Ireland is a pretend football country

irelandrover · 18-01-2021 10:34am

Did you smash it wrote: »

Correct. It’s better than nothing but it’s unambitious

A 6000 seater stadium is perfect. In huge stadiums the atmosphere is terrible with a small attendance.. With a small stadium the atmosphere can be fantastic, and with a great atmosphere people can accept a lower standard of football. They start coming regularly and then you can look into expanding.

Thelonious Monk · 18-01-2021 10:41am

irelandrover wrote: »

A 6000 seater stadium is perfect. In huge stadiums the atmosphere is terrible with a small attendance.. With a small stadium the atmosphere can be fantastic, and with a great atmosphere people can accept a lower standard of football. They start coming regularly and then you can look into expanding.

I remember hearing about this bloody stadium upgrade in the 90s, it will never happen.

cms88 · 18-01-2021 10:48am

While it's easy to blame the FAI etc, and must of it is warranted, for everything they can't be fully blamed.

It's not the FAIs fault Irish people would rather support teams in England rather than Ireland. Now there's nothing wrong with it but if the same popele complain about the LOI being where it is because if the FAI they really can't.

The whole thing of Irish people who support teams in England always interests me. Why do people think it is the case? In some cases people don;t have a LOI club near to them and there's not much they can do. But for example i know of people from Cork who would live no more than 5 minutes from Turners Cross yet would never have been to a Cork City game bar when they might be playing the Liverpool U23 team or something like that.

landofthetree · 18-01-2021 10:49am

EmmetSpiceland wrote: »

The FAI had no interest in domestic soccer. They only seemed to look after themselves and the National side, one a lot more than the other.

With the state of their finances now it will be a long time before they can focus on the League of Ireland, that’s if they haven’t got the same type of people running it.

No excuse for following English teams.

irelandrover · 18-01-2021 10:55am

I live in Holland and the model of the first division is one the league of Ireland should follow. They don't really want to compete with the Eredivise so all games are on a Friday night. Fans turn out because a few beers at live soccer with friends is a great Friday night. its not competing with the main games from the Premier league or the Eredivisie.

The team I support has a 5000 seater stadium and gets about 2000 at every game but they are competing with a much bigger club in the city. A lot of teh clubs would get a lot more. Quite a lot of my friends come to 4 or 5 games a season which would never happen if they were competing with United/Liverpool games.

fryup · 18-01-2021 10:56am

landofthetree wrote: »

No excuse for following English teams.

how about scottish teams?

Omackeral · 18-01-2021 11:00am

Strumms wrote: »

The are clubs in most major population centers though.

Dublin : Bohs, Shels, Rovers, Pats,

Cork : Cork City

Limerick : Limerick FC

Kilkenny : Kilkenny City

Donegal : Finn Harps

Louth : Dundalk, Drogheda

Galway : Galway United

Waterford : Waterford United

Sligo : Sligo Rovers

The cities or population centers you’ve mentioned, should it be up to the FAI ? Or people on the ground... to sort out teams and be successful.

About 15 years too late there friend. They died.

Thelonious Monk · 18-01-2021 11:00am

fryup wrote: »

how about scottish teams?

Do Irish people still support Celtic? I remember it was a huge thing in the late 90s and early 2000s, during the time of MON and Larsson.

bocaman · 18-01-2021 11:00am

How many players on the international team are there in the LOI? None. Thats part of the problem. A second one is horrendous facilities. I'll believe the Dalymount redevelopment when I see it. However its no good complaining about the standard of the LOI then headding off to Old Tafford or Anfield or London to catch a game.

Omackeral · 18-01-2021 11:04am

Hamsterchops wrote: »

Massive support here in Ireland for English Premiership football, cuz that's where the stars play and that's where the social media buzz is at. It's a long tradition to support English football teams here, usually picking out a team where there's Irish interest, in the 70s it was Liverpool or Leeds, then it was Newcastle, nowadays it's mostly ManU, not so much for any Irish interest but for the bling, the man buns, the tats and the kudos

I find that the Irish connection line gets much kudos. Reading had a big Irish contingent a decade ago, Wolves more recently. If we’re talking about “oh my uncle went there in the 70’s”, where are the Birmingham City fans? The Crystal Palace fans? People picked successful teams.

