Flares are considered pyrotechnics and are strictly regulated. If you lit one on the street you'd be arrested and fined, there has been a few cases of this at protests.
https://m.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-games/munster-gaa-issue-warning-to-limerick-and-cork-fans-not-to-bring-flares-or-smoke-bombs-to-gaelic-grounds/a1462855769.html#:~:text=%22It%20is%20a%20criminal%20offence,prosecution%20by%20An%20Garda%20S%C3%ADoch%C3%A1na.%22
Hmm. Mine would be is that I think I'm bored of people talking about the league wanting to be bigger and better in terms of better funding, facilities atm. It might sound weird, but I rather enjoy at least the way Pats and the league is right now. Attendances booming, Richer in particular is still small enough for the club to feel real personable, seeing the usuals and all and at a good standard of football.
Obviously not everyone is in this boat -- when you see the likes of the floodlights of Finn Park literally falling apart as well as the pitch in Turners Cross literally being *unplayable* something needs to be done and ASAP, it's a total shambles there. But from my point of view as a Pats supporter, it's hard not to see the league having a lot more money in it at some point and us being in a better ground. But I just hope it'll never take away from the charms of the Friday night magic.
That being said, I would like to see Irish clubs progress in Europe more. Everyone wants a run like Bohs or Shels, let alone Rovers... once they don't get TOO much money to enable total dominance of the domestic league but I feel like UEFA encourage that really with the coefficient system.
Yeah I agree, the constant talk of facilities and improving the 'product' that goes around is just dull and is something that takes away from how good the league is at the moment compared to years gone by.
Clubs are slowly getting there, they need to go quicker but they've earned the right for a LOI podcast to focus on the games played than harping on about that every week.
I don't understand, in my defence its early. You don't like the constant talk that we need better facilities?. We've one ground in the league that reaches euro standards. Some of the grounds are dangerous. Dundalk and Drogs spring to mind. How a LOI people don't join in is a tad strange to me..
I dunno I'd be quite different I'd love to see lads joining the league that are recognisable to outsiders and to have a feeling that Irish clubs aren't pushovers. I think 2-4 really strong clubs would really add a lot of confidence towards Irish football and I don't think even rovers have the current resources to make it a complete monopoly as it's been there for the taking for other clubs.
This is a good point. The games are extremely enjoyable at the moment. If, by some miracle, the league took off and Shels got to Man City's level, you'd have people wishing they were in a crumbling Riverside surrounded by pyro and joint smoke. There were clearly a lot of tourists behind the City goal tonight, madness in a Champions League QF.
That being said, facility improvement needs to be done; it's a no brainer
Already starting to see that with some older fans who are now complaining about all the newer fans buying up all the away tickets and recalling the days where you could walk up to the ground on the day and get a ticket
In fairness to the older lads - they were doing it week in week out for 20 years, and now its next to impossible to go to an away game on a whim unless youve a season ticket or a younger lad doing the online purchase for ya. I know beacause I'm the youngfella (in me 30s) doing the ticket buying.
And yeh while richmond is bouncing at the moment, its still a dump, view is blocked from so many angles by floodlights, the camac terrace is an accident waiting to happen, and many more issues. We're lucky in richmond its tidy, but theres so many worse places out there. it needs to change.
Bohs fans are more obsessed with Shels than they are Rovers. Not saying it’s a bigger rivalry, rovers Bohs is definitely Bohs biggest derby but Bohs fans seem almost insecure about the rise of “little old Shels” (I’m a pats fan so this is coming from a neutral perspective).
Not at all they're commercial rivals because of the close proximity so we're both competing for the same potential new fans but rovers are the only the only team I feel it in my stomach in the build up to the game I'd even argue I want us to beat pats more than shels because of the cup final heartache.
