hi Eamonn, I'm in Waterford and I'll travel to somewhere in the middle and pick up a few stragglers along the way! we'll have to see what the tv schedule is and if theres any interest and take it from there. cheers
A big welcome to you Eamonn or in this case, finglas... You're not boring at all mate, 'cos you R the man believe me! We know there are a good few like you, Irish residents who are season ticket holders with a long history of supporting the Hoops. But you're the first we've found on not606 with the living tale to tell!! Thanks for that, it's a real asset in the case we're putting together at the moment. Updated roll call: Ciarrai, Twins, Swords, Dens, Turbo, Corrib, Inkedupp, Belfast, Kingdom, MOS, Dublin, NUTS, Rebel, Stan, Kilkenny, Tramore, the Clonmany Three, RCB, CORKeR, Mayo, Carlow, Irish, Finglas... Who else (apart from Mrs. Tooting)?
Next Moves Apologies for absence on this thread guys. I've had a few things to sort over the past few days and with all the new leaders and players coming in thought it better to re-raise the thread when the dust had settled a bit. Then from out of the night came fingas... with his amazing story. Talk about timing! Anyway, so we know we're going to send the club a letter urging them to recognise the history and forge stronger links with the island of Ireland in such a way that friendlies with local clubs or the occasional tour are not out of the question. Well, we know now that the man to write to is Phillip Beard, the new CEO - with copies to Tony, Amit and possibly NW. Read up on Phil and seen him interviewed... impressive package. As much a top signing as Barton... almost as good as Tony and Amit themselves!! I want to get the final version of the letter done this weekend. Question is, do you mind if I sign it and send it for practical reasons OR this being a proper Irish thing, might it be more fitting if one of you take the reigns at this stage. I was thinking perhaps Swords, Carlow or Mayo who all seem to be experienced in this field... Either way I've got a good feeling about this. New dawn, fresh (global) vision etc.! As I say, talk about timing!
as you wrote it brix I've no probs you putting your john Hancock on it. Amet recently acknowledged the Irish support so hopefully something will come of it. good luck!
As mentioned before Brixt, you're an honorary IQ at this stage, so I think you have the right to sign off on the letter! That Presidential Race is still wide open over here by the way!
Brix, you go ahead and sign it. Great work mate . Hi Finglas. Is that your sister / daughter over on www.iqpr.org who signs herself in as LazyLady by any chance??
Hi Brixt Just another reason why the QPR board should be focusing on the Irish Premiership travelling market....... http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/...303401548.html Surely we can take some of that Chelski and Arse market share?? Perhaps something to add to any further contact with QPR? Cheers
Seems link might not be working. Here's the article's text........ Irish spend â¬145m on visits to Premier League IRISH FOOTBALL fans spent approximately â¬145 million last year visiting Premier League grounds and made 164,000 visits, with an average spend of £776 (â¬884.64) each, according to VisitBritain, the UKâs state tourism agency. The Irish accounted for one-in-five football fans who visited a Premier League ground from overseas last year. Though the Irish are by far the most popular visitors to Premier League grounds, a similar survey in 2008 found 267,000 Irish fans attended a match in the UK, so the numbers travelling (down almost 40 per cent) have clearly been hit by the recession. In that year 400,000 Irish people visited a sporting event in the UK, which may be accounted for by the huge influx to Cheltenham and other race meetings every year. The Premier League is arguably the most popular football league in the world and is beamed into 212 different territories with an audience reach of nearly four billion people. Last year 750,000 overseas fans attended a Premier League ground. That was worth â¬678 million a year to the British economy. After Ireland, Norway (77,000), the US (56,000), the Netherlands (41,000) and Germany (39,000) provided the greatest number of visitors. Unsurprisingly, Old Trafford, the home of Manchester United, was the most popular venue â attracting 114,000 visitors. This was followed by Anfield, the home of Liverpool, which attracted 89,000 visitors; Arsenalâs Emirates Stadium (88,000), Chelseaâs Stamford Bridge (54,000), and Tottenhams White Hart Lane (38,000). Surprisingly, Celticâs ground, Celtic Park, which is a huge draw for Irish fans, did not figure in the top 10 grounds. Patricia Yates, the director of strategy and communication at VisitBritain, said the results showed the impact of a partnership between itself and the Premier League going back to 2008 with many footballers extolling the virtues of the country on the VisitBritain website. âIt has given us access to some of the stars of the British game who have promoted Britain to their fans back home â and encouraged them to come and visit,â she said.
CORKeR: You sure are a real corker ain't ya... and so is this Irish Times article you've sent through! Brilliant, thank you. Like finglas above, this has arrived at exactly the right moment too. Was just sorting out our findings to date, ready to inform the documents we send through to the club.
Very good post there Corker, I'm sure Brix will put it to good use. It is indeed surprising Celtic aren't in the top ten. I would bet my bottom dollar that Leeds are. They have a big following over here.
CORKeR: Any chance of finding the date the article was written? It doesn't say above and couldn't find the article on the link.
Oh Brixton, how that reminds me of my youth. I lived walking distance from Kilburn, & had a real thing for a young Irish lass by the name of Theresa who worked in the Midland bank. Happy days!
Thanks for all the welcomes lads. Swords that is not my sister who posts on iqpr. Mine is far too busy with 3 young kids.
Two unrelated season ticket holders in Finglas then. The unraveling continues. We must be one of the best supported sides in the Country (even if we didn't make the top ten!).
I can only speak about me and my familySwords. My sister lives in Dundrum, not Finglas. You need to speak to the lady.
