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Why do we have a soccer team?

SmartinMartin

Let's face it, we're really sh1te at it and it costs ridiculous amounts of money, so why bother?
(I feel the same about the army, but that's another thread.)

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dxhound2005

Most small countries never get to World Cup, or European finals. Ireland never achieved it until 1988. Only 7 countries have won the World Cup. We are doing OK, and it would be unprecedented for a country like Ireland to withdraw from international competition. A generation of players to match the Dublin footballers might come along. Dublin went for a long time with no success.

Achebe

dxhound2005 wrote: »

Most small countries never get to World Cup, or European finals. Ireland never achieved it until 1988. Only 7 countries have won the World Cup. We are doing OK, and it would be unprecedented for a country like Ireland to withdraw from international competition. A generation of players to match the Dublin footballers might come along. Dublin went for a long time with no success.

Maybe FIFA will give some money.

TheIrishGrover

I was gonna post a thread about this. Now, disclaimer: I'm not a football fan. Personally I don't understand the appeal but I appreciate that many MANY people do. I'm not a "Fair weather" fan. I wasn't much interested even in the Charlton days.

But..... But I fail to understand how we can support them with Tax Payers money. It's not like these professional players are living on the breadline. It's not like they have no sponsorship. And it's not like it's free into the games. I'm not saying remove all funding to sports or whatever. Far from it. I think it's important for a nation but isn't it time we redistributed the limited money where it is needed most? Instead of supporting a team of professional players shouldn't we support others more (Or at all)

My nephew has been doing Tae Kwan-do for almost 20 years. Has gone to many world championships, won many medals. The Irish team is VERY well regarded internationally. And yet they do not get a single cent of support from the Government. Every competition he went to he had to pay every single penny. Literally saved and worked summer jobs etc in order to go. While Olympic Tae-Kwan-do does get some support (Enough to buy their uniforms and that's about it) the non-Olyimpic sport gets nothing.

And it's clubs like THESE: Grass roots, local clubs that gives the kids something to do and out of mischief that needs the support. Clubs practically begging for money outside shops. How much money was given to Equestrian Ireland? When the last Olympic medal we received was stripped from us? And Ireland used to be very highly regarded equestrian-wise.

Maybe these high-level support should be performance-based

twowheelsonly

TheIrishGrover wrote: »

My nephew has been doing Tae Kwan-do for almost 20 years. Has gone to many world championships, won many medals. The Irish team is VERY well regarded internationally. And yet they do not get a single cent of support from the Government. Every competition he went to he had to pay every single penny. Literally saved and worked summer jobs etc in order to go. While Olympic Tae-Kwan-do does get some support (Enough to buy their uniforms and that's about it) the non-Olyimpic sport gets nothing.

And it's clubs like THESE: Grass roots, local clubs that gives the kids something to do and out of mischief that needs the support. Clubs practically begging for money outside shops. How much money was given to Equestrian Ireland? When the last Olympic medal we received was stripped from us? And Ireland used to be very highly regarded equestrian-wise.

Maybe these high-level support should be performance-based

IMO that's Tae Kwan Dos' own fault. They should be well able to lobby for funding as countrywide it's a huge sport - far bigger than most people would realise. The trouble is it's too political with too many associations and side shows going on and it's been that way for years. As a unified body they could have serious lobbying power but some within it can't see past their own differences for the greater good.

ThunbergsAreGo

SmartinMartin wrote: »

So I'm a miserable bollix cos the Irish soccer team are sh1te? lol.
Dunno why the rugby comparison, at least we've actually won something in that sport. Really though, why is the State wasting huge amounts of money on this rubbish?

The Nations League says hello, a historic victory by the football team

Feisar

twowheelsonly wrote: »

IMO that's Tae Kwan Dos' own fault. They should be well able to lobby for funding as countrywide it's a huge sport - far bigger than most people would realise. The trouble is it's too political with too many associations and side shows going on and it's been that way for years. As a unified body they could have serious lobbying power but some within it can't see past their own differences for the greater good.

And then how about this karate or that type. In fairness there are to many types of martial arts that are basically similar enough to an outsider. However yes there are to many organisations within the one sport.

Woke Hogan

Omackeral wrote: »

How is it not?

All you need is a ball and a bit of space. Jumpers for goalposts, ever hear of that expression? Kids in barrios can play it and many of them have nothing. College students play it. Over 35's play it in leagues. Work mates play it for bonding. Even boards.ie has had teams (I've played for them!). Astros, streets, indoor or on a green field. It's for everyone.

