FAI Cup Final

Andrew Flexing

Did anyone else watch it?

Was great to see 2 good Irish sides play on a proper sized pitch for a change...no cluttered midfields or crap surfaces. The large pitch made it possible for an expansive game. Was a really exciting match.

Back to the small, cluttered pitches for the league next season with all the head tennis and hoofed clearances...wish all the LofI pitches were as big as Lansdowne's it would definatly make for better quality soccer/matches as the teams could actually get the ball down and play.

Just my opinion.

NIMAN

Yet another great FAI Cup final, but again a poor crowd.

If only Irish people could see past the hype of the EPL and see that there is decent football on their doorstep.

The_Kew_Tour

About 4 players per team would come off with hamstring injuries though.;)

In ideal world it would be better but most clubs would have to take dismantle there grounds to accommodate for bigger surface.

micks

Andrew Flexing wrote: »

Did anyone else watch it?

Was great to see 2 good Irish sides play on a proper sized pitch for a change...no cluttered midfields or crap surfaces. The large pitch made it possible for an expansive game. Was a really exciting match.

Back to the small, cluttered pitches for the league next season with all the head tennis and hoofed clearances...wish all the LofI pitches were as big as Lansdowne's it would definatly make for better quality soccer/matches as the teams could actually get the ball down and play.

Just my opinion.

I think you'll find the pitch dimensions are fairly close for most of the pitches LOI & aviva

Mint Sauce

Watch it?

I was there.

CHAM-P-ONIES,
CHAM-P-ONIES,
OLE OLE OLE!!

Andrew Flexing

micks wrote: »

I think you'll find the pitch dimensions are fairly close for most of the pitches LOI & aviva

Damien Richardson described the Aviva's pitch as "huge". You are not suggesting that Tokla Pk and Aviva's pitches are the same size!?!
I know there are upper and lower limits but the pitch did look a good bit bigger allowing a much better match.

dan1895

Andrew Flexing wrote: »

Damien Richardson described the Aviva's pitch as "huge". You are not suggesting that Tokla Pk and Aviva's pitches are the same size!?!
I know there are upper and lower limits but the pitch did look a good bit bigger allowing a much better match.

Tolka probably has the smallest pitch in the league, no one is comparing them. Dundalk, Bohs and Limerick all have large pitches.

Hard Worker

Andrew Flexing wrote: »

Did anyone else watch it?

Was great to see 2 good Irish sides play on a proper sized pitch for a change...no cluttered midfields or crap surfaces. The large pitch made it possible for an expansive game. Was a really exciting match.

Back to the small, cluttered pitches for the league next season with all the head tennis and hoofed clearances...wish all the LofI pitches were as big as Lansdowne's it would definatly make for better quality soccer/matches as the teams could actually get the ball down and play.

Just my opinion.

Plenty of pitches in the League of Ireland are the same size as the AVIVA. The quality of surface is better in the Showgrounds, Tallaght Stadium and Waterford RSC than the AVIVA. The AVIVA pitch was quite poor yesterday.

Pighead

dan1895 wrote: »

Tolka probably has the smallest pitch in the league, no one is comparing them. Dundalk, Bohs and Limerick all have large pitches.

Think Oriel Park pitch is actually a little bit bigger than Aviva's.

GLaDOS

Wiki (I know) says Dalymount is 125 x 75 yards (114.3 x 68.58 meters), compared to the Aviva's 106 x 68 meters.

Andrew Flexing

I agree that Aviva's surace wasn't at it best.
Is it the camera angles then? I am really surprised at the Dalymount dimensions...but they seemed to have a lot more space out there yesterday.

listermint

NIMAN wrote: »

Yet another great FAI Cup final, but again a poor crowd.

If only Irish people could see past the hype of the EPL and see that there is decent football on their doorstep.

I urge you to edit this part, as the crowd that did attend were great. The atmosphere was electric and was better than some epl games ive been to.

dan1895

Andrew Flexing wrote: »

I agree that Aviva's surace wasn't at it best.
Is it the camera angles then? I am really surprised at the Dalymount dimensions...but they seemed to have a lot more space out there yesterday.

