Time to Shake up the League of Ireland Structure? - Part 2

To start, a key consideration is the length of the season. It’s vital we reduce midweek games; they should occur for cup replays, rescheduling postponed games or where they’re unavoidable because of European competition. We have two options, extend the league calendar or play fewer matches. The FAI get a lot of criticism, but extending the season has largely been blocked by clubs due to the cost of extending player contracts, I don’t see it changing.

I would reduce midweek games by scrapping the League Cup. I’m sure the FAI earns some money from EA Sports in sponsorship, I’m equally sure they’re creative enough to offer EA Sports value elsewhere. The competition loses clubs’ money, the prize fund hardly worth chasing over a series of Monday night matches. Clubs are frustrated by it; supporters no longer turn out for it.

I have no desire to lose clubs but we must accept we don’t attract new clubs. Since Bray Wanderers joined the league in 1985, only Wexford Youths have joined [in 2007] and survived. We have regional senior leagues filled with clubs who have no interest. With 19 teams, we must lose some to get it right from a structural point of view. John Caulfield, the Cork City manager, recently told Newstalk we had too many teams; he favoured a move to 12 or 14. My own preference would be for a 16 team single division. Structurally, it’s the best fit from where we currently lie. My worry is that we are already on our way to it becoming the default position through attrition without safety nets for clubs.

16 teams require 30 league games over the season, 15 home and 15 away. It leaves five weekends available for Cup competitions within the current 36 week calendar. The argument most often used against a single division is the drop in quality and ‘dead rubber’ games. In reality, while some promoted teams have struggled to retain their Premier Division status in recent years, the gap between the First’s top four and the Premier’s bottom four is not large. Is there a real difference playing UCD three times as opposed to UCD twice and Wexford Youths twice?

In the FAI meetings mentioned in part one, some wanted an eight team Premier. The desire was for more ‘high quality’ matches, but truly only in the context of European progression; to improve four teams, already with the advantage of a summer league, ahead of preliminary rounds.

European football is a red herring when we have a struggling league. We use Europe to point to the ‘success’ of moving to the summer league. European focus only benefits four of our 19 clubs each season. It helped the profile of the league in 2014; it damaged it in 2013. Quality was no worse in 2013, we had tougher draws. When European success is largely based on your qualifying round opposition, it’s daft to point to a good year as indicative of anything strategic.

The real issue in a single division would be a lack of relegation. Previously, last placed First Division clubs would give up early, cut costs, barely fulfil fixtures yet get re-elected to the league. Relegation can be maintained if the FAI put a safety net in place. The FAI has a responsibility to ensure clubs dropping out of the league are accommodated at Senior League Level, with dual registration. If Cork City were relegated from the League in the morning, they would likely be denied entry into the Munster Senior League. Relegation from the LoI can no longer equate to going out of football.

Beneath the Premier Division, I would place a regional reserve league resembling the ‘A’ Championship, comprising of teams made up of U19 graduates/fringe players. In recent years clubs have been seeking to challenge U19 players rather than lose them. Six League of Ireland clubs were getting ready to compete in the 2014 Connaught Senior league before the idea was pulled; some have examined ‘B’ teams in the First Division.

The reserve league would play maybe 12 matches over the 36 week season using local referees with facility requirements comparable to U19 level. Teams relegated from the Premier Division could join this league, alongside potential league entrants, as in the old A Championship. It might run contrary to my demand for fewer games, but the reality is that these games already happen, as managers arrange games behind closed door games against other LoI, University or senior league sides. They’re not publicised to avoid referee fees that official FAI sanctioning bring, but they happen.

I would get to a sixteen team league gradually. Announce that the 2016 League will consist of a single eighteen team division where all entrants must meet Premier Division licencing criteria [playing 34 games over an extended 40 week season]. The team finishing bottom of the 2015 First Division would be supported by the FAI into their local senior league, with the option of entering the 2016 Reserve league. Playing locally/regionally in the Reserve league and Senior League would give time to assess if the club want to reapply to the league or exit to the Senior League entirely.

In 2017 I would relegate the bottom three teams from the Premier Division to the Senior Leagues/Reserve league, with one returning following a play-off system. That would see the 2018 season kicking off with 16 teams, with a subsequent yearly one down/one up play-off.

I’m the first to admit that the above idea has many flaws, not least the senior league and LoI calendar being played at different times. But it’s my opinion and intended simply to open a discussion.

It’s a badly needed discussion and to mirror my opening of part one, these are the seven key structural questions to be discussed honestly by the FAI and clubs so that the participation agreement can be jointly drafted and we all know what 2016 will look like.

1.      Should the League Cup be continued?

2.      Should the Setanta Cup be continued?

3.      Should the mid-season break be abolished?

4.      Are clubs willing to extend the season beyond 36 weeks?

5.      Is our structural focus based around whichever four clubs who will qualify for Europe?

6.      Will the FAI exert influence on Senior leagues to provide a safety net for LoI clubs?

7.      Do we need a reserve league to allow our U19 graduates more development time?