Sligo Rovers

[Nickabee]

I had the pleasure of attending a match at Sligo Rovers recently and it reminded me of BFC in the past . A friend sent me below article

Fanbase helps Sligo compete against wealthier rivals

The two remaining fan-owned clubs in the Premier Division meet tonight. Eoin Doyle looks at the unique model of his former club Sligo Rovers.

www.rte.ie

Well worth a visit during summer months when we don’t have game

 

[Hullbee]

Nick Leeson is the CEO of Galway United

 

[CheltBee]

Nick Leeson is the CEO of Galway United

Not quite. He stepped down after 6 years in 2011, with the club in serious financial difficulty. Hilariously he tried to blame the banks(!) for lending League of Ireland football clubs too much money when the Celtic Tiger was roaring, thereby "forcing" them to spend more money than was prudent in a race to keep up with each other.

The club was handed over to a Supporters' Trust, but they were unable to sort out the mess, causing the club to have to drop out of the (2 division) LOI entirely.

A Phoenix club was admitted back in 2014, since when they have been a bit up and down, although they're currently doing ok in the Premier Division. Anyhow, I think Galway's problem is that I'm not sure it could be called a "proper" football town/city - GAA is pretty strong - unlike the aforementioned Sligo, where a much smaller town does a great job of supporting a senior football club from the grassroots up.

 

[ChessingtonBee]

It used to be that in The West football was a 'garrison game' and forbidden to GAA folk. Same with rugby.

Sligo also has a huge reputation for Irish music, based on fiddle players who recorded in New York a hundred years ago.

So the strength of football in Sligo is something of a mystery.

 

[CheltBee]

It used to be that in The West football was a 'garrison game' and forbidden to GAA folk. Same with rugby.

Sligo also has a huge reputation for Irish music, based on fiddle players who recorded in New York a hundred years ago.

So the strength of football in Sligo is something of a mystery.

Maybe not so much?.

For Sligo was itself formerly a (British Army) "garrison" town I believe, as well as having a significant Unionist/British community before partition. So that when football was becoming popular in Ireland in the late 19th/early 20th Century, the Fermanagh & Western Football Association, which covered the north west of the island (present day NI) drew teams from as far as Sligo and around.

Besides which, some modern historians of the game have come round to thinking that the importance of British Army garrisoning in introducing football to Ireland may actually be somewhat overstated, with the development of the railways being at least as important. (Allowed teams, fans, officials etc to travel, thereby enabling participation in organised leagues and cups beyond their immediate local area.)

If so, that may have a bearing on Sligo, since not only does that have a railway station, but it also used to be a major junction for two (three?) separate railway lines in different directions, including to/from Ulster.