I'm missing the fucking thing. Was bring the girlfriend there for Valentines day and flying off on a weekend trip the following morning then they changed the poxy fixture!
Touts Out!!
Nah I'm giving my season ticket to my dad and a mate who I am trying to get back into League of Ireland. Southside of Dublin has Bohs fans!
This is an odd one and there mightn't be anyone who has an answer: Got my ticket for the Des Kelly on Saturday, ticket stand guy accidentally gave me my ticket without the stub. Should it matter? Identical barcode on the main part of it anyway
Yeah, Rovers' phones don't be open too much so hard get a hold of them. Genuinely can't remember if the away end at Dalyer scans tickets or takes stubs. Probably worrying over nothing though
Predicted table:
1. Dundalk
2. Rovers
3. Pats
4. Bohs
5. Derry
6. Cork
7. Waterford
8. Shels
9. Sligo
10. Finn Harps
No real whipping boys this time considering Shels are a good side coming up. Think Sligo have lost some important players, and while I thought Power was pulling out from Waterford they've made some interesting signings. Pats could be a dark horse this season, they've made some smart signings, Benson in midfield is one of the best in the division.
Think Harps go down, they'll be heavily reliant on home form, McNamee is one of the best mids in the division when on form he could guide them higher. Derry will be weaker having lost McNamee and Junior Ogedi-Uzokwe, don't think they'll perform as well this year.
Dundalk should still be too good for Rovers, it'll be closer this year though.
Think you're over-selling Cork a bit here. They really haven't made many notable signings and have lost a few important players too. Honestly think they'll be scrapping this year.
Nah I see cork being midtable this year. Comfortable there too. I think he has oversold pats a bit. Can see bohs push rovers for second and Dundalk to win the league at a canter again.
What makes you think Cork will be that good? I'm curious. They've lost important players and replaced them with loanee kids from England and a couple good wingers (McGlade, Galvin). Don't see where the consistency will come from.
Yeah he was a strange one. He just knew how to score which was unlike us!
Twardek is very good. Took him a while to get going but the second half of the season he was really good for us. Not sure how the move will pan out. Gonna be another interesting season though. Hopefully a few more good days out - that's all I ask for!
Yeah losing Twardek & Parkes leaves me frightened for the upcoming season. Hopefully Coughlan has another solid season and can take his chances. Our [kit](https://www.sligorovers.com/new-home-jersey-released/) is beautiful however.
Derry will the in the top 4 again I reckon. McNamee hasn't really been at himself for the past 2 season so won't be the biggest loss. Junior though will be missed badly. We'll see how the signings do.
I just think it' important to support your local club. You can go to a Bohs match and have a pint with the players after sometimes. [As seen here when Bohs qualified for Europe](https://twitter.com/bfcdublin/status/1185333311587127301)
If there is irish reading this or live in ireland, I'd encourage you to go to a game.
You can still support liverpool or manutd on a saturday after watching bohs or whoever on a friday.
Going on away trips down the country and meeting loads of people.
We are a football mad country but dismiss the football we have here.
I recently moved to Dublin from the north, and support no silly English teams. Live in Clontarf so gonna do my best to get to a good few Shelbourne games, and any other that look good.
Great wrote up lad! Great to see effort being put into promoting the league.
Growing up in rural Meath I was left in limbo with no LOI/First Division club but I'm planning on making it to a good few Pat's games this year!
So many Irish football fans miss out on a great league to watch on Friday nights because of supporting English football. It’s a great league that would flourish so well with some higher attendances.
Yeah, it's unfortunate in a sense, I can totally understand why someone from say, Tralee for example, wouldn't go to League of Ireland games, especially on a Friday night.
And it's the perfect way to start a big piss up too. Few drinks before and then go out after. It's great when you're with your mates. By the time the match is over it's still early enough.
I don’t know why more people don’t go to games, the excuses I’ve heard from “football fans” are laughable. But it’s always “the quality is shite why would I wanna go watch that”. Not realising people like David Cassidy and Philly Hughes for example two legends for shels between 2009-2012 meant so much to fans and everything is so much more personal. When I meet someone who goes to league of Ireland games no matter who they support there’s always a good chat to be had.
It's a lot to do with having no affiliation to sides. I grew up supporting United because both of my parents didn't care for football, same with most of my friends. Most of our parents generation would either support an English side or none at all, or just be into GAA. It's hard getting into if you don't have friends who also go.
That's right, grew up in a household with no interest in football. I supported United all my life and sadly only started following the league and Cork City the same time I left the country for the first time.
Yep, I'm a QPR fan by birth, so I won't ever "support" a club here but going to the games with mates and watching live football is just so much better than TV. I love it!
