Combine the League of Ireland with IFA Premiership.....will not work!

                  and the   

     The League of Ireland will not combine with the Northern Ireland League.  At first glance it would see a no brainer to add the marketing power of Belfast and Northern Ireland and expand the league. This would provide badly needed attention and press to both struggling leagues. Each league would benefit from the exposure they would get from having new clubs play in their home stadium.  Each league could now play in a 19 team league and play eachother home and away like the other big leagues in Europe. This league could also compete for respect and attention from the other leagues.

Now I have to deal with reality.........

Champions League

            Well I am here to tell you that it will not happen. The main reason is money. Presently each league gives about 100,000E to the champion. However Each League  gets to send their Champion to the EURO Champions League. The Champions League gives about 200,000 to each winner and about 130,000 for each round the play in. So Each League champion gets 330,000 at a minimum in the Champions League. Advanving out of the 3rd round get the winner in the lucrative group stage games while the loser is placed in the playoff of the Europa League.

            Most of us would be willing to sacrifice this but the owners of the clubs are not. Presently the top clubs in the LOI are owned by their supporters( Shamrock Rovers, Sligo Rovers, Derry City F.C. , Bohemians F.C. and Cork City F.C.). These supporters are the ones at the games. These supporters are also the ones supporting the budget for most clubs.
        Most League of Ireland Clubs are made up mostly of part time players. The average club havs a working budget of about 500,000 and under. Budgets are very hard to determin since there is not information on the internet. These fugures are my guess.  I know Sligo and Shamrock Rovers are closee to 750,000 however other clubs are well below 500,000 budget. The teams are just not willing to throw away a cash windfall the Champions League provides.

            These clubs are also the clubs that are fighting for the 2 other Europa League spots. This is what keeps the league interesting throughout the year. Let say one club has a runaway year and no other club can catch them. Clubs ranked 2 to 7 are vying to place in the top 3 to qualify for the Europa League spots. It is massively important to keep the other clubs interested in the league play or attendance could drop like a rock. These clubs need something to play for. Clubs like Glentoran, Crusaders, Cork City, Derry City, St Patrick’s Athletic and Shelbourne are usually fighting at the end of the season for these spots. 
   Then there is the FAI Cup and the IFA Cup. The winner of this will also punch a ticket to the Euro League. These cups become quite interesting and usually become the focus of supporters when the league title is out of reach. 

           

The Europa League

   This also provides a huge potential to get clubs out of debt and help their balance sheet.

http://www.uefa.com/uefa/management/finance/news/newsid=1845777.html

“Each club figuring in the first and/or second and/or third qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League will get €100,000 per round even if they qualify for the UEFA Europa League group stage. In addition, every side eliminated in the UEFA Europa League play-offs will be allocated €100,000.”

            The 2011-12 Europa League paid out 100,000 for each round the club participated in. The League of Ireland only gave out 100,000 for the league title.

Here is my example..

           So let say St. Patrick’s Athletic budget was about 550,000 for the year 2011. The Saints also won 2 rounds in the Europa League 2011-12 so they participated in 3 rounds. The European competition provided 100,000 for each round so the Saints received 300,000 of their yearly budget of 550,000. I know there are expenses involved in traveling to Iceland, Kazakstan and the Ukraine. I am just explaining there is no way on God’s green Ireland that any club or their owners, especially the ones owner by their supporters will want to eliminate a Champions League payout and 3 other spots in the Europa League just for the sake of expansion to Belfast. These European League games are massively important for the clubs budget. That is why the clubs will play so hard even if it not for the top spot in the league. These is great elation from their supporters (especially the ones that own the clubs) to qualify for these international tournamnets.

            I would be more financially prudent to break Ireland into 4 Provinces and get 4 champions League spots and 12 Europa League spots.  I am joking......

The only way i see expansion is if it financially beneficial to the majority of clubs in both the IFA and FAI. Wound attendanc jump up that much to make the move. The Sentanta cup has shown us that attendance is lower than league games.

