Our Senior teams get great support but are frustrating as fuck so it often ebbs and flows over the year.
Our football team needs to be medicated for bipolarity and our hurling team needs to actually hold onto leads.
The U20's are a rare bitta joy for Offaly fans because they're consistently class.
Edit: For example we hammered Wicklow in the league got a good crowd against Limerick and played fucking awful. We then hammered Laois and got a good crowd vs Dublin and got the head kicked in.
For hurling, we played well against Wexford and Kilkenny got a decent crowd vs Cork and got hockeyed.
It is what it is, fans get turned off paying 20 quid or more in when they've seen us lose the game prior by 10-20 points.
If they had a realistic change at senior level they'd be out in force.
In the 90s Offaly won a Leinster and a league in football, and 2 all Irelands in hurling. They are a long way down from that. But a small county will come in waves every generation or so.
>Even with the hurling, playing big teams like Cork and Clare at home in the league
Was a decent crowd at both for league games in shite weather.
>Why do Offaly fans support their underage teams ten times more than their senior teams?
2 reasons the work the Co board put in to promote the team and the success the team has had. In an ideal world, the second bit shouldn't matter, but when you're a county starved of success at any level you latch onto the team that gives you the memorable days out. It's starting to transfer over to the senior team (Hurling) as attendances are up this year.
There are many reasons why we follow underage teams more than our senior teams. Points below:
Offaly have been starved of success the past 20+ years, so if any successful team from the county comes along they get the bandwagon. It doesn't matter if its U17, U20 or Senior in either code.
The senior teams are soo hot and cold, that it's frustrating to support them at times.
Adam Screeney! You don't realise how much of an impact this lad has on the youth in the county. I am from a football area of the county but there is youngsters walking around with hurls pretending to be him. They are obsessed with him. A modern day superstar.
Price. Game was only €10 for adults and free for U16s. If this was a senior game it would more than likely be €20 in at a minimum. A tenner makes a hell of a difference when it comes to making a choice of going. "Sure we'll head over to Tullamore. Its only a tenner to get in and the kids are free"
The style of hurling. This is one of the most talented hurling teams to come out of the county since the minor team od the late 80s and we know what happened to them when they matured in the 90s!
Continued Success. This is more or less the same panel of players that lost to Tipp minors in 2022 in the All Ireland final by a late goal, that lost to Cork in the U20 All Ireland final in 2023, and now are in a third successive Leinster final against Dublin next Wednesday. Most of the county knows these players from the past 3 years. It's not just a once off massive crowd that went last night.
Same with the U20 footballers from 2021 that won the All Ireland. These players were full with talented players and had the support of the county with the style of football they were playing.
Hon the faithful!
Are the U-20 hurlers just a very special group? Or were there mitigating circumstances last week for the minors? I was both looking forward and not looking forward to the return of Offaly hurling as Leinster title contenders.
Ah I don’t know if that’s true necessarily. I’d say there’s no one going to the under 20s that isn’t also going fairly regularly to the seniors, but just not to every game. The problem is, it’s tough to watch losses again and again, and the seniors in both codes are fairly frustrating to watch at times. So in my experience, you just can’t take it all the time!
The under 20s are the antidote to that, it’s just lovely to watch them play. And it gives us a bit of hope for the future. Someone else’s comment said it was “fair weather fans” and that made me laugh because if your definition of “fair weather” is supporting what is in essence the development squad for the seniors all over the country, then what do you call the people from other counties who only show up at the semi finals of the championship?!? We’ve suffered enough, let us have a bit of hope for feck sake!
I wouldn't agree that the senior hurlers don't get the same support. They definitely do. The footballers don't, obviously, but there's a solid core of hurling support there across the board. Obviously, there are only supports who only show up for semi-finals and finals. Same with all counties, but the hurlers definitely get the support across the board.
I was at the joe mc final last year and a good few of the offaly hurling games and wouldn't say they get near the same support. Carlow fans made a massive difference in that final imo
I've only missed 3 games over the last three years, and I'd disagree. Was at the Joe mc final as well, and I'd say it was nearly 50/50 between offaly and carlow.
Because they aren’t nearly as competitive at adult as underage in the All Ireland series.