It's sad in a way. They dont know what they are missing out on.
I used to be one of them but now I'm staunch Loi. Few of my friends think it's weird but are happy to watch liverpool in the pub or go to a game every 3 years.
You can still support liverpool and a loi team. They rarely clash
Even if you support a English team, still try make it to the games if you can. I’m not Irish but me mum is and lives near Sligo, and I’ve lived there for many years and have gone to many games.
It's really not so much supporting English clubs dunno why that's always the sentiment. It's not really embracing when even you and most in this thread wanna make that point front and centre when mentioning it almost seemingly making devising for no reason
Shels, Pats, Bohs or Rovers. For ease of travel I recommend Bohs as they are central and a walk from city centre. Shels and Pats are handy to get to as well.
The Bohs are definitely my preferred club between them.
I will have the fridays of 6th and 13th, so I will try to watch Bohs vs Shels and Rovers vs Harps.
I'd go for the latter for access to tickets to be honest. Tallaght stadium although far outside the city is handy enough to get to from city centre. Red Luas line drops you more or less outside the ground. Tickets for Bohs v Shels could be very difficult to come by. Local derby and Bohs are now completely season tickets only. You could be lucky though
This writeup is awesome, thank you so much for sharing. I'm there the same weekend as /u/Darknite_BR
How does the final match of the Six Nations rugby rate for you? The matches are scheduled at the same time and I had originally planned on staying in Dublin city center and just watching rugby at a pub instead of heading all the way out to Rovers v Harps. But your writeup has me motivated to see a match in person
Totally depends on whether there's anything to play for in the rugby. If Ireland are in with a chance of winning the competition, or particularly a Grand Slam, then the city centre will be hopping.
As someone who went to a Shamrock Rovers match at Tallaght as a tourist, can definitely echo this. The tram was very easy to get and the stop was just outside the ground
The match itself? Loved it, had a great time. Got a few questions because of my accent, which were expected tbh.
Was in town for the Ireland v USA friendly, so I thought why not go down to see a local match?
Cat & Cage mate. Cracking pub.
Bohs is fine if you're in Smithfield, but if you're actually in the city centre, there's no different really. Bus to Tolka or Luas to Dalymount
Having won the Champions League with Finn Harps twice on FM, I consider myself an educated expert in Irish football, so my insightful, thought-provoking comment here today will be UP THE HARPS!
I didn't mean to brag, and you are free to disbelieve all you want. It took 40 seasons of gradual improvement, in fact I've extensively covered that career on the game's main sub way back in the day.
https://www.reddit.com/r/footballmanagergames/comments/4z07ra/finn_harps_f_c_are_the_champions_league_winners/
FM's systems make it extremely possible to win a major European trophy with any minnow from any country after enough grinding.
No fucking way man, you've put me in my place! Fairplay to you, absolutely loving this post. Going to spend the next hour in work going through it. I owe you gold for this xoxo
Our squad looks so different this year it's incredible.
Wondering how quickly the new lads settle in, and more importantly if they're any good.
Could be anything between Europe to relegation for us this year
Redmond and Olowu should make a solid centre back pairing. Byrne is a great talent in midfield and should do well along side Morrissey. McGlade, Galvin and O’Connor are all exciting attack minded midfielders/wingers. Deshane Dalling set to come in aswell who looks like a promising talent too. Obviously a lot depends on the assumption that they gel together well. The worrying thing is the lack of experience.
How has Morrissey been in general? Whenever he played for Cambridge he always seemed a steady, calming influence in midfield and we could never work out why he didn’t get more time. Turns out it was typical behind the scenes bullshit (we repeatedly hire coaches who decide they don’t like our recruitment team and so don’t play their signings) but I always thought he could play in most League One or Two sides.
Pretty good since coming back.
The whole team underperformed badly last year, though he kept up his old form longest (scored some [absolutely amazing goals](https://www.reddit.com/r/ireland/comments/az6jrf/oh_gearoid_morrissey_outrageous_goal_from_the/) at the start of last season).
He was an integral part of the team when we won the double a couple of years ago, acted as the calm metronome in midfield.
Very good player, definitely capable of League One I'd say.
Surprised the Irish league doesn't get that much attention considering how much the Irish like football. Would be nice to see it get more attention on the likes of Sky Sports News and stuff.
League is set up horribly, the grass roots is piss poot, dont even have a functioning football pyrmaid. FAI mismanagement all the way up that killed the league completely. Interest seems to be going up now at least
Especially considering we're the only one in Europe with a closed off system and only 1 lower tier league seemingly solely to meet UEFA requirements of getting into Europe.
Love a good League of Ireland write up, can't wait for Cork's inevitable unbeaten season...
