LA Galaxy vs Shamrock Rovers at Tallagh Stadium

 

Tallaght Stadium with the Stands behind the goal.....this made for a great "enclosed" stadium

There was quite a build up leading up to this game. First Irish Captain Robbie Keane was coming to the Irish Capitol. Not only is he the Irish Captain he was also born in Dublin. Fan's wanted to see their local hero who receives so much press in America.


The’ chairman of the Shamrock Rovers Jonathan Roche was thrilled to have the MLS Champions and Robbie Keane play at Tallaght....

“Shamrock Rovers are delighted to be playing host to LA Galaxy at Tallaght. We very much look forward to welcoming everyone from the club here, and particularly to welcoming Robbie Keane home. We know Robbie spends a lot of time in the area when he’s home from the US, so I’m sure it will be great for him to finally play in Tallaght Stadium.

“We have had quite a few great players grace the Tallaght Stadium pitch against us, including Ronaldo and Del Piero, but to have our own local footballing hero play here will be even more special. It should be a great occasion.

Secondly is the fact that the reigning Champions of MLS, the LA Galaxy were coming to town. Walking around Dublin you would see a few LA jerseys being worn by fans. Thirdly the proud Shamrock Rovers supporters wanted to attend Tallaght Stadium for this event.

The event was sold out. 6,000 fans packed Tallaght stadium to view this event. This is almost double the hoops average attendance during a league game. More events like this should be scheduled to promote the clubs and the league itself.


Maybe the League could promote itself overseas, like play in NEw York Red Bull Stadium or in Boston.

League of Ireland Preview 2015 -A quick look The 4 Dublin area clubs

The League of Ireland 2015 season

            There are 12 Premier clubs fighting for the glory of the Championship of the League of Ireland. Here is a quick look at the 12 clubs broken into my 3 geographical areas. The Dublin Area, the Northern clubs and the Southern Clubs.  I am listing them as where I think they will place at the end of year.

The Dublin Area			Capacity	Attendance (2014)
1	Shamrock Rovers	Tallaght Stadium	6,000	2,319
2	St. Patrick’s Athletic	Richmond Park	5,340	1,359
3	Bohemians F.C.	Dalymount Park	3,191	1,480
4	Bray Wanders	Carlisle Grounds	7,000	855

            The Dublin Clubs

 These are the most famous clubs since they been around longer and have more Championships than the other areas. I will not be including Shelbourne only because they will be playing in the First Division.       
                                                                          

The Shamrock Rovers play in the newest stadium in Southern Dublin, Tallaght. They have the most Championships (17)and the most FAI Cups with an astonishing 24 Cup titles. They usually place 1 or 2 with attendance since their new stadium has been built in 2009. They are the only club to advance to the group stage of the 2011-12 Europa League. This made the hoops a big pay day and great exposure to the league.  The hoops are looking for more success with in the league and on the international stage. Advancing brings badly needed money to the clubs. The Shamrock Rovers are always a threat to win the League, the FAI Cup, the Setanta Cup and tghe EA Sports Cup. They can and will always have one of the top budgets in the league. 

The Saints Finally winning the FAI Cup!

St. Patrick’s Athletic (The Saints) can play without that chip on their shoulder which was the FAI CUP voo-doo. The Saints finally won the FAI Cup after 53 years. They boast of 8 LOI Championships and  will again represent the League in international play this summer. They have played in the international tournaments for the last 4 years....this will be their 5th consecutive international invite......gyfThis should be a fun year for the Saints faithful.  Their attendance is about the leagues average. Their fans light flares in the stands and they are always a threat to win everything.

Bohemians FC are the oldest club in the league and can claim 11 LOI Championships. Unfortunately they are trying to get out of financial difficulties and do not have the budget of the other clubs. They will again struggle with younger players however they will again have a strong fan support at the famous Dalymount Park. Their is chatter from the FAI to referbish Dalymount.

