Attendances are they up or Down?

[John83]

Actually, the thread is about whether attendances are up or down on winter football, the answer to which seems to be "about the same", but it drifted off topic almost instantly to 'rehash all the stuff that was in the attendances thread this year, oh, and the same old arguments for and against summer football'.

[paudie]

Whether it was a success or not should be investigated. As ever, it was something done on a whim, not based on proper proposed benefits. The two main selling points were said to be attendances and europe. Europe's been a mixed bag and only effects 4 teams a season anyway. It's debatable whether there's any gain for the league in total for success. Attendances certainly haven't benefitted, and would in a lot of clubs opinion actually have fallen.

I personally think that people got the reason wrong as to who we're competiting with - it's not really televised football, it's other social activities. And there's simply more things to do in the summer, even with our crap weather.

Us being a different season to the Irish League limits things like expansion of the Setanta Cup in some respects. And we also appear to get more TV coverage at the parts of the season that clash with UK football, as Irish tv is obsessed with the GAA during the summer.

And what exactly will the propsed benefits of a return to winter soccer be?

Don't know how you can say Europe has been a mixed bag when our clubs are now seeded in the CL and are close to it in theUEFA Cup. The spectre of Camarthen looms large no doubt

[pete]

Figures suggest that attendances are about the same now as they were in 2000. If we had stayed in winter football there is no way to tell if crowds would increase or decrease.

I think summer footbal have leveled the playing pitch for Europe. If we went back to winter football we would be at a disadvantage in Europe due to being in the off season. Is this enough to stay playing in the summer?

I definitely think summer football has improved the type of football that has been played & therefore the number of players moving to top UK clubs. I know someone will say players alwasy moved to the UK but there was not the competition from other nations then & money paid was much lower.

Maybe we should move to 3pm kick offs on a Saturday & get beer tents? Is there any reason you should not be able to get a beer at an LOI game if managed correctly?

[Duffman]

Definitely there is a lot of spin being put on numbers. Last night the official attendance in Tolka was announced as 1400 yet eircomloi.ie have it as 2000. Lazy or an attempt to create an impression ?

[superfrank]

I know someone will say players alwasy moved to the UK but there was not the competition from other nations then & money paid was much lower.

I don't really get this one. Do you mean UK clubs face competiton from other European clubs to sign top el players?

I would argue that the likes of Wes Charles, Jamie McKenzie and Kupono Low are NOT among the top players in the like.

[irishultra]

How could the attendances improve? Advertisement is so bad. I know its not related to people going to matches, but has anyone actually seen any ads on RTE for MNS? I don't care if you don't like the format or whatever but I have never seen it.

Why is there no commercials on tv like 'the road to croker' for Gaelic? Why is the FAI not funding this? Advertisement needs to hold no punches, be completely OTT and obnoxious.

I think 3pm kick off on a Saturday during the summer would be better, but for me personally, don't know if it would improve attendances.

[pete]

Has any one ever considered that crowds are failing to increase because ticket prices have increased too much?

Not wanting to pick on Drogs but E20 to stand in United Park when you can't see all the grounds from some sections means only the diehards will attend.

[higgins]

Yes, I agree with you Pete, for once

20 euro in to games is a joke!
15 in the First Division is also a joke to be fair.

What the FAI need to do next is get tough on clubs regarding the state of their grounds. So we have 65% of turnover in place now, leaving 35% to go where ??

About time the bar was raised in terms of improving grounds. Some of the kips around the counrty are a disgrace!! 15 euro is too high a price for many of the grounds we have.

[pete]

20 euro in to games is a joke!

Clubs have to make their own decisions. I only mentioned to point out the fact might have been getting 1500 crowds at E10 5-7 years ago but no same crowds on E20. How much would the crowds be if prices stayed with inflation.

[KevB76]

Attendances can be improved, by the elimination of Friday night games, later kos, and a reduction in prices.

I wouldnt agree with that, speaking from my own prefernces the Friday evening games are perfect.

If games were on Satudays I would miss a good few home games due to other commitments at weekends which involve being away from limerick - the Friday evening match avoids this. I doubt this scenario is particular to myself.
Timing is perfect too as you can go straight from work to match, without having to rush, and still be home before ten.

Mostly prices are grand in the first div in my opinion. Maybe some of the premier clubs are overpriced alright - e.g. Galway, big increase since last year. They might have gotten away with it if they were doing better but I'd agree the cost is a factor in their lower attendances.

[sporting]

im sick of hearing keely blab on and on about how we should all go back to part time football. fck off keely if u want to stay in the dark ages. and as for whether crowds are up on winter football or not who cares. summer football is a must, who want to play on a **** pitch in the sleet in mid december. madness.

keely only wants a part time winter league cos he's a school teacher and like to go to spain for the summer while while he has 2 months off from school