More positivity, less negativity
Credit:
I ask the question many times to myself. Why do supporters follow League of Ireland football when it receives so much negative publicity? Facilities are in a very poor condition for spectators, there is insufficient financial backing from investors and there is very low media attention.
Is it the atmosphere generated by true supporters throughout Ireland on Friday nights? Is it the standard of football which has seen the likes of Keith Fahey, Seamus Coleman, Kevin Doyle and Wes Hoolahan progress from our league to make the grade in England? Is it to get a bit of peace and quiet away from the wife/husband/girlfriend/boyfriend/children for the night? Is it a social occasion to spend with your friends?
There are some grounds in the League where there is no atmosphere and yet you still have the same supporters sitting in the same seat week in and week out. They are not attending games purely for the atmosphere. It certainly isn’t the overall quality of football that is played in this league either. Most soccer supporters and pundits will agree that Sligo Rovers are the best footballing side in the country but there are quite a number of teams who don’t play the “passing game” in this league and still attract crowds to their games. A lot of families are now attending the games and, if we are honest, going to watch a League of Ireland match and calling it a social occasion is complete nonsense at this moment in time.
So what is it then? Well if you read my article last week, you would know that I was a Shelbourne supporter when I was a young boy. My first Shelbourne game and League of Ireland match came in the nineties and I will never forget it. It wasn’t a league decider or an FAI Cup final. It was a cold dark winter’s night in Tolka Park where Shelbourne played Cork City. The game ended 3-3 and after the game I asked my father could I go again next week? That was it, I was hooked. My father and I went to every Shelbourne home match thereafter for a number of years.
I believe the reason we go to League of Ireland games is simple. Love of live soccer. We love the game. We love the thrill of walking through the turnstiles to see who is going to be on the team sheet. We love when our team hits the back of the net and the celebrations after it. We love when the players applaud us after the game to recognise we have sang and chanted to encourage them to get a positive result. We love the post match chat, what player caught the eye and what player couldn’t kick snow off a rope. We love the fact that we only have to wait 7 days for the next game and, if we are lucky, there may be a midweek game in between. Put simply, we love football.
I use the word “we” because I am a supporter. I support League of Ireland football and I know I always will, long after I hang up my boots. Even if my team doesn’t have a game at the weekend, you will see me at a League of Ireland venue on most Friday nights. Since that night in Tolka Park many years ago now, there is hardly a weekend where I have missed a game whether playing, which I have been lucky enough to do for the past six seasons, or watching from the stands.
Another problem we have in Ireland is our love of English football. It is so ingrained in us from a very young age – handed down from fathers to sons/daughters. It’s very sad at one level to see local pubs packed to capacity when Liverpool play Manchester United and the passion that these fans have for their football. At the same time there may well be a live League of Ireland game going on in the area with very little supporters present. I have heard it said many times that League of Ireland football is rubbish but when you challenge these people, you will invariably find that they have never attended a live game. But being a football fan is not about deciding to follow Liverpool/Manchester United/Celtic or Barcelona because they win Premier Leagues, Champions Leagues etc, it's about identity and pride. I'm not from Manchester or Liverpool or Glasgow or Barcelona. Genuine supporters support their local team – teams from their towns in their country and while they might never win the Champions League, at least when they do play in Europe they will be representing their town and their country and most of all THEIR CLUB.
So what can we do to entice new supporters? What will make League of Ireland football more attractive? Firstly, we need to put a stop to all the negative publicity that surrounds our league and that means putting a stop to clubs living beyond their means. Players are not the important element in a League of Ireland club. The fans are. Clubs should not pay high wages to players if they cannot afford them. The money should be in the clubs account before signing a player and the player (and FAI) should see evidence of this before signing a contract with the club concerned.
It’s not just the League of Ireland that’s struggling for supporters at this time. It’s the same with every sport. We love telling ourselves that we are the best supporters in the world, but only when it suits us. Look at GAA and Rugby. How many GAA Championship games last year were sell outs? And it’s not exactly a struggle to get a ticket to see a Magners league game either.
Clubs can also be short sighted when it comes to admission prices. Reducing the price will not necessarily reduce the take at the turnstiles, as more supporters might attend because of the reduced price, particularly in the current economic climate. In addition, clubs could improve the quality (including content) of their match programmes which could result in increased sales.
The LOI clubs & the FAI can do their bit by investing in proper facilities and by marketing the product a lot better and by involving local communities a lot more. The LOI needs to be revitalised and the recent upheavals in club finances (which I found to my cost) might be the wake up call to clubs and players to sort their acts out as regards wages and general spending.
The LoI needs more positive media coverage and not just confined to the Premier Division. The way media coverage is in this country, it is made out that English football represents us. Our daily papers and RTE’ s Aertel service covers the English Premiership with very little reporting of the LoI. MNS is a very good programme but again it only highlights the Premier Division.