           

St. Patrick Athletic F.C. vs Shamrock Rovers F.C in Boston/New York

    There is alway a big celebration of the Irish heritage in America. Boston and New York has the biggest Irish immigration. The majority of Irish-American Heritage is in the North east particularly  Boston and New York. Well we are always looking to show our Irish spirit and what better way to celebrate it that watching clubs from Ireland play on St. Patricks Day. Since there is no top class stadium in Boston yet..I was thinking that the game could be held in New York. Red Bull stadium would be ideal for this game.

 
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2294666/The-Irish-American-towns-U-S-revealed-just-time-Saint-Patricks-Day.html

so I was thinking....wouldn't it be great to have the name sake of St. Patrick's Athletic F.C play the most popular Irish team your Shamrock Rovers in Red Bull Stadium. The game would have to count as a league game of course.

 I believe the game itself would offset any cost the teams would incur if we could get a full house on St. Patrick's Day. The right marketing could promote the game as an Irish celebration I believe this could be a big success in promoting the League..

This could promote the clubs here in America. The League of Ireland needs all the exposure it can get.

League of Ireland stadium redevelopement

The League of Ireland When I look at the League of Ireland (LOI) I see a very weak league in terms of finance and attendance. Over the last 3 years the league average attendance has been about 1,650 per season. This average is well below the big Leagues in Ireland. Only twice did the league break over 2,000 averages (2003 and 09 in the last 12 years). I do not see this attendance rising dramatically in the next few years unless something dramatic happens. The LOI clubs only have a limited budget for contracts with their players. Many clubs release almost all their players once the season is over. The players go on the dole until the next season starts up. During this huge transition many players can choose themselves what club they want to play for. This creates instability with each club when there is such a huge turnover. There are plenty of Irish soccer fans but they would rather watch the English Premier League on television. Many fans cross the Irish Sea to attend games in England. Ireland is bombarded with Sky Sports who promote the multimillion dollar Premier League and their clubs. The LOI is like a 2nd or 3rd tier league compared to the English Premier league. Another big problem the league has is their dilapidated stadiums throughout the league. These stadiums just do not give the fans a comfortable and desirable setting to double attendance. The reason why I have been following the league is because of the potential I see in the league. Soccer is the number one sport played in the country. It (Soccer) is probably the most watched (English Premier League) on TV. The league is starting to address some of these issues.

Stadiums Improvement Shamrock Rovers built their own 6,000 seat stadium in Tallaght, Dublin. Tallaght is the best LOI stadium for soccer. Shamrock Rovers have had the best attendance in the league since Tallaght Stadium opened in 2009. Turners Cross in Cork redeveloped their stadium in 2009. The Cross seats 7,365 and is the only stadium that has covering for all the seats (the other being Aviva Stadium). Cork City F.C. lead the league in attendance before Tallaght was built. Cork also had an average of 2,764 in 2012 and they were never the 1st place club. Cork has a tremendous following. Cork City F.C. is also owner by their fans.

Sligo Rovers F.C. are the reigning Champions of the League. They stayed in 1st place for most of 2012. They had the second most attendance with over 3,000 (3,007). They play in the very cozy stadium called the Showgrounds. The mist recent development of the Showgrounds was the new Volkswagon Bank End stand with 1,300 seats. This replaces the former railway End terrace. The cost was 200,000 Euro’s and this increases total seating to 4,000. This is also one of the better stadiums. Athlone Town Stadium is another newer stadium with 2,500 seating capacity. This stadium was built in 2007.

This is the new Volkswagon End of the stadium. Derry City received money to renovate their stadium from the British government. Northern Ireland received money to redeveloped their stadiums and the Brandywell will get a piece of this. Derry City F.C. is also owned by their fans and have one of the more popular teams in terms of attendance. Drogheda United F.C. is about to announce the building of a new stadium. Officials there want a new stadium since they believe that the Leagur of Ireland and the Northern Irish League will soon become one league. This new league will have restrictions on clubs that just do not have the stadium requirements. Limerick F.C. will be playing in the beautiful Rugby stadium of Thomond Park until Markets Fields is renovated. Money is in short supply however the clubs that are owned by their fans are putting up the monies to redevelope their stadiums.