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[The reality is that for an awful lot of supporters it's just about the big occasion rather than the actual game itself. Otherwise the game would be flourishing at club level. I'd say the majority of people tuning in for the big internationals watch very little, if any rugby in between.]

Boring,? U watch much soccer?

yes. It is boring but less boring than rugby union

Rugby is a game based primarily on physical strength and brute force. There can't be many sports where the level of technical skill required is much lesser than rugby. Massive amounts of hype, sponsorship and clever marketing shouldn't cover up that fact. The reality is that for an awful lot of supporters it's just about the big occasion rather than the actual game itself. Otherwise the game would be flourishing at club level. I'd say the majority of people tuning in for the big internationals watch very little, if any rugby in between.

Soccer can be boring but the balance is much more towards technical ability rather than physical attributes.

Is that phenomenon really unique to rugby in Ireland? What percentage of Irish soccer viewers are making their way to Oriel, the Brandywell, or the Showgrounds of a Friday evening?

The League of Ireland is in a much better place than it has been in a long time. Attendances are up across the board and it is much more authentic than what you see in the big League across the water. No doubt there are plenty who just follow the big English sides but as a proportion I'd say there are significantly more LOI match going fans following the Irish soccer side than AIL fans following Irish rugby.   

https://www.extratime.com/articles/32963/loi-attendances-2024---growing-pains-in-the-league-of-irelands-increase-in-popularity/

Why compare with the AIL? The URC is the league competition for Irish rugby clubs.

Average ROI soccer international home attendance 2023: 42,000
Average total LOI round attendance 2023: 22,000
Drop off = 48%

Average Ireland rugby international home attendance 2023: 49,500
Average total URC round attendance for Irish clubs (- Ulster) 22/23: 37,500
Drop off = 24%

Both sports could do a better job attracting event junkies to lower profile club games, but there's clearly a very strong appetite for watching rugby in Ireland beyond the heavily marketed national side.

[The reality is that for an awful lot of supporters it's just about the big occasion rather than the actual game itself. Otherwise the game would be flourishing at club level. I'd say the majority of people tuning in for the big internationals watch very little, if any rugby in between.]

Boring,? U watch much soccer?

yes. It is boring but less boring than rugby union

Rugby is a game based primarily on physical strength and brute force. There can't be many sports where the level of technical skill required is much lesser than rugby. Massive amounts of hype, sponsorship and clever marketing shouldn't cover up that fact. The reality is that for an awful lot of supporters it's just about the big occasion rather than the actual game itself. Otherwise the game would be flourishing at club level. I'd say the majority of people tuning in for the big internationals watch very little, if any rugby in between.

Soccer can be boring but the balance is much more towards technical ability rather than physical attributes.

Is that phenomenon really unique to rugby in Ireland? What percentage of Irish soccer viewers are making their way to Oriel, the Brandywell, or the Showgrounds of a Friday evening?

I'm not saying that those factors aren't true. I'm just wondering why they aren't presenting themselves as clearly at minor level as they are at senior.

For example, I imagine their pick at minor level is completely enormous in comparison to the other Leinster counties.

You'd imagine there are cumulative effects at play.

At underage grades, they're only rolling with two or three years of advantage at any particular time. Perhaps natural variation in other counties is enough to overcome those advantages more often than not.

But at senior level, they enjoy the cumulative effect of 12-15 years of advantage. This seems to have eliminated the possibility of any other county gaining the upper hand through natural variation.

[Dublin]

Galway v Dublin
Tyrone v Monaghan
Roscommon v Kerry
Mayo v Derry

Armagh v Cavan
Kildare v Donegal
Meath v Cork
Louth v Fermanagh

Wicklow v Limerick
Clare v Antrim
Sligo v Offaly
Westmeath v Down

London v Waterford
Laois v Leitrim
Tipperary v Wexford
Longford v Carlow

[Derry]

Derry v Dublin
Mayo v Roscommon
Kerry v Tyrone
Monaghan v Galway

Fermanagh v Armagh
Cavan v Meath
Donegal v Louth
Cork v Kildare

Limerick v Clare
Antrim v Westmeath
Down v Sligo
Offaly v Wicklow

Carlow v Wexford
Laois v London
Tipperary v Waterford
Longford v Leitrim

Armagh and Donegal was entertaining enough yesterday without an awful lot of quality on display.

Weird enough flow to the game, with both sides losing their way for long periods. Also thought both looked very leggy as the second half went on - a lot of poor wides at either end in the 20 mins would speak to that.

So, perhaps with neither putting too much focus on proceedings, I'd say everyone is quite happy with the draw.

Best for Armagh were Hughes and Murnin. Also thought Duffy made a real difference when brought in. Bit of a nightmare showing for JOB on his introduction, got on the ball plenty but nothing seemed to go right. Maybe his weekend had already been too busy.

Looks like that's Donegal home and hosed now. Cavan the only real threat to Armagh. Looks like that round 6 game will be winner takes all - wouldn't like to be heading to Breffni for that, but home advantage should see Armagh over the line.