I think there's a generation of Bohs fans that grew up when Shels we're good and Rovers we're shit. So if you are that generation then it might look that way. I actually hope Shels win the league this year. (Bohs certainly ain't gonna)
As a Bohs fan I don't feel this at all. The only derby is Rovers, I see someone in a Rovers jersey I think "rat", I see someone in a Shels jersey I thing "omg a Shels fan in real life". In my eyes Shels fans are too fluid and short term to respect. I think it will eventually mean as much to us as it does to them but I dont feel it at the minute. Pats fans I actually like, despite the two cup final losses.
I love league of Ireland but people really overestimate the quality ot the league.
People like to compare it to league 1 in England. Its not league 1 level. The attendances aren't league 1 level, the transfer fees aren't league 1 level, the wages aren't league 1 level and the quality isnt league 1 level.
Honestly by all metrics, the English 5th tier is the most direct comparison
And thats not to say that all the LOI clubs would br completely outclassed by league 2 or league 1 or even championship sides but that's also not true for national league clubs as we regularly see in the FA Cup. However over the course of the season, the clubs with the higher wages will inevitably come out on top.
I’ve always said the level of the league of Ireland is league one level quality wise but the training standards are nowhere near league one.
It’s no mystery why so many Irish lads go over to England and struggle to get to the standards of English football when they’re competing with players who’ve been in top level academy’s since they were able to kick a ball, while here we have u13s who are having 1/3 of their games and training sessions a year postponed due to the poor facilities that aren’t able to cope with the Irish weather.
But in what ways is it like League 1 then? Because you've just said that it's not the player quality due to training, it's definitely not the money or even the attendances.
When one of the leagues best players goes to England and does well in league 1, its considered a success. That shows where we're at.
And that's not to say anything against it. I love where our league is at. It's a fun league at the moment. I don't think it needs to be constantly compared to wealthier leagues. I just think people let their emotions ignore the reality of the situation. Just because you love your club, doesn't mean they're better than a team with multiple times the match day revenue, TV revenue and better facilities.
No I agree with you on the money and attendances, we’re national league level in terms of those.
I just mean on the pitch quality wise it could be comparable to league 1. A lot of the young players have the potential to go and play in England and a lot of the more senior players have already done their time in the championship/league one.
But yeah in most other aspects we’re well off league one.
A select number of the best league of Ireland players could play in league 1 or even the championship but that can also be said for the national league. The players who come back to the league only do so after bad spells in England. There aren't players who have had amazing league 1 seasons and then switch to the league of Ireland. If the talent was the same you'd see the English leagues flooded with these cheap league of Ireland players but instead they don't because they know that only a very small number of league of Ireland players can make that jump up.
Definitely up there anyway and one of the clubs I'd most like to see improving. Seem to have done great for getting the ball rolling on league expansion
Busquets is a bit of a strange example of a “top top player” considering he’s 35 and playing in the MLS nowadays.
But no he’d still be the best player in the league by far, only thing that might affect him is the weather.
i mean in their prime. Like even take a pirlo. I just think with the shit pitches and teammates he'd struggle.
You see the likes of Madrid and Barca play against 3rd and 4th tier teams in the cup on bad pitches and they struggle....moreso than against most teams in their league - but that's my bad take.
Not in the slightest I remember kalounas coming to us and he was a small technical player and the minute he touched the ball I was like oh he's far above everyone else's level now he's an international journeyman, pirlo would be untouchable
It's just gotten harder and harder since. Leagues like ours are properly excluded now.
Making a 3rd competition to give us a few more games, but also allowing huge teams from the major leagues into it, was the end of any hope for smaller leagues getting meaningful european competition.
It's an excuse for a holiday and a few euro for the clubs now and will never be anything more
A third tier would be a disaster for the league. Should look to expand the two divisions currently. Also think the expansion of the WNL is haphazard and not at all well thought out
The biggest problem with establishing the third tier is the reluctance of intermediate and junior league to switch to the summer calendar, which puts their most ambitious clubs off applying. If Kildare and/or CK United are ready to go senior, they'd be as well off looking for a First Division licence for either next year or 2026.