I reckon it may be the camera angle as most would be lower at league grounds.

DaveyCakes

Andrew Flexing wrote: »

Did anyone else watch it?

Was great to see 2 good Irish sides play on a proper sized pitch for a change...no cluttered midfields or crap surfaces. The large pitch made it possible for an expansive game. Was a really exciting match.

Back to the small, cluttered pitches for the league next season with all the head tennis and hoofed clearances...wish all the LofI pitches were as big as Lansdowne's it would definatly make for better quality soccer/matches as the teams could actually get the ball down and play.

Just my opinion.

Plenty of teams do get the ball down and play

LuckyLloyd

The match was enthralling, great contest. But the relatively lower levels of technical ability and decision making were on show throughout if people are honest (which most on here won't be). Lots of man over situations were squandered without a shot on goal being achieved due to a player taking an extra touch or picking the wrong option.

I think 18k was a fine attendence. Multiples of the average LOI gate don't forget.

Pighead

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

I think 18k was a fine attendence. Multiples of the average LOI gate don't forget.

Attendance was disappointing given the false dawn of the 2010 cup final when 36000 people showed up. That was the first cup final played at the Aviva which probably accounts for the big crowd but since then the attendances have been around the 20000 mark which is disappointing considering it's probably the biggest game in our domestic calender.

Wolf Club

I went to the game yesterday with some of my friends who are from Sligo, despite the relatively low attendance I thought it was a very enjoyable game, the first 75 minutes were slow but when it got going the atmosphere was great, better than most games I've been to at the Aviva, I definitely think I'll be going to more LOI/FAI Cup games in the future.

micks

Andrew Flexing wrote: »

Damien Richardson described the Aviva's pitch as "huge". You are not suggesting that Tokla Pk and Aviva's pitches are the same size!?!
I know there are upper and lower limits but the pitch did look a good bit bigger allowing a much better match.

I never mentioned Tolka - I said most - not all - most, some are bigger , some are smaller
So you wont believe then that Tolka is the same width as the aviva pitch?

Tolka is approx 100m x 68m

The preferred size for a football pitch is 106m x 68m most in the LOI conform with this
Throw a pitch in a big stadium with a big run off and people think its huge

Andrew Flexing

I was quoting Damien Richardson with the "huge" comment.

micks wrote: »

I never mentioned Tolka - I said most - not all - most, some are bigger , some are smaller
So you wont believe then that Tolka is the same width as the aviva pitch?

Tolka is approx 100m x 68m

The preferred size for a football pitch is 106m x 68m most in the LOI conform with this
Throw a pitch in a big stadium with a big run off and people think its huge

upandcumming

Andrew Flexing wrote: »

Did anyone else watch it?

Was great to see 2 good Irish sides play on a proper sized pitch for a change...no cluttered midfields or crap surfaces. The large pitch made it possible for an expansive game. Was a really exciting match.

Back to the small, cluttered pitches for the league next season with all the head tennis and hoofed clearances...wish all the LofI pitches were as big as Lansdowne's it would definatly make for better quality soccer/matches as the teams could actually get the ball down and play.

Just my opinion.

Not that much of a difference in pitch size.

gimmick

Here comes the old facilities debate me thinks. Irish people do not like poor facilities. Especially Irish EPL/TV fans.

For what its worth, I thought 18000 was a decent enough figure also. Its not like either Drogs or Sligo have 9000 each through the gates every week (nor anyone else for that matter).

losthorizon

You have to remember that both clubs came from counties with quite small populations. In that instance the attendance was very good. At the end of the season I bet the FAI Cup Final attendance will compare quite favorably with most cup finals around Europes 50 or so members.

dan1895

losthorizon wrote: »

You have to remember that both clubs came from counties with quite small populations. In that instance the attendance was very good. At the end of the season I bet the FAI Cup Final attendance will compare quite favouable with most cup finals around Europes 50 or so members.

