The Drogheda thread - budget being revised

[Captain2007]

What's the point in supporting this League anymore,I was lucky enough to play 14 very enjoyable seasons without any interuptions of clubs going to the wall etc..Why don't clubs get in to the real world and just cut their cloth to their measure and if that means going amateur or paying €50 - €100 to players per week so be it! 4 weeks to kick-off and my club does,nt even know what division it will be playing in........ rant over.

[Macy]

Passerrby - 10k is probably the minimum required to stay in the division.

If it is, it's only because other clubs are overstretching themselves. Bray would've been more competitive if other clubs weren't spending money they don't have.

It'd be massively unfair to put them out of it, after all there are lots of clubs still having issues with their budgets and the FAI.

Are other clubs failing to fulfill fixtures? Even if there are some contentious signings, they must have enough players to field a team, surely?

[D.24saint]

Things must be grim just heard Connor Kenna has signed for Pats this is a bad sign for Drogs as I wouldnt have thought he would have been a huge earner.

[centre mid]

Drogheda Utd have called a public meeting tonight so things may become clearer in the morning.

[chatterbox]

screwing their players and fans about with reckless budgeting.

+1 on that. No one seems to have any answers and all this news has come out of nowhere as far as I'm concerned. I'm just glad that the budget has been rejected and we can sort this out now rather than later.

[White Horse]

ie. another appeal to fans to cough up more money to bail out directors who are incapable of running a chip shop never mind a football club.

[D.24saint]

Mathews in crunch talks with board over budget

By Neil Ahern
Tuesday February 09 2010
DROGHEDA United boss Alan Mathews last night held crunch talks with the club's board over their 2010 budget amid reports that the club are so cash-strapped they may be unable to fulfil criteria for a League of Ireland Premier Division licence.

Local reports over the weekend painted a grim picture of the Boynesiders' finances and fresh doubts emerged over the budget Mathews would be afforded for the coming season, having already agreed proposed deals with a host of new players, including Gareth O'Connor and Jamie Harris.

The uncertainty has resulted in the postponement of a Leinster Senior Cup fixture against St Patrick's Athletic, originally fixed for tomorrow night, at the request of the Louth outfit.

But, speaking last night, club chairman Jim McArdle was confident they would have a satisfactory budget ready this morning to be approved by the FAI.

"We had a playing budget (set before Christmas) that we would have liked to have gone with, but couldn't under the circumstances in the new year," he said.

"The only casualty is the match arranged on Wednesday. We have no players registered and the FAI will not accept the registration of players until the budget is approved.

"We expect to receive a licence for the Premier Division but the manager has to be happy with the playing budget he gets and the board have to be happy."

- Neil Ahern

Irish Independent

[Ezeikial]

Passerrby - 10k is probably the minimum required to stay in the division. We've cut to that this year and i expect us to struggle.

If that is the case then there will only be four teams staying in the division - Bohemians, Shamrock Rovers, Sporting Fingal are obviously well ahead of that budget. Pats are probably the fourth highest if they are actually on 10k a week, ahead of Dundalk and Sligo.

UCD, Galway, and Drogheda (assuming they make the starting line) are all likely to be well under €5000 (Cork or Bray is anyones guess!).

[Ezeikial]

Things must be grim just heard Connor Kenna has signed for Pats this is a bad sign for Drogs as I wouldnt have thought he would have been a huge earner.

He wont be the only one bailing out today - and you can expect more to follow in the days ahead

[Dodge]

Pats are probably the fourth highest if they are actually on 10k a week

Its a good deal less this year according to most accounts

[Mr A]

Are other clubs failing to fulfill fixtures? Even if there are some contentious signings, they must have enough players to field a team, surely?

My reading of it is that the FAI won't let them register any players until the dispute is over. Could be wrong of course!

[total hoofball]

"We had a playing budget (set before Christmas) that we would have liked to have gone with, but couldn't under the circumstances in the new year," he said.

So according to Drog's chairman their financial circumstances changed in the new year yet they signed up Gareth O'Connor only two weeks ago? Something stinks here.

[gufct]

No club is allowed to register players until their Budget is approved and the Contracts will come under even stronger observation after the Derry double jobbers last year.

[Macy]

Drogheda Utd have called a public meeting tonight so things may become clearer in the morning.

Certainly helped 4 weeks ago, the time of the last one in response to an article about financial difficulties.

[Ezeikial]

So according to Drog's chairman their financial circumstances changed in the new year yet they signed up Gareth O'Connor only two weeks ago? Something stinks here.

The club were issuing stark warnings about the financial situation since before Christmas ( see "Drogs facing another financial crisis" - http://www.drogheda-independent.ie/s...s-1986446.html ), yet the "signings" have been happening right up to recently:

Michael Daly, Jamie Harris, and Gareth O'Connor were the highest profile, but strong deals were apparently also given to Conor Kenna, Alan McNally, Ross Gaynor and some others.

There has been a suggestion that the players were offered a 10% reduction in the original terms offered, but based on the new budget figures being suggested (€3.5k-€5k) thats just not going to work.

Could it be that Alan Matthews and the Drogheda board were reading from different agendas? Can the relationship survive, or will AM fall on his sword and "storm out" citing a breakdown in the relationship?

[Longfordian]

He's going back into the bank anyway so it wouldn't be the end of the world for him if he had to leave. I believe he was told a figure he could spend on wages before Christmas and was working off that, it appears that when it came down to it the FAI wouldn't accept it. He'll be raging about having to go back on promises to players, he really hates doing that but I wouldn't see it as his fault. As to whether he'll continue or not it's hard to say but he apparently does or did at least get on well with those running the club so he may be willing to help them out as best he can.

[pineapple stu]

Certainly helped 4 weeks ago, the time of the last one in response to an article about financial difficulties.

In fairness, that meeting did genuinely seem to have been called a week previously and had a pre-set topic. But all this does seem to make you wonder about Drogheda fans' stringent dismissals of the original Daily Mail article.

[ndrog]

In fairness, that meeting did genuinely seem to have been called a week previously and had a pre-set topic. But all this does seem to make you wonder about Drogheda fans' stringent dismissals of the original Daily Mail article.

Why is that then ? The original atricle stated we were going to be wound up .The current difficulties have nothing to do with revenue . And as you stated the original meeting was called a wk before hand to talk about fund raising etc .

[pineapple stu]

No, the original article stated you were threatened with a winding up order if you didn't settle a Revenue bill. Subtly different.

Don't try and tell me that the current difficulties are purely to do with the FAI not accepting your budget. There have to be a number of factors, including the possibility that youz ran up decent debts last year again, hence the Revenue threat.

I'm not saying that's what's happened as I obviously don't know, but I am saying that the current difficulties make the Mail story more believable.

[ndrog]

Why do you find it anyway hard to believe that thats exactly what the current difficulties are over .I am led to believe exactly that , budget has been refused by the the fai players are asked to take a wage cut with manager and all staff . Why the manager was given a budget that couldnt possibly be realised i dont know . Hope to find out tonight whats going on in this regard as im totally and utterly fuming over it !