Monday Night Soccer - RTE

Credit where credit is due here. I thought RTE did a very good job with this one. Thought Con Murphy presented it very well. Very enjoyable.

Yes, I enjoyed the show. Credit where it is due.
As a fan of LOI soccer I have been crying out for a programme like this for quite a while.
The time and the format of the show is excellent compared to the TV3 offering for the last few seasons which was just a half hour broadcast shown at anytime on a Monday night between 11:00 PM and 12 midnight.
I think the FAI have to be given credit also as they insisted when the deal was being struck that a 1 hour show would be shown at a reasonable hour and that the quality would be high. The quality of the programme and the time it was being shown took priority over the financial package and for that the FAI deserve credit.

Didn't see the programme due to the weather, but anything that promotes home-grown soccer is good, imho.

With a population approaching that of Scotland, and a damn sight more disposable income, I see no reason why Ireland couldn't have a couple of clubs regularly attracting big crowds & qualifying for the significant stages of Euro tournaments.

Glasgow has two main clubs, as does edinburgh and in england major cities like birmingham, manchester etc.. have two main clubs also. Dublin has Shamrock Rovers, Bohs, St. Pats, Shelbourne in a city where soccer is not the dominant sport. That is one of the problems facing the LOI and why none of the clubs get big enough gates to comfortably survive.

Another satisfied customer here too.

Good to see a decent length programme on at a reasonable hour. Thought the presentation was slightly shaky at times, but I am sure that it will improve.

Little pieces like travelling with the Cobh players to Finn Harps was a nice touch. Breaks up a programme of just 4 guys sitting on sofa's.

And on that note, the presenter said to the Cobh manager on the bus that they were about to undertake what is officially longest journey in the Premier Division this season. But surely when Cobh play Derry they will have to travel further, as Derry is more northerly than Ballybofey?

Put on at a good time unlike TV3 and well produced......pity about looking at Roddy's crotch

As my team were banished to division one last season i'd like to see some 1st div stuff as well.

But the live games etc should bring us forward, slowly.

Madangan said:

Glasgow has two main clubs, as does edinburgh and in england major cities like birmingham, manchester etc.. have two main clubs also. Dublin has Shamrock Rovers, Bohs, St. Pats, Shelbourne in a city where soccer is not the dominant sport. That is one of the problems facing the LOI and why none of the clubs get big enough gates to comfortably survive.

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All true.
However, Glasgow, for example, also has Partick Thistle, Queens Park, Clyde as well as all the satellite town clubs....Airdrie, Motherwell, Hamilton, St. Mirren, etc etc.
Manchester has Bury, Wigan,Stockport, Chester etc all not too far away.

The cream will always rise to the top.
I'm not suggesting that Ireland, let alone Dublin, should have 10 top-class clubs, but I can't see how it couldn't sustain a couple. Celtic & R*ngers do pretty well in Europe, coming from a very average league.

You won't see flights, trains or busses full of Scots heading to England every Saturday, and that's the thing that'd have to change here. But people would have to follow one of the bigger clubs, even if they don't come from their locale. (What you WILL see in Scotland is busses etc heading from almost every town to see one of the Old Firm.) They've thrived on that income & it's helped get them where they are today. I don't really see why the same couldn't happen here.
It would take a few years - and maybe that's the problem - but a well-supported club in Ireland could do very well for itself. But even a blow-in like me would be thrilled to see Irish fans cheering a successful Irish club in Europe.

Madangan said:

Glasgow has two main clubs, as does edinburgh and in england major cities like birmingham, manchester etc.. have two main clubs also. Dublin has Shamrock Rovers, Bohs, St. Pats, Shelbourne in a city where soccer is not the dominant sport. That is one of the problems facing the LOI and why none of the clubs get big enough gates to comfortably survive.

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"Soccer" is by far the dominent sport in Dublin and always has been. The problem is that the active support of local clubs has fallen by the wayside since the 1960's. It's a major problem clubs have to change the mindset of people who refer to Liverpool or Manchester United as "us" and deride their own clubs in their own city.