Hamsterchops wrote: »

We love football in this country.

Love watching it on telly. Maybe going once or twice a year. Week in and week out though? Nah we don’t.

Samsonsmasher · 18-01-2021 11:06am

Did you smash it wrote: »

Reading on RTE.ie that the public purse will be used to fund a white water rafting complex in the ifsc to the tune of 25 million.

This while “the home of Irish football” Dalymount park is a half condemned ruin.

It amuses me that people think Ireland is a football country because it has the highest participation rate of any sport.

Truth is we have no football economy really beyond a really small time one and no matter what the FAI do they’ll never have the ability to upgrade it as there is no financial investment or wealth in football in the country.

The public’s investment in football amounts to sky sports subscriptions and trips cross channel.

Until there is the same passion for soccer as there is for hurling and Gaelic football in rural Ireland we are never going to be able compete with other countries or European clubs.
The best athletes in the country are wasted playing GAA.
Not just potential soccer players but potential Olympic athletes.
There is just no other sporting outlet.
It's as simple as that.

Omackeral · 18-01-2021 11:09am

cms88 wrote: »

It's not the FAIs fault Irish people would rather support teams in England rather than Ireland.

All the while hating De Brits and singing Ole Ole Ole. You couldn’t make it up.

Omackeral · 18-01-2021 11:10am

landofthetree wrote: »

No excuse for following English teams.

There is. They’re in one of the top leagues in the world. No reason you can’t follow both. They seldom clash.

Omackeral · 18-01-2021 11:12am

irelandrover wrote: »

I live in Holland and the model of the first division is one the league of Ireland should follow. They don't really want to compete with the Eredivise so all games are on a Friday night. Fans turn out because a few beers at live soccer with friends is a great Friday night. its not competing with the main games from the Premier league or the Eredivisie.

That literally is League of Ireland. All our games are on Friday nights. You can easily watch Man U/Liverpool/whoever else in Sat and Sun.

Do both.

irelandrover · 18-01-2021 11:15am

Omackeral wrote: »

That literally is League of Ireland. All our games are on Friday nights. You can easily watch Man U/Liverpool/whoever else in Sat and Sun.

Do both.

I did look at the fixtures for last year before my post and saw quite a few other days. But maybe that was due to Covid.

I cant attend LoI games as i don't live in the country but do have a season ticket here for my club.

Omackeral · 18-01-2021 11:15am

bocaman wrote: »

How many players on the international team are there in the LOI? None. Thats part of the problem. A second one is horrendous facilities. I'll believe the Dalymount redevelopment when I see it. However its no good complaining about the standard of the LOI then headding off to Old Tafford or Anfield or London to catch a game.

Turners Cross, Tallaght Stadium. Sligo Showgrounds are all perfect. People will still find an excuse. I remember on here a few years ago someone gave the facilities and standard reasons for not giving things a chance and it was pointed to them that Hannover96 were coming to Tallaght to play Europa League football. Good stadium with Bundesliga opposition.

“Ah no Phelps is competing in the swimming tonight.”

fryup · 18-01-2021 11:16am

Thelonious Monk wrote: »

Do Irish people still support Celtic?

:rolleyes:

no they've change allegiances to Rangers

Thelonious Monk · 18-01-2021 11:17am

fryup wrote: »

:rolleyes:

no they've change allegiances to Rangers

It's a serious question. Used to be a big thing. I don't hear about it any more or see Celtic jerseys like I used to.

Omackeral · 18-01-2021 11:18am

irelandrover wrote: »

I did look at the fixtures for last year before my post and saw quite a few other days. But maybe that was due to Covid.

I cant attend LoI games as i don't live in the country but do have a season ticket here for my club.

Friday night is football night in our league and has been like that for at least the last 20 years. Sligo play on Saturday night but they’re the exception. Yes, Covid season was a one-off. All kickoffs are 7:45 on a Friday night. It’s a perfect start to a weekend.