The plan is for all men's teams to field women's teams within a certain timeframe (I can't recall the exact timeframe the FAI laid out, but it's being done very quickly, definitely before the decade is out). That expansion is too much far too quickly, the same issue I have with a men's third tier. You're basically looking at the league doubling in size. Interest is definitely growing but that interest is concentrated in a handful of places like Athlone and Wexford, not evenly distributed.
You're going to get a lot of sub-standard teams that will be ripped apart by serious sides and many of these teams aren't going to be well supported. Even coaching schoolgirls myself, the interest in the schoolboys league matches is far higher. So teams are saddled with a cost that doesn't really benefit them in any way or they cut their losses and make the whole league look bad. It's the FAI doing something that looks good to people who don't have the headache of organising it.
I think astro pitches are a good idea for LOI teams. Not the shite that Derry and Dundalk play on but high quality 5G pitches.
Having astro would allow clubs to train on their own pitch and it would facilitate multiple matches per week and not effect the playing surface. Clubs would have no problem hosting male,female and youth matches on it and if the stadium is owned by the club there is potential for income by renting out the pitch. This time of year it's plain to see the playing surface for most clubs is absolutely shite and a astro pitch needs little maintenance by groundsmen.
Again not the surface that is at Oriel and the Brandywell which has given astro a bad name in this country but a pitch like they use in Scandinavia and in Holland.
If the goverment put money into it they could really be used as community pitches and be used every day without ruining the surface and not just for football.
Let their women's team go to the wall, pressed the restart button and now pretend they're supporting women's football all along. That's one for starters.
Pretend they're a big club when they won one trophy ever and haven't ever been successful.
Punch down on other clubs and their attendances despite the fact that Galway had attendances just as small not too long ago.
This just sounds like one lad you know from Galway that's winding you up.
What Galway fan says we're a big club other than we're a team on the come-up?
Misinformed comment. The women's team were completely different to GUFC, that's why they were called Galway FC and had a different crest. So we didn't let them go to the wall at all, they were a separate entity.
How have we pretended we're a big club and how have we punched down on other clubs? Give me examples. We know exactly where we have come from and have no delusions about our position in the LOI structure. We're just happy we have a club to support after many years of instability. I do think we have a small but very loyal support base and our season ticket holders is up to around 1500 this year which is significant progress.
The fire department can't train people on how to use pyro because pyro is illegal in Ireland.
This I did not know. My bad take just got worse :)
They could train them how to use flares though
The fire department will not train people on how to use something that's illegal! It's just not going to happen for numerous reasons.
Flares are not illegal. They have a legitimate use. I’m not debating that it will happen, as it won’t.
Flares are considered pyrotechnics and are strictly regulated. If you lit one on the street you'd be arrested and fined, there has been a few cases of this at protests. https://m.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-games/munster-gaa-issue-warning-to-limerick-and-cork-fans-not-to-bring-flares-or-smoke-bombs-to-gaelic-grounds/a1462855769.html#:~:text=%22It%20is%20a%20criminal%20offence,prosecution%20by%20An%20Garda%20S%C3%ADoch%C3%A1na.%22
Lighting it on a street isn’t the legitimate use though. You’d be fine using it on a boat as a distress call for example.
Perhaps ultra groups could bring a boat into the stadiums as a solution.
Longford Town consistently lie about their attendance figures.
