Comment: Numbers don't add up at Oscar Traynor Cup game

THE only statistic that matters in football is what’s on the scoresheet.
Everything else is vanity or excuses.
Mayo had fifteen shots on target on Sunday, to Sligo/Leitrim’s nine.
They had the better of the possession too. None of that superiority would have mattered, if they hadn’t won. But they did, and all is well.
However.
The official attendance at this match was 65. (Sixty-five. Just in case you thought the figures were a typo).
Okay, there were the children from Castlebar Celtic, the official mascots, on the day. And the Mayo League officials. Plus, three from the press.
So it looked a bit better that the official figure. Of 65.
Two issues arise from this statistic, noteworthy to this commentator.
The first, obvious one was the pitiful interest in the Oscar Traynor tie from the general public, and the stark reality of the environment that the fledgling Mayo FC will face when they send their troops into League of Ireland action. Okay there were GAA matches on as well on Sunday. So what? There will always be GAA matches on. The new club will always have to face GAA head-on and will have to fine-tune a marketing strategy to meet the challenge. (Unless, of course, they are not bothered about attendances. Which I doubt. It will be difficult to attract sponsors without good attendances at matches).
Apart from a few posts on social media and the coverage in the press (led, it must be said, by the press) there didn’t seem to be much marketing put behind this tie. Why not?
Was this not an ideal opportunity for the Mayo League Management Committee (MLMC) who (man-for-man) are also the Mayo FC directors, to trial new marketing strategies? Perhaps they did. If so, it/they failed miserably.
Soccer in Mayo, under whatever badge it wears, be it club, county, or representative, needs to seriously up its game to attract support. The MLMC/Mayo FC must provide leadership on this. The Oscar Traynor campaign is a great opportunity to try and get a crowd at Solar 21 Park. A crowd that might get used to attending.
They’ll be needed when LOI football comes to town.
Luckily, another chance will be afforded on December 10 when Roscommon visit for the final tie in the Connaught section of this competition.
Hopefully, a bigger crowd can be attracted.
The second striking thing from Sunday’s attendance was, where were all the players who play in the Mayo League, week on week? Where were the team-mates, managers and club officials of the players who lined out for their county? Why weren’t they there?
The number of club people at the game was as pitiful as the overall attendance. It was a huge disappointment and must have been disappointing for the lads in the squad.
It’s a great honour to represent your county and an honour too for the clubs involved, when their players are selected.
It’s the very least they can do, to attend the home games and cheer on their players.