Omackeral · 18-01-2021 11:20am

fryup wrote: »

:rolleyes:

no they've change allegiances to Rangers

Thelonious Monk wrote: »

It's a serious question. Used to be a big thing. I don't hear about it any more or see Celtic jerseys like I used to.

They support Celtic in the same way they are Catholics on a census form. That’s my experience of it. I probably know 2 actual fans of the club. The rest say they like them but they don’t really give a toss outside of maybe the Old Firm or Knockout European games. Same as Xmas mass for the a la carte bunch!

maccored · 18-01-2021 11:30am

pretend soccer country surely?

irelandrover · 18-01-2021 11:34am

Omackeral wrote: »

Friday night is football night in our league and has been like that for at least the last 20 years. Sligo play on Saturday night but they’re the exception. Yes, Covid season was a one-off. All kickoffs are 7:45 on a Friday night. It’s a perfect start to a weekend.

Fair enough.

Omackeral · 18-01-2021 11:34am

maccored wrote: »

pretend soccer country surely?

Football Association of Ireland

Shamrock Rovers FC
Cork City FC
Dundalk FC.
Longford Town FC

Have a guess as to what the F might stand for in the above.

cms88 · 18-01-2021 11:35am

Omackeral wrote: »

Turners Cross, Tallaght Stadium. Sligo Showgrounds are all perfect. People will still find an excuse. I remember on here a few years ago someone gave the facilities and standard reasons for not giving things a chance and it was pointed to them that Hannover96 were coming to Tallaght to play Europa League football. Good stadium with Bundesliga opposition.

“Ah no Phelps is competing in the swimming tonight.”

Anytime i hear the line about facilities etc i alway think of this video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FeGm0MQ2iQ

Did you smash it · 18-01-2021 11:50am

My own idea is Irish football needs a fans trust. Pay an annual sub, get a sticker for the back window of your car and every cent raised goes towards improving facilities across the country. Every trustee is a complete amateur volunteer.

The FAI will never have the financial means to substantially improve the state of football here and the government doesn’t care.

If that doesn’t happen, Irish football will still be pleading poverty 100 years from now.

LuasSimon · 18-01-2021 12:02pm

Omackeral wrote: »

They support Celtic in the same way they are Catholics on a census form. That’s my experience of it. I probably know 2 actual fans of the club. The rest say they like them but they don’t really give a toss outside of maybe the Old Firm or Knockout European games. Same as Xmas mass for the a la carte bunch!

My son wanted to go to a celtic match so last year just before covid we got over to see them play St Mirren. Flew out of Dublin saturday morning and there was two flights at circa 7am ryanair and aerlingus, both full of celtic supporters.
What i couldnt get over near the ground was there was 15 or 16 buses with southern irish regs from Donegal in particular and a couple from louth and dublin . Huge amount of buses from Northern Ireland , Belfast, Derry, newry etc as well. All travelling Larne-Stranear route .

ahnowbrowncow · 18-01-2021 12:39pm

twowheelsonly wrote: »

The facilities in Soccer over the last 20 years have improved in leaps and bounds. To be fair to Delaney it's one of the things that he drove on. When I played we got changed in an old shipping container and we played on a pitch that was roughly as level as a skateboarding park. The same club now has dressing rooms, showers, 2 pitches with sprinklers and drainage and a half size astro. The same is true of many clubs.

I don't agree that the FAI don't care about LoI or local football in general. I deal with lads in the FAI and almost without exception every one of them has a LoI club that they follow or are involved with their own local clubs. There's a very strong LoI culture there and a good slagging between staff on a constant basis.

The problem as I see it is the overall structure. Too many Associations and divisions. All have their own structures (Chairman, Sec, Treasurer etc) and all want to protect what they have. The GAA structure is far better. Limerick for instance has two or three separate adult leagues. In Cork or Dublin you have the likes of the AUL, Munster/Leinster Senior leagues, Shipping Leagues etc. The same filters down at Schoolboys level - Dublin & District SL, North Dublin SL, Metropolitan Girls League etc.
In GAA all clubs are affiliated to their County Board. They in turn are affiliated to their Provincial Council and in turn to the National Council/Congress. Everything flows sweetly up and down (for the most part) and everyone is (again for the most part) working to promote GAA. FAI Council is trying to cater to too many sub-divisions which leads to the pie being too broken up too many times. There's 60 members of the FAI Council - all representing various Leagues or Associations. Why does a country of our size and population need 60 representatives ?