This website had a football team? Hahaha, are you for real? Who were they playing, Banter United from Joe.ie?

Edgware

Don't worry, McClean will be getting his bit of publicity next month when he has his annual "I wont wear a Poppy" phase.
He certainly wont be getting it for his football ability

Dr. Bre

Why do we have to go to work

TheIrishGrover

twowheelsonly wrote: »

IMO that's Tae Kwan Dos' own fault. They should be well able to lobby for funding as countrywide it's a huge sport - far bigger than most people would realise. The trouble is it's too political with too many associations and side shows going on and it's been that way for years. As a unified body they could have serious lobbying power but some within it can't see past their own differences for the greater good.

And in the case of Tae-Kwan-Do, yeah, you are absolutely right. But this money should be going to local clubs. Local football, Karate, Boxing clubs. 50 million in the last 10 years to FAI. I know, in the big picture, that's not a huge amount of money. But if you gave 50 million to 1000 clubs over 10 years think of the good it would do.

Bobblehats

valoren wrote: »

The Euros and the World Cup are really to my mind extended tournaments. The qualification is classed as a separate tournament but it is really the group stage for the group stage.

The 'finals' are the sexy culmination of those tournaments and are condensed into a month at the end of each tournament cycle. The teams who progress are the cream of the crop.

The initial cycle of qualification groups are part of the tournament proper and as such we always participate in the Euro and the World Cup tournaments. That's why we have a soccer team i.e. to participate in international tournaments. Sure we mostly don't progress from the "initial" group stage of the tournaments but given our level of play progressing to the finals will always be a major achievement in itself. In effect, if, for example, you get capped for Ireland playing against Georgia in a WC qualification match then to my mind you've played in a World Cup. If you scored then you've scored in the World Cup. With that in mind, the Irish team have won 3 games in Euro 2020. We have scored 6 goals in Euro 2020. If we were losing all 8 games and almost never scoring and doing so at considerable expense then calls for the actual need to have a team would pertinent.

Some would say the tournament only truly begins at the last 16; like I thought you were about to do before you went off on one but carry on..

valoren

When such time and energy is invested in sports where we are literally beating ourselves then it should come as no surprise to anyone that we perpetually under perform at football. In the past Greece have won the Euros, so too the Danes.The Dutch could have won the world cup a number of times now. Even Croatia have reached the World Cup final. Look at the perpetually under performing England sides. It is no coincidence that since the last generation of super stars have retired that they've become a team of good players. They go to Euro 2020 expecting to win. Perhaps qualifying for the major tournaments would become a tick the box exercise if we focused on having a culture of being exceptionally good a football.

Bobblehats

I see kids tripping over themselves to impress with a football so where’s it gone wrong?!

dxhound2005

valoren wrote: »

When such time and energy is invested in sports where we are literally beating ourselves then it should come as no surprise to anyone that we perpetually under perform at football. In the past Greece have won the Euros, so too the Danes.The Dutch could have won the world cup a number of times now. Even Croatia have reached the World Cup final. Perhaps qualifying for the major tournaments would become a tick the box exercise if we focused on having a culture of being exceptionally good a football.

Even countries like Italy, England and Holland can't assume it is just a tick box exercise.

valoren

To use an analogy, David James is currently appearing on Strictly Come Dancing. He's a lanky ex-goalkeeper and standing at 6ft 4in. It comes as no surprise to anyone watching the show that he is not going to win the competition. He's already flirted with elimination twice and the expectation is that he will be voted off very soon. There are better dancers and its inevitable. He is simply there to make up the numbers, give some semblance of it being a competition, get a nice cheque and raise his public profile.

Let's say his agent, earlier in the summer, proposed the Strictly offer to James. James had been a fan of the show and this was what prompted his agent to inform the BBC. Let's say he laughed at his agent saying "I'm a lanky ex-goalkeeper, I'm six foot 'effin four, what business do I have doing a Foxtrot on national TV!". His agent sensing his lack of desire informs the BBC that his client is not interested. A day later, having thought about it, James rings his agent back and asks him to let the BBC know that he will happily do the show next year if they'll still have him. They agree and they sign a confidentiality agreement to kept it under wraps until the next batch of contestants are announced. In the intervening period James goes to work. He hires a private dance coach, he learns dancing basics, he spends every day doing something dance related. He gets competent at it, he is practically obsessed. Come the following summer when the contestants are announced, nobody expects James to win the competition. He'll be going home early. He's making up the numbers. However, he confounds expectations by being pretty good at dancing. Now with the basics long mastered and coupled with a professional dance partner, they go through week after week. He even gets to dance at Blackpool! He gets a ten from Shirley. It's never too early!

