THIS WEEK’S EUROPEAN games were a timely reminder of a vibrant and inclusive fan culture in the League of Ireland.
Just a few days after the national broadcaster’s head of sport showed a glaring blind spot for a cultural shift in the game in this country, supporters of Shelbourne and St Patrick’s Athletic provided a colourful and loud example of how it is growing from the bottom up.
It’s an organic rise led by young match-going supporters.
An hour or so before kick-off at Richmond Park last night, the sound of hundreds of St Pat’s fans marching up Emmet Road chanting for their team reverberated around that corner of Inchicore.
The game was a 2,500 sell-out, the capacity reduced due to Uefa restrictions on terraced areas in the Uefa Conference League first-round qualifier. Such support came at a time when Pat’s hadn’t won a game since May and had scored just one goal in over 10 hours of football.
The tifo display – inspired by Christy Moore’s Joxer Goes to Stuttgart – that covered two stands was fantastic, and followed on from a similarly impassioned arrangement at Tolka Park on Wednesday night when Shels beat Linfield 1-0 in the first leg of their Champions League first-round qualifier.
The noise, the organisation, even the JJ Lunney song to the tune of Lady Gaga’s song ‘Paparazzi’ were examples of a fan culture that is thriving. Yes, even without Damien Duff.
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A European Night in Inchicore. 🔴⚪️🟡
The March, The Display and the Atmosphere. Thank you to everyone that was involved and to those that bought a t-shirt in support! pic.twitter.com/aTJOfLDpPn
The rawness and the originality of what League of Ireland fans are producing around the country is what those promoting the game here should be tapping into. Rockshore’s recent television ad with Roy Keane fell flat [insert your own Diageo-related joke here] because such personalities, even a former Cobh Ramblers players who remains a regular visitor to Cork, are not the connection fans crave.
Even little things within that ad irked, like the radio announcer’s declaration that “while the football might be over in England, back home it’s still all to play for.”
The 42 reported last month that RTÉ spent in the region of €50,000 to show the first leg of Shels’ tie with Linfield. That cost is understood to have been split between the match fee – estimated to be between €15,000-20,000 – and production costs which would have included the VAR system in operation.
Declan McBennett is the man who makes the decisions when it comes to sport at RTÉ and in last weekend’s Sunday Independent he sought a right of reply to a critical column in a previous edition.
A lengthy interview followed, and there would have been a time when some of his comments caused a lot more anger or concern for those who value the League of Ireland.
But not anymore.
Not since 16 January, when The 42 confirmed that Virgin Media had trumped RTÉ by putting together a package for four years that would guarantee one televised game per week. That was despite RTÉ putting out a press release beforehand stating they would show Premier Division while negotiations were still taking place and no offer had even been submitted.
“It wasn’t a commercial thing. We weren’t in a position to do 36 games. It didn’t make sense for us,” McBennett said, before he was asked directly whether there was a public service requirement to do so.
“We were disappointed to lose the League of Ireland. The clubs ultimately decided to go with the 36. The wisdom of that decision…”
McBennett might have hinted that it was unwise for clubs to want one game a week throughout the season rather than sporadic fixtures and lengthy gaps in the schedule, but sources have confirmed that every one of the games shown by Virgin so far this season have had well over 5% of audience share.
That’s an important figure because, as explained last year, that is the minimum TV viewership threshold which must also be met as “under EU Regulations, member states are allowed to designate certain sporting and cultural events as being of major importance to society and to ensure that they are available on free to air television service on a live or deferred basis”.
RTÉ did not show one League of Ireland club in European action last season – including Shamrock Rovers’ run to the knockout stages of the Conference League – so prior to Wednesday’s televised game, the Hoops’ tie with Breidablik in July 2023 was the last game shown in Europe by the broadcaster. The average audience was 100,000 with a reach of 378,000 and secured an 11% share.
Shelbourne fans on Wednesday night. Ryan Byrne / INPHO
Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO
TV figures for last season in the Premier Division also increased by 42% on 2023.
At the time of publication today RTÉ had not responded to a request for the audience figures for Wednesday night, and while they will not broadcast the second leg in Windsor Park the national broadcaster did at least confirm a new two-year deal in May to broadcast the FAI Cup. It will see RTÉ 2 and the RTÉ Player show six games for the first time in this season’s competition and seven during 2026.
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Perhaps that is a more palatable amount to deal with in a packed schedule of rights for RTÉ, especially as earlier in that Sunday Independent interview McBennett provided a far more enthralling answer to the role of RTÉ in showcasing Gaelic games given criticism that has come his way on how those matches are divvied up.
“Sport is very expensive. But for RTÉ, specifically with regard to the GAA, there is something more important than the commercial return, which is the public value,” he said.
“This is our game. This is our DNA. It should never be a plus and minus in the euro columns in terms of we pay for this and therefore we must make this back. I think there will always be a public service remit that says this is beyond simply financial terms.”
That’s a revealing assessment of how the most powerful man in sports broadcasting distinguishes between his responsibilities to the two biggest sports in this country.
There are thousands who feel the League of Ireland is part of their DNA, and that number is only going to grow as those on the ground drive a culture change for the game.
