It’s the last weekend of games for the men before the mid-summer break. Some players will be on international duty while most will get away for a short break. It was an interesting week on the field last week for the double header but off the field issues take the spotlight today. Let’s get started.
LOI recap: Week Sixteen
The Big Talking Point: Facilities and who pays for them...
The FAI strategy paper on improving facilities launched yesterday sets out, in comprehensive fashion, the current state of play of facilities in Irish football from grassroots to elite level. That they're - excuse our technical term here, "not great" - will be no surprise to anyone reading this. The FAI put forward a proposal that would see things gradually improved in all areas of Irish football over the course of the next 15 years.
For League of Ireland fans, there's a commitment to raise all stadium to 4,000 capacity with at least two stands of equal quality within 10 years. Longer term will see all stadiums reach 6k capacity with others being marked for over 10k. Early press reports had talked of 10 stadiums with 20,000 capacity but the report itself is much more realistic.
It calls for government support of about €32 million a year over the next 15 years. That's where things get a bit tricky. Irish sport has always been chronically underfunded and the FAI's loose grasp on finances in the recent past is sure to be brought up by anyone who doesn't want to see Irish football get out of the doldrums. Thankfully, the FAI report speaks about sharing facilities across multiple sports and they have foreshadowed any criticism by highlight the role football plays in all areas of Irish society including integration, the increased level of women and girls playing and the societal benefits modern football facilities can bring.
It won't be easy but if you have any interest in seeing Irish football develop, this is a project worth supporting.
The Moment Of The Week
📽️ | Absolute scenes 😅
Here's how that dramatic minute of play unfolded at Turner's Cross as Cork City secured a huge win!#CORBOH | #LOI pic.twitter.com/LxQ94WfFB6— League of Ireland (@LeagueofIreland) June 5, 2023
Only one contender this week. It has to be the minute of madness in Turners Cross that saw Cork City score the winner as Bohs fans still celebrated the equaliser. McDaid putting the ball on the spot for City being the *exact* moment of the week.
The Happiness Index
The players are happiest this week with the break badly needed for most of them.
- St Patrick's Athletic – Four wins in a row and a thumping of Derry City only a week after banishing Stephen O'Donnell's Dundalk. In danger of losing the run of themselves.
- Galway United – Top of the table and continuing to score goals for fun.
- Shamrock Rovers – Top of the league while Derry and Bohs keep dropping points.
- Peamount United - Have we picked the clubs that are top of their leagues? Yes, of course we have. 2 of their team in contention for the World Cup now too,
- Cork City – A first appearance on the list for City but that's what happens when you follow 6 consecutive defeats with 4 consecutive wins.
Kenny Cunningham Eyebrow Raise of the Week
Today we saw official confirmation of Acun Illicali taking a controlling stake in Shelbourne. It ends a process that began with the Hull City owner kicking tyres at Dundalk and St Pats before shifting his attention to Shelbourne.
Hull City fans are almost entirely unanimous in their praise of him as an owner and the statements today, both from the club and Illicali, have promised great things for the Tolka Park based club. Foreign ownership of clubs in Ireland doesn't have a great record with the Arkaga era ending with Cork City going to the wall and Dundalk's Peak 6 era ending in a mess. Consequently, there's plenty of Shels fans with reservations about the move but it seems to be have been broadly welcomed by a fan base desperate to see Tolka Park developed and their teams compete for titles.
Fans of other clubs will, of course, poke fun. "No fan wants their club to be a feeder club", they'll say. I think that part is overstated. There's very few players making the jump from LOI to the championship in England and those who are capable of that, will have their choice of clubs here anyway. The devil will be in the detail and there's precious little of that so far. He'll need to put in nearly 20 million in a very short space of time to get Tolka Park and Shelbourne to the "league leading" standard he's speaking of. We'll see what happens.
Predicting the LOI Game of the Week
RTE are showing Derry City v Bohemians and it certainly is an interesting game. After some outlets (*embarrassed cough*) claimed the Premier Division was between Shamrock Rovers and Derry City, Derry have earned one point (scoring only one goal) in their last three games. They're without a ton of players and have lost Colm Whelan for the season. Bohs have only one win in their last six and have dropped to fourth. Neither side can really afford another defeat.
The big game in the Women's Premier Division sees table topping Peamount United travel to Tallaght Stadium to play unbeaten Shamrock Rovers. Having had their team raided by Rovers in the off season, the Peas have astounded the league with their performances this year. Karen Duggan proving she's a warrior time and time again. Shelbourne sit in third hoping for a draw to being themselves back into it.
SEE ALSO: How Team Ireland Is Shaping Up For The Paris Olympics: Spring 2023 Edition
