Is an Eircom League club a good buy?

You hit the nail on he head cu, Dublin based papers. The only true notice Dundalk got was when Maxie threatened to set himself ablaze! Dundalk would be not alone in the Premier now but in europe had the mandarins running the show at the co-op not been so blinkered and scrambling for crumbs, but we all have suffered since!
 
Don't get me wrong clubman, I've been following the league since I was 2 (I was carried by my Uncle into Oriel) and right through the chicken days to now. I would love to see the EL get a firm financial grip on the game and give homegrown talent a chance to progress. And with the growing numbers of immigrants there is an even greater talent pool emerging. But there is a severe lack of ambition, of honest risk taking, of entertainment. Why they operate 2 leagues when one would make more sense. Why our clubs simply look to the UK when there is a whole big world out there that can be utilised. I know that certain people, esp Ollie, have put a lot of time and money into their clubs, but they've also taken a lot out and gathered vultures around them who just take. I would love to see the Wexford club run on a really good financial business footing, realistic and being innovative.
 
almo said:
I know that certain people, esp Ollie, have put a lot of time and money into their clubs, but they've also taken a lot out and gathered vultures around them who just take.
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What makes you think that, whatever about time, Ollie puts a lot of money into Shels? [broken link removed] more money was going out than in during his tenure in charge. Also - don't forget that not too many clubs (if any) other than Shels are run by convicted criminals. In case anybody thinks that this may be defamatory see [broken link removed] for example.
 
nice one clubman. that article mentions the Donnelly family. Almo might be familiar with them. Afaik Tony Donnelly wanted to pump money into a certain rural club but was given the cold shoulder, and turned to Shels instead. according to that article they are now in north Dublin but they wern't when then. anyway jailbird or not. bankrupt or not. team or not. they have a premier licence. good article on Wexford in todays Sunday Times.
 
FAir enough clubman, and I'm in agreement with the money leaking out (read gushing) and I saw first hand the absolute madness that goes on behind the scenes from ticket non-sales to travel stupidity to running out on bills (Ollie and some folks still owe over €2,000 in food and drink bills here), I saw the dubious characters working in the club and running it into the ground. And need I mention I'm still owed money from Shels almost 3 years after finishing contact with them. Sure I got thanks and free tickets etc, but when your calls and attempts to meet go unanswered for 3 months you have to wonder.

The Donnelly's put a lot of money into Shels (why were they refused up north? Was it due to a certain travel/insurance agent?) and were paid back in 2004, and old Mrs. Donnelly was brought (with Tony) to a special dinner the night before the Hajduk game in Dublin. Before that time (the day before the game in Split) I was asked by Hajduk to investigate the opportunity to form a link with Shels (having not been responded to in 3 previous attempts with Dundalk and missed out on Drogheda and Newry when Alan Williams left the former club), but the behaviour of the Shels people in the exec section (esp one large gentleman) soured the club on them and Ireland.

I don't believe for a minute Ollie will let go of Shels, or if he gets money he'll wander into another club and take over, maybe Ardee Celtic or Bellurgan could provide Louth with the balance to Dublin.
 
think that link with travel/insurance was the key allright. history now anyway. got a fairly major tournament named after him and all. cheers
 
Ollie's piece in yesterday's Sunday Tribune was hilarious. Almost as funny as his appearances on Newstalk, Joe Duffy and TV3 in recent weeks.
 
I always wondered why the tournament was named after him, but at least the family (the ones in question) did fund certain endeavours in the club, and I did feel the way they were treated when the Co-Op came in was a little rough a too tribal Cuchulainn.

Clubman, what is going to be very scary, is that a lot of people who haven't the first idea of the EL or who don't understand the attitude of the man (it's not too long ago that he was lashing out at photographers, punters and other managers - I saw it myself in 2004 at a Pats game when he was restrained by a former club stalwart). What will it take to buy him out and get him off the scene!
 
Oh, and where will the €150,000 from Jason Byrne's transfer end up?

Good to see Bohs brought in Neale Fenn, he's a class player and should make up in part for young Ward. Interesting to see the FAI have gotten an application from Limerick (37 I think they're called) to put a team in the EL. When will it dawn on Merrion Square that they can put one league of 20 teams and 2 feeder leagues to give the domestic game a boost. It'd mean 38games, small clubs like Cobh getting visits from Dundalk, Shels, Bohs, Rovers etc meaning more cash at the turnstile, and with a bit of money investde they can scramble up the table in th search for a EUropean spot. But maybe it's too easy for the FAI to consider.
 
After reading about Limerick fcs case against the fai ( Limerick 37 and Wexford etc) I now agree with Almo. up to now I thought that for one year only the FAI could run a 21 team (or 22 including one other) and top 12 in premier/ bottom 10 in 1st div following year.. now with only 20 teams I think its worth a try to run a 20 team league with relegation/promotion to/from feeder leagues. feeder league could be on a north south divide. ie one north of galway/dublin and one south. if two teams from say southern area were to be relegated ie cobh and waterford for arguments sake then toss of coin and one of them gets stuck in northern feeder league. a lot of the teams in the feeder leagues would be dublin/leinster based so not as bad as might appear. but it wont happen. why exactly are limerick being denied a 1st division licence? is it because they have no ground? or the ground they nominated is not up to scratch?
 
