by Declan Jordan
The terms 'League of Ireland fan' and 'long-suffering' are very often used together. Football clubs in Ireland have struggled to convince the sporting public and even the football public that they have a product worth watching. That goes hand in hand with convincing businesses that they have a product worth sponsoring and investing in. There have been a lot of changes to the League of Ireland in recent years, though the sense of crisis has persisted and it appears that the long-suffering fan will not get respite soon.
Some of the changes seen in the last decade or so have seen the FAI take responsibility for the league, the implementation of a licensing arrangement for Premier and First Division clubs and the switch to 'summer soccer' with the season running from March to October. (Of course it seems like this is the first season that we have seen a summer never mind summer soccer).
The most notable changes though have come in the make-up of the leagues themselves and the loss of clubs, the introduction of new clubs, the reintroduction of clubs and changes in ownership and names of existing clubs.
Some of the changes seen in the last decade or so have seen the FAI take responsibility for the league, the implementation of a licensing arrangement for Premier and First Division clubs and the switch to 'summer soccer' with the season running from March to October. (Of course it seems like this is the first season that we have seen a summer never mind summer soccer).
The most notable changes though have come in the make-up of the leagues themselves and the loss of clubs, the introduction of new clubs, the reintroduction of clubs and changes in ownership and names of existing clubs.
Summer soccer was introduced in 2004,so this is the tenth season of that 'experiment'. It's worth looking at the attrition of clubs in the League of Ireland over that time.The table below shows the number of clubs that have played in the League of Ireland from the 2004 season to the 2012 season (9 seasons) - the current season is not included even though it pains me to write that Limerick FC have not appeared in the Premier Division. There are 14 clubs who have played every season. There are 15 clubs who have played less than 9 seasons. Some of these have folded (Monaghan United, Kildare County, Galway United, Dublin City, Sporting Fingal, Kilkenny City). Some have entered the league in those years and remain in the league (Mervue United, Wexford Youths and Sathill Devon - now branded as SD Galway). Others have left and re-entered (Cobh Ramblers) and others have changed ownership and assumed the position of a failing club (Cork City and Cork City FORAS and the three lives of Limerick FC/37/FC). The figures in parentheses are the number of seasons each club has spent in the Premier League.
Without doubt this is a very high attrition rate. There must be very few leagues who have had such a high turnover of clubs in a similar period of time. From the 2004 English Premier League teams only Portsmouth could be said to have gone out of business (they are currently in League Two and were this year taken over by a supporters trust. Perhaps this is not a good comparison and instead it might be worthwhile to look at a small, semi-professional league (It's worth noting that over the period since 2004 some clubs in the League of Ireland have moved to a professional set-up though most are now back to semi-professional).
Taking the Norwegian Tippeligaen as a comparison it is notable that of the 14 teams in the 2004 Tippeligaen, only one, Lyn, have since folded. The club had an amateur section which has now after several promotions reached the third tier in Norway.
Perhaps the reason for the different experiences between Ireland and Norway is the structure of Norwegian football has clear links between the divisions below the Tippilegaen, while in Ireland there isn't a clear promotion/relegation structure between the League of Ireland and the intermediate or junior ranks. After a club fails in the League of Ireland there is nowhere else to go.
Taking the Norwegian Tippeligaen as a comparison it is notable that of the 14 teams in the 2004 Tippeligaen, only one, Lyn, have since folded. The club had an amateur section which has now after several promotions reached the third tier in Norway.
Perhaps the reason for the different experiences between Ireland and Norway is the structure of Norwegian football has clear links between the divisions below the Tippilegaen, while in Ireland there isn't a clear promotion/relegation structure between the League of Ireland and the intermediate or junior ranks. After a club fails in the League of Ireland there is nowhere else to go.
The rate of failure of League of Ireland clubs has been held up a s sign of something wrong at the heart of Irish football, but this is far from clear. There's no doubt that the FAI since it took over the league in 2007 has become tougher on clubs regarding sustainability of financing (eg Monaghan United folding as players wages couldn't be raised and the FAI failed to intervene), licencing (eg refusing a Premier Division licence to Shelbourne in 2007 and Cork City for 2010) and sanctioning clubs for financial irregularities (relegating Derry for its dual contract issues).
This could mean that the disruption in the league is a long overdue shake-out of unsustainable and unfair practices in club financing and structures. It may be that the future for the league is better because of the turmoil in the last decade or so. Time will tell if the long-suffering will soon only refer to heartbreak from results on the field.
This could mean that the disruption in the league is a long overdue shake-out of unsustainable and unfair practices in club financing and structures. It may be that the future for the league is better because of the turmoil in the last decade or so. Time will tell if the long-suffering will soon only refer to heartbreak from results on the field.
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