Journo has pop @ Irish fans

Ludwig von Drake wrote: A lot of lads who were in Poland don't go to Landsdowne. A lot of lads who used to be regular matchgoers at Landsdowne and Croker don't go any more. We badly need to get these back for the home games and the FAI should be bending over backwards to fill the stadium. I won't hold my breath.

The reality is economics are playing a huge part in how supporters attend matches. Supporters simply do not have the cash. If you live outside Dublin it's an expensive day out. Crowds are down in all codes weather it be football gaa or rugby. People are picking the games they can afford to attend. I know my mate would love to bring his 2 lads to to every Irish game at home but the cost of travelling from Tipperary is a huge cost with tickets etc

RogerMilla wrote: All good points lads , as I said before I think a win in Sweden would bring punters in for the Austria game , aloss in that game will see a half full stadium if we are lucky

deise316 wrote: Dunno Rog, we had (what we thought at the time were) must win home games against Slovakia and Macedonia in the last campaign, and off memory, the attendance was in the high 20Ks or the low 30Ks for those games, and they were both on Fridays. Now that I think of it, Macedonia was a Saturday as far as I remember, a day when a hell of a lot more people are off or not working the next day.  On that basis, what would be the expected crowd for Austria if we get our normal away draw ? Given the game is Tuesday, I don't think it would be much above 30K max, losing to Sweden might take 5K off that, beating them maybe 2 or 3K on it. Still a lot short of capacity.

I dont think there'll be much more than 25k at Lansdowne for the Austria match. 10k more than Greece would sound right to me. There was 35k at the Slovakia match and we were in a much better position in the group and it came on the back of a decent year. And Slovakia were our main rivals for 2nd.

We have had 4 home games this year.  Tickets were 20 euro for the Greece game.  Many struggled to give tickets away.  Appreciate the economy has had a significan timpact but it also impacts the ability of those to travel to Eastern Europe for 2 weeks.  We'll have another scramble for tickets for a wednesday night next May and London is damn sight harder to get to than Dublin on a wednesday night from Castlebar, Cork or Clontarf.

I think the big difference is the "event junkie" culture here and certain games are events.  Greece certainly was never going to be one.  We will have a home friendly around the time of the England game (according to my season ticket literature) and I can guarantee it will have little appeal. 

It is more of an Irish thing than a football thing.  Attendances vary widely in rugby and GAA too. 

I think the FAI need to build up a fanbase again by focussing on season tickets are getting people to go regularly.    It is difficult though when there is no pressure on home tickets.

1)  Ensure a season ticket is the cheapest way to watch Ireland.  Currently much cheaper match by match and makes it easier to skip less attractive games. 

2)  Give season ticket holders first option on extra tickets for family and friends

3)  Give season ticket holders first option on away tickets

4)  Give season ticket holders free entry into underage Internationals. 

I can see the benefits of spreading it round the country but in fairness I reckon it should be Noel Kings decision. If he wants to keep all the games in Sligo then so be it. It looks like we're finally making progress at under 21 level and if King thinks having a settled base is going to get us better results, well then we should stay at Sligo. Qualifying for the Under 21s Euros will create a lot more excitement and fill more seats in Lansdowne than going back to getting beaten by very average sides in different venues around the country.

gspain wrote: We have had 4 home games this year.  Tickets were 20 euro for the Greece game.  Many struggled to give tickets away.  Appreciate the economy has had a significan timpact but it also impacts the ability of those to travel to Eastern Europe for 2 weeks.  We'll have another scramble for tickets for a wednesday night next May and London is damn sight harder to get to than Dublin on a wednesday night from Castlebar, Cork or Clontarf. I think the big difference is the "event junkie" culture here and certain games are events.  Greece certainly was never going to be one.  We will have a home friendly around the time of the England game (according to my season ticket literature) and I can guarantee it will have little appeal.  It is more of an Irish thing than a football thing.  Attendances vary widely in rugby and GAA too.  I think the FAI need to build up a fanbase again by focussing on season tickets are getting people to go regularly.    It is difficult though when there is no pressure on home tickets. 1)  Ensure a season ticket is the cheapest way to watch Ireland.  Currently much cheaper match by match and makes it easier to skip less attractive games.  2)  Give season ticket holders first option on extra tickets for family and friends 3)  Give season ticket holders first option on away tickets 4)  Give season ticket holders free entry into underage Internationals.

This. There are thousands who travelled to Poland whose next attempt to source a ticket for an Ireland game will occur when, and only when, we next qualify for a tournament.

Tickets are cheaper than ever now. I used to pay €50 a pop to sit on a wooden bench in the old west upper, €40 for friendlies and Lansdowne was always full or therabouts. We were getting 30K plus for friendlies against China, Canada, Chile etc. I now pay €35 for competitive matches and€10-€20 for friendlies. I really don't understand the general publics apathy towards the national side now. No matter how bad our national team are, I'd never stop going to see them.