Exactly.
This is the time of year that 'The GAA is doomed' type headlines appear.
People have to write about something I suppose.

Coylers Elbow (Meath) - Posts: 1075 - 21/12/2011 16:39:49    1086864

how many times does this discussion have to be done. football is the most played and participated sport in the country, and by quite a distance, and has the most registered players to prove it. local attendances are poor though, but thats because half the country follows the league accross the water.

.....but GAA is the highest attended sport every year.

rugby is miles behind both

32_4_1 (Meath) - Posts: 4211 - 21/12/2011 19:42:42    1086926

By Meath

...., and has the most registered players to prove it. local attendances are poor though, but thats because half the country follows the league accross the water.


Have you got a source for your point about having 'most registered players to prove it'? As far I know the survey being discussed here is about sport in Ireland. It appears that the English FA is the GAA's biggest threat and not Irish soccer. That should be stated clearer in the survey.

Culann (Dublin) - Posts: 2306 - 21/12/2011 20:09:07    1086937

the greatest threat to the gaa is tv, internet and alcohol when players hit 16

the vast majority of sports fans/players enjoys a wide variety of sports, its to be encouraged. the best players play a wide variety of sports particularly when young, enhances different skills which makes a better player

Shin_kicker (Dublin) - Posts: 50 - 21/12/2011 20:28:01    1086946

Oh would you all stop, gaa will always be number 1 in this country,end of.

clondalkindub (Dublin) - Posts: 9926 - 21/12/2011 21:09:24    1086962

Clondalkin , GAA is not even the near as big as soccer in clondalkin so do not know why you would be saying that . I think with this whole survey there is probably a big rural and urban divide , in the country the GAA is the biggest sport but in the urban areas soccer is by the far the most supported and played sport , as regards rugby they are starting to make inroads in many parts of the country as they shed their percieved elitist image , I think rugby is starting to make progress in counties that dont have much GAA sucess like Carlow and younger kids have a team like Leinster to support and that are getting sucess.

tinrylandman (Carlow) - Posts: 387 - 21/12/2011 21:47:44    1086969

No .... Carlow man, I've said on here before that soccer is the number 1 game in Dublin but the gaa is still and will always be number 1 in Ireland

clondalkindub (Dublin) - Posts: 9926 - 21/12/2011 22:00:55    1086970

these surveys are pointless, would you consider someone who sits in their local on a sunday watching soccer a sports follower, it's all about bums on seats, and as a spectator sport gaa is streets ahead of the rest, rugby is well followed at provincial level for the heiniken cup and such, but at club level it has a very poor following likewise soccer

Barrowsider (Carlow) - Posts: 1749 - 22/12/2011 09:52:40    1086993

tinrylandman, Soccer isn't necessarily the most popular sport in urban areas. Take Newbridge for example. It has two successful senior Gaelic football teams with two junior clubs acouple of Kilometres to the east and west of the town. There was until about 3 years ago an eircom league team, Kildare County in Newbridge but it folded due to lack of support among other reasons. If all the premiership supporters in the town had bothered supporting Kildare County thay would most probably still be around today. This survey in relation to soccer is distorted in that it fails to distinguish between mainly barstool premiership supporters and real supporters who pay to see domestic games in Ireland.The latter is relatively low compared to the former.

lilywhite1 (Kildare) - Posts: 3070 - 22/12/2011 14:24:39    1087116

Enough of this non sport rugger waffle.Lets concentrate on what this website was set up for. GAA sports.