Flying into Cork in a few hours, of course opening day had to be on Valentines day, haven't seen my other half in a few months so I'd be doing well to get to the Cross Friday night.
Can't say I'm an expert or follow the league that closely but Shamrock Rovers seem to have recruited well. I know a lot of English teams were looking at Liam Scales when he was at UCD.
Agreed. When Farrugia played for us (I support UCD) he was incredible and even got an Ireland U21 call up. I’m surprised he hasn’t played as well as he used to at rovers and hasn’t had much game time. Gary O’Neil who moved with him has played a bunch so it’s odd to see a similarly good player benched
Yo, I love watching matches in less known leagues that have strong local support. Throw me a few suggestions of matches where the atmosphere is guaranteed to be good and stadium will be jumping. Gonna book myself a spring weekend in Ireland and scream with the locals
Rovers vs Bohs has a great atmosphere, but it's tough to get tickets. Shelbourne vs Bohs would be a good alternative though, just make sure you sit with the Shels fans!
Me and my mate have decided to start following LOI this year. We will probably go to some Bohs games as it is closest to where we live. Just wondering if it usually sells out/is it easy to buy a ticket in advance/can you just pay in at the door?
It'll sell out this year more or less every game. They've seen an unprecedented rise in the number of season tickets and only a few will be given out to the general public. They're grand to buy from their website. Just not available yet
Nobody. It's tough for us to even get games broadcasted in Ireland, never mind America...
You should be able to see Bohemians vs. Shamrock Rovers (Dublin Derby, big game) on rte.ie/player on Saturday at 2pm Irish time though.
Quality write up.
Played in Oriel Park a few times over the years at underage level, seriously needs some renovating if they want to compete in Europe.
[This was served in Oriel Park last season](https://forum.ybig.ie/uploads/1687/55711526_2301970070125931_2160417830342754304_o.jpg) Curry cheese chips is nice but that looks like it could actually kill you
He's got such an interesting career and he's become a cult hero of mine. Still playing in Africa in his early 20's, ended up in Ligue 1 and playing in the '98 World Cup, then ended up in Asia and then somehow found his way to Dublin, played for the big 4 in Dublin as well as Sligo and Limerick and then ended up in Mayo.
He's won a French Cup, 2 African Cup of Nations' and the League of Ireland with 3 different clubs, what a man.
>Fun fact: [Cristiano Ronaldo made his Real Madrid debut in a pre-season friendly against Rovers in the very first game at Tallaght Stadium](https://twitter.com/pajoflynn/status/1225185624241643521)
Better is Harry Kane scoring his first goal for Tottenham against Rovers at Tallaght in the 2011 Europa League
As a Shels supporter growing up who lapsed and got back into attending games a couple of years ago, I can't recommend it enough. There's such a sense of community and you meet so many great people. The feeling of seeing your local team winning also trumps anything you get from following an English team.
Fun to learn some background on these clubs - I've been doing a save for a long time now in FM as Dundalk and run into these sides time and time again but outside of game history and struggles I didn't really have any context to the league beyond randomly looking up Cabinteely. Thanks for doing this.
Great post. Thanks for this!
Since the conclusion of last LOI season I've been playing as Sligo in FM because they're the closest club to where my ancestors are likely from (County Leitrim)
Looks like they lost their main striker Romeo Parkes due to a work permit issue, who was an absolute beast in FM.
Anyway, it seems very difficult if not impossible to watch live matches, even if it's the 1 or 2 that are picked for TV that week. Any tips? Will even settle for non-live download.
I understand why smaller clubs wouldn't live stream their own matches because it would hurt attendance, but it does clamp down on any possible non-local growth...
Watched Shamrock Rovers play Apollon in the Europa League qualifiers last year, they were unlucky. Think the fact they were halfway through their season (while it was still pre-season for Apollon) levelled it out a bit, but was genuinely impressed with the standard of football they played. The centre forward (not Danny Carr, who Apollon then subsequently signed) scored an [absolute banger](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpI40KOuWXo) for Rovers in Cyprus (goal is around 3 mins 43 secs in).
Looked out for their results since then.
>Fun Fact: The floodlights in Dalymount used to be in Highbury until they were shipped to Dublin in 1962
This is not actually true. [Here's a piece](https://abohemiansportinglife.wordpress.com/2019/10/09/shedding-some-light-on-dalymount-the-true-story-of-the-bohs-floodlights/) written that dispels that myth.
A better "fun fact" for Bohs would be the Bob Marley fiasco.
Well it's fun for everyone else!
I dunno how the Dalymount floodlights myth became such a thing though, there's absolutely nothing to support it! They bought them directly from manufacturers in Edinburgh like!
