business correct. However lots of people are spending money they don't have, and have very little prospect of repaying, in the interests of short term gain. They will go the way of ... let me see, oh yes Dublin City.
The Loft is a programme aimed at young people and it is made in Cork. And the fact remains that even in Cork, the city which supports the League proportionately better than anywhere outside Derry, a presenter can discuss soccer and ignore their local heroes. That sort of crap wouldn't happen in any other country.
The fact remains that the soccer going public in Cork is 1/7 what it was 35 years ago. And while seeing so many Cork City shirts on the streets of Cork is a good thing, the fact remains the People's Republic of Cork , is like the rest of the Island, infected by the Anglo-Centric football malaise that is the root of a lot of the problems within the game here.
If you do not learn from the lessons of the past you are condemned to repeat them in the future. Dublin City had no past...... UCD on the other hand have been functioning as a football club since the end of the 19th Century.
Barry Ryan, Anthony Murphy ( St. Patrick's Athletic), Clive Delaney, and the suspended Ciaran Martyn ( Derry City) just four players who established themselves as Premier Division players while playing at Belfield.
Where would Drogheda United and Longford Town be without their ex-UCD players? Our future is very bright indeed. And if we have no fans, how has our fanzine survived for six years?
Last edited by CollegeTillIDie; 05/12/2006 at 8:22 PM.
Posting Permissions
Quote
Bookmarks