League of Ireland Supporters Group

[soccerc]

What about Independent Saints, the SEI and Pats For Richmond, would we get one each?

or Pats No 2 , the secret, truly independent, underground organisation

[A face]

People seem to be staying very quiet on this one.

Lads, what do people think a Supporters group should do, what would you like to see happening? Or does everyone think that every think is just dandy?

One thing i'd like to see happen is the group to investigate what actually happened when Sky were just given free reign to broadcast in Ireland to the cost of the domestic league and all for the installation of a few flood lights. I'd like to see a stage where this could be contested.

Also RTE, the National Broadcaster, who take an ever increasing licence fee from the public and completely ignore its pledge to the Irish public to act as a National Broadcaster. Not only do we have competition from Sky, but also the National Broadcaster, a group we have entrusted to work in our own interests. Two huge hurdles faced by Irish football today.

Are LOI Supporters happy with their lot from the FAI?

[Billy Lord]

Having been through this with NLU, the greatest problem is general apathy. It's easy to get a handful or more active when there's something major going on (a la Wimbledon), but the rest of the time it's three blokes talking to each other in a vacuum.
I would suggest that those who are active fans at various clubs should form a loose, league-wide alliance, whereby information, advice and ideas can be gathered, offered and discussed on an informal basis, with a more formal gathering of the clans when it's required, and perhaps an annual or six-monthly general meeting/bonding session built around, say, an international game.
It's important that the fan dynamic is included, to some degree, in the new league set-up as it moves forward. Fan culture is a crucial element of the game and the best way for the corporate entity to understand the fans and what they do is by engaging with them on that basis.
But it's up to the fans to stop moaning and get the ball rolling.

[neutrino]

unfortunatley the senior football set-up in this country is all wrong. people come together to form a supporters group, come up with all sorts of good ideas etc etc . only to get frustrated by the powers that be ;either FAI or the admin at clubs. plus those representing a club in such an organsiation can be berated from other supporters of their club claiming those reps are not representative of the clubs fans.

el football is mired in polictics and allegiances that stem from the bad old days. those in power have to want to hear from supporters. feck all people in football admin are active supporters of el clubs. a guy like john delaney isnt going to listen to people that he probably thinks are inferior to him.

it would be great if something could get going but i cant ever see it. for all peoples goodwill and giving of time, they end up frustrated and invariably disappear off the scene. the majority are willing to let the few do all the work so it's no surprising most supporter set-up's go by the wayside.

unless football in this country goes brankrupt ; supporters wont be asked for their opinons. majority of people only listen to supporters when they have to.

anyway after all that spiel ; a supporters organisation like you propose will never work in this country as things stand.

[A face]

unfortunatley the senior football set-up in this country is all wrong. people come together to form a supporters group, come up with all sorts of good ideas etc etc . only to get frustrated by the powers that be ;either FAI or the admin at clubs. plus those representing a club in such an organsiation can be berated from other supporters of their club claiming those reps are not representative of the clubs fans.

el football is mired in polictics and allegiances that stem from the bad old days. those in power have to want to hear from supporters. feck all people in football admin are active supporters of el clubs. a guy like john delaney isnt going to listen to people that he probably thinks are inferior to him.

it would be great if something could get going but i cant ever see it. for all peoples goodwill and giving of time, they end up frustrated and invariably disappear off the scene. the majority are willing to let the few do all the work so it's no surprising most supporter set-up's go by the wayside.

unless football in this country goes brankrupt ; supporters wont be asked for their opinons. majority of people only listen to supporters when they have to.

anyway after all that spiel ; a supporters organisation like you propose will never work in this country as things stand.

All obstacles that can be overcome

[dcfcsteve]

There's two key things any supporters body must understand and acknowledge if it wants to stand any chance of success :

1) Any supporters group will be reliant upon a small core of activists to do the vast majority of the work.
- Human nature dictates this to be inevitable.
- It's the same for major political parties, Trade Unions etc at a local level.
- Any notion that loads of poeple will rush forward to help is just niave.
- A very active core of 5-10 capable people (mostly based in Dublin, as geography will be a limiter to input) is what should be realistically expected, with other people in the capital and beyond willing to help out on occassion.