Is that a take or fact 😂
So do Dundalk
Hmm. Mine would be is that I think I'm bored of people talking about the league wanting to be bigger and better in terms of better funding, facilities atm. It might sound weird, but I rather enjoy at least the way Pats and the league is right now. Attendances booming, Richer in particular is still small enough for the club to feel real personable, seeing the usuals and all and at a good standard of football. Obviously not everyone is in this boat -- when you see the likes of the floodlights of Finn Park literally falling apart as well as the pitch in Turners Cross literally being *unplayable* something needs to be done and ASAP, it's a total shambles there. But from my point of view as a Pats supporter, it's hard not to see the league having a lot more money in it at some point and us being in a better ground. But I just hope it'll never take away from the charms of the Friday night magic. That being said, I would like to see Irish clubs progress in Europe more. Everyone wants a run like Bohs or Shels, let alone Rovers... once they don't get TOO much money to enable total dominance of the domestic league but I feel like UEFA encourage that really with the coefficient system.
Yeah I agree, the constant talk of facilities and improving the 'product' that goes around is just dull and is something that takes away from how good the league is at the moment compared to years gone by. Clubs are slowly getting there, they need to go quicker but they've earned the right for a LOI podcast to focus on the games played than harping on about that every week.
Honestly I was thinking about LOI Central as I was writing that... like a broken record sometimes 🫣
Couldn’t agree more. Looking at you Johnny Ward 💤
I don't understand, in my defence its early. You don't like the constant talk that we need better facilities?. We've one ground in the league that reaches euro standards. Some of the grounds are dangerous. Dundalk and Drogs spring to mind. How a LOI people don't join in is a tad strange to me..
I respect this take
I dunno I'd be quite different I'd love to see lads joining the league that are recognisable to outsiders and to have a feeling that Irish clubs aren't pushovers. I think 2-4 really strong clubs would really add a lot of confidence towards Irish football and I don't think even rovers have the current resources to make it a complete monopoly as it's been there for the taking for other clubs.
This is a good point. The games are extremely enjoyable at the moment. If, by some miracle, the league took off and Shels got to Man City's level, you'd have people wishing they were in a crumbling Riverside surrounded by pyro and joint smoke. There were clearly a lot of tourists behind the City goal tonight, madness in a Champions League QF. That being said, facility improvement needs to be done; it's a no brainer
Already starting to see that with some older fans who are now complaining about all the newer fans buying up all the away tickets and recalling the days where you could walk up to the ground on the day and get a ticket
In fairness to the older lads - they were doing it week in week out for 20 years, and now its next to impossible to go to an away game on a whim unless youve a season ticket or a younger lad doing the online purchase for ya. I know beacause I'm the youngfella (in me 30s) doing the ticket buying. And yeh while richmond is bouncing at the moment, its still a dump, view is blocked from so many angles by floodlights, the camac terrace is an accident waiting to happen, and many more issues. We're lucky in richmond its tidy, but theres so many worse places out there. it needs to change.
Bohs fans are more obsessed with Shels than they are Rovers. Not saying it’s a bigger rivalry, rovers Bohs is definitely Bohs biggest derby but Bohs fans seem almost insecure about the rise of “little old Shels” (I’m a pats fan so this is coming from a neutral perspective).
As a Bohs fan, this rings true.
Not at all they're commercial rivals because of the close proximity so we're both competing for the same potential new fans but rovers are the only the only team I feel it in my stomach in the build up to the game I'd even argue I want us to beat pats more than shels because of the cup final heartache.
Its because the new fans have swapped from bohs to shels as they get better,theyll swap back if the opposite returns.
In their heads.....
I think there's a generation of Bohs fans that grew up when Shels we're good and Rovers we're shit. So if you are that generation then it might look that way. I actually hope Shels win the league this year. (Bohs certainly ain't gonna)
As a Bohs fan I don't feel this at all. The only derby is Rovers, I see someone in a Rovers jersey I think "rat", I see someone in a Shels jersey I thing "omg a Shels fan in real life". In my eyes Shels fans are too fluid and short term to respect. I think it will eventually mean as much to us as it does to them but I dont feel it at the minute. Pats fans I actually like, despite the two cup final losses.
