So, this is a mildly contentious one on all accounts.
I say ‘mildly’ because I’ve never been part of a conversation where the majority of people are strongly on the side of UCD AFC here.
But to answer the first question first; amongst the twenty clubs competing in both divisions, only the ten in the Premier Division and one club (Cork City) in the First Division are fully professional.
Which, by the way, is only a very recent thing coming into the beginning of 2025, when Drogheda United shifted their status from semi-pro. The League is rapidly growing, and First Division clubs are really going to have to raise their standards to have any hope of returning to the Premier Division.
Which brings into question the place of UCD AFC as a football club in Ireland’s highest tier. So here you are – 4 reasons why UCD should not be competing in the League of Ireland.
The League is growing.
Yes, I’ve made this point already.
But the facts are that more and more clubs are becoming fully professional. Not only that – at least one of these is essentially cementing themselves as a regular of group stage European football.
UCD – as I heard some fella in a bar mention once – are simply a bad look for the competition. A team full of (mostly) university undergraduates, likely never to take on a professional status. And that’s just reason one.
The university itself doesn’t seem to care.
I was a UCD student. I even grew up just down the road from their ‘stadium’, the Belfield Bowl.
I should be their most supportive voice. And believe me, I tried desperately to be a fan. I bought tickets to matches.
But I was embarrassingly evidently the only UCD supporter there each time. Frankly, I felt a little stupid.
The university does nothing to promote the club. Not that I would personally expect them to, but the facts are that their club now happens to be playing in an increasingly professional league that more and more eyeballs internationally are glancing at.
But UCD AFC…they lack any sort of a club culture…even an identity – beyond the ‘student’ image that is, but who outside of the university gives a damn about that? Which brings me to my next argument.
They have no fanbase.
Probably the most important point, and very related to the previous one. It’s a well-known talking point in League of Ireland circles that UCD AFC are severely lacking a fanbase. Who would go watch them play? A few friends of someone who’s on the team until they graduate?
The dawn of the National League.
On a more positive note here; the new third tier.
Beginning later this year, we will have a third division of what is technically non-league football, with promotion and relegation to and from the League itself kicking in in due course. Clubs like Mayo FC, CK (Carlow-Kilkenny) United and Letterkenny Rovers will be battling for a place in the First Division.
Surely, this is where UCD should be (and be barred from promotion, at least to the Premier Division)? UCC in Corkhave entered a club to this division. TUD, another university in Dublin, also have. Why not have all the university teams in this non-league division?
Yes, it would be a drop-off in quality for UCD in terms of the opposition they’d be facing, but at this point it should surely be clear that UCD aren’t the team we’re looking to improve – the new third tier lot are.
I’m not saying get rid of UCD AFC. Just put them – with no disrespect – where – in the modern day – they belong.