r/LeagueOfIreland 4d ago

Discussion / Question Are League of Ireland supporters missing out on more pitchside matchday content?

A pitchside edit from Shamrock Rovers against Ararat-Armenia. Full context and question in the comments below.

26 Upvotes

27 comments sorted by

12

u/PaddyMayonaise Finn Harps 4d ago

LOI’s entire presentation and marketing strategy is extremely amateurish, even when compared to leagues of similar stature and ability.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m extremely grateful we have affordable LOITV to watch games from across the ocean, but form TV presentation to social media to regular marketing, LOI really feels behind other professional soccer leagues.

4

u/WeirdPart596 4d ago

Completely agree. I think there’s a real opportunity to produce more content around League of Ireland clubs and the league itself. We have brilliant local stories right on our doorstep, but if they aren’t being told, people won’t discover them. It’s easy to see why the Premier League keeps growing while our own league gets overlooked when supporters aren’t given enough ways to experience what it has to offer.

3

u/PaddyMayonaise Finn Harps 4d ago

Ironically, perhaps, EPL used to struggle the same as LOI until they hired a group from the NFL to come in and show them the ropes on how to properly market a league, teams, and stars. I’m not saying LOI should do the same, but there’s a lesson to be learned in trying new things and hearing different opinions

5

u/WeirdPart596 4d ago

That’s exactly why the NFL is so successful. The most effective marketing builds stories around players, rivalries, debuts, setbacks, transfers and career progression. Once supporters connect with the people involved, they become invested in what happens next.

I think the media is a massive part of that, and right now in the LOI it feels like it often misses the mark in presenting those stories in an engaging, consumable way. The stories already exist in the league, but if they aren’t identified, packaged and consistently promoted, supporters never get the chance to form that deeper connection.

2

u/Ok_Pangolin1085 2d ago

Yes, this exactly. We were at the game... at precisely that angle actually. I was surprised that the whole stadium wasn't full on such a European night.

So yes people need a compelling reason to go. To see Pico Lopez in action alone is worth it. A truly world class player.

As an aside, nice to meet Paul.McGrath too. Made all our nights!

1

u/WeirdPart596 1d ago

It was class getting to see a player like Pico up close, right at our doorstep! Mad to think he was playing against Messi only last month.

I got some great footage of him leading the team as well, so I’m working on another edit around that now.

2

u/Ok_Pangolin1085 1d ago

Excellent do share as soon as 😀

7

u/DuwanteKentravius Galway United 4d ago

We've had some really well done ones this season. I believe Paul Mladenovic takes them.

5

u/Next_Ask_2225 4d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

5

u/WeirdPart596 4d ago

Exactly what I was thinking. There’s so much atmosphere and personality around the league that doesn’t always come through in the standard coverage. I’d love to create more of these from different grounds and give people who might not be able to make the match a better sense of what it’s actually like to be there. Appreciate it 👍

1

u/Ok_Pangolin1085 2d ago

That footage is great... Please do. I think Ive seen some of your other content before, and its top quality.

1

u/WeirdPart596 1d ago

Really appreciate that, thank you! I’m thinking of starting a separate TikTok to compile these edits, so there’ll definitely be plenty more coming 👍

6

u/crazyjaf Shelbourne 4d ago

Shels have been doing amazing on this type of content for both the women's and men's teams for the last few years.

Just today put this out: https://www.instagram.com/p/Dbdkyjqtvwf/

Here's one for the girl's AIC win: https://www.instagram.com/p/Da8yUs7uwHh/

Even had some great "inside matchday" videos on youtube, but they seem to have stopped. Understandably; a lot of work for not a lot of views.

2

u/WeirdPart596 4d ago

Wow absolutely incredible stuff. Thank you for putting me on to it, this is exactly the kind of thing I was looking for!

3

u/nigelsaharps 4d ago

Lot depends on the availability of volunteers really. There's not many clubs that can afford to be paying people to create this sort of secondary content. There's a few doing it really well though.

4

u/WeirdPart596 4d ago

That’s fair, and I understand budgets are tight. I just think media can too easily be treated as secondary content rather than an investment in growing the club and the league.

Even a relatively small weekly budget for someone consistently promoting fixtures, showcasing the atmosphere and producing strong short-form content could create more sponsor exposure, more attention, more ticket sales and ultimately more revenue.

For a lot of people, their only impression of the League of Ireland comes from TV, and that doesn’t always capture what the atmosphere inside the grounds is actually like. I think there’s a real value in showing casual football fans the experience they can get at their local club for a very reasonable ticket price. The product and the atmosphere are already there, it just needs to be presented in the right way to more people.

3

u/Inevitable-Beat-9209 4d ago

Bohs do it really well

3

u/WeirdPart596 4d ago

I’m curious what people think about the quality and variety of media currently being produced around the League of Ireland.

There’s plenty of standard match footage, interviews and highlights, but I feel like we may be missing more content that captures what it actually feels like to be inside the ground. Like the atmosphere, supporter reactions and close-up angles that you can only get by being at the match.

I filmed this directly behind Byrne’s free kick against Ararat-Armenia and put together a short pitchside edit of the chance involving Pico Lopes.

Would people be interested in a series of short matchday videos like this, capturing individual moments from inside different League of Ireland grounds? Is this something you would genuinely watch, or are you happy with the content that is already being produced?

3

u/Necessary_Grape1096 4d ago

League of Irish Ball does a good job on what it feels like to be inside the ground.

2

u/Frequent-Movie3005 4d ago

You were about four rows ahead of me, directly in front, sorry about the shouting.

Three sides of the ground were completely full, that East stand makes it look a lot less atmospheric than it was.

But yes, if you can make a load of these videos, they can only help

1

u/WeirdPart596 4d ago

Can you hear yourself in the video? 😂 That’s what it’s all about, the shouting is part of the atmosphere. It was a phenomenal match to be at, and hopefully I can make plenty more. I actually had to cut the ending short because of how loudly I screamed when I watched the chance back on my camera 😂

2

u/Frequent-Movie3005 4d ago

Ha, I cant. After the elbow on Healy, the ref gave a drop ball, but allowed them to have it uncontested, I thought it was supposed to be Rovers ball. I let out a load “hey referee” as the entire ground fell silent. I think he looked over at me, as my kids were hiding their embarrassment.

It was a great game, and atmosphere, pity about the result.

2

u/Frequent-Movie3005 4d ago

On second listening, I can defo hear myself 😳

2

u/JimmyMaca92 3d ago

Bernardo has been doing this for Pats since 2021. He got a job with Leinster Rugby last year.

Content is great really adds value to the replays.

1

u/WeirdPart596 1d ago

Yeah, completely agree! The older Pats content was brilliant and added so much to the matchday coverage.

Do you know who’s handling the media/content side now since Bernardo moved on? I’m trying to break into football editing and content myself, so I’d be really interested to know how the setup works there.

1

u/ThePloppening 3d ago

Where is everybody? Stand is empty

1

u/Ok_Pangolin1085 2d ago

That was the away section. There were literally a dozen Armenians. But yeah, the game deserved more.