Why don't more Limerick people support Treaty in the LOI?

I'm genuinely curious if any football fans in Limerick (or the Midwest) who don't go to LOI games could explain why not?

I don't mean in an accusatory way, but more a "what would it take to get you to, say, 5 or 10 home games in the Market's Field in a season?"

Is it the quality of the football?

Expensive tickets?

Unfriendly atmosphere?

Poor facilities?

Clashes with other interests?

Lack of beer/food?

Lack of marketing?

Anger/disinterest due to how previous versions of the "club"* have been run?

Anything else?

Football is huge in the city, the soccer forum on here is pretty busy but Treaty (and before that, Limerick FC, Limerick 37, Limerick United and Limerick City etc have struggled to retain fans over differing periods) don't see to be able to convert even a fraction of that interest into people paying through the gate.

If you are even half interested in football, what is it about the LOI that doesn't interest you? I don't get to every game but the ones I do get to are usually entertaining in their own way.

*I know the broad history of the various different license holders over the years, for argument's sake let's assume it's one continual LOI presence.

Quitelife

I follow all sports as do many others id know. I used go to all Limerick United games in the 1980s , i have been at the markets field 2 or 3 times in past 18 months and found it ok but theres just so much going on in everyones lives be it other sports or TV etc , we are spoilt these days .

If they were up towards the top of first division id be more inclined to go but at the minute i go to nearly all Limerick hurlers matchs and really enjoy that and that is now my main sporting interest . Treaty are up against 2 big Sporting Brands locally in Limerick hurlers and Munster Rugby for bums on seats and then all the sport on TV.

To answer your question - Competition from other sports.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119134709#Comment_119134709

I definitely get that, we're lucky to have great sides on our doorstep to get to see every few weeks.

What would it take, do you think, to get the casual football fan (ie, guys who follow Ireland and/or a premiership side) in the gates? They really are a mass market to be tapped, if there was a way of tapping into it.

Quitelife

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119135309#Comment_119135309

Many supporting the premiership are stuck to their tv remote and are hard to get out anywhere bar an annual trip to manchester or liverpool. If Treaty were to get some success ie get up to premier league it would treble the crowd but getting up there is a problem.

Most locals dont know who these players are that play with Treaty and where are they from , there should be a big PR effort like some couple of pages in the Limerick Post outlining players ie Willie Armshaw from Cappawhite Tipperary , went to school in Doon etc etc ( not his favourite premiership team!) so people can relate to who we have playing , be great if their mostly from Limerick-Clare-Tipp to tap into a bigger pool of potential supporters across 3 counties who can relate to these people like the hurlers can ( the local guy connection ) .

A pre season friendly against a middle of the road English or Scottish club would be a good start to any season and temp new fans to start following treaty that season and going forward .

dave 27

I follow rugby and would follow the hurling too, not really interested in football but if you look at what is available to Treaty United in Limerick (not even looking elsewhere), as a football club they need to think about how they are marketing their club. My suggestion is that they need to look at the below to gain more interest;

We have a number of universities and 3rd level institutions in the city which covers 30k students or so, why dont they use this as an opportunity to give discounted tickets to students?

You wouldn't know there is a football club in the city so there needs to be better advertising for it. This costs money i know but its a small price to pay.

As it stands if you compare likes with say the AIL, i think this could be comparable enough to look at versus the LOI. Prices are low for tickets, talent is actually quite good and some rival games can draw a few thousand at them. AIL obviously used to be much bigger until rugby and munster came along with the times, but i think if Treaty were able to look at similar structures they could do better.

Also I think being in the markets field doesnt do anything for the club. Personally i think if they were able to use one of the 3g pitches in UL or somehow be based out there they would have brilliant facilities, more people out that way to gain a natural interest in whats going on in the club and possibly have a good following. I couldnt even tell you where Treaty train or where any of their facilities are.

I may be very off the mark here but this is just what i think about Treaty, yes there's more options for fans to follow as previously mentioned but there is a strong interest in football in the city and beyond and the club scene i believe is very good so there shouldnt be any reason why it cant get bigger.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119135460#Comment_119135460

Getting promoted is going to be next to impossible unless big investors come in imo, in the short term at least. The LOI, even in the first division, is a case of the haves and the have-nots, and we're very much in the have-not camp. The money backing Galway is mind-bending for the LOI, even Bray have a wealthy backer.

I fully agree about raising player profiles and the pre-season though. Hell, it's only a few years since we saw Ogbene playing for "us", he's a household name (in football households anyhow) now. I'm kinda hoping Paudie O'Connor gets a decent move up the divisions too. It's not that far fetched to think we could be fielding future Ireland players atm.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119135477#Comment_119135477

Absolutely agree there must be a way to tap into the population of UL, TUS and Mary I but I disagree with you on the Market's Field. It's a better located stadium than either the Gaelic Grounds or Thomond Park if you want pints in town pre or post game. I'd love to see a bar in the ground (though I generally don't drink at matches in Thomond) because I think it would attract more fans.

The pitch, from what I remember, was in better condition when Limerick FC were tenants. I know some people blame the LEDP for letting rugby be played on it, but imo, a properly maintained ground could host both sports considering there wasn't much overlap between use.