John Delaney making a fool of you there, giving him credit for spending taxpayers money, despite everything that has happened in the last couple of years.

Clones Town named their new facilties John Delaney Park because he got them funding.
All €1.2M of it was state funding. He just decided who it should go too and idiots applauded him for his shameless PR stunts. No mention of the other teams/areas that missed out.

Edgware · 18-01-2021 12:41pm

I know a local "coach" who collects 3 euro from the kids each training session to
"cover me lost overtime"

irish_goat · 18-01-2021 12:44pm

We'll never be a football country until a signficant amount of the country starts supporting football. Part of me would love to know what figure Irish people spend on British football in a given year. Another part of me thinks we're better off not knowing.

ShyMets · 18-01-2021 12:49pm

Samsonsmasher wrote: »

Until there is the same passion for soccer as there is for hurling and Gaelic football in rural Ireland we are never going to be able compete with other countries or European clubs.
The best athletes in the country are wasted playing GAA.
Not just potential soccer players but potential Olympic athletes.
There is just no other sporting outlet.
It's as simple as that.

A little harsh. I imagine most players playing GAA wouldn't consider themselves wasted

pgj2015 · 18-01-2021 1:09pm

cms88 wrote: »

While it's easy to blame the FAI etc, and must of it is warranted, for everything they can't be fully blamed.

It's not the FAIs fault Irish people would rather support teams in England rather than Ireland. Now there's nothing wrong with it but if the same popele complain about the LOI being where it is because if the FAI they really can't.

The whole thing of Irish people who support teams in England always interests me. Why do people think it is the case? In some cases people don;t have a LOI club near to them and there's not much they can do. But for example i know of people from Cork who would live no more than 5 minutes from Turners Cross yet would never have been to a Cork City game bar when they might be playing the Liverpool U23 team or something like that.

A lot of Irish people have an inferiority complex, they think everything English is better than the Irish equivalent. I always prefer Irish versions of things, like I watched the premiership on RTE over match of the day, I watch the Irish dragons den over the one on BBC, same with gogglebox. But some Irish people are the opposite, everything Irish they run down. MY friend who was a west brit even started using english slang and trying to talk like an English person on hoiliday in spain once.

fryup · 18-01-2021 1:17pm

pgj2015 wrote: »

MY friend who was a west brit even started using english slang and trying to talk like an English person on hoiliday in spain once.

disgraceful

Mad_maxx · 18-01-2021 1:18pm

Did you smash it wrote: »

I don’t know of any who qualified for denmark on the granny rule, do you?

why would i ? but i doubt such a rule is limited to this country

Muahahaha · 18-01-2021 1:19pm

davetherave wrote: »

Surely there are countries out there with a similar population size that do have good from grassroots up

Iceland would be the one to comes to mind, they have only a population of 330,000 yet they beat England at the Euros in 2016 and they have players peppered all over top leagues in Europe. It didnt happen by accident either, the Icelandic government deliberately targeted football as a sport they wanted the country to do well in. So they funded the training of hundreds of coaches to the highest levels, they now have 400 coaches with a UEFA B license and a further 150 with a UEFA A license, all in a country with a population of Connaught. Its said that every child in Iceland now has access to top level football coaching and their success stems from that. Plus they did all of this while their economy was ravaged by the 2010 recession.

As for the white water rafting facility for 25m quid it seems a waste of money to me. White water rafting is a leisure activity, its not a sport in any real sense. Those who are serious about it go to Nepal, New Zealand and Colorado anyway where you get miles of rivers with fast moving rapids instead of a course that is barely 100 metres long as is planned in the Docklands. Serious kayakers here use routes on the rivers like Stackallen to Slane or Leixlip to Islandbridge where they have loads of weirs and rapids instead of just 100 metres of them. And from what I can see the facility proposed is not going to be built to Olympic standard because it is not long enough. So our few Olympic standard kayakers will have to train abroad anyway.

