You are severely conflicted here
It is likely to be Thirty SEVEnco.
Huh?
I donāt think it is, he shouldnāt be so quick to dig up dirt about someone trying to keep something quiet.
The junior soccer being strong in Limerick affects the crowd as well. I donāt know what itās like now but the Boro, Pike and Fairview used to draw decent crowds
Still do ā but early 00s - Fairview would get a few hundred at a game when they were winning FAI Juniors. More than Limerick at the time.
Exactly. Those clubs were paying wages too, the best players in town nearly always stayed junior. Same wage and you didnāt have to go traipsing around the country mid week
So if they come back in 2021 what can they do to get people in? - If they carry on as before and expect things to change then thereās no point.
Whoever the stakeholders are, they have a year to build the brand ā They have to start by going after kids - all under 12s free. Get parents to apply for a season pass by providing proof of age. Kids are free parents are more likely to go and you build up a generation of support. Go after primary schools also - get the half time game to be a tournament -
I know it costs, but if they could run a couple of free buses in from out the county it would be great - buy your match ticket to book a place on the bus - Kilmallock + another town into the City stopping in a few places along the way.
Shoot that cunt JP Dillion.
Youāll need junior clubs on board some how also ā¦
They need to pony up on the gaa bandwagon. Fuck off the blue colours and wear green and white. Nobody in town or the county associates with blue and white. Itās only a small thing but I think it would be a big bonus.
I donāt know what they could do to get junior clubs on board or what benefit that would bring, they are basically competing with them for attendance and players. I think thatās a non goer
1 Like
Yeah but you need some kind of working relationship with local clubs or nothing really changes.
Limerickās green and white ā¦ Limerickās green and white ā¦ whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa
1 Like
If playing for Limerick was seen as a good achievement it would help with the local clubs. You could have Limerick FC coaches going around the clubās running coaching sessions, it improves the standards in the clubās and the coaches keep an eye out for real talent or aptitude.
We had it at the 'Boro. Weād a great under 14s team and Bubbles Tobin used to train us twice a week. A few of us ended up at Limerick u18 side when we got to that age.
2 Likes
Having been involved in coaching recently in the MSL and MJL in Cork, how Cork City do it is very good. Midleton had a real good young lad whoād go off to training with CCFC twice a week. He had no ties with them and was free to play with Midleton, he had all the training gear and by Christ did he improve after a month or two up there. I had him for one or two sessions, 16 he was and he made clane shit of our lads at training.
The only problem there was the club wanted to protect him and wouldnāt allow us use him.
1 Like
In fairness rugby set out what the template should be for a professional sport in Ireland. Three or four teams based in major population centers and latch them onto a foreign league like Scotland. Nothing else is sustainable here. Rugby has proved that the crowds will come if you get the product to a credible level. LoI proves that if you donāt they wonāt.
1 Like
Even at that isnāt there huge drop offs in numbers for league matches? Munster struggle big time to get a crowd to Thomond park.
Another thing, rte have improved the amount of games they show, credit where itās due, but they need to jazz up the coverage. The presenters look like theyāve been asked to analyse/commentate at a funeral.
Go the sky sports route. Dramatize the fuck out of it.
The product is getting better, the standard of the top few teams has never been higher really. Market the fuck out of it.
Any time Iāve seen a LOI game recently has been by accident because Iāve been channel hopping and bumped in to it. Youād hardly know they were on.
LOI will never be professional tho and thatās a blocker currentlyā¦but it doesnāt have to beā¦ What they need to do is show how the LOI can be a stepping stone to a pro contract elsewhere. Plenty of lads in recent times have gone from LOI at 21-23 and got a contract in Englandā¦ This is where the FAI is neededā¦ Get out and get a business model and association with clubs in England, France , Holland Spainā¦wherever.
The current system in Ireland of a few places getting lads scouted is political and detrimental to the game on the island in the long run. If LOI became the goal for most young lads, with only the truly exceptional being shipped off at 14-16, then soccer across the whole island and the national team would see a boost. As is, thereās little joined up thinkingā¦
Copying the Munster rugby model you so despise
Relative to what? The 2 or 3 championship matches a year in the gaelic grounds? Any LOI attendance?
Relative to the amount of taken seats as opposed to empty ones.
They struggle to fill league matches, maybe professional sport just isnāt sustainable in Ireland
I have no idea how Munster run their ship ā Thatās just common sense and Limerick were offering under 10s free all along but never got out and pushed it.