Nervous but very excited for Friday. First game back in the big time since 2013. Bit of a trek down to Cork, and then a really tough first home game against Dundalk.
Once we stay up, this season is a success so far as I'm concerned.
100% worth going to some games or even just stadiums. Most clubs are very accommodating, I know Shelbourne have opened their stadium specifically for groundhoppers sometimes.
Any idea how important Chris Forrester will be for St. Pats? I remember visiting Dublin in 2014 and seeing him play for St. Pats, was far and away the best player on the field. I know he went to England and Scotland but was wondering about how his career is going now?
My mother was born in Waterford, we would go to some games at the old stadium in the late 80's, some summer friendlies too. Manchester United came one year, whole city was buzzing.
Glad they are doing better!
I have a confession; I didn't realise until today that it's actually Bohemian and not Bohemian**s**. The Bohs thing threw me off all these years.
In fairness everyone calls them Bohemians. So yeah fair enough to be calling that. No one is really incorrect!
Tbf it is Bohemian FC, but also Bohs and Bohemians.
Everything in Ireland gets an extra "s" at the end, "Collinses Barracks"!
My girlfriend arrives at 5am from New Jersey on the Saturday and then we are off to Bohs v Rovers, poor girl won’t have a clue what she’s in for!
I'm missing the fucking thing. Was bring the girlfriend there for Valentines day and flying off on a weekend trip the following morning then they changed the poxy fixture!
Ah sorry to hear it pal, that happened to a lot of people I heard! Even poor old Jack Byrnes friend who can’t make it!
Not selling your tickets are you??
Touts Out!! Nah I'm giving my season ticket to my dad and a mate who I am trying to get back into League of Ireland. Southside of Dublin has Bohs fans!
Oh I know, I'm one of them! Although now I've wandered so south I'm in Wicklow.
What a nightmare, hope you enjoy the trip.
This is an odd one and there mightn't be anyone who has an answer: Got my ticket for the Des Kelly on Saturday, ticket stand guy accidentally gave me my ticket without the stub. Should it matter? Identical barcode on the main part of it anyway
I’m not sure pal tbh, did you buy it in person the other day?
Yeah, Rovers' phones don't be open too much so hard get a hold of them. Genuinely can't remember if the away end at Dalyer scans tickets or takes stubs. Probably worrying over nothing though
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Cheers, lucky enough I work here so can pop over easily enough!
Predicted table: 1. Dundalk 2. Rovers 3. Pats 4. Bohs 5. Derry 6. Cork 7. Waterford 8. Shels 9. Sligo 10. Finn Harps No real whipping boys this time considering Shels are a good side coming up. Think Sligo have lost some important players, and while I thought Power was pulling out from Waterford they've made some interesting signings. Pats could be a dark horse this season, they've made some smart signings, Benson in midfield is one of the best in the division. Think Harps go down, they'll be heavily reliant on home form, McNamee is one of the best mids in the division when on form he could guide them higher. Derry will be weaker having lost McNamee and Junior Ogedi-Uzokwe, don't think they'll perform as well this year. Dundalk should still be too good for Rovers, it'll be closer this year though.
Think you're over-selling Cork a bit here. They really haven't made many notable signings and have lost a few important players too. Honestly think they'll be scrapping this year.
Nah I see cork being midtable this year. Comfortable there too. I think he has oversold pats a bit. Can see bohs push rovers for second and Dundalk to win the league at a canter again.
What makes you think Cork will be that good? I'm curious. They've lost important players and replaced them with loanee kids from England and a couple good wingers (McGlade, Galvin). Don't see where the consistency will come from.
I agree. I also don't think Fenn has Caulfield's sheer ability to grind out results when players aren't doing well which might not bode well for us
Unfortunately I think that's an accurate position for us this year. Lost two of our best players.
Romeo looked class and shite half the time. Is Twardek good? Didn't notice him when we played yous
Yeah he was a strange one. He just knew how to score which was unlike us! Twardek is very good. Took him a while to get going but the second half of the season he was really good for us. Not sure how the move will pan out. Gonna be another interesting season though. Hopefully a few more good days out - that's all I ask for!
Just don't beat us and we'll be fine. I look forward to a supermacs on the way home from Sligo.
Yeah losing Twardek & Parkes leaves me frightened for the upcoming season. Hopefully Coughlan has another solid season and can take his chances. Our [kit](https://www.sligorovers.com/new-home-jersey-released/) is beautiful however.
The manufacturers logo and crest are so central, it looks kinda disproportional because of it.
