The Economics of Sport
  • Sports Economics
  • About
  • Workshop
  • Selected Publications
  • Book Reviews
  • A Primer on Gaelic Games
  • Upcoming Events
  • Media
  • Education
  • Resources & Links
  • Data

Shamrock Rovers reserve move highlights unattractiveness of League of Ireland for regional clubs

22/1/2014

 
by Declan Jordan
Picture
For most League of Ireland fans there's only one thing worse than Shamrock Rovers, two Shamrock Rovers. And this coming season that's exactly what they'll see following the decision to allow the club to enter a reserve team in the First Division. 

Reserve teams are not a feature of Irish football. It is enough of a struggle to keep one team on the road than trying for two and it will be interesting to see how the experiment works for the club and for the League. Many of the League of Ireland clubs have teams in the National Under-19 league, which has worked as a back-up for smaller squads, but this is the first time that a club will have competitive football for squad players who fail to feature for the Premier Division team.

Other countries also allow reserve teams to operate within the same 'pyramid' league structure as first teams, most notably in Spain where Real Madrid and Barcelona second teams compete in the Segunda Division (second tier). Similarly to those countries, Shamrock Rovers have conditions attached to their reserve team playing in the First Division. The club cannot be promoted, it cannot enter the FAI Cup and the reserve team can only feature up to three outfield players and a goalkeeper from the first team squad. An interesting issue that I cannot find addressed anywhere is whether this move actually serves to prevent Shamrock Rovers from being relegated from the Premier Division.

According to media reports the idea was suggested by Shamrock Rovers, which suggests the club sees a benefit in having a reserve team operating at a relatively high competitive level. It has been suggested that this gives Rovers an unfair advantage by allowing them to keep fringe players match-fit and allowing them to bring players back from injury. This undoubtedly comes at a cost to the club. Playing in the First Division imposes a significant financial burden, particularly in travel costs. The league has 7 other clubs, only one (Shelbourne) is based in Dublin, the others are very dispersed from Cobh Ramblers on the South Coast to Finn Harps in Donegal in the North and Galway in the West and Waterford United in the South-East. There is also likely to be a very low attendance at these games which is unlikely to fund the reserve team's travel and expenses.

However, the 'elephant in the room' in this discussion is that the league needs to admit a reserve team at all, since it highlights that there are no clubs willing to make the step up from the non-league ranks to the League of Ireland. It demonstrates the lack of a pyramid structure in Irish football which threatens to maintain the First Division in the vicious cycle in which it currently operates,


Comments are closed.

    Archives

    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013

    About

    This website was founded in July 2013.

    RSS Feed

    Categories

    All
    American Football
    Athletics
    Baseball
    Basketball
    Behavioural Economics
    Boxing
    Broadcasting
    Competitive Balance
    Cricket
    Cycling
    Darts
    David Butler
    Declan Jordan
    Drugs
    Ed Valentine
    Epl
    Esports
    Expenditure
    F1
    Fifa World Cup
    Finances
    Funding
    Gaa
    Gaelic Games
    Gambling
    Game Theory
    Gary Burns
    Geography
    Golf
    Greyhound Racing
    Guest Posts
    Horse Racing
    Impact Studies
    John Considine
    John Eakins
    League Of Ireland
    Location
    Media
    Mls
    Mma
    Olympics
    Participation
    Paul O'Sullivan
    Premier League
    Regulation
    Research
    Robbie Butler
    Rugby
    Simpsonomics
    Snooker
    Soccer
    Spatial Analysis
    Sporting Bodies
    Stephen Brosnan
    Swimming
    Taxation
    Teaching
    Technology
    Tennis
    Transfers
    Uefa
    Ufc
    World Cup
    Wwe

Related

The website is not formally affiliated to any institution and all of the entries represent the personal views and opinions of an individual contributor. The website operates on a not-for-profit basis. For this reason we decline all advertisement opportunities. 

Contact

To contact us email sportseconomics2013@gmail.com or find us on Twitter @SportEcon.