The Milk Cup?

[Hardy]

situation down here is similar. At least one local authority had, recently, a "football" development plan that included a free stadium for a professional soccer team. As seems to be the way of these things, however, I don't think it ever happened.

It certainly happened in south Dublin County Council with Scumrock Rovers getting a free ( to them - cost us taxpayers €14m) Stadium and the FAI got "football" development officers' (2 at least ) salaries paid for by the same Council.

I didn't even want to mention that. I'm just not up to three weeks of deja vu with dublinfella.

[David McKeown]

The point has been made there is a far higher demand for soccer pitches than Gaa pitches in Northern Ireland so it's of little surprise. GAA clubs by and large own their own pitches and are able to use them for most matches that need played, clubs exist for years and years and rarely fold or reform allowing them to keep assets. They also rarely have more than one team per age level at under age and quite often amalgamate at under age (which is spread over two years not one) so they simply don't have the same demand for pitches. Football clubs are completely different, take for example the side I currently coach. I've been with the same 10 kids for 6 years. We are one of the top 15 or so clubs at our age level, this is our 5th different team since I started. That wouldn't happen in the GAA. Two years ago we trained at Mallusk all summer which has two GAA pitches. I saw one of those pitches in use a handful of times all summer. It's not the fault of councils there just doesn't seem to be the same demand there for GAA pitches.

Btw my last club, Mallusk athletic couldn't get a pitch from the council for training or matches once the late evenings ended. We hired a private rugby pitch for gaining and played on a private members former cricket pitch. Similarly Apex where I started coaching often had trouble securing pitches and they were a very big successful club which produced a number of professional footballers including Cathcart and Paddy McNair so it's most definitely not a case in my experience that councils are falling over themselves to help out soccer teams but not GAA teams but maybe some one knows differently.

[Aerlik]

It's based in Coleraine.  Of course there'll be a staunch Rangers-bias.    What else do you expect?