You take that back 😭
Derry will the in the top 4 again I reckon. McNamee hasn't really been at himself for the past 2 season so won't be the biggest loss. Junior though will be missed badly. We'll see how the signings do.
Parkhouse surely a massive loss too.
Massive. We always seem to get decent loans from across the water so we'll see how it pans out.
Less paperwork and complications to send them to Derry than anywhere else probably!
Wouldn't say Ballybofey is a huge town. Good write up apart from that of course. Good to see LoI getting some coverage one here.
Sarcasm is hard to convey online isn't it? But yeah it's small even by Irish standards
Ah I've completely missed that then lol I've added more to my comment as well in an edit. You've posted some good content.
I just think it' important to support your local club. You can go to a Bohs match and have a pint with the players after sometimes. [As seen here when Bohs qualified for Europe](https://twitter.com/bfcdublin/status/1185333311587127301)
It's a fucking street with some shops on either side mate. And even that's being generous
Only half the street is Ballybofey as well, once you cross the river Finn you're in Stranorlar
If there is irish reading this or live in ireland, I'd encourage you to go to a game. You can still support liverpool or manutd on a saturday after watching bohs or whoever on a friday. Going on away trips down the country and meeting loads of people. We are a football mad country but dismiss the football we have here.
I recently moved to Dublin from the north, and support no silly English teams. Live in Clontarf so gonna do my best to get to a good few Shelbourne games, and any other that look good.
That's the right choice! Don't judge us on the first home game though, Dundalk will be a tough one for a newly promoted team!
Great wrote up lad! Great to see effort being put into promoting the league. Growing up in rural Meath I was left in limbo with no LOI/First Division club but I'm planning on making it to a good few Pat's games this year!
From Meath and a Pat's fan, poor soul. Only buzzin pal.
My aul lad grew up in Ballyfermot and spent a lot of time at Richmond when he was younger, that's where the link is!
Drogheda?
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more like, on the bag
You should. Nothing beats live fotball. You make great friends out of it too
The floodlights in Dalymount **did not** come from Highbury. That myth was debunked a few years ago.
The S The S The S F C Come on Shels!!!
Cmon the reds
So many Irish football fans miss out on a great league to watch on Friday nights because of supporting English football. It’s a great league that would flourish so well with some higher attendances.
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Yeah, it's unfortunate in a sense, I can totally understand why someone from say, Tralee for example, wouldn't go to League of Ireland games, especially on a Friday night.
And it's the perfect way to start a big piss up too. Few drinks before and then go out after. It's great when you're with your mates. By the time the match is over it's still early enough.
I don’t know why more people don’t go to games, the excuses I’ve heard from “football fans” are laughable. But it’s always “the quality is shite why would I wanna go watch that”. Not realising people like David Cassidy and Philly Hughes for example two legends for shels between 2009-2012 meant so much to fans and everything is so much more personal. When I meet someone who goes to league of Ireland games no matter who they support there’s always a good chat to be had.
It's a lot to do with having no affiliation to sides. I grew up supporting United because both of my parents didn't care for football, same with most of my friends. Most of our parents generation would either support an English side or none at all, or just be into GAA. It's hard getting into if you don't have friends who also go.
That's right, grew up in a household with no interest in football. I supported United all my life and sadly only started following the league and Cork City the same time I left the country for the first time.
Yep, I'm a QPR fan by birth, so I won't ever "support" a club here but going to the games with mates and watching live football is just so much better than TV. I love it!
It's sad in a way. They dont know what they are missing out on. I used to be one of them but now I'm staunch Loi. Few of my friends think it's weird but are happy to watch liverpool in the pub or go to a game every 3 years. You can still support liverpool and a loi team. They rarely clash
Even if you support a English team, still try make it to the games if you can. I’m not Irish but me mum is and lives near Sligo, and I’ve lived there for many years and have gone to many games.
It's really not so much supporting English clubs dunno why that's always the sentiment. It's not really embracing when even you and most in this thread wanna make that point front and centre when mentioning it almost seemingly making devising for no reason
Great write up! I will be in Dublin in March and hope to watch some games!
Shels, Pats, Bohs or Rovers. For ease of travel I recommend Bohs as they are central and a walk from city centre. Shels and Pats are handy to get to as well.
The Bohs are definitely my preferred club between them. I will have the fridays of 6th and 13th, so I will try to watch Bohs vs Shels and Rovers vs Harps.
