FAI...New Manager Hunt continues

[ludermor]

Big news in the papers here in England about the English fans chanting 'f**k the IRA' at the Scottish game. Has this got much coverage in the homeland?

[Main Street]

Does the GAA have a fascination with participation numbers?  Sometimes I think that stats are their lifeblood.

Not sure. I don't really think about it, but I always just assume the GAA is the most 'widespread' sporting organisation. Doesn't really bother me, although obviously the more playing the GAA the better as far as I'm concerned. However I encourage my young lad to play Soccer and Basketball as well as I think all sport is good.

I draw the line at rugby though.

Boasting about numbers is about money.
Participation statistics matter when it comes to the distribution of the crumbs that come the way via the sports council, where John Tracey has to go cap in hand to the Dail to answer questions and justify why, in front of the finance overseers.
The survey that Billy linked has been much used by the FAI  to support their contention that soccer is most widely participated sport in Ireland and to get more funding. But as AZ guessed, the criteria for participation is a very low bar, question like, do you participate in an informal 5-a-side once a week, if so then you are a participant.
When it came to actual membership of a club, then the GAA (football and hurling  combined) were well in the lead  for actual numbers involved. And even if you take the 6 counties seperately, GAA is the biggest sport when you use the criteria of membership of a club. And I suppose that fact has gone a long way for the GAA to get more than decent funding in proportion to other sports, from HM government.

[nrico2006]

The Irish Sports Council's latest report (2013) puts Football (Association) as the most popular team sport in the country at 5.9% participation - Gaelic Football is at 2.5%, Rugby at 1.4% and Hurling/Camogie at 1.7%.

Billy, does that include you, me and 8 other lads heading up to the pitch for a kick around every week? If it does, then I have no doubt those figures are correct. If it doesn't and only includes organised representative 'teams', then I find it hard to see how it could be given the proliferation of GAA clubs around the country, and the numbers that are on a given team. Maybe the cities skew it though?

I have no doubt those figures are true if they are counting clubs. In Newry for example there is 4 GAA clubs. Also at a guess there would be at least 20 soccer "clubs" playing in organised leagues every week in Newry. I'm sure it's the same in every town and city in Ireland. However if you drill down as someone else said GAA would have a much further reach with the level of membership and supporters going to games. Each of the above mentioned soccer clubs would have, literally, one man and a dog at their games.

Strabane and Lurgan would have a lot of football teams as well, far more playing football than gaelic.

im sure a true gael like yourself means far more playing soccer then football

As far as I knew only yanks call it soccer. 

[AZOffaly]

Jaysus. No way. In Ireland nearly anyone I know calls Gaelic Football 'Football' and Association Football 'Soccer'. I realise quite a few soccer lads would call it 'Football' and 'Gaelic' (or 'Bogball' if they are very insecure).

[Croí na hÉireann]

Maybe 5 Sams. I suppose I'm thinking from a more Rural slant. Like at most there's a 1 to 1 relationship in terms of soccer and GAA teams/club, but the numbers required for GAA would mean there are more at hurling training and games than soccer. You'd have a panel of 20+ for GAA and usually about 15 or 16 for soccer. And I know soccer clubs have A & B teams as well, but usually so do GAA clubs.

I suppose when I think of towns, you're right.

I think it depends where the elite players go. The top intercounty players would excel in soccer or rugby but how many of the available pool does soccer get ?
And what sort of career can soccer offer them now given the structure in England ?

Not all top intercounty players would excel in soccer - possibly more likely to be rugby. Think of the likes of Tohill playing soccer. There are attributes athletically speaking which stand you in good stead in GAA which don't always stand you in good stead in soccer.

Tohill was actually a very good soccer player and had a trial with Manchester United at a stage. Personally I feel a GAA player has a much better chance at being good at soccer as opposed to rugby.

Tohill on Second Captains tonight talking about Man Utd trial and last years chainsaw accident.

[ballinaman]

Jaysus. No way. In Ireland nearly anyone I know calls Gaelic Football 'Football' and Association Football 'Soccer'. I realise quite a few soccer lads would call it 'Football' and 'Gaelic' (or 'Bogball' if they are very insecure).