[Tyrone]

Tyrone v Mayo
Dublin v Kerry
Galway v Derry
Roscommon v Monaghan

Fermanagh v Cork
Louth v Cavan
Meath v Kildare
Armagh v Donegal

Down v Offaly
Clare v Wicklow
Sligo v Antrim
Westmeath v Limerick

Wexford v Waterford
Longford v London
Carlow v Leitrim
Tipperary v Laois

[Derry]

Derry v Monaghan
Dublin v Roscommon
Kerry v Mayo
Tyrone v Galway

Donegal v Fermanagh
Cork v Cavan
Meath v Louth
Kildare v Armagh

Antrim v Down
Limerick v Sligo
Offaly v Clare
Wicklow v Westmeath

Waterford v Longford
Laois v Carlow
London v Tipperary
Leitrim v Wexford

I'd say they'll stick ELP in a safe seat to get her over the line.

Plus this will help her raise her profile.

Poots will go at the end of the term and she'll be back to the safe DUP South Belfast seat.

Car tax runs out on 31 Jan and car is out of MOT. Can't get an appointment until March at the earliest. Have this booked. Been on every morning on nidirect trying to get a cancellation but nothing. Is there anyway around this? No doubt if caught by a tax camera I'm in bother 

Was in the same boat a couple of weeks ago. Just book a test for whatever date comes up, then look to reschedule. When in the reschedule section, keep refreshing the page until a more reasonable date pops up. Might take a fair few refreshes, but something will come up for you.

[Mayo]

Mayo v Dublin
Monaghan v Kerry
Roscommon v Galway
Derry v Tyrone

Armagh v Meath
Fermanagh v Kildare
Louth v Cork
Cavan v Donegal

Down v Limerick
Antrim v Offaly
Sligo v Wicklow
Westmeath v Clare

Carlow v Waterford
Wexford v Laois
Leitrim v London
Longford v Tipperary

Seems Donaldson has calculated he finally has enough support to push them back into Stormont. Big meeting on Monday to lay it all out. Maybe even back at work by the end of the week.

Response of the holdouts will be interesting. A bit of grumbling, but ultimately sticking with the DUP gravy train? Or does it become more messy? Unionism is so directionless at the minute - how stable can government be until they figure themselves out?

[Kerry]

Kerry v Derry
Dublin v Monaghan
Galway v Mayo
Tyrone v Roscommon

Meath v Fermanagh
Kildare v Cavan
Armagh v Louth
Donegal v Cork

Limerick v Antrim
Clare v Sligo
Offaly v Westmeath
Wicklow v Down

Laois v Longford
Tipperary v Carlow
London v Wexford
Waterford v Leitrim

[Before this year I can't remember an Armagh team actually winning a game in Ulster.]

What teams that played/won their championships and played in league two of their counties?

Seems nowadays that clubs much prefer to hang back, or drop down to get a run at a provincial championship or all Ireland run

Needs to be looked at in Croke park, if a club wants to drop down and win their county championship in either intermediate or Junior they can't be playing div one football and then represent the county, it should be a div 2 team for intermediate and a div 3 or 4 for junior

You'd soon see a lot of teams cutting their cloth differently

Can't say I've ever heard a club or players say they want to go down to get a run at a championship in a lower grade. From my own experience lads hate getting relegated.

Me either, but I know that Cullyhanna used it as a kick up the hole to motivate themselves to today. By their own admission standards had dropped to the floor within the squad and they found themselves down. They got themselves organised and committed and look where it got them.

The Armagh grading system is about as equitable as you could get. It's based on performance over the course of a season and linked to League position. It's fair to say it probably hampered Cullyhanna having 3 county players which was a big part in their League form dipping. But there were other factors as well and they most certainly didn't manufacture a situation to get themselves relegated. They were there because they simply lost too many games but it was a perfect storm as they were always too good to be playing intermediate. However you only get one chance to make hay at the lower grades and they took it with both hands and that can't do Armagh football any harm.

Cullyhanna had a number of players who weren't available to them who started today.Mccooey, Donnelly, Murray and Connell would not have been playing whenever they were relegated.In addition to that 3 county men. If you put 7 players of that quality into any team they are going to improve it significantly. Would agree the system in Armagh is fair and the circumstances with cullyhanna was probably a one off.  The Armagh intermediate championship was been the most competitive championship in Armagh for as long as I can remember outside of this year.Before this year I can't remember an Armagh team actually winning a game in Ulster.

Likely because you have to go all the way back to 2011 for the last time an Armagh intermediate team won a game outside of the county. Makes Cullyhanna's achievement all the more exceptional. Fair fucks to them.

Media speculation linking Ferguson to Chelsea

Lazy shite for a gullible audience.

Chelsea have raided Brighton a few times recently, so let's draw the connection again and make up some big numbers. In the real world, Chelsea need to start selling big before they're in a position to buy big again.

But more pertinently, Ferguson signed a long term contract with Brighton a few months back. And it's pretty clear he's been well advised to let his game develop in a stable environment where he'll get plenty of game time. Wouldn't expect a move this side of the 26/27 season.