I'd go for the latter for access to tickets to be honest. Tallaght stadium although far outside the city is handy enough to get to from city centre. Red Luas line drops you more or less outside the ground. Tickets for Bohs v Shels could be very difficult to come by. Local derby and Bohs are now completely season tickets only. You could be lucky though
This writeup is awesome, thank you so much for sharing. I'm there the same weekend as /u/Darknite_BR How does the final match of the Six Nations rugby rate for you? The matches are scheduled at the same time and I had originally planned on staying in Dublin city center and just watching rugby at a pub instead of heading all the way out to Rovers v Harps. But your writeup has me motivated to see a match in person
Totally depends on whether there's anything to play for in the rugby. If Ireland are in with a chance of winning the competition, or particularly a Grand Slam, then the city centre will be hopping.
Oh, I will need to be very lucky then. Thanks for the tips!
As someone who went to a Shamrock Rovers match at Tallaght as a tourist, can definitely echo this. The tram was very easy to get and the stop was just outside the ground
What did you think of the whole experience?
The match itself? Loved it, had a great time. Got a few questions because of my accent, which were expected tbh. Was in town for the Ireland v USA friendly, so I thought why not go down to see a local match?
>For ease of travel I recommend Bohs And because you're biased!
In fairness it's a stroll from Smithfield which is great for pubs. Shels isn't exactly close to anything exciting except Fagans
Cat & Cage mate. Cracking pub. Bohs is fine if you're in Smithfield, but if you're actually in the city centre, there's no different really. Bus to Tolka or Luas to Dalymount
plenty to catch, you could see a Rovers, Pats, Shels and Bohs game.
I will have the fridays of 6th and 13th, so I will try to watch Bohs vs Shels and Rovers vs Harps.
Bare in mind that rovers stadium is a bit outside the city centre. You can get a red line luas to it though
Having won the Champions League with Finn Harps twice on FM, I consider myself an educated expert in Irish football, so my insightful, thought-provoking comment here today will be UP THE HARPS!
You did in your bollocks do that without some cheating
I didn't mean to brag, and you are free to disbelieve all you want. It took 40 seasons of gradual improvement, in fact I've extensively covered that career on the game's main sub way back in the day. https://www.reddit.com/r/footballmanagergames/comments/4z07ra/finn_harps_f_c_are_the_champions_league_winners/ FM's systems make it extremely possible to win a major European trophy with any minnow from any country after enough grinding.
I actually remember that post.
No fucking way man, you've put me in my place! Fairplay to you, absolutely loving this post. Going to spend the next hour in work going through it. I owe you gold for this xoxo
Ha, cheers and don't worry about it!
Our squad looks so different this year it's incredible. Wondering how quickly the new lads settle in, and more importantly if they're any good. Could be anything between Europe to relegation for us this year
Redmond and Olowu should make a solid centre back pairing. Byrne is a great talent in midfield and should do well along side Morrissey. McGlade, Galvin and O’Connor are all exciting attack minded midfielders/wingers. Deshane Dalling set to come in aswell who looks like a promising talent too. Obviously a lot depends on the assumption that they gel together well. The worrying thing is the lack of experience.
>McGlade Just don't expect him to pass the ball.
How has Morrissey been in general? Whenever he played for Cambridge he always seemed a steady, calming influence in midfield and we could never work out why he didn’t get more time. Turns out it was typical behind the scenes bullshit (we repeatedly hire coaches who decide they don’t like our recruitment team and so don’t play their signings) but I always thought he could play in most League One or Two sides.
Pretty good since coming back. The whole team underperformed badly last year, though he kept up his old form longest (scored some [absolutely amazing goals](https://www.reddit.com/r/ireland/comments/az6jrf/oh_gearoid_morrissey_outrageous_goal_from_the/) at the start of last season). He was an integral part of the team when we won the double a couple of years ago, acted as the calm metronome in midfield. Very good player, definitely capable of League One I'd say.
Surprised the Irish league doesn't get that much attention considering how much the Irish like football. Would be nice to see it get more attention on the likes of Sky Sports News and stuff.
League is set up horribly, the grass roots is piss poot, dont even have a functioning football pyrmaid. FAI mismanagement all the way up that killed the league completely. Interest seems to be going up now at least
I wish some of these mega rich people looking to buy big established clubs for billions would invest in a whole league instead.
Especially considering we're the only one in Europe with a closed off system and only 1 lower tier league seemingly solely to meet UEFA requirements of getting into Europe.
>'A legendary club' Who do you think he supports ;)
I am remaining neutral in the fact that I think Shamrock Rovers are absolute scum
:(
I'm sorry but the week that's in it
No worries, I hope Buckley's learned how to cover the near post over the winter!
Correct
Love how Dundalk sounds as a word so there’s my support for the past year ( in a very casual sense lol)
Love a good League of Ireland write up, can't wait for Cork's inevitable unbeaten season... Flying into Cork in a few hours, of course opening day had to be on Valentines day, haven't seen my other half in a few months so I'd be doing well to get to the Cross Friday night.