He becomes a fan favourite, a sensation, and he reaches the final....he could win or he could at a minimum privately tell himself that he did they very best he could.

Today, Ireland, by analogy is David James on Strictly today. Stiff footed, clumsy, frustrating to watch but getting some dosh for showing up and ultimately getting eliminated early.

If we gave it a generation (say 25 years) and focused on becoming competent, capable and consistent at one sport, then we could win a major tournament. It's always good to be optimistic but given the jack of all trades and masters of none dynamic in Irish sport, it won't happen in anyone's lifetime. Theres a power to focus. You "get" what you focus on.

Remember when we used to be **** at Rugby? Today, 25 years later, it is no stretch of the imagination that Ireland could win the World Cup. A ridiculous thought in the distant past. Remember when Britain won one gold medal at Atlanta? Today they win many and expect to win a lot more. That's the power of focus.

The FAI could pay Pep Guardiola millions a year but we would still struggle. The difference is that were we to foster a culture of excellence and then hire the 2039 equivalent of Pep then a thread like this would not exist.

dxhound2005

In the next 8 World Cups 8 new countries could win it. Ignoring the fact that only 7 have won it in 90 years. They just need to get good at soccer.

[Deleted User]

Woke Hogan wrote: »

This website had a football team? Hahaha, are you for real? Who were they playing, Banter United from Joe.ie?

Yes. Won a few competitions too. It was played against a multitude of different teams from the likes of the civil service, finance sector and other established teams looking to keep sharp in their off-season. Things like that. It was a social league and a fantastic way to keep fit and meet people. Don't see how that's really funny. Some really sound lads on the teams throughout the years.

Mad_maxx

Edgware wrote: »

Don't worry, McClean will be getting his bit of publicity next month when he has his annual "I wont wear a Poppy" phase.
He certainly wont be getting it for his football ability

Or his ugly mug

Hypocrite that guy, if he was full committed to his principals, he would refuse to play in England

Woke Hogan

Omackeral wrote: »

Yes. Won a few competitions too. It was played against a multitude of different teams from the likes of the civil service, finance sector and other established teams looking to keep sharp in their off-season. Things like that. It was a social league and a fantastic way to keep fit and meet people. Don't see how that's really funny. Some really sound lads on the teams throughout the years.

Fair play. I'd say it was a great way to lose weight.

Utter Consternation

Woke Hogan wrote: »

This website had a football team? Hahaha, are you for real? Who were they playing, Banter United from Joe.ie?

Everyone hated playing the comments section from the Journal.ie.

Woke Hogan

Utter Consternation wrote: »

Everyone hated playing the comments section from the Journal.ie.

They would make the Bulgarians blush.

Agricola

I like they way we put it up to Peter Schmeichel by only losing 2-0. Suck on that ya long bastid

[Deleted User]

Woke Hogan wrote: »

Fair play. I'd say it was a great way to lose weight.

Dropped 2.5 stone since I started it so yep it was. Thanks for your well wishes.

MarkY91

We qualify with a win against Denmark.

Relax ffs.

Edgware

Mad_maxx wrote: »

Or his ugly mug

Hypocrite that guy, if he was full committed to his principals, he would refuse to play in England

Well Gerry and the Peacemakers are well able to take the Queens shillings ( whether as poltical reps or informers) so it would be too much to expect McClean not to get paid for his efforts

Iscreamkone

I'd say that there are much more participating in soccer than Gaelic Football, Hurling or Rugby.
Any stats on participation out there?

Edgware

MarkY91 wrote: »

We qualify with a win against Denmark.

Relax ffs.

Oh thats fine so. Nothing to worry about

Necro

Woke Hogan wrote: »

This website had a football team? Hahaha, are you for real? Who were they playing, Banter United from Joe.ie?

I don't get why that's so surprising. Most companies have one nowadays, seems logical that a bunch of folk would get together and make a team. Maybe you're just not in the sporty circles and this is surprising to you.

Iscreamkone

Even if we don't beat Denmark we can qualify through a playoff I think

Necro

Iscreamkone wrote: »

I'd say that there are much more participating in soccer than Gaelic Football, Hurling or Rugby.
Any stats on participation out there?

Soccer and Gaelic Football would be on a par I'd reckon, there's more clubs in rural areas in GAA for sure.

More numbers playing soccer than hurling and rugby though that's for sure.