I DON’T REALLY like rugby.
While I like to see any national side do well, an Irish Rugby result just doesn’t affect my mood. I was on a 2FM panel at Thomond Park for a live ‘ GameOn’ broadcast in 2012, as Limerick FC played in the stadium. I spent much of the hour hoping I would not be asked a rugby question.
When some compared media coverage of League of Ireland and rugby in the comments of last week’s column; I felt it was comparing apples and some weird fruit I’d never bought. Despite limited knowledge, there’s one key reason for high rugby coverage that even I can identify. It’s also one we can learn from.
Irish journalists covering provincial matches are invariably reporting on Irish International players. In many cases, they’re reporting on players considered among the world’s best.
SSE Airtricity League finances will never allow us to see international players with the regularity rugby fans enjoy. We can moan about that and make negative comparisons or we can try to learn something, particularly in how rugby retains and utilises its key players.
The IRFU have retained top quality Irish talent in Ireland through centralised contracts. It’s not an obvious option for the FAI and our clubs as they will neither lure current Irish internationals nor delay potential Irish internationals leaving. The money floating around European football leaves League of Ireland and rugby behind.
However, we can look at supporting the continued return of former international players.
Liam Miller’s return to Cork has been big news this season and he’s starting to show that his return is about much more about marketing or retiring. He’s finding his feet and has become hugely influential. Cork City boasts three former internationals with Colin Healy and Alan Bennett alongside Miller. The three feature prominently in club marketing campaigns. They’re another boost to already busy turnstiles.
There was huge interest surrounding Damien Duff’s announcement that he’d like to return home at an age where he can still contribute to a League of Ireland team. The FAI should investigate working with clubs and the PFAI to speak to Duff and other former internationals in this regard.
While it’s an imperfect US system, mirroring the designated player concept within Major League Soccer has merits in growing the game and adding interest. A version could work well here if we ensured an equitable spread across the clubs, with centralised support to finance it.
Centralised contracts are half the battle; once the IRFU have their best players contracted at home, they put them front and centre. They push the players and their profiles; give media great access, which in turn generates interest.
The IRFU actively promote the players as ambassadors for the sport, even in recently announcing line-ups on social media using the players’ Twitter accounts. The sport’s stars live up the road from you. As ambassadors they get media training and if a player missteps there is acceptance. Any arguments are kept behind closed doors.
We need to learn from this. There’s fantastic humour in our league and it’s one of the myriad reasons why following the league is such a joy. Clubs and players are a constant source of tongue in cheek humour, supporters and journalists join in, particularly on social media. There’s a sense of togetherness, even in the rivalries, that other sports on this island can’t touch.
As an example, this week Longford player Pat Flynn responded to a Cork City tweet about Turner’s Cross parking restrictions with a request to park Longford’s team bus in front of the goal.
A couple of weeks ago Galway United’s Sam Oji made a largely tongue in cheek, emoji-ladden, tweet critical of a referee after a sending off. Unfortunately, that tweet resulted in Oji being banned and fined.
Players need to be educated by their clubs in appropriate use of social media, but the FAI need to learn some restraint. Critical voices are an essential part of any operation. Players’ opinion is something that needs to be harnessed, not punished. If players and managers are afraid to comment publicly in case of fines, soon they’ll just stop commenting at all.
Our players are our clubs’ best marketing option. In many respects our size is an advantage here; supporters feel close to the players representing our clubs.
With the PFAI announcement this week highlighting average player wages, it only helps us to realise that these lads aren’t off in some ivory tower. The money we pay on the gate goes directly to helping them out. Irish clubs don’t match gate receipts with an ‘official Indonesian logistics partner’. If a player here doesn’t get a birthday cake from the club, it’s probably because the staff forgot due to fire-fighting.
Of course, some of the reluctance of players and clubs to engage in player led marketing is understandable. Putting the financial impact of it to one side, short term and/or forty week contracts result in a huge turnover in players each year, it can be hard for a club to invest in the player’s image.
Much of the media interest in St. Pats prior to the 2014 FAI Cup final focused on Keith Fahey, who already had one foot at Shamrock Rovers. I once got stuck with a large box of merchandise built around a popular player who left the club during the season. It’s something we need to address. Even with the reality of forty week contracts, giving them in the context of two year deals would be a big step forward.
Putting the player front and centre is easy, and essential. Every sport recognises this. While at Limerick FC I would swap ‘war stories’ with Limerick GAA, with whom we had a great relationship. They were struggling with their hurlers. They had high name recognition, but because the hurlers wore helmets, the average Limerick hurling fan struggled to put faces to the names. They had a focused project built on getting the players’ faces out in public.
The reason rugby and hurling do it, and the reason we need to do it, is simple. No-one grows up wanting to be a chairman or an administrator at a football club. We grow up wanting to play. We need local heroes to capture our imagination.
