Organic Growth: For the first time in a long time, Irish football is cool

The League of Ireland was once called the FAI's "difficult child", but despite many obstacles has recently become Ireland's most organic and exciting sports movement.

Ireland has always had an unusual relationship with its own domestic football product. To describe it as the forgotten son would be an understatement. Think Bart Simpson’s evil twin brother Hugo buried away in the attic, but rather than feeding on a diet of fish guts, it gorges on the wood lice in the rafters. There is no diet, just disdain. If it was the neglected child of a dysfunctional family child services would have intervened long ago.

This was all put in formal writing back in 2014 when John Delaney, the now disgraced former Chief Executive of the FAI (Football Association of Ireland), described the League of Ireland as a “difficult child”. It was a moniker that stuck and that the league often lived up to, mostly due to the negligence of its own governing body. It was no secret that the FAI cared little for its domestic product—it wasn’t earning money, it wasn’t particularly pretty, it wasn’t producing players, the infrastructure was ageing, so the domestic league was let crumble, left to fend for itself, with decades of bare minimum investment. As it turned out, the FAI’s governance failures went well beyond just the domestic league, but the league itself was on life support.

Financial instability, clubs going to the wall on a far too consistent basis, troubles with facilities and infrastructure, sub-par media and marketing coverage, player retention issues, lack of grassroots pathways and having to compete with the more polished rugby world and the community-based domination of Gaelic Games. If there was an obstacle, it sat in the way of Irish domestic football being able to operate and grow. Rather than gasping for air in a current of water, it was being waterboarded into submission.

That’s what makes the league’s ascension recently all the more remarkable. Few of the above obstacles have changed or been removed, but the league has managed to pull itself off the canvas and somehow swing back against the forces against it. An organic movement has grown across industrious clubs, determined fan groups and a yearning for something alternative, away from the bright lights and greasy riches of mainstream football.

This week, the league announced the most groundbreaking television deal in its history - a four-year deal to be broadcast weekly on the Virgin TV network in Ireland. It’s the first time the league will have ever been broadcast consistently in this country. Up until now it was a wishy-washy mess—some weeks it aired on Ireland’s main terrestrial network RTÉ, but that too seemed like a nuisance to them, more of a box-checking exercise than anything they were truly invested in. Something to keep the baying mob quiet on Twitter for another few weeks until they piped up again about the lack of coverage for the league.

Several empty promises from broadcasters went awry until this off-season when RTÉ promoted their upcoming coverage of the League of Ireland in a self-marketing package. But nothing had been set in stone with the league, and Virgin swooped in to secure the rights, leaving RTÉ emptyhanded with egg on their faces. Although commercially it isn’t a huge loss, the league is becoming more popular than ever and riding that wave is a smart move from Virgin, to obtain the fruit of whatever commercial success the league might deliver.

By being visible and consistent on a weekly television slot, the game will certainly grow as a result, rather than being pulled in and out of a drawer whenever it suited.

Attendances are booming and the league is growing organically at an enormous rate. In 2024, for the first time ever, over 1,000,000 fans flocked to games across all of the divisions and cups. Over 400,000 people tuned into the 2024 league title decider between Shelbourne and Derry City, on RTÉ no less, while the FAI Cup finals are attracting north of 40,000 supporters to the Aviva Stadium.

The league has always had a fairly niche but determined fan base, particularly online. On Twitter things related to the league were often tagged with #greatestleagueintheworld, usually in a sarcastic manner when a moment drew misfortune, but it showed the league and its fans weren’t afraid to laugh at themselves. They more than anyway knew how shambolically it was being run, and played eye-witness to the crumbling facilities and lack of investment every weekend in their trips to grounds around the country.

That’s all beginning to turn a little bit now as the league becomes less about poking fun at itself and more of a genuine entity in the Irish sports movement. The league average attendances has grown steadily, nearly 15% between 2024 and the season prior, while some grounds are sold out almost immediately after going on sale, depending on the opposition. In Dublin in particular, games between the likes of Bohemians and Shamrock Rovers are the hottest ticket in town, whilst Shelbourne—the current league title holders—and St Patrick’s Athletic both boast tremendous attendances, despite a criminal lack of funding in their facilities.

Outside of the capital city, the domestic league’s popularity begins to dwindle a little bit, but with Cork City returning to the top table this season to join the likes of Galway, Derry City, Waterford and Sligo Rovers, there is a spread across the country and interest beginning to be planted in areas that would otherwise not have had the local league as a priority.

Cork City will bring an average attendance of over 3,600 into the Premier Division, an astonishing increase of 50% on the season prior, while even sides like Treaty United in Limerick, who has its own storied history of rocky ownership and club struggles, is bringing in north of 2,000 people on a regular basis.

More regional areas like Kerry have club upstarts in the league, while Mayo are pursuing entry into the division in the coming years too. A better spread geographically will lure more local fans who are currently deprived of anything resembling semi-professional football.

What all this goes to say is, for the first time in a long time, the League of Ireland is cool to be a part of. It is attracting a largely youthful fan group that are vocal supporters of their team, determined to get the message across that the league is healthy, thriving and exponentially growing. Packed crowd scenes with chanting and flares is all adding to the noise and colour of the league, one that is trying to climb out of an era of black and white.

Of course, the addition of characters like Damien Duff—a two-time Premier League winner with Chelsea and Jose Mourinho disciple—into the league has helped its reputation on a larger scale, with his post-match interviews and blunt reactions becoming must-see TV and a talking point across the league, whether you love him or hate him.

Meanwhile, Shamrock Rovers are on the cusp of progression out of the Conference League group stage and into the knockout stages after an unbelievably impressive performance throughout the first half of the competition. Competing in Europe is something clubs are now aiming for, rather than merely making up the numbers of the early qualifying rounds.

And the players are beginning to get a bit better and become more familiar names with football followers. Youngsters are getting more time on the pitch due to Brexit changes which are preventing them from making an early switch into the English football pyramid, allowing the league to explore their talent for longer.

The FAI are slowly getting their house in order, beginning to develop strategies and roadmaps to improve and grow the league, while state grants, investment from the FAI and UEFA initiatives are all contributing towards a slow but steady improvement in the facilities and stadiums.

It’s an exciting time to be involved in the League of Ireland. This week’s TV deal is one more positive step towards a brighter future for a product that has been cast away in the darkness of the attic for long enough. For too long, the small cohort of hardcore fans have had to keep the league afloat—but with more hands on deck and the bodies and roadmaps in place to prepare for a better future, it is just the beginning of a renewed movement and sustainable growth in Ireland’s domestic game.