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.

           

FAI CUP

FAI CUP 2011

          Well with the league of Ireland title wrapped up my attentions turns to the second most prestigious tournament in Ireland (soccer wise) the FAI Cup. The titans of this tournament Shamrock Rovers-24 Cups titles) have already been knocked out. It is time to shine a little light on some of the other clubs in the league.

Sligo Rovers vs Bohemians
St Patrick Athletic vs Shelbourne

          The Sligo Rovers as I have said are the defending champions of the FAI Cup. They are the only club not from Dublin. The Sligo Rovers are the defending champions and will do their best to be repeat winners. The Rovers also look like they will finish second in the League of Ireland. Sligo will be up against the northside of Dublin club, Bohemians.
          The Bohemians last won the FAI Cup in 2008. Their fans are quite envious of their southern rival (Shamrock Rovers) getting most of the media attention this year. Bohemians have also had great teams winning the league of Ireland title in 2008 and 2009. They would like to get their hand on some more hardware.
    
          St Patrick Athletic is the other southern Dublin club who last won the league in 1999 and the FAI Cup way back in 1959 and 1961. That is 50 years ago. Ouch. Needless to say the Saints fans are starving for the FAI Cup. They have been in the Championship game as recently as 2006 and 2003 only to become runner ups. They always put of good teams but have had heartbreak trying to get some hardware.

          Shelbourne is the other Northern Dublin club in Ireland. Shelbourne won the league in 2006 and last won the FAI Cup in 2000. This proud club was relegated to the First Division after financial trouble. After toiling with First Division clubs this tournament is where they can show the big boys their quality too.

            I am pulling for St Patrick Athletic fans here just so their fans get a taste of victory.