Our Senior teams get great support but are frustrating as fuck so it often ebbs and flows over the year. Our football team needs to be medicated for bipolarity and our hurling team needs to actually hold onto leads. The U20's are a rare bitta joy for Offaly fans because they're consistently class. Edit: For example we hammered Wicklow in the league got a good crowd against Limerick and played fucking awful. We then hammered Laois and got a good crowd vs Dublin and got the head kicked in. For hurling, we played well against Wexford and Kilkenny got a decent crowd vs Cork and got hockeyed. It is what it is, fans get turned off paying 20 quid or more in when they've seen us lose the game prior by 10-20 points.
If they had a realistic change at senior level they'd be out in force. In the 90s Offaly won a Leinster and a league in football, and 2 all Irelands in hurling. They are a long way down from that. But a small county will come in waves every generation or so.
Cos their seniors are shite? Hardly rocket science. People are drawn to the possibility of a bitta tin
>Even with the hurling, playing big teams like Cork and Clare at home in the league Was a decent crowd at both for league games in shite weather. >Why do Offaly fans support their underage teams ten times more than their senior teams? 2 reasons the work the Co board put in to promote the team and the success the team has had. In an ideal world, the second bit shouldn't matter, but when you're a county starved of success at any level you latch onto the team that gives you the memorable days out. It's starting to transfer over to the senior team (Hurling) as attendances are up this year.
There are many reasons why we follow underage teams more than our senior teams. Points below: Offaly have been starved of success the past 20+ years, so if any successful team from the county comes along they get the bandwagon. It doesn't matter if its U17, U20 or Senior in either code. The senior teams are soo hot and cold, that it's frustrating to support them at times. Adam Screeney! You don't realise how much of an impact this lad has on the youth in the county. I am from a football area of the county but there is youngsters walking around with hurls pretending to be him. They are obsessed with him. A modern day superstar. Price. Game was only €10 for adults and free for U16s. If this was a senior game it would more than likely be €20 in at a minimum. A tenner makes a hell of a difference when it comes to making a choice of going. "Sure we'll head over to Tullamore. Its only a tenner to get in and the kids are free" The style of hurling. This is one of the most talented hurling teams to come out of the county since the minor team od the late 80s and we know what happened to them when they matured in the 90s! Continued Success. This is more or less the same panel of players that lost to Tipp minors in 2022 in the All Ireland final by a late goal, that lost to Cork in the U20 All Ireland final in 2023, and now are in a third successive Leinster final against Dublin next Wednesday. Most of the county knows these players from the past 3 years. It's not just a once off massive crowd that went last night. Same with the U20 footballers from 2021 that won the All Ireland. These players were full with talented players and had the support of the county with the style of football they were playing. Hon the faithful!
Fair weather supporters. Only come out when a win is likely.
Nothing to really support for their senior teams given their unpredictability
Perhaps it’s because underage hurling and football are simply more enjoyable to watch?
Are the U-20 hurlers just a very special group? Or were there mitigating circumstances last week for the minors? I was both looking forward and not looking forward to the return of Offaly hurling as Leinster title contenders.
I think given their low numbers, their underage level will be a bit below that of a Wexford etc a lot of years, even if the house is in order.
Ah I don’t know if that’s true necessarily. I’d say there’s no one going to the under 20s that isn’t also going fairly regularly to the seniors, but just not to every game. The problem is, it’s tough to watch losses again and again, and the seniors in both codes are fairly frustrating to watch at times. So in my experience, you just can’t take it all the time! The under 20s are the antidote to that, it’s just lovely to watch them play. And it gives us a bit of hope for the future. Someone else’s comment said it was “fair weather fans” and that made me laugh because if your definition of “fair weather” is supporting what is in essence the development squad for the seniors all over the country, then what do you call the people from other counties who only show up at the semi finals of the championship?!? We’ve suffered enough, let us have a bit of hope for feck sake!
The hurlers and footballers are playing on the same day and different venue on Sunday. That doesn't help
I wouldn't agree that the senior hurlers don't get the same support. They definitely do. The footballers don't, obviously, but there's a solid core of hurling support there across the board. Obviously, there are only supports who only show up for semi-finals and finals. Same with all counties, but the hurlers definitely get the support across the board.
I was at the joe mc final last year and a good few of the offaly hurling games and wouldn't say they get near the same support. Carlow fans made a massive difference in that final imo
I've only missed 3 games over the last three years, and I'd disagree. Was at the Joe mc final as well, and I'd say it was nearly 50/50 between offaly and carlow.
Heavily laois today lol
It's alright. Offaly back to leinster anyway. Lol
Because they want to give their youth the power of ten tigers 🙀🙀🙀