League of Ireland

Turn off the BBC, support your local team.
Nothing Beats Being There is a tagline used by the GAA and the same applies to Soccer. I have no doubt that anyone who goes to a few games to see their local team will be hooked in no time. For tourists it’s also great to see the passion of loyal supporters cheering on their team. If there happens to be a Dublin Derby on when you visit you’d be a fool to miss it.

What does it mean to be a football fan?
To fly Ryanair to home games? To worry about venture-​capitalists from the Middle East or the East Coast (and I don’t mean Dublin) sinking your club on a ‘bad gamble’? To have branded microwaves, cuddly toys and bedsheets in the ‘Megastore’?
The late and very great Jock Stein once remarked that football without fans is nothing. How right he was. I firmly believe few leagues have fans as passionate as the beautiful game does in Ireland. SRFC Ultras, the Notorious Boo Boys, the Shed End Invincibes, The Jungle Boys, Forza Rovers and other fans groups have made this league what it is.
It is a game based mainly in working class communities, and if you look at Pats as just one example you have a team based in a corner of the city for 80+ years. Grandfathers (and grandmothers, we always forget the female faithful!) bring their grandchildren to this league.
Never mind the begrudgers from McUnited, if people think the football isn’t up to scratch than start investing in the game here and change that! The beautiful game is very much at the heart of the capital.
NO AL CALCIO MODERNO ;)

I think Donna is being a bit harsh there. It’s certainly a different style of football to what you’d find in the Premier League, and players skill levels aren’t even comparable. But that doesn’t mean it’s not entertaining football.
It’s a much faster, more competitive, game. Teams press right up the length of the pitch, lots of up front tackles and a near GAA style emphasis on hassling the opposition at every opportunity. It’s scrappy, frantic football with the (very) occasional flash of genius. But you can’t say it’s not dramatic, and that’s what you really want. Football is, afterall, just a soap opera for men.
And teams do have strong followings, especially some of the Dublin based ones like Bohemians and St. Pats. Even Fingal, a new team of only a few seasons, have gathered a fairly loyal following. And then there’s the story from a season or two ago about Drogheda. The locals and supporters embarked on a massive fundraising campaign to save the club from going into administration-​and succeeded.
Not bad for a league with no fans.

Its no Premiership… not exactly seria A… Bohemians arn’t exactly gonna be playing Real Madrid in this years Champions League Final…
Its barely even as good as the Belgian league.
. but League of Ireland pushes on through as perhaps the least commercial «big» sport in the country. It is amazing to think that our country could be ranked as highly as it is in the worlds international teams when our own home league is lacking in the quality that is so evident in the home leagues of national sides we so often beat…
I can explain what is wrong with the league that makes it so unattractive… and perhaps its too easy to blame the Premiership and its ability to suck the life out of anything around it.
I watched Monday Night Football on tele last night… some of the goals were fantastic. but it was clear to see a shocking lack of standard in some teams.
Still though the only thing that will make it better is local support and people buying jerseys and tickets.