Agreed but I've found it to be mostly Dublin rugby crowd to use the "bogball" phrase. The majority of Irish soccer fans who attend games would have a far bigger interest in GAA than rugby.

That reminds me..in the midst of trying to eat a battered mars bar last Friday night after the game, I had two Glaswegians ask me my opinion on Jimmy McGuinness becoming the next manager of Celtic...nearly choked so I did...

[Billys Boots]

Does the GAA have a fascination with participation numbers?  Sometimes I think that stats are their lifeblood.

Not sure. I don't really think about it, but I always just assume the GAA is the most 'widespread' sporting organisation. Doesn't really bother me, although obviously the more playing the GAA the better as far as I'm concerned. However I encourage my young lad to play Soccer and Basketball as well as I think all sport is good.

I draw the line at rugby though.

Boasting about numbers is about money.
Participation statistics matter when it comes to the distribution of the crumbs that come the way via the sports council, where John Tracey has to go cap in hand to the Dail to answer questions and justify why, in front of the finance overseers.
The survey that Billy linked has been much used by the FAI  to support their contention that soccer is most widely participated sport in Ireland and to get more funding. But as AZ guessed, the criteria for participation is a very low bar, question like, do you participate in an informal 5-a-side once a week, if so then you are a participant.
When it came to actual membership of a club, then the GAA (football and hurling  combined) were well in the lead  for actual numbers involved. And even if you take the 6 counties seperately, GAA is the biggest sport when you use the criteria of membership of a club. And I suppose that fact has gone a long way for the GAA to get more than decent funding in proportion to other sports, from HM government.

Indeed, but the GAA 'criteria' for membership is, ahem, unusual.  If I take my local area - the Football club (yes Football, the world game) has 25 teams competing in various leagues and formats (men, women and children) and has ca. 400 members; the GAA club has 28 teams competing in various leagues and formats and has ca. 1000 members.  Riddle you that; I'd love to know the answer.   

[AZOffaly]

Does the GAA have a fascination with participation numbers?  Sometimes I think that stats are their lifeblood.

Not sure. I don't really think about it, but I always just assume the GAA is the most 'widespread' sporting organisation. Doesn't really bother me, although obviously the more playing the GAA the better as far as I'm concerned. However I encourage my young lad to play Soccer and Basketball as well as I think all sport is good.

I draw the line at rugby though.

Boasting about numbers is about money.
Participation statistics matter when it comes to the distribution of the crumbs that come the way via the sports council, where John Tracey has to go cap in hand to the Dail to answer questions and justify why, in front of the finance overseers.
The survey that Billy linked has been much used by the FAI  to support their contention that soccer is most widely participated sport in Ireland and to get more funding. But as AZ guessed, the criteria for participation is a very low bar, question like, do you participate in an informal 5-a-side once a week, if so then you are a participant.
When it came to actual membership of a club, then the GAA (football and hurling  combined) were well in the lead  for actual numbers involved. And even if you take the 6 counties seperately, GAA is the biggest sport when you use the criteria of membership of a club. And I suppose that fact has gone a long way for the GAA to get more than decent funding in proportion to other sports, from HM government.

Indeed, but the GAA 'criteria' for membership is, ahem, unusual.  If I take my local area - the Football club (yes Football, the world game) has 25 teams competing in various leagues and formats (men, women and children) and has ca. 400 members; the GAA club has 28 teams competing in various leagues and formats and has ca. 1000 members.  Riddle you that; I'd love to know the answer.   

I thought you said the GAA were preoccupied with states. You're not doing too badly yourself.

Anyway, the GAA obviously has members who do not play. I wouldn't count 'membership' as indicative of playing numbers.  But if we say 25 teams with 16 per panel for soccer you have exactly 400. 28 teams at approx 26 people per panel would be 728.

[AZOffaly]

By the way, I saw this on Balls.ie

"The battle for the hearts and minds of the Irish sporting youth has long been a contentious and highly political one. Soccer sits atop the pile with 340,070 participants across the country in 2,500 clubs. The GAA finds itself in second place with 294, 577 registered players across 2,359 clubs. Rugby, though growing, is a distant third with 158,685 registered players and 236 clubs."

So it appears that for registered 'Youth' players, soccer has more clubs and more players.