2) Most supporters won't join, and those who do will wait to see a reason to do so.
- Again, this is just human nature. It would be niave to expect Irish football supporters to rush to join a representative body just because one was set up.
- People need a reason to get involved/join.
- In the past, it's been one-off issues like Wimbledon or international tickets. A lack of ostensible reasons to stay involved afterwards lead those people to drift away after those issues were tackled, however.
- The bottom line is that any organisation will have to prove its worth before most people will join it. That would require it to start to do and achieve stuff to give prospective members faith in it.
- There is no point asking people to join an organisation just for the sake of it, and most people will nor respond until its value is proven.

I don't for one minute buy the fatalistic approach that fans can never have any input into football in Ireland. People need to waken up to the power they have as individuals when they come togteher and get organised. Numnerous organisations in all fields of life have proven that principle time and time again.

So long as any group that did get set up bore the above in mind (and in particular, didn't feel like a failure when people don't initially rally to their side), then they would be starting on the right foot.

[BohsPartisan]

The Bohs V rovers fixture change is another pointer to why we need this.

[MariborKev]

There's two key things any supporters body must understand and acknowledge if it wants to stand any chance of success :

1) Any supporters group will be reliant upon a small core of activists to do the vast majority of the work.
- Human nature dictates this to be inevitable.
- It's the same for major political parties, Trade Unions etc at a local level.
- Any notion that loads of poeple will rush forward to help is just niave.
- A very active core of 5-10 capable people (mostly based in Dublin, as geography will be a limiter to input) is what should be realistically expected, with other people in the capital and beyond willing to help out on occassion.

2) Most supporters won't join, and those who do will wait to see a reason to do so.
- Again, this is just human nature. It would be niave to expect Irish football supporters to rush to join a representative body just because one was set up.
- People need a reason to get involved/join.
- In the past, it's been one-off issues like Wimbledon or international tickets. A lack of ostensible reasons to stay involved afterwards lead those people to drift away after those issues were tackled, however.
- The bottom line is that any organisation will have to prove its worth before most people will join it. That would require it to start to do and achieve stuff to give prospective members faith in it.
- There is no point asking people to join an organisation just for the sake of it, and most people will nor respond until its value is proven.

I don't for one minute buy the fatalistic approach that fans can never have any input into football in Ireland. People need to waken up to the power they have as individuals when they come togteher and get organised. Numnerous organisations in all fields of life have proven that principle time and time again.

So long as any group that did get set up bore the above in mind (and in particular, didn't feel like a failure when people don't initially rally to their side), then they would be starting on the right foot.

Jaysus Steve,

A post of yours I broadly agree with. That's a rare occurence these days

As you said, only a minority of fans are interested in the League as a whole. The vast majority just care about their side and don't care about the progression of the league.

[dcfcsteve]

Jaysus Steve,

A post of yours I broadly agree with. That's a rare occurence these days

Only cuz you've been spending too long in the Antipodean sun recently.....

[A face]

As you said, only a minority of fans are interested in the League as a whole. The vast majority just care about their side and don't care about the progression of the league.

Until they find that they are in a world of sh!t and need the help of said fans group. This group should be tackling stuff that would effect all fans and as Steve says, when they get success then eyebrows are raised. If the group was continually chipping away then it would grow in numbers and get stronger as it goes on.

[John83]

Until they find that they are in a world of sh!t and need the help of said fans group. This group should be tackling stuff that would effect all fans and as Steve says, when they get success then eyebrows are raised. If the group was continually chipping away then it would grow in numbers and get stronger as it goes on.

So keep plugging with the NLSA.

[Poor Student]

So keep plugging with the NLSA.

If you look at some of the statements above talking about how an organisation needs to be established and then grown, well why not get behind the NLSA? They are recognised by the FAI and have a history of dialogue with them. New supporter federations can't keep mushrooming up and expect to be recognised and taken seriously. I know the discourse here is suggestive that the NLSA is dead but I don't think it is. Any of the NLSA folk care to talk about this?

