I would strongly disagree that 31k for a friendly on a Thursday(not a Saturday as you lied about also) night in November is pathetic
Its pathetic. Against one of their supposed rivals, the game played in the centre of the teams support. What were the crowd figures when they went to thomond that time, ill even allow you count the buckets of tickets they gave free to schoolkids
Nobody in the 26 counties cares about the Northern Irish football team one way or the other
I’m not aware of this game at Thomond you are talking about
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They played australia and south Africa in thomond in 2009. Part of vision Delaney had of bringing it to the masses. But the masses weren’t bothered in the slightest. I have friends who go to every ireland game, home and away, and they said the attendances were half of what was reported, a PR disaster. From the rte report on the south Africa game.
‘A terrible crowd have turned out and while it’s not the most glamourous of fixtures, it should be enough to bring football fans out to see a level of football that is rare in this neck of the woods.’
Grand vision quickly abandoned. The only real base of support is in dublin, so the excuse of a Thursday evening time of the NI game is a red herring.
Oh right, two friendlies against shit teams 10 years ago is your example then. Both of those were also midweek games so I’m not really sure what your point is
Well done proving tims point.
The first time they played outside dublin in living memory there should have been massive demand, but there was none. The support is there for the shoes off changing tires moments abroad, rugby destroys it in real attendance here
Looking to hang your hat on something as you’ve nothing.
I already said it I was mistaken. I thought it was the game vs Northern Ireland two months ago.
It got 31k. For comparisons sake, Ireland v USA in the Aviva in rugby got 52k that month. Btw, a huge proportion of the Aviva are those who travel up from the country. A huge proportion of south Dublin as well as wider Dublin are also football heads. The Aviva is located in one of the best places in Europe for a Stadium, being quite central and in a big population centre. Why are the ROI team the only ones to struggle for fans consistently? They didn’t even sell out the England in 2015 despite that being a so called cash spinner for the FAI.
What day of the week was the USA game on?
They wouldn’t if the games were on Wednesday nights
Friendlies in football are not taken seriously. If you’re going to bring up a fair example bring up a qualification game which took place at a weekend for comparison
Explain to me how that proves Tim’s point
Christ. Soccer fans turn up when its a junket or a big game that they can tag themselves at online. Bandwagoners. You proved it by saying two friendlies against shit teams.
The rugby teams friendly against a shit team brought in 52k.
Rugby friendlies are taken seriously and are on weekends.
You do understand that its going to be easier for people to go to matches on weekends, yes?
What day was the England game? It was a Sunday. It got 43k despite it being hugely hyped. Even with about 1500 lost for crowd separation there were masses of empty seats.
The Nation’s Cup.
Robbie Keane celebrating in front of a massive crowd.
Robbie Keane’s last game for the ROI was played in front of 14k at home. This was 2 months after the “best fans in the world’ were on mass in France.
How did the Nations League go this year attendance wise? Is that competitive?
The pattern on this is clear for years, long before game nights were changed.
The ROI get a spike of interest if they have a good result. They do not have consistent support.
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Nt when the vast majority of the supporters live in the dublin area, no issue getting to a midweek game at all. But they dont turn up. I see tim has comprehensively destroyed you inna subsequent post. Keep ignoring facts, and go on your feelings about things. Gobshite.
England v Ireland was on at a weekend. It was apparently highly anticipated.
They couldn’t sell it out.
The Irish rugby team sell out pre World Cup warm up games in the Aviva.
The excuses really are pathetic. Football is the most popular sport on the island no question but the national league and international side are not well supported. I suppose chatting to a Lionel Messi fan tells you all you need to know about this though.
It was a friendly. Soccer friendlies are not taken seriously. Wembley also has vast swathes of empty seats for international friendlies, its still the most popular team in England
I don’t know. Do you have the attendance figures to hand?
Its still going to be a lot easier to go to a game on a weekend than during the week.
Flesh this out a bit there tim
No it won’t, no difference for the 2 million who live around dublin. You just wish it was the case.
How is it no difference? If someone finishes work at half 5 they are less likely to want to go watch a match that evening than if it was the weekend
Look at Premier League games played midweek vs. those played on Saturdays for empty seats