Settle an arguement lads: Having watched Barcelona Chelsea last night I had a discussion with one of the lads over which was the more difficult sport. I wasn't sure if I should have put this on the non-Gaa forum or not but I'm sure the admins will take care of it as they see fit.

I personally prefer Gaelic football. Call it patriotism, pride in parish, following your county etc. There is nothing better than landing a big point from out the field or twining the odd goal. Now don't get me wrong I play soccer as well and have hit the onion bag a few times for the local side. It doesn't come close in terms of sense of pride however, than shaking the cobwebs in the auld GA.

I will say this however. Gaelic football is an easier sport to play in terms of the basic skills. They can (relatively) easily be picked up as can be seen & heard from the various stories of foreign nationals taking up our games. Gaelic Games are certainly more physical and I've lost count of the number of times I've wished that I could put that gelled tumbler Ronaldo on a hurling pitch some day.

However it is my opinion that soccer is definitely a more difficult sport technically, positionally and tactically.

Any opinions?

Lockjaw (Donegal) - Posts: 9770 - 29/04/2009 10:34:31    270957

Soccer is far superior sport in all respects. It is more skilful, more difficult to play and is also better for all-round entertainment

whiterbannnas (Mayo) - Posts: 2441 - 29/04/2009 11:08:28    270994

I've played Gaelic football, soccer & hurling & I think Gaelic football is a far more difficult game to play than the other 2. You have to be constantly moving position, catching the ball is more difficult, it is a lot more physical and there is no clearly defined tackle. I'd play hurling or soccer any day over Gaelic football.

slayer (Limerick) - Posts: 6480 - 29/04/2009 11:28:39    271011

soccer boys dont know what a tackle is. if they were tackled by bellew, fay or o'mahony theyd soon know what theyre in for!

gaelic_life (Down) - Posts: 286 - 29/04/2009 11:44:23    271027

One thing I have noticed is the huge amount of hurlers who when asked in programme profiles for their second favourite sport pick soccer! And not just in counties where football is weak like KK but in Dublin and Cork. I wouldn't sit down to watch most televised matches but do watch important games at top of Premiership and in Champions LEague. And to be honest I spent more time watching Man U on Saturday than the Tipp/Down game that was on same time.

hurlingdub (Dublin) - Posts: 6978 - 29/04/2009 11:48:32    271029

I would and have watched the GAA on TG4 live from the Islands...Club football off the coast of Galway/Donegal while there has been premiership soccer on Sky!! I am not looking for Kudos for this, I just wayyyyy prefer GAA no what level. There is a GAA pitch literally across the road from me in my estate and i often go down to watch games from seniors down to U/12'S ! I love Gaelic Football.
I grew up a soccer fanatic. Loved it, played it and watched it also but I have grown out of it, like my mother said I would!!!! Gaelic Football all the way. If you were to offer me a choice of Ireland win the world cup, european championships and beat England in both finals, or Dublin beat Meath with no guarantees after that.....I would take the latter, every single time!!
As for which is harder to play......any sport where Jimi Traore/Igor Biscan/Daivd May and Victor Valdes can win the absolute top medal possible at club level, and Sefan Guivarche, Fabian Barthez and Christophe Dugarry can win the absolute top possible medal in the world, well.....it cant be that skillful now, can it!!!

Liamwalkinstown (Dublin) - Posts: 8166 - 29/04/2009 12:17:23    271059

soccer is definatley the most technically challenging, in gaelic you have the ball in your hands so can look around comfortably in soccer its always in open play so getting your head up in much harder. also we catch the ball in gaelic in soccer you have to control it into spce to awareness of your surroundings is vital. always think its ironic when i was younger soccer coaches said when the ball is comin towards you look around and get a picture of whats going on, in gaelci i was taught not to take my eyes off the ball

speedy12 (Fermanagh) - Posts: 592 - 29/04/2009 12:32:11    271073

After football and hurling, soccer is my next favourite sport. For a very young lad soccer is easier to start off with as basically the first thing is kick the ball along the ground. In football at the beginning you have to learn catching and kicking of the hand. Probably soccer is harder later on in life. But anyway football will always be my no. 1.

Real Kerry Fan (None) - Posts: 2957 - 29/04/2009 12:52:27    271099

Fermanagh boy, who ever told you to keep your eyes on the ball, was not a good Gaelic football coach. Awareness of your surroundings is a prerequisite to getting the ball, sorry you missed out on that. Fortunately your soccer coach had vision and you listened. Soccer is a great game but I think Gaelic involves more skill-overall. Hitting a target (teammate) sprinting diagonally 45 yards downfield is a very underrated quality of Gaelic. In soccer, a 15 yard back pass is heralded as 'brilliant'. No offense to soccer, it is one of my favorite sports. But I think Gaelic gets the short end of the stick because soccer has been elevated to another level by the media. And given the 'beautiful game' moniker and fabulous marketing, it has sublimely been put on a higher level. Soloing is an art (so is a good dribble), both are great games but I'll still opt for Gaelic. I only wish that the tactics of diving and feigning of injury, conjured up by continental twits, is eradicated from Gaelic games. It is simply cheating, not sport. Having said that, I will continue to watch the EPL, Euro Camps league and GAA and enjoy them all. These are games, enjoy and learn from them all.

lostintime (USA) - Posts: 533 - 29/04/2009 13:01:39    271109

Re lostintime

The cheating you refer to created by "continental twits". You have to remember that inherent in much of Latin Europe (Spain especially), the ability to use streetsmarts (for want of a better word) in order to gain an advantage is applauded. That is why, if you're watching Spanish soccer and a diving player has won a penalty you will rarely see the opposing defence getting on his case. They will instead approach the referee to highlight their anger with the decision.