One sport that 25m euro would be far better spent on is to finally give Ireland its first ever indoor velodrome. Its an absolute scandal that a velodrome has never been built in a country that has had two winners of the Tour de France. Look at what Team GB did before the 2012 Olympics, they deliberately targeted indoor cycling as a source of medals and cleaned up as a result. No reason Ireland cannot emulate that but decades after a velodrome has been promised it still hasnt been delivered.

Cerveza · 18-01-2021 1:20pm

They down the saloon boasting of how we won and we have a great team and we should have played better and between them all they could hardly spell football let alone kick one. Bunch of idiots in their tracksuits.

Mad_maxx · 18-01-2021 1:20pm

Kermit.de.frog wrote: »

Cricket added to the list now in recent years.

On the one hand it's good to have diversity.

On the other they take talent from each other which means none will ever reach full potential.

Look at New Zealand and rugby. Everyone marvels at how great they are - that's pretty damn easy when it's easily the main sport there. None other comes close.

Here we don't have a main sport really. They are all on similar level eating each other.

New Zealand is a far sportier country than Ireland , always has been , their olympic medal tally down the years dwarfs ours

LuasSimon · 18-01-2021 1:27pm

The one thing I noticed about league of Ireland was the amount of dubs playing with teams all over the country , that’s where the GAA works better , all the players on county teams are local and people know them personally .
How many of the Dundalk soccer team are from Louth or how many of the Galway soccer team are from Galway ?
I don’t know but it’s strange to hear the cork or Longford captain talking with a strong dublin accent

pgj2015 · 18-01-2021 1:30pm

Exactly, all the premier league teams have local lads as captains. I dont think.

Being at a live LOI game is 100 times more enjoyable in my eyes than watching man u v liverpool on TV.

Mad_maxx · 18-01-2021 1:33pm

pgj2015 wrote: »

Especially for a nation who learn their own native language from the age of 4 to 18 and which the majority still cant string a sentence together. Irish people in my experience are terrible at learning a new language.

second only to the brits in terms of awfulness

ahnowbrowncow · 18-01-2021 1:35pm

Mad_maxx wrote: »

New Zealand is a far sportier country than Ireland , always has been , their olympic medal tally down the years dwarfs ours

Don't think that's a fair comparison. Ireland's main sports have been soccer and gaelic.

We've been consistently far higher in the soccer world rankings than New Zealand and our National Sports happen to be sports that no other country plays so it's impossible to achieve international success.

randd1 · 18-01-2021 1:39pm

Samsonsmasher wrote: »

Until there is the same passion for soccer as there is for hurling and Gaelic football in rural Ireland

That won't happen. Hurling/football is taken too seriously in rural Ireland for soccer to take hold. And soccer is seen as a bit of craic, a social thing or used to keep fit when the hurling/football is in it's down time. And with the likely split season coming in the GAA, it's likely the GAA will have it's own regular county leagues to compete with the soccer leagues.

Samsonsmasher wrote: »

we are never going to be able compete with other countries or European clubs.

Other countries have proper underage and league structures, and have for decades. We still don't, and as such pay the price.

Samsonsmasher wrote: »

The best athletes in the country are wasted playing GAA.
Not just potential soccer players but potential Olympic athletes.

Their choice, and I'd doubt very much they say it's wasted either. Whatever about a county, even a club player will expect to play games a few times a year with a crowd of a thousand or more at a match. There's not too many professional sports in the country that even offer that.

Samsonsmasher wrote: »

There is just no other sporting outlet.
It's as simple as that.

Perhaps if there was a proper structure in place there would be, even at amateur level. Take the above mentioning of the GAA for example.

Imagine there existed an amateur league based on the GAA model. Clubs could easily field A,B,C & D teams for rural parishes for county leagues. Cities and towns would be split into local population areas rather than parishes and again you could easily field A,B,C & D teams for county leagues. You play for where your from.