Just under 10 years ago I was living and working in Germany. I was lucky enough to work with a couple of clubs in Hesse and fom top (Eintracht) to bottom VFB Marburg, there was a general sense of movement in the game. When I was with them Kickers Offenbach were struggling and in danger of dropping out of the Regionaliga South into the Hesse Liga, while Marburg were fighting to get up into the Hesse Liga. Marburg went up and Offenbach stayed in the South League, but both were aspiring to rise above themselves. There is no reason why teams like Mullingar Town, Fanad or such cannot compete well in a regional league and then with the right structure in pace go up to the top division. It's one reason why a lot of Irish money (investment) goes to the UK, there is a genuine pyramid structure and Peterborough can hope to get to the Championship in 4-5 years, Thurrock into the League 2 and this movement makes the game more interesting.

If, a decade ago, there was a pyramid in place in Ireland clubs who were genuinely holding their own like Ashtownvilla, Tolka Rovers and even Fanad, would all have had a chance to try proper semi-pro football and increase the appeal of the game.
 
Reading the papers this morning about Owen Heary handing back the League Trophy, a really sad case. He was approached to join Hajduk (prelim) 3 years ago but chose to stay with Shels. In one way it was down to staying with what's safe, on the other hand the money he was on in Shels was almost twice what he'd get (officially) in Croatia. Now he's a free agent and a couple of years late for a chance to play at a decent level abroad.

On the topic, again, of feeder leagues etc, how many senior clubs in Ireland (non EL) would have decent enough facilities and funds to compete in a regional league and aspire to EL? I don't know the name of the Northern Irish club who do the cup run and high junior thing but have said that going semi-pro would kill them? Would that be a fear in Ireland too?
 
OKay, I am happy to be corrected. He's a very good EL player, I only wonder if Bohs will be paying him what he was earning back in 2004 (just under 100,000 bef bonuses)? What's sad is that Jamie Harris and Dave Rogers are still in limbo, so too Alan Moore, not to mention Steve Williams. The four players who did so much to bring the club through 2 rounds of competition and give the EL a unifying boost are still worth a punt, especially Williams, I didn't like when he left Dundalk, but he's still better than lining out in Bray (apologies to Bray fans).
 
almo said:
OKay, I am happy to be corrected. He's a very good EL player, I only wonder if Bohs will be paying him what he was earning back in 2004 (just under 100,000 bef bonuses)?
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I doubt it.
What's sad is that Jamie Harris and Dave Rogers
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Ah good old "elbows" Harris and "hoofer" Rogers. Terribly sad alright.
 
and truth be told if Bohs didn't have dalyer to sell they wouldn't be in a much better position than Shels. afaik from now on a club can only spend 65% of their income on wages. assume this includes the manager, backroom staff etc. which means that in effect unless a club has a good income then players with a 'top' club like Shels might actually be on lower wages than players from say Galway Utd, who by all means have a fairly healthy income stream. does a director putting his hand in his pocket to bail out a club count as income? or must it be income from gates/lotto/bars/race nights etc? half of some clubs income comes from directors' generosity
 
cuchulainn said:
and truth be told if Bohs didn't have dalyer to sell they wouldn't be in a much better position than Shels.
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Not true. It would be tight and we would have significant debts but at least our Revenue payments have generally been up to date and sorted out quickly when they were not. Unlike many other clubs! We also have significant sources of non football related revenue (e.g. the three bars in Dalymount and the car parking deal with the Mater Hospital) which bring in significant six figure sums each calendar year (not just season!).
afaik from now on a club can only spend 65% of their income on wages.
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Good - that'll help us not to blow our property sale windfall once the real money starts flowing in! Of course that assumes that the FAI/eL actually clarify and enforce their rules for a change...
 
Dave Rogers is a decent sort, I can still remember the looks on the faces of the Hajduk fans (who'd been calling him a donkey) when he scored the rasper in Tolka, I think he shocked even himself. And it was Jamie Harris who knocked out 2 teeth from a Hajduk player in a punchup at the end of the game there, priceless!!!!!1

I don't know how they'll enforce the 65% deal, it'll be impossible. I know tht in Canada Junior hockey clubs are severely restricted but get around it by giving the boys "jobs" (same in Canadian uni's) or someone just happens to "give" them a car. It goes on in football now but will it get worse with restrictions over payments?
 
listening to that fai representative with the gorgeous Miriam tonight filled me with confidence for the future of the league. Not. He more or less stated that the fai asked the clubs for their books and what more could the fai do. FA would appear to be the answer. So shels are €10million in debt. at least. bankrupt in other words. a rose by any other name etc.
crawley town and rotterham in england were deducted 10 points for going into receivership. happened in scotland last year too. will this happen here? no chance. (shels would go straight to court and have it reversed anyway.)
would hate to see shels go to the wall but they were paying out money they hadn't got. I could drive a roller too on that basis.
 
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