Make no mistake, it’s on the cards.
There’s a distinct possibility that we will see all Airtricity League teams who qualify for a Premier Division licence in a single Division next year, with a possibility that it could accommodate all 19 teams currently playing football in the League across both divisions.
With the departure of Monaghan United from the league this year adding to that of Kilkenny City, Sporting Fingal, Kildare County, Cobh Ramblers and Dublin City in recent memory, Management committees at most clubs are increasingly nervous about the long term future of the clubs for which they’re responsible. Those nerves are most keenly felt in the First Division, where eight teams are struggling to attract crowds and sponsorship in what has become a repetitive league largely ignored by the media; and by the FAI if some clubs’ claims are believed.
It has meant that discussions begun thirty [yes, 30] months ago, which many believe should have produced a 16 team first division, are reopened in what most clubs believe to be a period in which we could lose further clubs. All concede that a 7 team first division next year is unsustainable. Facing the same team every six weeks, while building in a gap week in each of four [or five, or six] series of games will, by one club’s own statement, see them pull out of football.
Many supporters of Airtricity League clubs have called the potential restructure “rearranging the deck chairs on the titanic” without realising that they’re actually on the sinking ship watching them being arranged. The idea of the restructure is to get the ship to port with as many passengers in one piece as possible, advocating a “survival of the fittest” ethos doesn’t work in football..
There are valid arguments against the move; it may well dilute the quality of the Premier division football, though recently promoted Shelbourne, Cork City and Derry City might argue the point. The implication is that playing ‘poorer quality opposition’ would affect ‘bigger’ club’s progression in Europe; if the FAI is going to put a decimal place improvement in the UEFA coefficient ahead of the health of clubs in the league, we’ve even bigger problems than people realise.
Some of the stadia in the First Division are poorer than those in the Premier, though not all. Waterford and Athlone have stadia that would rival any outside Turners Cross and Tallaght. Limerick and Finn Harps are moving to better stadia and have plans to raise their standards beyond the average Premier Division ground.
A 19 team Premier Division would be a scheduling headache, with many midweek games putting clubs under pressure they’d otherwise not face. Accommodating Setanta, League Cup and FAI Cup games with such a packed schedule would be extremely difficult, never mind the difficulties when European football comes around. But this is logistics and with the single division recommendation has come a desire to see it reduced to 16 teams with a period of 4-5 years, assuming that an appropriate safety net in Senior or Intermediate football is available.
A single division is not the magic wand some believe and hope it will be, Monaghan have proved that. Those who think the visiting support from Shamrock Rovers or Cork City will see them through dark times would be well served to check the attendance at the recent cup game between those two teams. Costs will also rise, not least through affiliation and referee fees. But Premier division status would increase exposure in Press and media and give sides a better opportunity to sell sponsorship, and to sell the game to their respective regions.
Clubs, vitally, have to be run well in of themselves, though I believe we have a responsibility to each other too, “survival of the fittest” is a wonderful concept until you’re the weakest club left, it’s best to ensure the entire herd is as healthy as possible.
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