[garyderry]

Jaysus Steve,

A post of yours I broadly agree with. That's a rare occurence these days

As you said, only a minority of fans are interested in the League as a whole. The vast majority just care about their side and don't care about the progression of the league.

was thinking the same myself Kev,

Steve you must be on your happy pills today

[garyderry]

If you look at some of the statements above talking about how an organisation needs to be established and then grown, well why not get behind the NLSA? They are recognised by the FAI and have a history of dialogue with them. New supporter federations can't keep mushrooming up and expect to be recognised and taken seriously. I know the discourse here is suggestive that the NLSA is dead but I don't think it is. Any of the NLSA folk care to talk about this?

do they even still exist?

my view on them (and was at the launch meeting)
was that they represented the views of of few very radical individuals and not of any group of supporters,

[Poor Student]

do they even still exist?

Well I don't think they've exactly folded, I'm not really sure of its status hence me asking someone from them to clarify. I'm sure it can be reinvigorated anyway as at this stage they've still had meetings with the FAI in the last year at least.

my view on them (and was at the launch meeting)
was that they represented the views of of few very radical individuals and not of any group of supporters,

Well, if people weren't bothered to join then you're never going to get a normalisation of views.

[garyderry]

Well I don't think they've exactly folded, I'm not really sure of its status hence me asking someone from them to clarify. I'm sure it can be reinvigorated anyway as at this stage they've still had meetings with the FAI in the last year at least.



Well, if people weren't bothered to join then you're never going to get a normalisation of views.

funny enough, we did join, both as an individual and as a supporters group (derry city Dublin SC), last we heard, but maybe some individuals within the sc know more, i doubt it as a few were complaining they heard nothing only last week? Hence why im actually asking.

[A face]

If you look at some of the statements above talking about how an organisation needs to be established and then grown, well why not get behind the NLSA? They are recognised by the FAI and have a history of dialogue with them. New supporter federations can't keep mushrooming up and expect to be recognised and taken seriously. I know the discourse here is suggestive that the NLSA is dead but I don't think it is. Any of the NLSA folk care to talk about this?

I am, i would be, but the thing is its not evident. I haven't been sent one text, email, smoke signal, carrier pigeon since their inception. I am on here a fair bit of the time and haven't read one bit of feedback on their exploits.

For a group that represents the fans, that is unreal. I'm not saying fans should be bombarded with info everyday but a monthyl update would be good. Secretary and PRO are very quite given their roles.

The website aint the best to be honest and to be honest the forum seems mad given their is one right here. Two inexpensive ways to comunicate to fans and could really be very good tools.

And for the lads in NLSA right now, i'm not saying its easy, people have outlined that already. I cant imagine it must be great getting all the flack and negativity, for something they volunteer to do on behalf of the fans. But it does appear to be a sort of silo attitude towards fans, and they probably dont realise that alot of fans would actually like to pitch in to help the cause.

I definitely think that the NLSA need to communicate more and if you need something done then spit it out, letter/email campaign, protest, arson, assassination .... spit it out and lets get on with it.

[dcfcsteve]

A very detailed list of objectives and strategies was defined for the NLSA right at the start, and apparently approved by the organisation as a way forward. As far as I'm aware, however, little or nothing was ever done by the Executive to try to achieve these objectives.

Here's a suggestion that is extremley simple, yet would have at least a small positive impact. The introduction of the Setanta Sports Cup has, I believe, been the single most important development for Irish football since the split into 2 divisions in 1985. However - I constantly fear that Setanta will view it as just not worth their while doing. Part of the problem is that they have no idea how many of their subscribers are there to watch Irish football. Therefore - why not actively ancourage as many EL and IL fans who are Setanta subs as possible to contact the company and tell them that that is why they joined. Either compile a list centrally (the easiest option - and something a supporter's body could do), or encourage people to contact Setanta directly.

Just a simple idea that would do little harm and potentially a lot of good.

P.S. Before poeple comment - I know parts of Ireland get Setanta for free.

[Tis-smeee]

What about one Rep from each o.s.c and then appoint a committee from there and move the meetings around the country as there are actually teams outside Dublin