I am an ardent Drogheda United supporter, for both home and away games, and must admit to having witnessed at first hand the empty terraces and stands described in said article. What always amazes me at such games is that these sparingly occupied grounds are often in well populated areas which have been historically 'hot-beds' of soccer.

At Drogheda, we would average maybe 1,600 bodies at home matches (figure is largely dependent on travelling support). This is, in my opinion, a poor figure when you bear in mind that the club has won two cups in the last calendar year (FAI and Setanta), a UEFA cup run (I know it was only four games! ) and are currently sitting third in the league.

I'm not sure we can solely blame the abundance of football on TV for this shortfall in numbers though. Many Irish fans of English soccer teams seem to view their local League of Ireland team with a mixture of disgust and apathy. The vast majority of these people are either bar-stoolers or sofa-jockeys when it comes to 'supporting' their chosen team. Most, if not all, of the LoI fans I know would also have leanings to a Premiership team, but this does not interfere or cloud their support for their home-based club.

All I could recommend to people who have never been to a LoI match is to try and catch one before the season ends (approx 10 games left). Once you've watched a live game, standing and singing on a terrace, watching on TV is no comparison, no matter how many camera angles or graphics there are.

The games are generally on Friday or Saturday night, so won't interfere with Sky Sports package, and the cost is 15, which even Eddie Hobbs would admit is not bad for nearly two hours entertainment.