Real Kerry Fan (None) - Posts: 2957 - 22/12/2011 15:08:00    1087134

Because soccer is on our screens 9 months of the year (10 months every second year)alot of people like tinrylandman will get in line and buy into the hype and its almost inevitable that it will become the most supported sport,but do English teams count?Support for Irish soccer teams seems to be dismal compared to Gaa teams throughout the entire country,not just in rural areas.As for rugby,they are getting good attendances,but seeing as how irish teams have won 4 of the last 6 European cups, as well as that fantastic grand slam in 2009,this may be a peak for them (if success deserts leinster eventually,I dont see leinster fans showing the same loyalty to their team as munster fans)

TheRoad (Galway) - Posts: 1339 - 22/12/2011 16:37:14    1087166

gaa most popular by a mile in terms of participation and attendence. soccer 2nd most popular and perhaps biggest for participation for younger people and a very popular sport to watch but nobody watches local irish soccer......rugby is popular to watch but has very low numbers playing and is largely a bandwagon thing....doesn't really exist outside the pale in leinster.

ffgg (Longford) - Posts: 2571 - 22/12/2011 17:18:51    1087185

what this survey realy shows is the amount of media coverage each sport gets in ireland not which is the most popular.
british soccer always gets the most media coverage in ireland even in summer because 90 % of irelands media is british owned.
also is exactly the way every national(supposed to be irish national) paper is layed out soccer is at the back pages gaa next then rugby then golf then horse racing.
because the media puts 1 sport ahead of another makes people inclined to think that that sport must have more popularity.the media does this because of sponsorships with each sports body.
people suggesting that this survey must be done in dublin and that soccer is the preffered sport in dublin would be way out on that thaught.
just look at the publicity in dublin newspapers before dublin matches,look at the attendances in the 3 main sports dublin footballers are the best supported team in ireland let alone dublin.leinster would be 2nd and then if you included all the league of ireland clubs together as one they would still fall into third spot.
surely attendance is a far better way of judging a sports popularity then surveying a few people in an area who probably answered the question of which they think is more popular instead of which sport they prefer best.tv viewing figures show the gaa is way ahead of soccer and rugby.even taking the international tems into the equation the irish soccer team has not filled the aviva stadium since its been revamped.

hill16no1man (Dublin) - Posts: 12665 - 22/12/2011 17:25:46    1087187

also its worth noting while leinster are enjoying a period of success in their sport it has led to an increase in support the numbers were not their supporting them when they were not a top team compare that with the dublin footballers who had not reached or won an all ireland final in 16 years but support levels remained and increased during the naughtys,it would be intresting to see when leinster have a dip in their current form if supporters will remain attending as is the current case with munster a few years back tduring their success they were filling thomand park regularly but the support levels have dropped and only the scarlets match has been a sell out so far and at that you could get a ticket quite easily on the day in limerick city

hill16no1man (Dublin) - Posts: 12665 - 22/12/2011 17:32:30    1087192

ffgg, "doesn't really exist outside the pale in leinster"

I think the Munster boys would have something about that statement as well as Connacht and Ulster.

lilywhite1 (Kildare) - Posts: 3070 - 22/12/2011 17:49:46    1087195

A factor that I ommitted above is that a large % of premiership supporters are also GAA supporters and come the summer time actually go to GAA games though they tend not to be involved in clubs.

lilywhite1 (Kildare) - Posts: 3070 - 22/12/2011 17:57:35    1087197

ffgg
County: Longford
Posts: 206

Not inside the Pale as you call it, either, the west and north of the city is a rugby wasteland with NO rugby being even watched in the bars. This survey seems to be about the numbers watching the games. The only way a sport thrives is if people play it and support and in that regard the GAA is simply a few light years ahead of every other sport in Ireland.

arock (Dublin) - Posts: 4968 - 22/12/2011 18:19:49    1087204

lilywhite i am discussing rugby purely in leinster

ffgg (Longford) - Posts: 2571 - 22/12/2011 18:25:12    1087206

Hill I don't want to start this again, but Dublin is a soccer county then Gaelic football.

clondalkindub (Dublin) - Posts: 9926 - 22/12/2011 19:18:21    1087234

the only people who seem to believe rugby is anywhere close to gaa are people inside the pale and the media as non-followers of rugby in the pale have to deal with the fact that it gets rammed down their throats all the time

ffgg (Longford) - Posts: 2571 - 22/12/2011 19:44:58    1087245