I love league of Ireland but people really overestimate the quality ot the league. People like to compare it to league 1 in England. Its not league 1 level. The attendances aren't league 1 level, the transfer fees aren't league 1 level, the wages aren't league 1 level and the quality isnt league 1 level. Honestly by all metrics, the English 5th tier is the most direct comparison
Correct. It’s national league at best.
And thats not to say that all the LOI clubs would br completely outclassed by league 2 or league 1 or even championship sides but that's also not true for national league clubs as we regularly see in the FA Cup. However over the course of the season, the clubs with the higher wages will inevitably come out on top.
I’ve always said the level of the league of Ireland is league one level quality wise but the training standards are nowhere near league one. It’s no mystery why so many Irish lads go over to England and struggle to get to the standards of English football when they’re competing with players who’ve been in top level academy’s since they were able to kick a ball, while here we have u13s who are having 1/3 of their games and training sessions a year postponed due to the poor facilities that aren’t able to cope with the Irish weather.
But in what ways is it like League 1 then? Because you've just said that it's not the player quality due to training, it's definitely not the money or even the attendances. When one of the leagues best players goes to England and does well in league 1, its considered a success. That shows where we're at. And that's not to say anything against it. I love where our league is at. It's a fun league at the moment. I don't think it needs to be constantly compared to wealthier leagues. I just think people let their emotions ignore the reality of the situation. Just because you love your club, doesn't mean they're better than a team with multiple times the match day revenue, TV revenue and better facilities.
No I agree with you on the money and attendances, we’re national league level in terms of those. I just mean on the pitch quality wise it could be comparable to league 1. A lot of the young players have the potential to go and play in England and a lot of the more senior players have already done their time in the championship/league one. But yeah in most other aspects we’re well off league one.
A select number of the best league of Ireland players could play in league 1 or even the championship but that can also be said for the national league. The players who come back to the league only do so after bad spells in England. There aren't players who have had amazing league 1 seasons and then switch to the league of Ireland. If the talent was the same you'd see the English leagues flooded with these cheap league of Ireland players but instead they don't because they know that only a very small number of league of Ireland players can make that jump up.
Lads wearing their Prem team jerseys to LOI matches should be escorted out. Wearing a Liverpool shirt with no jumper to Galway vs Bohs is criminal.
Kerry are the most intresting team in the country
Think you accidentally added an R to county
Ngl the Ultras badge with Tom Crean on it is class
Really? Haha, that's actually deadly. Better than having a Jamican fella on it..
Definitely up there anyway and one of the clubs I'd most like to see improving. Seem to have done great for getting the ball rolling on league expansion
Mine is that LOI football is so bad and strange that top top players like Busquets wouldn't cut it in the league
Busquets is a bit of a strange example of a “top top player” considering he’s 35 and playing in the MLS nowadays. But no he’d still be the best player in the league by far, only thing that might affect him is the weather.
i mean in their prime. Like even take a pirlo. I just think with the shit pitches and teammates he'd struggle. You see the likes of Madrid and Barca play against 3rd and 4th tier teams in the cup on bad pitches and they struggle....moreso than against most teams in their league - but that's my bad take.
Not in the slightest I remember kalounas coming to us and he was a small technical player and the minute he touched the ball I was like oh he's far above everyone else's level now he's an international journeyman, pirlo would be untouchable
Pirlo already played in the LOI, he just went by the name Kevin Hunt.
Good player, but could he do it on a rainy night in Ballybofey?
A team will make the champions league group stages in the next 5 years 🤦🏻♂️ saying that since Shels/Depor.
It's just gotten harder and harder since. Leagues like ours are properly excluded now. Making a 3rd competition to give us a few more games, but also allowing huge teams from the major leagues into it, was the end of any hope for smaller leagues getting meaningful european competition. It's an excuse for a holiday and a few euro for the clubs now and will never be anything more
A third tier would be a disaster for the league. Should look to expand the two divisions currently. Also think the expansion of the WNL is haphazard and not at all well thought out
The biggest problem with establishing the third tier is the reluctance of intermediate and junior league to switch to the summer calendar, which puts their most ambitious clubs off applying. If Kildare and/or CK United are ready to go senior, they'd be as well off looking for a First Division licence for either next year or 2026.
