jimhancot
19-08-08, 12:30 AM
http://linfieldexile.blogspot.com/2008/08/only-in-northern-ireland-part-94.html
The new-fangled JJB Sports Premiership was supposed to signal the dawn of a new era for Irish League football. Finally, we got a decent sponsorship package, backing from the IFA, a marketing strategy (which apparently features star players from each team in the IL on billboards not far from the grounds, and adverts on national radio, respect) and a bumper television deal with Sky Sports.
What a pity the same old clowns pervade the IL on the ground. We're now supposedly two matchdays into the new season, and the league table looks like this:
Team P W D L F A W D L F A GD PTS
1 Crusaders 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 1
2 Institute 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
3 Ballymena 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
4 Bangor 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
5 Cliftonville 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
6 Coleraine 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
7 Dungannon Swifts 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
8 Glenavon 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
9 Glentoran 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
10 Linfield 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
11 Lisburn Distillery 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
12 Newry 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
The reasons?
Matchday 1: the referees, in line with their Scottish counterparts, threaten to withdraw their services over pay, the absence of linesmen in the Championship, and recognition. Bear in mind this row has been rumbling on for years. Unlike Scotland, the IFA can't solve the dispute satisfactorily before the deadline, and as such, no IL games take place on the first weekend of the new-spangled Premiership season. JJB must be delighted with entering into partnership with such an organised, professional outfit.
Matchday 2: A torrential downpour (a month's rainfall in half a day) strikes Northern Ireland. The streets are already swimming before the match. The pitch is already covered in huge puddles BEFORE the match:
[see blog for pics]
Now while I sympathise with IL referees wanting more money (they were getting paid 60 pounds per match, had to pay for their own uniforms despite them being sponsored, and when you consider the travelling they have to do, it's peanuts) but, when they make decisions like this, they really do themselves no favours whatsoever.
Alan Black is a particularly dislikeable individual. I have no idea whatsoever why he let this match go ahead, the pictures above show the pitch was unplayable and the game should never have started; maybe he wanted to get the ball rolling after he and his colleagues halted proceedings the week before; maybe he's just incredibly incompetent.
In either case, the losers are the prestige of the new league as a whole, and the common fan. Linfield FC compounded the problem on Saturday for not having any provision in place for refunding or recompensing fans after the game was abandoned. So there is a big dilemma about what to do for fans for the replay: charge the same again, thus pissing off hundreds who already paid 10 quid into a game only to see a mere half hour of a joke game, or let everyone in for free, thus creating the potential for hundreds of hangers-on and dickheads to cause problems and let the club down. Maybe a compromise is the best: free in for kids, half-price for adults.
In any case, the club are going to have to have a plan in place for any such future occurrences: a huge pile of Linfield-branded vouchers, with no specific date or opponent, should suffice.
All in all, billboards aside, it's not been a great couple of weeks for a would-be new professional era of Irish League football. A lot of work to be done.
The new-fangled JJB Sports Premiership was supposed to signal the dawn of a new era for Irish League football. Finally, we got a decent sponsorship package, backing from the IFA, a marketing strategy (which apparently features star players from each team in the IL on billboards not far from the grounds, and adverts on national radio, respect) and a bumper television deal with Sky Sports.
What a pity the same old clowns pervade the IL on the ground. We're now supposedly two matchdays into the new season, and the league table looks like this:
Team P W D L F A W D L F A GD PTS
1 Crusaders 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 1
2 Institute 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
3 Ballymena 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
4 Bangor 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
5 Cliftonville 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
6 Coleraine 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
7 Dungannon Swifts 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
8 Glenavon 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
9 Glentoran 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
10 Linfield 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
11 Lisburn Distillery 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
12 Newry 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
The reasons?
Matchday 1: the referees, in line with their Scottish counterparts, threaten to withdraw their services over pay, the absence of linesmen in the Championship, and recognition. Bear in mind this row has been rumbling on for years. Unlike Scotland, the IFA can't solve the dispute satisfactorily before the deadline, and as such, no IL games take place on the first weekend of the new-spangled Premiership season. JJB must be delighted with entering into partnership with such an organised, professional outfit.
Matchday 2: A torrential downpour (a month's rainfall in half a day) strikes Northern Ireland. The streets are already swimming before the match. The pitch is already covered in huge puddles BEFORE the match:
[see blog for pics]
Now while I sympathise with IL referees wanting more money (they were getting paid 60 pounds per match, had to pay for their own uniforms despite them being sponsored, and when you consider the travelling they have to do, it's peanuts) but, when they make decisions like this, they really do themselves no favours whatsoever.
Alan Black is a particularly dislikeable individual. I have no idea whatsoever why he let this match go ahead, the pictures above show the pitch was unplayable and the game should never have started; maybe he wanted to get the ball rolling after he and his colleagues halted proceedings the week before; maybe he's just incredibly incompetent.
In either case, the losers are the prestige of the new league as a whole, and the common fan. Linfield FC compounded the problem on Saturday for not having any provision in place for refunding or recompensing fans after the game was abandoned. So there is a big dilemma about what to do for fans for the replay: charge the same again, thus pissing off hundreds who already paid 10 quid into a game only to see a mere half hour of a joke game, or let everyone in for free, thus creating the potential for hundreds of hangers-on and dickheads to cause problems and let the club down. Maybe a compromise is the best: free in for kids, half-price for adults.
In any case, the club are going to have to have a plan in place for any such future occurrences: a huge pile of Linfield-branded vouchers, with no specific date or opponent, should suffice.
All in all, billboards aside, it's not been a great couple of weeks for a would-be new professional era of Irish League football. A lot of work to be done.