We need to create an occasion every Friday night in the LoI where the spectator is going home wanting more. Enough of the negative stories, I’m sick of it. Let’s be positive, let’s change.
Is it the atmosphere generated by true supporters throughout Ireland on Friday nights? Is it the standard of football which has seen the likes of Keith Fahey, Seamus Coleman, Kevin Doyle and Wes Hoolahan progress from our league to make the grade in England? Is it to get a bit of peace and quiet away from the wife/husband/girlfriend/boyfriend/children for the night? Is it a social occasion to spend with your friends?
There are some grounds in the League where there is no atmosphere and yet you still have the same supporters sitting in the same seat week in and week out. They are not attending games purely for the atmosphere. It certainly isn’t the overall quality of football that is played in this league either. Most soccer supporters and pundits will agree that Sligo Rovers are the best footballing side in the country but there are quite a number of teams who don’t play the “passing game” in this league and still attract crowds to their games. A lot of families are now attending the games and, if we are honest, going to watch a League of Ireland match and calling it a social occasion is complete nonsense at this moment in time.
So what is it then? Well if you read my article last week, you would know that I was a Shelbourne supporter when I was a young boy. My first Shelbourne game and League of Ireland match came in the nineties and I will never forget it. It wasn’t a league decider or an FAI Cup final. It was a cold dark winter’s night in Tolka Park where Shelbourne played Cork City. The game ended 3-3 and after the game I asked my father could I go again next week? That was it, I was hooked. My father and I went to every Shelbourne home match thereafter for a number of years.
I believe the reason we go to League of Ireland games is simple. Love of live soccer. We love the game. We love the thrill of walking through the turnstiles to see who is going to be on the team sheet. We love when our team hits the back of the net and the celebrations after it. We love when the players applaud us after the game to recognise we have sang and chanted to encourage them to get a positive result. We love the post match chat, what player caught the eye and what player couldn’t kick snow off a rope. We love the fact that we only have to wait 7 days for the next game and, if we are lucky, there may be a midweek game in between. Put simply, we love football.
I use the word “we” because I am a supporter. I support League of Ireland football and I know I always will, long after I hang up my boots. Even if my team doesn’t have a game at the weekend, you will see me at a League of Ireland venue on most Friday nights. Since that night in Tolka Park many years ago now, there is hardly a weekend where I have missed a game whether playing, which I have been lucky enough to do for the past six seasons, or watching from the stands.
Another problem we have in Ireland is our love of English football. It is so ingrained in us from a very young age – handed down from fathers to sons/daughters. It’s very sad at one level to see local pubs packed to capacity when Liverpool play Manchester United and the passion that these fans have for their football. At the same time there may well be a live League of Ireland game going on in the area with very little supporters present. I have heard it said many times that League of Ireland football is rubbish but when you challenge these people, you will invariably find that they have never attended a live game. But being a football fan is not about deciding to follow Liverpool/Manchester United/Celtic or Barcelona because they win Premier Leagues, Champions Leagues etc, it's about identity and pride. I'm not from Manchester or Liverpool or Glasgow or Barcelona. Genuine supporters support their local team – teams from their towns in their country and while they might never win the Champions League, at least when they do play in Europe they will be representing their town and their country and most of all THEIR CLUB.
So what can we do to entice new supporters? What will make League of Ireland football more attractive? Firstly, we need to put a stop to all the negative publicity that surrounds our league and that means putting a stop to clubs living beyond their means. Players are not the important element in a League of Ireland club. The fans are. Clubs should not pay high wages to players if they cannot afford them. The money should be in the clubs account before signing a player and the player (and FAI) should see evidence of this before signing a contract with the club concerned.
It’s not just the League of Ireland that’s struggling for supporters at this time. It’s the same with every sport. We love telling ourselves that we are the best supporters in the world, but only when it suits us. Look at GAA and Rugby. How many GAA Championship games last year were sell outs? And it’s not exactly a struggle to get a ticket to see a Magners league game either.
Clubs can also be short sighted when it comes to admission prices. Reducing the price will not necessarily reduce the take at the turnstiles, as more supporters might attend because of the reduced price, particularly in the current economic climate. In addition, clubs could improve the quality (including content) of their match programmes which could result in increased sales.
The LOI clubs & the FAI can do their bit by investing in proper facilities and by marketing the product a lot better and by involving local communities a lot more. The LOI needs to be revitalised and the recent upheavals in club finances (which I found to my cost) might be the wake up call to clubs and players to sort their acts out as regards wages and general spending.
The LoI needs more positive media coverage and not just confined to the Premier Division. The way media coverage is in this country, it is made out that English football represents us. Our daily papers and RTE’ s Aertel service covers the English Premiership with very little reporting of the LoI. MNS is a very good programme but again it only highlights the Premier Division.
We need to create an occasion every Friday night in the LoI where the spectator is going home wanting more. Enough of the negative stories, I’m sick of it. Let’s be positive, let’s change.