[Billys Boots]

Does the GAA have a fascination with participation numbers?  Sometimes I think that stats are their lifeblood.

Not sure. I don't really think about it, but I always just assume the GAA is the most 'widespread' sporting organisation. Doesn't really bother me, although obviously the more playing the GAA the better as far as I'm concerned. However I encourage my young lad to play Soccer and Basketball as well as I think all sport is good.

I draw the line at rugby though.

Boasting about numbers is about money.
Participation statistics matter when it comes to the distribution of the crumbs that come the way via the sports council, where John Tracey has to go cap in hand to the Dail to answer questions and justify why, in front of the finance overseers.
The survey that Billy linked has been much used by the FAI  to support their contention that soccer is most widely participated sport in Ireland and to get more funding. But as AZ guessed, the criteria for participation is a very low bar, question like, do you participate in an informal 5-a-side once a week, if so then you are a participant.
When it came to actual membership of a club, then the GAA (football and hurling  combined) were well in the lead  for actual numbers involved. And even if you take the 6 counties seperately, GAA is the biggest sport when you use the criteria of membership of a club. And I suppose that fact has gone a long way for the GAA to get more than decent funding in proportion to other sports, from HM government.

Indeed, but the GAA 'criteria' for membership is, ahem, unusual.  If I take my local area - the Football club (yes Football, the world game) has 25 teams competing in various leagues and formats (men, women and children) and has ca. 400 members; the GAA club has 28 teams competing in various leagues and formats and has ca. 1000 members.  Riddle you that; I'd love to know the answer.   

I thought you said the GAA were preoccupied with states. You're not doing too badly yourself.

Anyway, the GAA obviously has members who do not play. I wouldn't count 'membership' as indicative of playing numbers.  But if we say 25 teams with 16 per panel for soccer you have exactly 400. 28 teams at approx 26 people per panel would be 728.

Yes AZ, but those 28 teams include girls teams and (very) junior teams, none of whom would have 26-strong panels.  I would have though they'd about 500 playing members.  The rest is bulking up, specifically for the purposes of who-knows-what.

[AZOffaly]

Do they say they have 1,000 playing members, or 1,000 members? There's a significant difference, and I wouldn't be surprised if a big club in Dublin had 1,000 members.

[Billys Boots]

By the way, I saw this on Balls.ie

"The battle for the hearts and minds of the Irish sporting youth has long been a contentious and highly political one. Soccer sits atop the pile with 340,070 participants across the country in 2,500 clubs. The GAA finds itself in second place with 294, 577 registered players across 2,359 clubs. Rugby, though growing, is a distant third with 158,685 registered players and 236 clubs."

So it appears that for registered 'Youth' players, soccer has more clubs and more players.

That would sound right to me too - it's what I recall from the last Sports Council presentation.  There's a fallacy doing the rounds, and rarely challenged in this house, that the GAA is the biggest sporting organisation in the country. 

[ballinaman]

Sorry in interrupt the numbers debate but found this hilarious re the English fcuk the IRA chants last night in the Scotland game...the guy who does them is gas, worth a follow on twitter if ye are on it!

[Billys Boots]

Do they say they have 1,000 playing members, or 1,000 members? There's a significant difference, and I wouldn't be surprised if a big club in Dublin had 1,000 members.

It's an application looking for funding for development - when you are asked for 'members', you're supposed to include only players and coaches as members.  That was the context. 

[AZOffaly]

By the way, I saw this on Balls.ie

"The battle for the hearts and minds of the Irish sporting youth has long been a contentious and highly political one. Soccer sits atop the pile with 340,070 participants across the country in 2,500 clubs. The GAA finds itself in second place with 294, 577 registered players across 2,359 clubs. Rugby, though growing, is a distant third with 158,685 registered players and 236 clubs."

So it appears that for registered 'Youth' players, soccer has more clubs and more players.

That would sound right to me too - it's what I recall from the last Sports Council presentation.  There's a fallacy doing the rounds, and rarely challenged in this house, that the GAA is the biggest sporting organisation in the country.

I suppose it depends on the definition. If you include people who follow it, volunteers, players, etc etc, then it probably is. If you are just counting players, then I'd imagine it's close. (Those figures above are just for youth players).