From the amateur clubs, you would pick players to play for county teams.
Cork would be split into East Cork & West Cork. Dublin split into 4, Dublin North, South, East & West. With those splits and with the other 30 counties, you would have 36 teams.

Two leagues of 18 teams, A League and B League, each team plays each other once, promotion/relegation is three up/three down. A cup competition accompanies the leagues.

This amateur county league would occur in the second half of the year from July onwards.

January to July would be for the county leagues and national cup competitions. There would also be national competitions, based on geographic regions rather than provinces, for the clubs, eg county league champions and county cup champions, that would run alongside the county leagues.

Now if that structure had been in place for the last 50 years, the LOI would have a steady stream of developed players to choose from and would likely be more competitive as semi-pro league, or better yet give the county players grants and have that as the national league. There would be likely a greater soccer following in the country given the local rivalry and connection to the community that exists with the GAA, with and actual proper structure for coaching development thrown in too.

Mad_maxx · 18-01-2021 1:40pm

ShyMets wrote: »

A little harsh. I imagine most players playing GAA wouldn't consider themselves wasted

" wasted " is certainly the wrong word but the GAA does hoover up a huge amount of sporting talent , especially outside urban areas

cause and effect in terms of poor performance in other team sports and the Olympic games

that isnt a criticism of the GAA , the GAA like any other org are right to do as well as they can but the GAA is the five hundred pound gorilla ( as the yanks say ) in all of this

Mad_maxx · 18-01-2021 1:46pm

ahnowbrowncow wrote: »

Don't think that's a fair comparison. Ireland's main sports have been soccer and gaelic.

We've been consistently far higher in the soccer world rankings than New Zealand and our National Sports happen to be sports that no other country plays so it's impossible to achieve international success.

New Zealand is an especially sporty country , always has been , Australia is the same , good climate probably a big factor

Lost Ormond · 18-01-2021 1:53pm

randd1 wrote: »

That won't happen. Hurling/football is taken too seriously in rural Ireland for soccer to take hold. And soccer is seen as a bit of craic, a social thing or used to keep fit when the hurling/football is in it's down time. And with the likely split season coming in the GAA, it's likely the GAA will have it's own regular county leagues to compete with the soccer leagues

You are right it wont happen. In many areas you can see a club soccer team doing well only because the local hurling/gaelic team were knocked out of championship early and the players went back playing soccer far earlier and were a bit more serious than they usually would but as soon as the gaa pre season starts up they drift away from the soccer again.

Other countries have proper underage and league structures, and have for decades. We still don't, and as such pay the price.

We're getting there but these things take a long time to really show at the top level of the sport.

Perhaps if there was a proper structure in place there would be, even at amateur level. Take the above mentioning of the GAA for example.

Imagine there existed an amateur league based on the GAA model. Clubs could easily field A,B,C & D teams for rural parishes for county leagues. Cities and towns would be split into local population areas rather than parishes and again you could easily field A,B,C & D teams for county leagues. You play for where your from.

A parish structure works in GAA but in no way should you be basing what you do for soccer or any other major team sport for that matter on what works for the GAA.

From the amateur clubs, you would pick players to play for county teams.
Cork would be split into East Cork & West Cork. Dublin split into 4, Dublin North, South, East & West. With those splits and with the other 30 counties, you would have 36 teams.

Two leagues of 18 teams, A League and B League, each team plays each other once, promotion/relegation is three up/three down. A cup competition accompanies the leagues.

There isnt a need for this. You have a transfer system in place and players who want/need to play at higher levels have more than enough opportunity to do so. There is a clear hierarchal system in plsce for clubs who wish to progress and there is an open transfer system for players who wish to move to do so as well. There is already strong clubs in the bigger cities that would be stronger than many counties and whats the need

This amateur county league would occur in the second half of the year from July onwards.

January to July would be for the county leagues and national cup competitions. There would also be national competitions, based on geographic regions rather than provinces, for the clubs, eg county league champions and county cup champions, that would run alongside the county leagues.