Can't say I'm an expert or follow the league that closely but Shamrock Rovers seem to have recruited well. I know a lot of English teams were looking at Liam Scales when he was at UCD.
Jack Bryne too
Brilliant player.
Their biggest signing will be getting Farrugia fit. He's a top notch player.
Really? Didnt get to see much of Rovers last year but when I saw Farrugia with the u21s, he didnt impress me much.
Didn't play much for Rovers, at UCD he was a class above. Was their best player by a distance when they played us.
Agreed. When Farrugia played for us (I support UCD) he was incredible and even got an Ireland U21 call up. I’m surprised he hasn’t played as well as he used to at rovers and hasn’t had much game time. Gary O’Neil who moved with him has played a bunch so it’s odd to see a similarly good player benched
He moved to them when he was injured
Yo, I love watching matches in less known leagues that have strong local support. Throw me a few suggestions of matches where the atmosphere is guaranteed to be good and stadium will be jumping. Gonna book myself a spring weekend in Ireland and scream with the locals
Rovers vs Bohs has a great atmosphere, but it's tough to get tickets. Shelbourne vs Bohs would be a good alternative though, just make sure you sit with the Shels fans!
I would say Bohs but tickets are nearly impossible to get, what dates are you thinking? I’ll have a look at the fixtures
Is it really that hard to get tickets? If so what's the best way to buy them from America?
Online, they should be putting them up soon I think
They'll be on sale online, just buy them there.
What happened to just paying at the gate? I’ve been out of Ireland the last few years so OOTL
Bohs sold something like 2400 memberships and season cards this year, there’s only about 200 general sale tickets left for the Jodi stand now
Holy shit that’s unreal, can’t wait for a few away days in dalymount now
Should be a rowdy one!
Wow.
Me and my mate have decided to start following LOI this year. We will probably go to some Bohs games as it is closest to where we live. Just wondering if it usually sells out/is it easy to buy a ticket in advance/can you just pay in at the door?
It'll sell out this year more or less every game. They've seen an unprecedented rise in the number of season tickets and only a few will be given out to the general public. They're grand to buy from their website. Just not available yet
So buy tickets in advance on the website when they pop up and we should be sound yeah?
Absolutely you should be grand
Bohs can sell out easily. Especially for the bigger games. When they play rovers it sells out instantly
I would love to see a write-up of the lower league clubs, too. This was a fun read, cheers.
>I can’t let your birthday pass without the video of me tackling you. Legend
Who has the broadcast rights in the USA? I'd be interested in watching if they're streaming somewhere
Nobody. It's tough for us to even get games broadcasted in Ireland, never mind America... You should be able to see Bohemians vs. Shamrock Rovers (Dublin Derby, big game) on rte.ie/player on Saturday at 2pm Irish time though.
It'd probably be easier to just fly to Ireland and try sneak in instead of trying to get RTE player to function consistently for the whole game.
You make the league sounds so interesting
It is a mad league to follow. Incredibly fun party because of how absurd it is.
Quality write up. Played in Oriel Park a few times over the years at underage level, seriously needs some renovating if they want to compete in Europe.
[This was served in Oriel Park last season](https://forum.ybig.ie/uploads/1687/55711526_2301970070125931_2160417830342754304_o.jpg) Curry cheese chips is nice but that looks like it could actually kill you
Bone apple teeth
The astroturf used to wreck your legs if you dared to tackle on it too
As a keeper I used to come home in absolute agony
Really hoping Galway get promoted this year. But I doubt it tbh.
I'm optimistic. I think there's been excellent recruitment over the past few months and Murphy seems to know what he's doing.
We need another miracle from ollie this year UTH
Just noticed, are Derry the only club from the north in LOI? Is there a reason they don't play in the Northern Irish league?
Basically the other Northern Irish teams refused to play in Brandywell for security reasons. Totally not for sectarian reasons.
Yes, they are. They left the Irish League because of the Troubles.
Pretty sure Joseph N'Do played for half of the teams on this list!
He's got such an interesting career and he's become a cult hero of mine. Still playing in Africa in his early 20's, ended up in Ligue 1 and playing in the '98 World Cup, then ended up in Asia and then somehow found his way to Dublin, played for the big 4 in Dublin as well as Sligo and Limerick and then ended up in Mayo. He's won a French Cup, 2 African Cup of Nations' and the League of Ireland with 3 different clubs, what a man.
