Ireland following MLS

Why is it that the sport's "traditionalists" pick on the US for calling it "soccer" when in Ireland (and other countries, too) they do the same thing?

Anyway, yeah, gotta wonder if MLS was a model for this.

 

i don't think they know what MLS is.

 

I thought this was going to involve Kathy Ireland

 

You were mistaken.

Almost certainly because Ireland has a very old and prominant gaelic game (and very entertaining by the way) called Irish Football. It's actually much more popular than soccer - at least among the older generations (meaning, not teens and kids). I'd be curious to found out if the Aussies don't also call it soccer. Wouldn't be surprised if they do.

All this has been talked about before, but the knock on the U.S. for using the word "soccer" is, and has always been, just plain silly.

Anyway, can't see why the idea of a summer league in Ireland makes any less sense than it does here. The weather's actually a bit cooler, although rainy.

 

aussies call it soccer b/c they call their rugby football.

 

What has this to with MLS ?
Dont they also have a summer league in some of the Scandanavian coutries and the old USSR ?

 

It seems they call rugby "rugby" and "football" is Australian rules football.

Australian Football League (not rugby)
http://afl.com.au/

Rugby League in Australia
http://www.nrl.com.au/

Rugby Union in Australia
http://www.rugby.com.au/central/main.asp?sectionID=1

 

i think there are a number of European leagues that play through the summer. not everything has to do with MLS.

 

I wasn't asking why Ireland calls it soccer. I know about Gaelic Football. I know about Aussie Rules, too. I know the English derivation of the term soccer. I know that it would be stupid for us to call it "football" since we already have a sport that goes by that name.

My question is why, for example, on a FSW EPL broadcast a couple of weeks ago, the announcer said, when referring to the US's status as a football playing nation, "or soccer (said in a fake American accent), as they insist on calling it."

There are Irish players in the EPL (lots of them), Aussies in the EPL (quite a few). Their home countries call is soccer, too. Yet I've heard no cracks about their "bastardization" of the sport's name. Why not?

 

I stand corrected.

Well I guess you've proved a few poster's point (that this thread is irrelevent) since you know all the important facts and your question is unanswerable.

I feel a little foolish now...

 

Did you read the story? They very clearly explain why.

"... disappointing crowds and a poor record in UEFA club competition have caused an about turn, ..."

"The hope is that fans will be more willing to leave their armchairs to go and watch football on balmy summer evenings than on cold wintry nights."

" ... league officials hope the public will react well to the switch - and that the quality of football will be improved as the pitches will be in better condition in the summer."

 

The nick name for the Australian NT is "Socceroos". Their professional league is called Australian National Soccer League. Basically, all rugby-playing nations call the sport "soccer". I know as a fact that soccer is the proper name for the sport in the following English-speaking countries -- Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, Canada, the USA and Ireland. The United Kingdom is the only exceptional, but I have been told that the rugby fans in England also use word "soccer". Tony Blaire himself actually uses the word "soccer" in interviews I had seen him. I would say India is the only English-speaking country where they do not use the word "soccer".

 

Only an Irishman would probably argue so fine a point, but Ireland isn't really a Rugby playing nation. Irish Football would never be confused with rugby.

 

that's correct. The leagues in former USSR, parts of Scandanavia(at least some leagues), parts of Latin America, Japan, Korea and China play in the summer.

 

As their performance against England in the Six Nations last week would seem to indicate.

All things considered, this could be a good thing for them to try. Nobody cares now, and there's little harm.

 

I would expect an Irish rugby team to do about as well as an American cricket team. Haven't been tracking how well the Brits have done in the gaelic games lately.

The Irish summer league seems like a good enough idea too me, since the fall in Ireland can be brutal. Too bad they couldn't give MLS-style salary control a shot as well, but this would never fly in the UK.

 

Not quite right. I don't think the US is even a test-playing nation in cricket (isn't that what they call it?), so doesn't face international competition or even attempt to compete in the Cricket World Cup.

Ireland, on the other hand, finished second in this year's Six Nations rugby competition (behind England, but ahead of France, Italy, Scotland, and Wales -- Ireland last won it in '85). They're also ranked third in the world! (http://wrr.live.com/). About their chances in this year's Rugby World Cup, the BBC said, "If they can put the defeat against England to the back of their minds, they have every reason to be feared when they board the plane in October."

(A note about US Rugby -- the Eagles can qualify for the final spot in the World Cup if we win a home-and-away playoff with Spain that begins in Madrid tomorrow).

 

Gaelic Football! hail to the green and red

----


Uh oh. Someone tell Noah Dahl that the irish league is ripping off Inter Milan and AC Milan too! And celtic and Barcelona! this is terrible and can't be stood for!

 

Really? The game's fairly hard up then if the second-best team in the Northern Hemisphere, third in the world, who also happens to be a founder member of the Five (or Six, as it now is) Nations, and has quite a few of the best players in the world, isn't really a rugby playing nation. Then again, it *is* our fourth sport, after Gaelic, hurling, and soccer. Maybe that's what you meant.....it couldn't be that you just didn't know what you were talking about.

(Gaelic, btw - I'd never in my life heard it called "Irish football" until I read this thread. On a mildly related note, HalaMadrid's pic shows the teams of the eircom (soccer) Premier and First Divisions - NOT the Gaelic football teams! Watch Harps rip up the table this season )

Back to the switch to summer soccer - a lot of it was due to the practical problems of playing in winter. Anyone who's been to Finn Park in October/November/December/January/February/anytime it rains (which is often) will know that it ain't pretty - more mud than grass. This obviously makes it harder to play good football, and between the weather and the quality, some people preferred to stay in and watch highlights of the Premiership on a Saturday. The move to summer should fix all that (and the early signs are that it's working), and hopefully enable more of our clubs to turn fully professional.

I haven't heard MLS mentioned relating to it - the models were the Scandinavian leagues - especially since they kept getting the jump on us in European competition because they were in the middle of their league seasons, which was another factor in the decision.

 

Well to be honest, yes it could. But where my family's from they never really talk about it - at least to me.

Aye, but yer a bit of a brash lad there now aren't you? Again the phrase has often been used when talking to me (maybe because I'm American). But see the note above.

I guess they just humor me when I use it. I'll be sure to soundly correct them next time.

Left looking foolish for the second time in the same thread, this time by a member of a race renowned for it's sociability and good-humor. I surely must be slipping...

 

I know it is the Eircom League teams. That's why there is a seperation between the Gaelic football part of the post and the soccer part which is more of a reference to some of the kneejerk reactions to uniform styles in the MLS.

 

Sorry, I didn't mean to come across as hostile - twas just one of those days. I'd invite you out for a drink to make up for it, but...y'know.....the whole ocean thing might get in the way

 

It took some searching but it appears we won 63-13. The home leg is April 27 at ... Lockhart!

http://www.rugbyworld.com/stats/mat...nament_code=international&setCode=&navCode=ZP