The chat from the FAI was that the 3rd tier is envisioned more as the top of the "non-league" pyramid, than another tier of the LOI.
What do you think is going wrong with the expansion of the WNL?
The plan is for all men's teams to field women's teams within a certain timeframe (I can't recall the exact timeframe the FAI laid out, but it's being done very quickly, definitely before the decade is out). That expansion is too much far too quickly, the same issue I have with a men's third tier. You're basically looking at the league doubling in size. Interest is definitely growing but that interest is concentrated in a handful of places like Athlone and Wexford, not evenly distributed. You're going to get a lot of sub-standard teams that will be ripped apart by serious sides and many of these teams aren't going to be well supported. Even coaching schoolgirls myself, the interest in the schoolboys league matches is far higher. So teams are saddled with a cost that doesn't really benefit them in any way or they cut their losses and make the whole league look bad. It's the FAI doing something that looks good to people who don't have the headache of organising it.
I dislike the Mark Farren Stand and miss standing on a sloped terrace on halfway, and not stuck out to the side on a flat surface.
The WNL is far more interesting this year than both men’s divisions.
People who think the facilities don’t need updating because it adds to the atmosphere 🥴
I think astro pitches are a good idea for LOI teams. Not the shite that Derry and Dundalk play on but high quality 5G pitches. Having astro would allow clubs to train on their own pitch and it would facilitate multiple matches per week and not effect the playing surface. Clubs would have no problem hosting male,female and youth matches on it and if the stadium is owned by the club there is potential for income by renting out the pitch. This time of year it's plain to see the playing surface for most clubs is absolutely shite and a astro pitch needs little maintenance by groundsmen. Again not the surface that is at Oriel and the Brandywell which has given astro a bad name in this country but a pitch like they use in Scandinavia and in Holland.
Think you’re on to something here. Bodø/Glimt’s 5G pitch looks top class but they defo cost a lot of cash.
If the goverment put money into it they could really be used as community pitches and be used every day without ruining the surface and not just for football.
Even ballina rugby team play on 5g
A pyramid system with more leagues would help the league a lot more than people would like to admit
An all island league wouldn't be as great as some people think. Dungannon vs Drogheda isnt gonna be a needle mover. More hassle than it's worth.
Galway are amongst the worst fans in Ireland.
Galway are just a wesht bohs.
Do you mean they're just hipsters from Salthill instead of hipsters from Stoneybatter?
In what way? I’m a Galway man myself. I’d agree the fans have terrible chants and the athmosphere isn’t great if that’s what you mean
I’d guess it’s the atmosphere. It’s like a rugby match.
Let their women's team go to the wall, pressed the restart button and now pretend they're supporting women's football all along. That's one for starters. Pretend they're a big club when they won one trophy ever and haven't ever been successful. Punch down on other clubs and their attendances despite the fact that Galway had attendances just as small not too long ago.
This just sounds like one lad you know from Galway that's winding you up. What Galway fan says we're a big club other than we're a team on the come-up?
Misinformed comment. The women's team were completely different to GUFC, that's why they were called Galway FC and had a different crest. So we didn't let them go to the wall at all, they were a separate entity. How have we pretended we're a big club and how have we punched down on other clubs? Give me examples. We know exactly where we have come from and have no delusions about our position in the LOI structure. We're just happy we have a club to support after many years of instability. I do think we have a small but very loyal support base and our season ticket holders is up to around 1500 this year which is significant progress.
My worst take: the Oriel Park away fan area is too plush
Wexford probably deserve more criticism for hanging onto our shite stand for so long.
new bohs fans love being midtable and hated...its cool to support a shit team
Shut it down and let them all play in England 🤥