Now if that structure had been in place for the last 50 years, the LOI would have a steady stream of developed players to choose from and would likely be more competitive as semi-pro league, or better yet give the county players grants and have that as the national league. There would be likely a greater soccer following in the country given the local rivalry and connection to the community that exists with the GAA, with and actual proper structure for coaching development thrown in too.

Very presumptuous to think these county sides would be followed and people support them in the long term. Talking about this having been in place for last 50 years is fantasy stuff.
What countries in soccer have done this with this county structure seriously used?

Mad_maxx wrote: »

" wasted " is certainly the wrong word but the GAA does hoover up a huge amount of sporting talent, especially outside urban areas

cause and effect in terms of poor performance in other team sports and the Olympic games

that isnt a criticism of the GAA, the GAA like any other org are right to do as well as they can but the GAA is the five hundred pound gorilla (as the yanks say) in all of this

Would agree with this. Its not a criticism of the GAA as what theyve done is and has been excellent but for so much of time and still is to some extent the only show in town in most of ireland and people who could be ideally suited to other sports are never given the opportunity until far too late if at all.

Did you smash it · 18-01-2021 1:57pm

Mad_maxx wrote: »

why would i ? but i doubt such a rule is limited to this country

It’s a huge factor in Ireland squad selection. Hence Ireland effectively has a much bigger population than the 4.9 Irish residents within the country. It’s non existent in Denmark.

That was the point.

Omackeral · 18-01-2021 1:58pm

They tried that county model with Dublin and Kildare. Even dressed them up in the GAA colours and all. Got about 50 people a match. The people in Dublin that would go to see a LoI team are already at them from what I can see. Aggressively marketing in Tallaght and Phibsboro has been great for Rovers and Bohs. That’s the way for it

Omackeral · 18-01-2021 2:00pm

We have a GAA culture in this country. Our football, or soccer, culture is getting on a bandwagon when Ireland qualify for a major championships once a decade and also it consists of roaring at a telly in a pub on weekends and calling Mick from Clonmel a Scouse bin-dipper on Facebook.

pgj2015 · 18-01-2021 2:02pm

There are a lot of people who are either LOI or GAA heads, they wont entertain the idea of going to watch both codes. I am more a LOI fan but will go watch the odd GAA game as well. There are plenty of people on either side who seem to despise the other side.

Muahahaha · 18-01-2021 2:03pm

Mad_maxx wrote: »

New Zealand is an especially sporty country , always has been , Australia is the same , good climate probably a big factor

yeah big time, people are sports mad there and despite their small population they've had remarkable success in the Olympics with some 130 odd medals over the years compared to about 30 for Ireland.

Also because sport is so popular there the government fund it very well. I lived down there for a bit and remember the government spent tens of millions competing in the Americas Cup by sponsoring Team New Zealand. They won it too which was a remarkable achievement considering the trophy was always held by really wealthy American sailing clubs for over 100 odd years.

Same with mountaineering, obviously Edmund Hillary the first man ever to summit Mount Everest but since then Kiwis have been at the forefront of professional mountaineering.

doublejobbing 2 · 18-01-2021 2:14pm

Hyperbollix wrote: »

I'm not sure how you could expect anything else. We are an island of 5 million, located right beside one of the biggest football countries in the world,

Croatia is across from Italy. Consistently punch well above their weight.

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where all of our top talent, not to mention all our journeymen can travel to, to make a very decent living. We are also a top tier rugby nation and we have our own national sports which command huge participation, funding and interest from the public.

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While all classes play GAA, those who persue it to county level are generally of a different socio economic class than the ones that produce soccer players. Look at the bios of any county GAA team. It's all bankers, teachers, Gardai, engineers. The class that succeed at rugby generally don't become footballers in any country- outside of Wales, Munster and the Southern Hemisphere it is not a working class sport.

Ireland has long been held back by, until very recently, a lack of soccer structures outside the main cities. Look at everyone who has had a decent run of caps for Ireland in the last 25 years, virtually all from working class large towns/ urban areas. I think Shane Long, Shay Given and Seamus Coleman might be the only out and out country lads among them. Maybe Kevin Doyle and the Hunt brothers, can't recall if they are from the sticks or a big town.

Ireland is a pretend football country

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