Friday, April 01, 2011
THE crowd in the South Stand at the Aviva Stadium in Lansdowne Road last Saturday evening, with their cheering and singing, provided a noisy and lively atmosphere that made up for many of the empty seats at the European Championship qualifier with Macedonia.
Good humoured, noisy in their support, many even took off their shoes at one stage and started twirling them around their heads. It might have been a good time for a politician from the last government to walk past — Bertie Ahern was probably in the president’s box availing of his free life ticket from the Football Association of Ireland — because it would have provided the opportunity for a bit of Iraqi style shoe throwing, but alas that bit of extra entertainment was not provided.
The fans got the result from the match they wanted too and our chances of qualifying for the 2012 European Championships remain alive because of the two goals to one victory: fancy a trip to Poland and Ukraine for the finals? And games against the likes of Slovakia in September may get a larger crowd, if the fans think the game will bring us closer to qualifying.
But these are worrying times for soccer in Ireland. The crowd for the match with Uruguay on Tuesday — which was a very enjoyable game for those of us who were there again — was much smaller again at under 20,000. Many people seem to have decided that they could not afford the costs of travelling to the game or staying overnight if they were not from Dublin, even though they had paid for their tickets as part of a "bundle" for the two games.
I don’t blame them. Midweek games suit people living in Dublin and surrounding counties. Indeed you could argue that 7.45 on a Saturday evening is also unnecessarily late for somebody who has to travel, even if suits a television audience. To force people into travelling twice in the space of a few days is very unfair. Fortunately, the FAI says it will not bundle for matches for the remainder of 2011. People will be able to buy games on an individual basis.
As importantly, prices are being reduced further for some tickets at least. I bought three tickets for both games and it cost me €240 once "handling charges" were added. I brought two of my children to the first game and a different two to the second and all enjoyed the experience enormously. It’s a good job that they did considering the cost involved. I’m lucky that I was able to afford it but I can understand why so many other people couldn’t.
Put quite simply the FAI is going to have to drop prices further if it is going to fill the grounds. There have been suggestions that the style of football being employed by manager Giovanni Trappatoni is not sufficiently attractive. Does anyone remember the way Ireland played in the Jack Charlton era? It was not often pleasant on the eye but people didn’t care as long as we kept winning or qualifying for the finals of major tournaments. And I remember paying cash at the gate to many games in Charlton’s first years in charge — and Lansdowne Road was full at 33,000 in the old days when temporary seats had to be put on the terraces.
When I interviewed Niall Quinn, the former Irish international who is now chairman of Sunderland, during the week he told me of regular ticket price changes at his club to ensure that the ground is full and that fans then spend spare cash when in the ground. It is a pragmatic approach. But he also highlighted one of the problems the FAI has. He is one of those who spent expensively on 10-year tickets. People who splashed out heavily on these tickets are entitled to feel that other people aren’t getting the same product at vastly reduced prices.
But that’s not the only issue. The Football Association of Ireland has denied that it has financial difficulties arising from its investment in Lansdowne Road. I certainly hope not. But there is no doubt that it predicated its ability to repay loans on the basis of anticipated income that is not coming in now. The new television deal that UEFA is imposing across Europe will help — the FAI will share in a centralised pool rather than having to negotiate individual deals with broadcasters for games, guaranteeing income instead of having to scrap for it — but it is unlikely to make up the difference with what had been expected once.
There is one other issue that should persuade the FAI to drop prices to fill the ground. I’m aware of research undertaken by a major sponsor that identified that teenagers in particular are losing interest in soccer players, preferring instead rugby and Gaelic games. The reason is fascinating: the fans believe the Irish players in rugby and GAA are more accessible, more like them because they don’t earn the vast sums that soccer players do and yet are far more likeable. The GAA in particular has been proactive in dropping prices, rugby has followed suit for some games. Soccer knows what it needs to do.
- Ryan Tubridy was correct not to ask Ronan Keating about his private life during last Friday evening’s Late Late Show interview.
He has taken a shellacking from sections of the media and, it should be said, from viewers via twitter and other social media networks, who believe that Keating should have been asked in detail to explain the circumstances of an extra-marital affair, temporary separation from his wife and children and subsequent return to the family home.
But why? Whose business is it other than Keating’s and his family’s? Is it any of ours? What right did anyone have to expect to see Tubridy make Keating squirm?
Keating is not a public figure. He is not a politician who makes laws as to the regulation of private behaviour. He made a mistake in his private life. This caused others much pain, and presumably himself too. We don’t know the circumstances in which things happened and, frankly, it is none of our business. Admittedly, Keating was the one who invited media coverage when he issued a statement last year about his impending separation. However, it seems that this was an attempt to head off tabloid revelations that he knew were coming. And once Pandora’s box was opened there was an incredible torrent of coverage in sections of the media, as apparently newspaper readers in particular lapped it all up.
Hence, Keating’s annoyance with "the press", as he complained about in his one comment on the matter during last Friday’s interview. Ah yes, Ronan, it was all the media’s fault what you did, wasn’t it?
Tubridy had couched an anodyne, facilitating question about "a difficult year" for Keating, giving him plenty of wriggle room to avoid going into detail that should remain private. He got slated for not going further, particularly as there had been publicity beforehand about a "tell-all, no holds barred" interview. But that publicity was hardly Tubridy’s fault.
If he is at fault it is for not rising above the criticism, and of responding to it, tempting as that might be. I imagine it is a sensitive subject for Tubridy who is separated himself and who, unfairly, had a new relationship, which didn’t last, dissected by the media in a way that must make him very wary about appearing in public with anyone else in future. He may have been informed by his own self-interest but that, in this case, is no bad thing because it allowed him to do the right thing.
- The Last Word with Matt Cooper is broadcast on 100-102 Today FM, Monday to Friday, 4.30pm to 7pm.
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