Clear gulf in class between League of Ireland and NIFL is as much about off-pitch issues as on it

The Irish Sun

2 days ago

MARY LOU McDONALD going on Good Morning Britain and Leo Varadkar visiting Belfast, with both talking about Irish unity, would have seemed far-fetched not long ago.
But then you are reminded of the dark ages when complaints from an Orange Order lodge about the GAA's involvement led North Down Cricket Club to cancel their kids' sports camp.
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Dundalk legend Chris Shields was one of Linfield's standout performers
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Ali Coote scored a vital goal at Windsor Park on Wednesday
And the funny thing about this week's north-south Champions League tie
That is even though Chris Shields described the colour and atmosphere of the Riverside Stand at Tolka Park last week as being so good it could have been in Serbia or Montenegro.
There is an all-island cup competition in the women's game — won two times in a row by Galway United — but since Kieran Lucid's proposal in 2019, little talk of it in the men's.
Back then, there was opposition, principally around the potential loss of European places, but enough interest in how a new competition could generate crowds and finance.
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The Covid-19 pandemic hit soon after that and the rising interest in the League of Ireland that followed saw the interest wane.
But surely so did the obvious gap between the League of Ireland and Irish League at the moment. How could anyone see it any other way?
Had another derby been set up, you would struggle to find anyone in Dublin, Belfast, Cork or Donegal who would predict anything other than a Hoops win.
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And while there was ultimately just one goal in it, Shelbourne were comfortable winners over two legs against Linfield over the past week.
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There is no delight in saying it, but the League of Ireland is years ahead of the Irish League by virtually any metric.
As my colleague Neil O'Riordan
Whereas all ten top-flight teams in the League of Ireland are full-time, just Linfield, Larne, Glentoran and Coleraine have that status in the Irish League.
Just four east German teams have been in the Bundesliga top flight since the east and west merged which also highlights how inequalities are not levelled out easily.
It is the same when it comes to media exposure. Whereas 36 games a year are broadcast down south, up north the
The League of Ireland also has LOITV streaming every other game, while BBC Northern Ireland have committed to streaming a further 30 matches.
WIDER PROBLEMS
But the biggest stumbling block is probably not even on the pitch, it is off it.
It was rather pointed over the past ten days how everyone connected with Shelbourne and Linfield ran away from any discussion about the north-south nature of the tie.
Linfield boss David Healy even said after the Charity Shield against Dungannon Swifts that preceded the first leg that the club would prefer it if he did not speak about Shelbourne.
The fact it is July and the lamp posts on the streets around Windsor Park are adorned with flags could explain the caution.
And there is no denying that the tie — with €750,000 and a guaranteed three further rounds to make the group stages at stake — was big enough in a purely sporting sense.
But the difference between sporting and sport is more than three letters. It is the difference between holding values, and knowing that rivalries matter.
Being sporting means lifting someone up, where everyone knows sport is all about treading on others' toes — once it does not cross a line.
But while there are songs to antagonise each other, they are largely political at the moment because of the lack of a footballing rivalry.
Sure, Linfield will always draw a crowd when they head south but the Blues' favourite game would still be against Glentoran.
And would a visit from Coleraine excite a League of Ireland fanbase more than a visit from Cork City or Cobh Ramblers? Not until there is a dubious winner given against you!