Nope
when was that?
I won a medal in the street leagues one time when I was around 10 yrs old, was watching my pal play on a sunny Saturday morning when suddenly a lad had to come off injured with a few mins left, they had no subs so I was asked to stand in the corner with in my jeans and runners lol, the club orange and tayto celebration after made it all worth while!
Do I win?
When he was u21.
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we were
88- 89 with terry kearns and alex ludzic
94-95 -
2009 after winning first div went up for a year
i slotted in between 98-00 when we were in the doldrums
it was no fun really - MSL was a better standard and a hell of a lot safer
it was dangerous shit- one of my pals had his leg smashed up by billy woods in a preseason game - now this was an era of old pros - the likes of donal golden were with us- it was just tough football, we were kids with a few old lads and we played because we thought it was great and didnt mind taking friday off to go up to athlone or ballybofey and we didnt get a cent
the LOI first div is a hard league , its really fucking tough going- i dont know what purpose it serves really
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Gives lads of that standard a game I suppose?
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I’m fairly sure it’s a requirement for UEFA that there are at least two leagues in each country so there can be relegation and promotion. I would imagine this is the only reason Division 1 in Ireland is still going
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Yeah, it’s a criteria for European qualification I think
He has. He has indeed.
You’d imagine plenty of good players turn down offers from Division 1 clubs to stay in LSL or MSL, solely due to all the traveling involved
yeah they would - i dont even see can a first div club offer anything really - maybe bray can at times , shels last year with kilduff…but like look at cobh or say limerick - cobh dont pay , limerick last season were paying some form of “wages” , how i dont know
you see, young lads by 18/19 you know you wont make it - prob earlier so what do you do- you can play MSL /AUL with your mates or maybe play LOI div1 in the hope cork or rovers might pick you up but thats not going to happen
years ago LOI div1 was full of old lads dropping down , terry eviston was playing for shagging athlone in his 40s id say - now its young lads in say cobh who play for a year, then head off back to a MSL side or pack it in, - maybe in bray or longford fellas are doing it to support an income ? i dunno
biggest issue with soccer compared to say GAA
uve no commity aspect really in soccer as lads when they are young are trying to get on the best team so there is no “club” aspect - st kevins boys are not a club,
loads of lads pack soccer in at 18 or so- you get back into it then maybe in your 20s, i used love playing AUL3 - i played against Kev a few times - thats the junior b version of soccer
on LOI div1 - its dead
there is no community, no supporters and if it died in the morning no one would care
if you shut down the MSL tho - there’d be uproar
junior soccer is where it is at in ireland really
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I’d reckon a lot of 1st division teams must have 75-80% player turnover year to year
Would it have better chance if more regional, (North /South split)at least limit the travelling and maybe get MSL team or two involved?
Unlikely as current clubs barely surviving and I’d say MSL and LSL clubs happy to state here they are
Needs to be some incentive for teams to wa to to get “promote” to Division 1. AIL in rugby seems to have done well on that issue
Yes
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AUL is dead too. Sherrif, Usher, Baldoyle all left for the LSL.
lost a lot of players to the prison system
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3 lads who id have known fairly well between school and gaa all played league of Ireland soccer. Picked up fairly with the promise of trials in England. No wages and utterly sick of soccer after two years of having no Friday nights playing all over Ireland. 2 didn’t kick ball for 3 or 4 years after leaving it. 1 lad is back playing in town now. I don’t understand why anybody would want a career playing division one soccer in Ireland. It just seems so miserable. The Money is decent in limerick when you factor in the effort compared to division 1. It’s a pity the AIL is ruined in rugby as many lads really enjoy the level of rugby but there’s also a huge social aspect to it. That’s also being completely lost in gaa now at club level. It’s gone to a ridiculous standard with drinking bans and trainings. Idiot coaches on power trips being paid fortunes for nothing. Hopefully it changes again.
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I’d agree with this.
I can see club gaa running into huge bother With lads losing interest. Particularly now at inter county level they are going down the academy route. Will these fellas being cut adrift at under 20s keep playing?
Then you have Lads heading out for their last pints New Year’s Day before facing into six months training for a game that may or may not go ahead depending on whether jimmy down the road is named on the extended minor Football panel.
I remember being in Cheltenham two years Ago And a fella with us got a call from his club manager looking to have a chat over him missing training over it. I mean ffs they hadn’t championship for 2 months.
its not a career tho
a career is something that enables you to financially support yourself -
i mean if you are playing for limerick or cobh its not a career choice - its just a hobby , but the lads you are playing with and against are usually cunts, you dont know them from adam, there are no fans in the ground and the abuse you get off those who do turn up and your management are horrific in general,
its just not fun really
sport is about doing something you enjoy really, a career buys you a gaff
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