I have to laugh when I hear English commentators infer that the emergence of diving in the Premiership coincided with the vast influx of foreign players over the last decade or more. Talk about having your cake and eating it. Technically the Premiership is 10 times more technically advanced than it was previously. Maybe the foreign players did introduce a diving culture but certainly you could say that some of the home based guys managed to take to it like a duck to water.

One thing I can't abide is seeing it on a Gaelic pitch & I've seen it happen at county and club games. In my eyes this is more a blight on our games than any sin bin, blanket defence, whatever other new buzzwords, hair-brained schemes we've had to endure lately.

Lockjaw (Donegal) - Posts: 9770 - 29/04/2009 13:36:55    271154

Liam - its easy to pick out the bad players in soccer winning stuff, you forget to mention the GAA players who weren't up to much Soccer way harder to play. GAA is more down to fitness and physicality while soccer is more down to skill. Controlling the ball in soccer whilst still giving yourself room from other players to pick out the next pass is way more difficult than catching a ball in football and preparing yourself for an immediate hard hit, no question. That said, way prefer football regardless. Golf is way more difficult than either football or soccer yet way worse to watch. Its all about the excitement factor

jason (Mayo) - Posts: 139 - 29/04/2009 13:45:06    271164

gaa then soccer.

OLLIE (Louth) - Posts: 12224 - 29/04/2009 13:46:19    271165

Although gaelic will alwys be my favourite sport both to play and watch,Soccer is the more difficult game to play technically. If a ball is coming to you at pace it can be quite difficult to control while in gaelic football you simply catch it. Also you have to work the ball in relatively close to the goal to have a chance of scoring where in gaelic you can have a shot from 40-50 metres.
Defending in soccer is an ar. As well as keeping an eye on a man you need to be in line with the other defenders at all times,however, tackling is easier in soccer as it is clearly defined.


The thing that most makes soccer more difficult to play than gaelic is the referees. While a lot of people may think that the quality of refereeing is poor at club level in gaelic, believe me it is worse in soccer. I currently play in the sligo/leitrim league but have previously played in 2 other leagues and almost every ref I have come across goes on something of a power trip from the moment they arrive at the match (i have seen refs shout out their car windows that if a parking space beside the changing rooms is not vacated then they will leave and the match postponed). The best way to describe them would be as mini Hitlers who are intent on taking all enjoyment out of the game for the players.

Dr.Shephard (Leitrim) - Posts: 2187 - 29/04/2009 13:56:23    271179

Lockjaw, you are correct in that using 'street smarts' on a sports field are accepted by certain cultures. But, I will always maintain that such behaviour should not be accepted in sport. Also, the EPL (and I include other divisions) did adapt like ducks to water to this ploy. But it takes away from true sportsmanship. The GAA and the media must exert their influence to try and get these tactics out of Gaelic games. Players and their mentors should be held accountable, some mode of discipline should be adopted to rid us of these tactics.

lostintime (USA) - Posts: 533 - 29/04/2009 13:59:11    271183

Like yourself LiamWalkinstown I grew up with soccer but would rather see a U10 hurling/football game now than most soccer games. Technically with offside rules and different formations it may be more difficult but there are so few players that have the skills that most games are poor viewing. At a U11 schools soccer match recently and there were few skills on show, or encouraged and absolutely no physical contact allowed. The shout from the sideline was 'get rid of it'. To try and get young ones to correctly puck, solo or catch a ball is as difficult as any soccer skills.

RoverTin (Derry) - Posts: 228 - 29/04/2009 14:34:59    271220

lostintime

I agree totally, the bottom line is that these bucks are cheating plain & simple regardless as to what culture they were brought up in.

Lockjaw (Donegal) - Posts: 9770 - 29/04/2009 14:49:05    271241

Soccer-the sport for those with little or no intelligence.

ChungLad (Longford) - Posts: 351 - 29/04/2009 15:06:09    271262

Gaelic is far more physically demanding even though soccer plays an extra 20/30 mins.

SantaClaus (Cavan) - Posts: 108 - 29/04/2009 15:18:41    271278

People that play soccer in my town were rubbish gaelic players, and also a lot softer... also a support when the best team can lose is a bad sport

shaggylegend (Monaghan) - Posts: 1948 - 29/04/2009 16:03:30    271330

I rathered playing and watching Gaelic football as opposed to soccer. I enjoy soccer but not to the same extent.

Fredthered (Donegal) - Posts: 1144 - 29/04/2009 16:09:52    271342