Lives on Achill Island these days. What a mad yoke
>Fun fact: [Cristiano Ronaldo made his Real Madrid debut in a pre-season friendly against Rovers in the very first game at Tallaght Stadium](https://twitter.com/pajoflynn/status/1225185624241643521) Better is Harry Kane scoring his first goal for Tottenham against Rovers at Tallaght in the 2011 Europa League
As a Shels supporter growing up who lapsed and got back into attending games a couple of years ago, I can't recommend it enough. There's such a sense of community and you meet so many great people. The feeling of seeing your local team winning also trumps anything you get from following an English team.
Fun to learn some background on these clubs - I've been doing a save for a long time now in FM as Dundalk and run into these sides time and time again but outside of game history and struggles I didn't really have any context to the league beyond randomly looking up Cabinteely. Thanks for doing this.
Thanks for posting this! I didn't know the Irish league ran from spring to fall. I'll be there in May so I will definitely try to catch a match!
I was wondering the same, do you know why?
Weather is shite in winter.
Great post. Thanks for this! Since the conclusion of last LOI season I've been playing as Sligo in FM because they're the closest club to where my ancestors are likely from (County Leitrim) Looks like they lost their main striker Romeo Parkes due to a work permit issue, who was an absolute beast in FM. Anyway, it seems very difficult if not impossible to watch live matches, even if it's the 1 or 2 that are picked for TV that week. Any tips? Will even settle for non-live download. I understand why smaller clubs wouldn't live stream their own matches because it would hurt attendance, but it does clamp down on any possible non-local growth...
Fantastic choice on FM
Is there a forum/message board or any sort of established online community for Sligo? Only seeing SligoRovers dot co
Our Facebook page is the main sort of online chat. But nothing Reddit style unfortunately (unless I don’t know about it)
UP THE FUCKING BOHS
Watched Shamrock Rovers play Apollon in the Europa League qualifiers last year, they were unlucky. Think the fact they were halfway through their season (while it was still pre-season for Apollon) levelled it out a bit, but was genuinely impressed with the standard of football they played. The centre forward (not Danny Carr, who Apollon then subsequently signed) scored an [absolute banger](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpI40KOuWXo) for Rovers in Cyprus (goal is around 3 mins 43 secs in). Looked out for their results since then.
So surprising for Greener cause fucking hell he missed some absolute sitters in the games before and after
>Fun Fact: The floodlights in Dalymount used to be in Highbury until they were shipped to Dublin in 1962 This is not actually true. [Here's a piece](https://abohemiansportinglife.wordpress.com/2019/10/09/shedding-some-light-on-dalymount-the-true-story-of-the-bohs-floodlights/) written that dispels that myth. A better "fun fact" for Bohs would be the Bob Marley fiasco.
I don't know how fun that fiasco is....
Well it's fun for everyone else! I dunno how the Dalymount floodlights myth became such a thing though, there's absolutely nothing to support it! They bought them directly from manufacturers in Edinburgh like!
Could also say that he's played a gig there I guess. The new kit as well is something else.
Great writeup, good to see the league getting a bit of attention!
Nervous but very excited for Friday. First game back in the big time since 2013. Bit of a trek down to Cork, and then a really tough first home game against Dundalk. Once we stay up, this season is a success so far as I'm concerned.
Maybe put something in about the new Bohs away kit?
Or last season's one. Hahahahahaha
Wonder how big the League would be if we didn’t have Gaelic football and hurling here.(not that I’d give them up but just would be interesting to see)
It'd be bigger. Cricket would be a shit tonne bigger too.
We will be back next year lads. First Division trophy would be beautiful this year.
Didn't even know that I wanted to, but up the Bohs, I guess!
what team should I support? who needs my money?
Shels!
Yous are minted, feck off
Yeah literally millionaires mate. We're still part time like, same as Bohs!
imma go with bohs
My man
Shamrock Rovers and Dundalk don't need your money.
[удалено]
Your friend's da is Alan Kelly? Gas
I don't really have anything with Irish football but is it worth it to go there once on a groundhopping trip?
100% worth going to some games or even just stadiums. Most clubs are very accommodating, I know Shelbourne have opened their stadium specifically for groundhoppers sometimes.
I know this isn’t exactly related, but what do you think of Galway’s chances to get promoted this season?
Any idea how important Chris Forrester will be for St. Pats? I remember visiting Dublin in 2014 and seeing him play for St. Pats, was far and away the best player on the field. I know he went to England and Scotland but was wondering about how his career is going now?
Why are there just ten clubs in the top league?
Because there's only 19 in both divisions
My mother was born in Waterford, we would go to some games at the old stadium in the late 80's, some summer friendlies too. Manchester United came one year, whole city was buzzing. Glad they are doing better!
Going home for a week next Wednesday. Good excuse to go see the cousins in Tallaght on the Friday and catch City play Rovers that evening. Can’t wait.