Wicklow Club - new ownership structure

[Charlie Darwin]

Not sure if this is allowed, but I see Wicklow Club have unveiled a new community-owned company to help run the club.

SSE Airtricity League side Wicklow Club have formed a community-owned company to help fund and run the club.

The company, Wicklow Club Community Football Club, has been set up to raise funds for the team, help pay down the club's debt and finance projects to develop amenities for the local community at the Carlisle Grounds.

Wicklow Club president Philip Hannigan said: “The old way of running the football club wasn’t working. A new business model was needed – and we believe this is it. We are confident that by getting the local community involved in owning and running Wicklow Club, we can secure a sustainable future.

“Wicklow Club Community Football Club will be run for the benefit of the whole community.

“All funds it raises will be ploughed back into developing the team, the grounds and establishing community-based projects for the benefit of the wider local community.

“The majority of shareholders have agreed that once Wicklow Club Ltd is unburdened by debt, they will pass ownership of the club over to the new company.”

http://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/irish...8/605256-bray/

[Mr A]

**Obligatory Shamrock Rovers joke**

[Mr A]

More from indo: http://www.independent.ie/business/b...-30136690.html

Accounts show that more than €400,000 of debt has been written off by some shareholders, although some historical debt remains.

All sounds very positive.

[Charlie Darwin]

**Obligatory Shamrock Rovers joke**

I was going to narrow it down further to "Wicklow club who wear green and white"

[sadloserkid]

They should rebrand as Shamrock Rovers C.

[Bray Head]

Maybe we'll get re-instated on this forum when the new board takes over.

[Dunny]

I think that's the new boards long term ambition

[wonder88]

It would be good if all loI clubs are owned by fans/members and I hope this happens in Wicklow, and we can even have them back on foot.ie. Ownership by a single person or a few people usually ends in disaster for soccer clubs in Ireland and is really against our culture to have such ownership. The number of people who go to matches in our league is small enough, so clubs should be as inclusive as possible in order to retain or increase that number. The GAA is a good model to follow and we can also see that the 3 best supported clubs in recent years are all membership owned.

[Dodge]

Ownership by a single person or a few people usually ends in disaster for soccer clubs in Ireland .

Bit dramatic. As many members clubs or co-ops have been in serious financial trouble as any other ownership model.

[wonder88]

Maybe dramatic Dodge, and agree Bohs got into terrible mess by trying to match Shels, Cork, Drogheda, Derry and Pats maybe, but in my opinion that is a weak enough excuse for what happened at Dalymount. Was what happened at Shels really that good for LoI soccer in general? some people say it raised standards and the gamble by Ollie was worth it (some of these would be people who were employed by Shelbourne on wages that could not possibly be justified by the clubs income). The idea that Shelbourne would win the league every year (by whatever means, on the field or not) and that the rest of the followers of domestic soccer would be happy to bask in the reflective glory of European success does not work for me. A league needs to be competitive, those who want otherwise can support Man U or Celtic. Would Cork City and Galway Utd not use the word "disaster" sometimes when considering what happened to their (the one they supported instead of having a share in) club in recent years?
Anyway hope it works out for Bray and that Galway actually becomes fully owned by a co-op/membership structure.

[Dodge]

Was what happened at Shels really that good for LoI soccer in general?

It was awful.

My point wasn't pro-single businessman owned operations.

My point is that there have been NO long term LOI success stories off the field so trying to say that one model is better than the other is folly.

EDIT; That's not to say i don't believe fans should control of their own clubs (because I do...). Just pointing out that even those clubs will need investment from outside

[Macy]

Maybe dramatic Dodge, and agree Bohs got into terrible mess by trying to match Shels, Cork, Drogheda, Derry and Pats maybe, but in my opinion that is a weak enough excuse for what happened at Dalymount.

It's not just Bohs that have got into trouble. Dundalk, Waterford United and Harps were co-ops (iirc) when they got into financial trouble. Us and Athlone are members clubs that have got into trouble over the years, as well as Bohs (and I think Mons were effectively members owned?). I am 100% in favour of supporter owned structures, but that in it's self will not ensure that clubs are managed correctly - supporters can be overly ambitious/ make stupid assumptions as much as any owner.

[nigel-harps1954]

It's not just Bohs that have got into trouble. Dundalk, Waterford United and Harps were co-ops (iirc) when they got into financial trouble. Us and Athlone are members clubs that have got into trouble over the years, as well as Bohs (and I think Mons were effectively members owned?). I am 100% in favour of supporter owned structures, but that in it's self will not ensure that clubs are managed correctly - supporters can be overly ambitious/ make stupid assumptions as much as any owner.

Harps have almost annual problems at this stage.

Co-op is great if you have enough volunteers to get behind it. But when a team is going poorly and attendances and volunteer numbers drop, a co-op can then show real flaws.

[Macy]

Just to go back to the opening post - I never quite trust these types of things when they come from the club, rather than a movement from the supporters, especially when it involves paying down existing debts that are the burden of the club. If I were a supporter of the North East Wicklow club, I'd be looking for more guarantee about a future handover, than a press release and talk of the "majority" of shareholders agreeing to hand it over. Is a majority even enough for something like this under company law? (I don't know, just asking!) Edit - just read the indo article where they say the majority of shareholders will hand over their stake, rather than the entire shareholding, so my last point is probably moot.

[Ezeikial]

Just to go back to the opening post - I never quite trust these types of things when they come from the club, rather than a movement from the supporters, especially when it involves paying down existing debts that are the burden of the club. If I were a supporter of the North East Wicklow club, I'd be looking for more guarantee about a future handover, than a press release and talk of the "majority" of shareholders agreeing to hand it over. Is a majority even enough for something like this under company law? (I don't know, just asking!) Edit - just read the indo article where they say the majority of shareholders will hand over their stake, rather than the entire shareholding, so my last point is probably moot.

I think a sceptical attitude is reasonable.

If a football club has considerable debt and no real assets, then it sounds like a good strategy for the current shareholders to try to get others to fund-raise and pay down the debt of the club.

[Macy]

If a football club has considerable debt and no real assets, then it sounds like a good strategy for the current shareholders to try to get others to fund-raise and pay down the debt of the club.

Which is no different to what several Supporters Trusts have done over the years, in fairness, but it's who's driving the idea I suppose.

[Neish]

Harps have almost annual problems at this stage.

Co-op is great if you have enough volunteers to get behind it. But when a team is going poorly and attendances and volunteer numbers drop, a co-op can then show real flaws.

I thought we were a dictatorship under the rule of Kasier Capital Harper. All hail