Dublin should have no problem having at least clubs pulling in around the 15k mark and another one , or maybe even two, around the 10k mark. The geographic spread of the clubs alone would indicate that should be possible.

The MNS show was a brilliant example of the league being marketed properly for once. Even if it had a few glitches which should be ironed out as it goes on.....and tell Roddy to keep his legs closed!

Rovers1901 said:

"Soccer" is by far the dominent sport in Dublin and always has been. The problem is that the active support of local clubs has fallen by the wayside since the 1960's. It's a major problem clubs have to change the mindset of people who refer to Liverpool or Manchester United as "us" and deride their own clubs in their own city.

Dublin should have no problem having at least clubs pulling in around the 15k mark and another one , or maybe even two, around the 10k mark. The geographic spread of the clubs alone would indicate that should be possible.

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There is a similar problem in Cork also. A city the size of Cork should be looking at attendances of 15k for home games of Cork City but we average 3.5k. Again, soccer is well supported but its the likes of Liverpool, Man Utd and Arsenal that get the support. Outside of that, LOI fans are ridiculed for supporting teams in the own city.
Part of the problem is that there has been no investment in LOI clubs for years but thankfully that seems to be changing.
It will be a long road for LOI to get attendances over the 10k average but hopefully this has started. But the mindset of people will have to change and it is up to the FAI and LOI to help change that mindset.

The_Banker said:

There is a similar problem in Cork also. A city the size of Cork should be looking at attendances of 15k for home games of Cork City but we average 3.5k. Again, soccer is well supported but its the likes of Liverpool, Man Utd and Arsenal that get the support. Outside of that, LOI fans are ridiculed for supporting teams in the own city.
Part of the problem is that there has been no investment in LOI clubs for years but thankfully that seems to be changing.
It will be a long road for LOI to get attendances over the 10k average but hopefully this has started. But the mindset of people will have to change and it is up to the FAI and LOI to help change that mindset.

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This has been very noticeable over recent times.

The number of times I have heard, "What are you going to watch that rubbish for" is frightening.

Often I look at local bars jammed to bursting point when Liverpool or Man Utd are playing and wonder just how well could LoI teams do if they could harness that enthusiasm.

For me there is nothing like watching live football, but it will always be a struggle for local teams to get people out of their homes and away from their blanket coverage of football on Sky/Setanta and into the stadiums. Facilities need to improve dramatically at the grounds and the standard of entertainment in the league also has to continue improving.

I think the standard of football will rise once an all-Ireland league comes along.

csirl said:

I think the standard of football will rise once an all-Ireland league comes along.

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I'm sure you are right.

And I am starting to believe some of the rumours doing the rounds that this All-Ireland League may be with us inside 5 years.

Ron Burgundy said:

pity about looking at Roddy's crotch

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Rovers1901 said:

and tell Roddy to keep his legs closed!

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I agree. My TV is widescreen, but even it was struggling to show the full breadth of Roddy's wares.

Rovers1901 said:

"Soccer" is by far the dominent sport in Dublin and always has been. The problem is that the active support of local clubs has fallen by the wayside since the 1960's. It's a major problem clubs have to change the mindset of people who refer to Liverpool or Manchester United as "us" and deride their own clubs in their own city.

Dublin should have no problem having at least clubs pulling in around the 15k mark and another one , or maybe even two, around the 10k mark. The geographic spread of the clubs alone would indicate that should be possible.

The MNS show was a brilliant example of the league being marketed properly for once. Even if it had a few glitches which should be ironed out as it goes on.....and tell Roddy to keep his legs closed!

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I think once Rovers move to tallaght next year and with the right marketing we should be hoping to average at least the 5,000 attendance mark with 10,000 capacity for the derby matches but unless the other teams grounds and facilities improve dramaticlly, then there will never be the attraction there to entice new supporters / customers to come along and stay there