The Saints Finally winning the FAI Cup!

 Bray Wanders are located in Bray which is just 40 minutes south of Bohemians's Dalymount Park.  They were just taken over by the Royal hotel. Their players were told they can use all the Royal hotel rooms and facilities on away trips. This will boost the spirit of all the Seagull players.

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.

Expansion of the League 2012, Rovers are Champions

                Premier League expands to 12 teams for the 2012 season. There was no big marketing plan, no balloons, no hoopla what so ever. There was not even a grand announcement from the FAI. Since I live in Boston and follow MLS I can see the huge contrast in marketing from each league. Dan Garber would be front and center at the podium, talking about the league’s expansion. He would have been talking about the great competitive year the league is having in 2011. He would be chatting up 2 more teams and the freshness they would bring to the league. We get nothing of that from the FAI and I wonder why?

                http://www.extratime.ie/newsdesk/articles/6868/league-play-offs-scheduled/

                Well there is only one week left in the season and the Shamrocks Rovers have wrapped up their second league title is as many years. That’s correct the Rovers are the League of Ireland Champions once again. This brings their total to 17 League Titles which is a record for the league. The next best champion is Shelbourne with 13.

                I usually like when a new club wins the title however I think this is good for the league. The Shamrock Rovers are alos representing the league in the Europa League. The Shamrock Rovers are the deepest team and have the best chance at doing well in this tournament.

                This always begs the question as to how good is this League of Ireland. Will this league establish a few dominant teams like other leagues.(Rangers, Celtic). Will the Shamrock Rovers becomes as popular as some of these international teams. Well the League of Ireland surly has the hard part down. There is a constant arrival of new footballers who fill in when the stars depart. Maybe some day the crowds will be able to support their star players.

                As far as me, I enjoy reading about this league as see its progress. I really enjoy the international games against other European competition.

Shamrock Rovers make history...

   The Shamrock Rovers became the first club from the League of Ireland (LOI) to advance to the group stage of the Europa League. Here are the highlights...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xtSYArUtt0&feature=related

This is great for the Rover but also great for the league itself. The Rovers will earn 1Million and more $ to come with more TV exposure. Any League club that will have the exposure of the Group Games will also reflect well on the League.

The group The Rovers were placed in will be against

1. England (Totterham Hotspurs)
2. Russia (Rubin Kazan)
3. Greece (PAOK)
4. Ireland (Shamrock Rovers).

These games will be broadcasted through out Europe. Exposure like this to a League of Ireland club is great for the league.

The League finally gets some love from the Independent noting the dramatic and historic game.

League of Ireland - International update

Dean Kelly of Shamrock Rovers at home

The Shamrock Rover have done League of Ireland well to win in their first round. The Champion of Ireland beat the Champion of Estonia. This bodes well for the league. The Champions League is the most prestigious club for international competition and you want you representative to do well here. It reflect on your league.

Europa League

We have mixed results here. Bohemians were plaed in Round 2 and lose their first series so they are out. This will not help the leagues co-efficient. St Patrick’s Athletic was placed in Round 1 and beat Iceland’s top club IBV Vestmannaeyar. They then advanced to Round2 and beat Shakhter Karagandy of Kazakhstan. This advanced St Partick's Athletic to join the sligo Rovers in Round  3 of the Europa League.

This round will pit the League of Ireland against the Ukrainian Premier League. The Sligo Rover will play Vorskla Poltava of the Ukraine League, July 28 and Aug 4^th. The Sligo Rovers are in good form and are presently in first place with 46 points.

St Patrick's Athletic (the Saints)will go up against the other Ukrainian club Karpaty Lviv.

   The Ukrainian League places 4 clubs in this competition. This league is presently ranked 7^th in the European co-efficient while the league of Ireland is trailing and ranks 29th. The Ukranian League has a whopping 16 clubs to Irelands 10.

 Karparty placed 5^th in the Ukrainian League. This sould be a good match.