Would be interesting to see alright.

dundalkfc10

losthorizon wrote: »

You have to remember that both clubs came from counties with quite small populations. In that instance the attendance was very good. At the end of the season I bet the FAI Cup Final attendance will compare quite favorably with most cup finals around Europes 50 or so members.

Drogheda is the 2nd biggest town in Ireland and Sligo is a pretty large town in fairness

Paz-CCFC

losthorizon wrote: »

You have to remember that both clubs came from counties with quite small populations. In that instance the attendance was very good. At the end of the season I bet the FAI Cup Final attendance will compare quite favorably with most cup finals around Europes 50 or so members.

dan1895 wrote: »

Would be interesting to see alright.

Not sure of the veracity of these figures (the first few, and Ireland, seem to be right), but this was posted on Foot.ie:

 1 England 86,254 
 2 Spain 85,000 
 3 France 77,000 
 4 Germany 75,420 
 5 Italy 70,000 
 6 Poland 64,416 (2 Legs)
 7 Scotland 51,254 
 8 Netherlands 50,000 
 9 Belgium 43,000 
 10 Ukraine 40,003 
 11 Portugal 36,850 
 12 Croatia 32,000 (2 Legs)  
 13 Romania 29,343 
 14 Greece 28,980 
 15 Russia 28,000 
 16 Switzerland 27,290 
 17 Denmark 26,194 
 18 Norway 24,217 (2012)  
 19 Sweden 21,819 
 20 Azerbaijan 20,000 
 21 Turkey 18,250 
 [SIZE="5"][B]22 Ireland 17,753 [/B][/SIZE]
 23 Austria 16,500 
 24 Serbia 15,000 
 25 Cyprus 13,000 
 26 Kazakhstan 11,500 (2012) 
 27 Northern Ireland 9,825 
 28 Albania 9,000 
 29 Israel 8,621 
 30 Bosnia and Herzegovina 7,800 (2 Legs) 
 31 Bulgaria 7,800 
 32 Slovakia 6,569 
 33 Belarus 6,000 
 34 Hungary 5,000 
 35 Iceland 4,318 
 36 Malta 4,276 
 37 Finland 4,032 
 38 Moldova 4,000 
 39 Montenegro 4,000 
 40 Estonia 3,521 
 41 Czech Republic 3,000 
 42 Georgia 3,000 
 43 Faroe Islands 2,884 
 44 Armenia 2,500 
 45 Lithuania 2,500 
 46 Luxembourg 2,353 
 47 Wales 1,732 
 48 Slovenia 1,500 
 49 Liechtenstein 1,300 
 50 Latvia 1,100 
 51 Andorra 500 
 52 San Marino 500 
 53 Macedonia 0*
 
*The original match was abandoned due to crowd trouble. The rematch was 
played behind closed doors. Not sure what kind of crowd was at the original.
The previous cup final seems to have had 500 - 1,000 at it.

Compared to other Cup Finals, 22nd out of 53 is a very good attendance. I doubt we'd be that good for average league attendances. In the UEFA co-efficient rankings, we're 43rd (having dropped 14 places in the last few years).

overshoot

losthorizon wrote: »

You have to remember that both clubs came from counties with quite small populations. In that instance the attendance was very good. At the end of the season I bet the FAI Cup Final attendance will compare quite favorably with most cup finals around Europes 50 or so members.

yep, of you took all of sligo or half of louth you would fill the aviva with not much to spare, so not bad getting 1/5 or 6 to attend.
it would be nice though to see more make a day of it though. went to the amlin/heinekin finals last year and there were plenty of munster/ulster/connacht/further away jerseys around to enjoy the days

would be great seeing all the LOI jerseys about, well any jerseys, celtic epl etc just to make the occasion. didnt really see any outside of the clubs involved. the ladies supports all headed out after too you could see the gap between the sligo & drogs fans, shame they made good noise too for the amount of them!

sort of another thing tho to get into the habit when your a neutral, got used to it in college, was the only way to get a fix!