Last Friday Night, April 29th 2022, was just what the doctor ordered, it was a shot to the arm, a boost to the system, the bragging rights were back home and we sent “that lot” back up the M1 to Shelbyville with their tails between their legs.
Dundalk prevailed 4-1 on the night, a performance that would make any Dundalk supporter think that “we are back baby!“, we showed some great moments of play throughout the game with some slick passing and some equally slick finishing, it was reminisent of performance of old. Drogheda didnt lay a glove on Dundalk all evening but they managed to sneek a goal via some poor defending in the latter stages of the game, maybe it was down to tiredness in our defence but something we can learn to sort out in the future.
Overall it was a great performance, Dundalk claimed the spoils, Daragh Leahy managed to score his first goal for Dundalk followed very quickly by his second goal, Pat Hoban stepped up mid way to slot home a penalty to make it 3-0 and John Martin slotted home for the second time in two games for his second goal in his Dundalk career, a good night all round.
So, the dust has settled on the Louth Derby for a few days and I have been looking around for something to write about it, but nothing was coming to mind apart from the usual stuff, but that was until Johnny Mc Donnell appeared with Gary Rogers on a podcast regarding the facilities, investment in the league and the possibility of demolishing Drogheda to the ground, the football ground i mean and the “idea” that Dundalk and Drogheda should ground share going forward.
Jesus…..(Breath In) (Exhale).
Ok, Lets discuss…..
Firstly,
Yes, I would agree 100% with Johnny that we should demolish Drogheda, sorry, the football ground, actually the majority of football stadia in this country are not fit for purpose, but its all we have and we must work with it, if the government and the FAI are serious about hosting any kind of FIFA or UEFA competitions on this island they must invest in the playing facilites, not just talking about it but actually doing it.
Just to add something here, Johnny, if you are reading this, there isnt a Starbar or Rhubarb Tart on this planet that would see Dundalk and Drogheda United ground share!!, this sounds like something an ex-chairman of ours would have spouted out of his floridian backside during an interview with James Rogers. Those days are behind us, thankfully. Anyway back to the blog….
Over the last 20 years there have been multiple “launches” by the FAI and other football associations lodging joint bids to host the UEFA European Championship and also the FIFA World Cup, but what is the point in doing so if the infrastructure is not in place to safely host it.
Recently a report was published suggesting that the FAI and the UK football governing bodies were coming together to host the Euros in 2028, its sounds fantastic until you actually look at the financial and logisitical aspect of such a proposal. The only facilities that would meet the UEFA standard at this point in time are the Aviva Stadium and Tallaght Stadium, we can rule out Croke Park for the moment given that any suggestion of football revisiting it would require a vote of the GAA council.
So realistically we could only hold about 2 or 3 games, more than likely group stage games and that would be it, so why spend multi-millions of euro just for that, and still have nothing to show for it from a league investment stand-point, its seems like a waste of tax payers money.
Instead of looking at these fanciful projects why not develop a strategy to invest in the professional game in our own country, invest into the facilities in our own country and develop the players in our own country. We have a fantastic league here at home, invest in it.
Secondly, sticking with the league and investment, but moreso the marketing of it.
The marketing of the League of Ireland leaves alot to be desired, especially when compared to other leagues around Europe. Its hard to believe that our league, albeit small, still manages to fight on a European level against teams that we shouldnt have the right to play against, nevermind get anykind of result against, for example, Dundalk v Bate in 2016, we went to Belarus to take on a Champions League regular with nobody giving us any hope, we lost the first leg 1-0 and brought the tie back to Tallaght. Still nobody gave Dundalk a chance, but that night we showed all of Europe what the League of Ireland teams could do and should be doing regularly, Dundalk beat Bate 3-0 that night, a result that stunned all across Europe and was spoken about on all the footballing commentry, but what Marketing did we have to promote the league after that?
EirSport showed the game that night, not RTE. There was no stream. There was no marketing at all that night because the FAI and others simply had no belief in their own teams to pull off any kind of result.
And still to this day, even though our teams have played giants of Europe, won and lost galantly and pushed our co-efficient to heights not seen by our league, we still have had no substantial marketing or investment in our league. An opportunity lost.
Thirdly, Its all just talk. I have been following the league of ireland since I was about nine or ten years of age and from an early age I have gone on away days with my dad and family to venues such as Turners Cross, Inchicore, Dalymount and Sligo Rovers, in some cases there has been upgrades done to some of these grounds, Sligo have had their facilities upgraded but through fan funding and local investment, Dalymount has had the new stand built and Tallaght has been built by the local Dublin council, but in many cases such as Oriel Park, Honky Dory Park (Head In The Game Park), Dalymount (the rest of the ground) , Tolka Park etc, these grounds are the exact same since I was a child, nothing or very little has been done to them, and this is down to little or no investment by the governing body of football in this country. Shame on them!!
We can talk and talk all day about how we need investment in our league and in our facilities, but there comes a time when talk is just that…..talk. And talk is cheap.
End.