Make NFL Finals Meaningful

Leo · April 30, 2010, 02:07:26 PM

So 27, 0000 was the (poor) attendance at Croke Park last Sunday to see the runners-up in Div 1 of the league crowned as NFL chamions and the runners-up in Div 2 also go home with a meaningless trophy.
That sort of crowd is an embarrassment for the second most important competition in our sport and for a stadium the size and style of Croke Park.
Yet an easy solution exists.
Create A & B sections in Div 1 - 12 counties, 6 in each.
The final is a play-off between the top teams in each section and the bottom teams play off for relegation - both games now have real purpose. (maybe also consider giving the winner a bye into the QF stages of the Championship if not earned throught the provincial system. Real meat in the prize.) Let's go to Croke Park with something real at stake!

Div 2 would also have 2 x sections with 6 teams in each, again having top and bottom play-off games of substance for promotion and relegation. That leaves 9 teams in Div 3 which would have one section only an automatic promotion for the top team.

Zulu · April 30, 2010, 02:46:29 PM

Get rid of the finals, why do we have a final after a league anyway?

Onlooker · April 30, 2010, 04:53:17 PM

Don't agree with your changes at all, Leo. Divs. 2, 3 & 4 are working out fine as they are. Div. 1 is the problem as the counties target seems to be merely to avoid relegation. Maybe the counties in Div. 1 have won enough and can't get excited about winning a National League title. The teams in the other 3 Divisions are delighted to play for a National League title in any division. There were excellent finals in Divs. 2, 3 & 4 this year and in Divs. 3 & 4 last year.

thejuice · April 30, 2010, 06:06:49 PM

What was most interesting for me was that while 27,000 attended the games while TG4 got an average TV audience of over 600,000 during the games. What would it have taken to entice another 60,000 of those 600,000 to get of the couch go to the game.

Rossfan · April 30, 2010, 06:18:23 PM

"What would it have taken to entice another 60,000 of those 600,000 to get of the couch go to the game".

A bit of marketing would have been a start.
Would also help if Cork people attended football games.
A place in the All Ireland Quarter Finals for the winner ?

Logan · April 30, 2010, 06:36:52 PM

Introduce Lions

ziggysego · April 30, 2010, 07:45:08 PM

Quote from: Zulu on April 30, 2010, 02:46:29 PM
Get rid of the finals, why do we have a final after a league anyway?

That always puzzled me too.

Logan · April 30, 2010, 07:48:34 PM

££££££££££

Why else?

Farrandeelin · May 01, 2010, 06:49:01 PM

Quote from: Rossfan on April 30, 2010, 06:18:23 PM
"What would it have taken to entice another 60,000 of those 600,000 to get of the couch go to the game".

A bit of marketing would have been a start.
Would also help if Cork people attended football games.
A place in the All Ireland Quarter Finals for the winner ?

Confidence is short in Mayo and that's why there weren't more Green and Red fans around last week.

TacadoirArdMhacha · May 01, 2010, 08:55:17 PM

If they retain the finals I've always thought that the table topping team should be at home in the final as a bonus for finishing first. That would help with the crowd as well.

Leo · May 02, 2010, 10:40:02 AM

Quote from: ziggysego on April 30, 2010, 07:45:08 PM
Quote from: Zulu on April 30, 2010, 02:46:29 PM
Get rid of the finals, why do we have a final after a league anyway?

That always puzzled me too.

Of course they are needed by HQ to generate funds and justify the massive investment in Croke Park. But they do neither in the current format.
But teams and supporters need finals too - and meaningful finals at that. With no international dimension to our games is it the Al-Ireland or nothing?
We are going to have finals in some shape or form - but we need to find some way of giving them a purpose.

EagleLord · May 02, 2010, 11:51:11 AM

100% agree with this thread. I wrote a rant on the Down thread about it. Some extra insentive must be added to winning the league! We all know having a final at the end of a league format is ridiculous, but they'll never bin it becasue of the £!

down6061689194 · May 02, 2010, 08:29:50 PM

Surely that is just reverting to the way things were 3/4 seasons ago?

Farrandeelin · May 02, 2010, 09:04:36 PM

Quote from: TacadoirArdMhacha on May 01, 2010, 08:55:17 PM
If they retain the finals I've always thought that the table topping team should be at home in the final as a bonus for finishing first. That would help with the crowd as well.

I doubt that would act as an incentive for Mayo followers. I thought the crowds were down at home league games this year.

put-it-up · May 03, 2010, 01:18:35 AM

I'm the same, can just never understand why we play meaningless finals. Some of them are pathetic and like pre-season challlenges.

My take on it would be for example in Div One:

Top team wins the league and bottom team is automatically relegated. Then, for an extra game and the keep the GAA's voluntary accounts department happy, I would make the team that finished second last play-off with the team that finished second in Div Two for the right to go up/down. That game would have genuine meaning to it then.

Some incentive also needs to be put in place to encourage the Div 1 winners in particular to genuinely want to win the competition/ What about a package holiday for the team or something. I know it would cost a few grand but it's just and idea off the top of my head.

Or you could send the winners of each Division to America for a week and let them play a 7's round-robin tournament in NY or somewhere to try and encourage development over there. I know I would leave to see Kerry lads kicking around in a 7's game that would purely be about football and results would be not so important. And reducing it to 7's would take away the inferiority factor from the lower league teams. For example, I'm sure Antrim first seven would give most county's a go