Limsno1

Match day experience and results on the pitch would both draw crowds. From a match day experience point of view I travelled to Tallaght stadium a few years back to see Limerick play rovers and the set up start to finish was similar to match day experience in England. Their club shop and members bar directly above it were very professionally run and you could get a pint and food inside the ground. Their match day stewards were dressed impeccably and could have been contracted from a prof. security firm.

Then there is the quality of what you are seeing on the pitch and results. When POS was backing the club and we were in the Premier division we were getting great crowds and atmosphere was as good as anywhere in the LOI. Unfortunately all of the above costs money. Question is will we ever see the good days again...

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119136855#Comment_119136855

Yeah, I kinda know what you mean about the match day experience. It's odd, because even if you didn't sell much beer at a match, you'd still sell some and the licenses for sports clubs (iirc) aren't very expensive to apply for.

You'd think there'd be some bar or brewery in town who'd do it for a cut of the profits.

That being said, the stewarding in the Market's field has been fine whenever i've been there.

Wrt to getting promoted, Barrett is over-achieving with what he has, imo. Ideally the 2 academies in the region will start to feed players through to the LOI sooner rather than later but that all remains to be seen. Without big money coming in (which strikes me as unlikely), this is where we're at for the foreseeable...

Paddico

I think poor results should also be added at the top

Paddico

Also, I used to go to the odd game but I find now that the name change, other people holing onto the Limerick FC name and starting from scratch has left me a bit in no mans land.

I assumed Treaty United was temporary and that then name would soon revert back but Ive no idea whats going on at this stage.

US3

How much is the average ticket for a match at the markets field? Do they serve alcohol and food during the match?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119139802#Comment_119139802

12 for an adult, concessions for students and OAPs.

There's a chip van but no beer.

It's a quality evening out tbh, in case this thread isn't really selling it.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119139783#Comment_119139783

Personally would have preferred Thomond as the name since the team, in theory, covers Thomond but it is what it is. I'm slightly amazed we now have two underage football Academies in Limerick, considering a few years ago we'd none but if works for the overall good of Irish football it'll be worth it. Remains to be seen though.

YFlyer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119134709#Comment_119134709

I was at Market Field in 81 and 82 too. Also at FAI Cup final.

Went sour when Pat Grace and his wife plus everyone else took our money.

Don't blame John Collins burning their clubhouse down.

AnonZen

Kerry announcing their intent to enter a senior team. If successful, it will be interesting to see if it impacts Treaty.

https://twitter.com/SSEAirtricityLg/status/1532287892386893825?s=20&t=OhSCRjWhNyi2ILmUe_L6QA

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119148136#Comment_119148136

That's the sort of passion we need back at the games!

Seriously though, There is an interesting history of shambles and swindles in LOI football in general. I just take it as a given the league is badly run and enjoy it for what it is.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119148948#Comment_119148948

More local derbies should be good, in theory.

YFlyer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119149923#Comment_119149923

Loads of swindles.

Plug in: Johnny Walsh Flooring.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119150894#Comment_119150894

I am not familiar with that escapade but if it's any consolation (though I don't suppose it is) Limerick isn't an outlier in terms of bad business at LOI level. The entire history of the league is littered with bad deals and dodgy dealers.

Here's an interesting rabbit hole to fall down over clubs that have disappeared down the years. https://theleagueofireland.com/tag/forgotten-clubs/

YFlyer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119151286#Comment_119151286

We had a manager that had 100% success rate.

chicorytip

There is a lack of top quality local players now as well. When you think back to the Eoin Hand era (1979-82), apart from Hand himself and Gary Hulmes, the rest of the first team squad was local and fillled with top talent. Joe O'Mahony, Johnny Walsh, Al Finucane, Brendan Storan, Pat Nolan, Gerry Duggan, Des Kennedy, Tony Morris and others. One or two of those would have graced the upper reaches of English football. Indeed , Everton wanted to sign O'Mahony at one point and that team was good enough to give the mighty Real Madrid a fright in the European Cup. All of those players came up through junior football in Limerick.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119154545#Comment_119154545

Game has changed a lot since then. The Limerick FC academy is (bizarrely perhaps) still running and now Treaty have one too. No idea how good, bad or indifferent they are but hopefully they'll feed some players into the LOI.

Straight Talker

I suppose when you look at it, Limerick is a small city in comparison to Dublin and Cork, and you have a lot of sports competing with each other for the attention and affection of the paying public.

You have the all conquering Limerick hurlers, there's Munster rugby, you have the local rugby scene ie Young Munster, Shannon, Garryowen, i was told by a Limerick man before that junior soccer is the most popular sport in the city.

So there's a lot of competition there! The demise of the original Limerick FC was very sad. We're talking here about a club that won two league titles and two FAI Cups, they played against Real Madrid the biggest club in the world, in the European Cup as well.

So you had a club with a decent history and pedigree there, and it was allowed to die basically. It's very sad that such a thing was allowed to happen imo. Whether Limerick people could have done more to save Limerick FC, i don't know really.