Making it work for the hard-working people
Credit:
The First Division of the League of Ireland is generally ridiculed and disrespected by ignorant people who have no idea that the hardest working people in football are to be found in Ireland’s second tier.
Depending on how successful teams are on the pitch players can put in up to between 50-60000kms a season travelling to training and matches and that is only part of the workings of a part time player in the First Division. Training three times a week, gym sessions, matches, and sacrificing social activities with family and friends are all part and parcel of life for the average player playing in the First Division and yet for themost part, our national media both written and TV deem that the best way to recognise these hard working athletes is to a large extent ignore they even exist.
A part time footballer’s day can start at 6.30am and finish at 11pm that evening, its hard work and it takes a huge commitment from these lads so I don’t think it is too much to ask that our various media organisations take the time and effort to acknowledge them by properly reporting on what they are doing on a Friday evening. To my mind it is as important to give part time footballers media exposure as it is to the full timer because the real heroes of LOI football over many, many, years are the employers who have allowed players the time off to prepare and play in Ireland’s top tier of football and in that I mean both divisions. Without these companies understanding and support, the league would be robbed of some very talented footballers (in fact they already have lost top players due to work commitments) so to help make their employees recognisable is the least that can be done for the businesses that support LOI albeit quietly in the background.
While the part time footballer is a vital cog in LOI football the argument remains, can full-time football be sustained in this country? I am one of the people who believes it can because we have the brains, talent and knowledge to do it, but to date we have lacked the will to achieve it in a constructive manner. While Shamrock Rovers are deservedly lauded for the work done in Tallaght the real success story for me is happening in Oriel Park where the Dundalk board have transformed the stadium into a thriving community hotbed with top class sporting and social facilities that will ensure Dundalk will go on to become champions again in the not too distant future.
It is the combination of business and football people coming together in a constructive manner that has seen both clubs jump miles ahead of the majority of others in this country. What both clubs have shown is foresight, determination, and instead of sitting down and saying how will we get by this season, like so many clubs do, they put an ambitious but achievable business plan together that has proven where there is a will there is a way to make clubs in this country viable profit making franchises.
One of the ways forward to full-time football in this country are all weather pitches. The advanced technology applied to these surfaces is so advanced, the difference between artificial surfaces and natural grass is minimal. Clubs with all weather facilities have the potential to make weekly profits of between 6 and 12k a week through letting the facility out to other clubs. Bar facilities would be used more frequently with the influx of new customers, awareness of the club is been brought to a bigger audience every night of the week rather than just matchday. It would be the clubs responsibility to promote themselves in such a way that these new customers of the club become fans of the team. Clubs in the LOI can pay as much as 16k a year on rental of training facilities, having their own all-weather pitches negates the need to pay this kind of money to outside entities and can be used to improve and enhance their own clubs sustainability and future growth. All weather facilities are just one idea that can help move us towards fulltime football in this country.
Like I said earlier it is the will of groups in this country that prevents us from moving forward. People who look for reasons not to do things are useless to the organisations they represent. Forward planning, ambitious but achievable business plans set out by ambitious motivated people need to replace the get by attitude adopted by so many. Yes it requires hard work, dedication and a lot of bottle. Yes it will take ruthlessness, foresight and imagination but as I said earlier we have the people in this country with the knowledge, brains, enthusiasm and motivation to make full-time football work.
Depending on how successful teams are on the pitch players can put in up to between 50-60000kms a season travelling to training and matches and that is only part of the workings of a part time player in the First Division. Training three times a week, gym sessions, matches, and sacrificing social activities with family and friends are all part and parcel of life for the average player playing in the First Division and yet for themost part, our national media both written and TV deem that the best way to recognise these hard working athletes is to a large extent ignore they even exist.
A part time footballer’s day can start at 6.30am and finish at 11pm that evening, its hard work and it takes a huge commitment from these lads so I don’t think it is too much to ask that our various media organisations take the time and effort to acknowledge them by properly reporting on what they are doing on a Friday evening. To my mind it is as important to give part time footballers media exposure as it is to the full timer because the real heroes of LOI football over many, many, years are the employers who have allowed players the time off to prepare and play in Ireland’s top tier of football and in that I mean both divisions. Without these companies understanding and support, the league would be robbed of some very talented footballers (in fact they already have lost top players due to work commitments) so to help make their employees recognisable is the least that can be done for the businesses that support LOI albeit quietly in the background.
While the part time footballer is a vital cog in LOI football the argument remains, can full-time football be sustained in this country? I am one of the people who believes it can because we have the brains, talent and knowledge to do it, but to date we have lacked the will to achieve it in a constructive manner. While Shamrock Rovers are deservedly lauded for the work done in Tallaght the real success story for me is happening in Oriel Park where the Dundalk board have transformed the stadium into a thriving community hotbed with top class sporting and social facilities that will ensure Dundalk will go on to become champions again in the not too distant future.
It is the combination of business and football people coming together in a constructive manner that has seen both clubs jump miles ahead of the majority of others in this country. What both clubs have shown is foresight, determination, and instead of sitting down and saying how will we get by this season, like so many clubs do, they put an ambitious but achievable business plan together that has proven where there is a will there is a way to make clubs in this country viable profit making franchises.
One of the ways forward to full-time football in this country are all weather pitches. The advanced technology applied to these surfaces is so advanced, the difference between artificial surfaces and natural grass is minimal. Clubs with all weather facilities have the potential to make weekly profits of between 6 and 12k a week through letting the facility out to other clubs. Bar facilities would be used more frequently with the influx of new customers, awareness of the club is been brought to a bigger audience every night of the week rather than just matchday. It would be the clubs responsibility to promote themselves in such a way that these new customers of the club become fans of the team. Clubs in the LOI can pay as much as 16k a year on rental of training facilities, having their own all-weather pitches negates the need to pay this kind of money to outside entities and can be used to improve and enhance their own clubs sustainability and future growth. All weather facilities are just one idea that can help move us towards fulltime football in this country.
Like I said earlier it is the will of groups in this country that prevents us from moving forward. People who look for reasons not to do things are useless to the organisations they represent. Forward planning, ambitious but achievable business plans set out by ambitious motivated people need to replace the get by attitude adopted by so many. Yes it requires hard work, dedication and a lot of bottle. Yes it will take ruthlessness, foresight and imagination but as I said earlier we have the people in this country with the knowledge, brains, enthusiasm and motivation to make full-time football work.
