AIL 2024/2025

clontarf

cork

Ternure

Hinch

Must be on a development deal for a season before fully going senior. If a development player makes six starts or ten appearances for their province then they would be ineligible for the remaining rounds.

Deleted as Comment was made by others better than I could.

I mulled this point over a year or 2 back when asking a question about a hypothetical scenario where the provinces are dissolved and AIL becomes the pro league in Ireland.

Being honest. I don't think there is any scenario where clubs would be getting a regular attendance like that in the short or medium term.

Yes the FAI cup final pulled in a healthy crowd. But the LOI attendances are far south of that on a day to day basis. Rovers are the best attended club and had an average draw of just over 6k this season.

https://www.transfermarkt.com/league-of-ireland-premier-division/besucherzahlen/wettbewerb/IR1/plus/?saison_id=2024

What is encouraging from their perspective of the league is the average and total attendance is increasing year on year and even going back to 2019 the numbers are up a lot.

In the context of the AIL. The facilities first and foremost would need work if clubs want to make a serious push at getting more numbers in.

Hinch, Marys, Tarf, Terenure, Young Munster, City of Armagh, Lansdowne and Garryowen are all top flight AIL teams who don't have close to meaningful facilities to have 1500+ spectators at a game.

I don't think it is realistic to be honest. There was a point when it might have been, but we've gone the other way and backed the provinces.

I remember going to AIL games in the 90s when my Dad was still playing and our whole family would spend our whole Saturday etc down in the club. There would routinely be similar crowds at a lot of AIL games back then to what the LOI gets now for regular season games for plenty of teams, and equally back then I remember going to Leinster, Munster, Connacht games with c. 500-1,000 people at them. That obviously shifted.

I don't think any club has the sort of numbers of members or associated hangers on to get to c. 40k attendances for a final.

AIL in the 90s would draw 10k + alot of the time especially for local derbies....I was at a Shannon v Bucs game in Ballinasloe with thousands at it..…

Con 27 Vs Mary's 27

What an absolute belter of a game. End to end stuff for the entire 80 minutes.

One of the best AIL games I've been at in years

They could have scored 100 tbh. Incredibly one sided game.

Garryowen v Instonians anyone at that game?

Corinthians struggling without a lot of their academy talent, Sean Naughton in particular I'd say. Watched a decent bit of the Cashel game and while they played lots of good rugby, they really lacked control from 10.