Saw this this morning, and a few old war wounds started stinging. Id many arguments with people over this, scoffing at LoI and thinking this idea was going to revolutionise football here. It was the only time I think I ever fell back on a republican based argument against something - people didnt fight for independence only to be recolonised by some sort of social and sporting stealth (Id have pointed at British TV asking if it was a social invasion, or any foreign TV show and it obviously isnt but nobody picked at that hole in the argument).
I think people really thought this would work as a feeder to the international sides, I felt it was regressive and the real evolution of the Ireland sides would be via development of our domestic leagues. Some people really did think it was obstructing something positive and were pretty passionate and angry about objections. In a way, if English clubs were developing the vast majority of our players at that time, I can see why there was an argument for.

If Im honest now, my real concern was for the future viability of Dundalk FC, LoI by extension, and whether they would survive as a really important focal point for the town that I believed had significantly untapped potential (still does imo), I wasnt thinking of international player pathways at all!!
Sooo assuming this had been allowed to go ahead, leaving the LoI cult obsessions aside, has anyone different opinions now, would it have succeeded. Grassroots would have been happy enough to put LoI in their box once and for all and it could have created a predominantly Irish side in a top European league - with players playing together for both club and country, would we be higher ranked internationally or are there examples of this kind of setup not transferring to international improvement. There are some leagues where a significant number of players are picked from one or two clubs like Czechia and Prague clubs.

If not then the thread could just be for reminiscences (how old does that make us sound....), any old landmarks that crop up, old foot.ie classics that shouldnt die with the old site, etc.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/c05q03v8nrno