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Roy Keane ad and RTÉ boss miss the point as League of Ireland fans drive culture change
THIS WEEK’S EUROPEAN games were a timely reminder of a vibrant and inclusive fan culture in the League of Ireland.
Just a few days after the national broadcaster’s head of sport showed a glaring blind spot for a cultural shift in the game in this country, supporters of Shelbourne and St Patrick’s Athletic provided a colourful and loud example of how it is growing from the bottom up.
It’s an organic rise led by young match-going supporters.
An hour or so before kick-off at Richmond Park last night, the sound of hundreds of St Pat’s fans marching up Emmet Road chanting for their team reverberated around that corner of Inchicore.
The game was a 2,500 sell-out, the capacity reduced due to Uefa restrictions on terraced areas in the Uefa Conference League first-round qualifier. Such support came at a time when Pat’s hadn’t won a game since May and had scored just one goal in over 10 hours of football.
The tifo display – inspired by Christy Moore’s Joxer Goes to Stuttgart – that covered two stands was fantastic, and followed on from a similarly impassioned arrangement at Tolka Park on Wednesday night when Shels beat Linfield 1-0 in the first leg of their Champions League first-round qualifier.
The noise, the organisation, even the JJ Lunney song to the tune of Lady Gaga’s song ‘Paparazzi’ were examples of a fan culture that is thriving. Yes, even without Damien Duff.
The rawness and the originality of what League of Ireland fans are producing around the country is what those promoting the game here should be tapping into. Rockshore’s recent television ad with Roy Keane fell flat [insert your own Diageo-related joke here] because such personalities, even a former Cobh Ramblers players who remains a regular visitor to Cork, are not the connection fans crave.
Even little things within that ad irked, like the radio announcer’s declaration that “while the football might be over in England, back home it’s still all to play for.”
The 42 reported last month that RTÉ spent in the region of €50,000 to show the first leg of Shels’ tie with Linfield. That cost is understood to have been split between the match fee – estimated to be between €15,000-20,000 – and production costs which would have included the VAR system in operation.
Declan McBennett is the man who makes the decisions when it comes to sport at RTÉ and in last weekend’s Sunday Independent he sought a right of reply to a critical column in a previous edition.
A lengthy interview followed, and there would have been a time when some of his comments caused a lot more anger or concern for those who value the League of Ireland.
But not anymore.
Not since 16 January, when The 42 confirmed that Virgin Media had trumped RTÉ by putting together a package for four years that would guarantee one televised game per week. That was despite RTÉ putting out a press release beforehand stating they would show Premier Division while negotiations were still taking place and no offer had even been submitted.
“It wasn’t a commercial thing. We weren’t in a position to do 36 games. It didn’t make sense for us,” McBennett said, before he was asked directly whether there was a public service requirement to do so.
“We were disappointed to lose the League of Ireland. The clubs ultimately decided to go with the 36. The wisdom of that decision…”
The answer trailed off.
It was August last year when we detailed some of the issues relating to TV coverage.
McBennett might have hinted that it was unwise for clubs to want one game a week throughout the season rather than sporadic fixtures and lengthy gaps in the schedule, but sources have confirmed that every one of the games shown by Virgin so far this season have had well over 5% of audience share.
That’s an important figure because, as explained last year, that is the minimum TV viewership threshold which must also be met as “under EU Regulations, member states are allowed to designate certain sporting and cultural events as being of major importance to society and to ensure that they are available on free to air television service on a live or deferred basis”.
RTÉ did not show one League of Ireland club in European action last season – including Shamrock Rovers’ run to the knockout stages of the Conference League – so prior to Wednesday’s televised game, the Hoops’ tie with Breidablik in July 2023 was the last game shown in Europe by the broadcaster. The average audience was 100,000 with a reach of 378,000 and secured an 11% share.
TV figures for last season in the Premier Division also increased by 42% on 2023.
At the time of publication today RTÉ had not responded to a request for the audience figures for Wednesday night, and while they will not broadcast the second leg in Windsor Park the national broadcaster did at least confirm a new two-year deal in May to broadcast the FAI Cup. It will see RTÉ 2 and the RTÉ Player show six games for the first time in this season’s competition and seven during 2026.
Perhaps that is a more palatable amount to deal with in a packed schedule of rights for RTÉ, especially as earlier in that Sunday Independent interview McBennett provided a far more enthralling answer to the role of RTÉ in showcasing Gaelic games given criticism that has come his way on how those matches are divvied up.
“Sport is very expensive. But for RTÉ, specifically with regard to the GAA, there is something more important than the commercial return, which is the public value,” he said.
“This is our game. This is our DNA. It should never be a plus and minus in the euro columns in terms of we pay for this and therefore we must make this back. I think there will always be a public service remit that says this is beyond simply financial terms.”
That’s a revealing assessment of how the most powerful man in sports broadcasting distinguishes between his responsibilities to the two biggest sports in this country.
There are thousands who feel the League of Ireland is part of their DNA, and that number is only going to grow as those on the ground drive a culture change for the game.
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League of Ireland Soccer THE BEAT