Licences for 2009

[pineapple stu]

At whose expense?

13-team division?

[don ramo]

What are the bets that both Kildare and Cobh are in the first division on opening night?
one of us cant, if merview have there licence sorted,

[Battery Rover]

Well done BR and everyone else at Athlone. I know how much work goes into it. Hope we have ye at home first game of the season!.

Thanks for that and to all the other people involved in licensing throughout the league congratulations on gaining you licenses.

It is tough on Cobh but i am sure this is only a blip and that they will bounce back and go onto greater things than they have already achieved in their long proud history.

As licensing pushes the standards forward over the coming seasons it can only benifit the league as a whole.

[pineapple stu]

As licensing pushes the standards forward over the coming seasons
Will it, though? Not sure we've seen any evidence of that in the six or seven years it's been going. Other than that clubs now have yellow paint at emergency exits.

When does the A League start, does anyone know?

[Dodge]

There's been loads of changes within clubs and grounds since licensing started. Every club officer involved puts in huge amounts of work pineapple, and each one of them is to be applauded

[pineapple stu]

Probably right. I know a lot of time goes in, but it's wasted if it's painting emergency routes in the ground. Just frustrating at times to see that the most obvious problem - hideous overspending - is still going on practically unchecked.

[Battery Rover]

Will it, though? Not sure we've seen any evidence of that in the six or seven years it's been going.

it is pushing standards all over the league in terms of infrastructure and administration and with the new rules regarding licensing passed at the meeting on Sunday there will be severe punishment for clubs stepping out of line

[Dodge]

I knew you couldn't go a thread without mentioning overspending.

[fionnsci]

What about Carlow, Castlebar and Tralee? Should they not have been awarded A Championship licenses?

[holidaysong]

What about Carlow, Castlebar and Tralee? Should they not have been awarded A Championship licenses?

There could be a different deadline for first time applicants perhaps..

[pineapple stu]

I knew you couldn't go a thread without mentioning overspending.
Probably the most important thing, in fairness.

[Dodge]

Well you're an accountant.

[pineapple stu]

Guilty as charged. :)

No club went under because they didn't have a separate licencing officer. Not the case with money.

[Mr A]

Cobh must be in an incredibly bad state to move from premier to A license pending further financial commitments being met!

[ramblers]

Congrats to all on your licenses.

It is a very sad day to be honest thats all I can say!!

[don ramo]

Cobh must be in an incredibly bad state to move from premier to A license pending further financial commitments being met!

no togetherness down here, its a disgrace, i arranged a meetin for fundraising ideas on this and other forums, and 3 people tuned up, says it all really

were either gonna come back stronger, our just flicker out of existence,

we have some new blood entering the board and commitee this year, proactive people so hopefully thing will change for the better,

[GalwayRed]

Sorry to hear Cobh wont be in the first division next season, hopefully they bounce back. Fair play to Athlone, I can imagine a lot of work must have went in to get that licence so fair play. Im surprised Sporting Fingal didnt get a premier licence, did they not apply for one? Will be interesting to see the fixture list now.

[aido_b]

I just got a text off a fellow Bohs fan who shall remain nameless asking me why 2009 teams in the league needed licences ... He'd seen the headline on RTE, "2009 FAI licences awarded" ...

I wonder sometimes, really do!

[Beezer]

no togetherness down here, its a disgrace, i arranged a meetin for fundraising ideas on this and other forums, and 3 people tuned up, says it all really

were either gonna come back stronger, our just flicker out of existence,

we have some new blood entering the board and commitee this year, proactive people so hopefully thing will change for the better,

How many members did you inform of this meetin DR.I certainly got no notification of such meeting.
As for new blood coming onto the committee,from what I hear the people going forward are worse than the crowd there last year,most of them will be yes men for the chairman

[Réiteoir]

Sorry to hear Cobh wont be in the first division next season, hopefully they bounce back. Fair play to Athlone, I can imagine a lot of work must have went in to get that licence so fair play. Im surprised Sporting Fingal didnt get a premier licence, did they not apply for one? Will be interesting to see the fixture list now.

Would the Morton Stadium not be up to Premier Standard - because that's the only reason I could think of

[Sam_Heggy]

no togetherness down here, its a disgrace, i arranged a meetin for fundraising ideas on this and other forums, and 3 people tuned up, says it all really

were either gonna come back stronger, our just flicker out of existence,

we have some new blood entering the board and commitee this year, proactive people so hopefully thing will change for the better,

How many members did you inform of this meetin DR.I certainly got no notification of such meeting.
As for new blood coming onto the committee,from what I hear the people going forward are worse than the crowd there last year,most of them will be yes men for the chairman

Jeez man, do you have to come into every thread to have a go?

This is a prime example of the split down in Cobh, no need for petit point scoring.

Im really sorry to hear of Cobhs failure to get a First division licence, Ive had some great nights down there with some of the nicest fans going. They have a lovely club bar where Ive staggered out of on plenty of occasions. :D
Hopefully back up next season, a real loss to the league imo.

[OneRedArmy]

No surprise that it looks like a pragmatic decision was taken to assess compliance liberally and award nearly all clubs licenses.

But make no mistake, last seasons situation where the majority of clubs were in trouble of some sort, at some stage, finally rammed the nail in the credibility of the licensing process (or at least the financial element anyway).

Until we can get through a couple of seasons without a club getting into difficulties then the process is effectively worthless.

[Dodge]

AFAIK the league (and/or licensing committee) have added increased penalties etc for any club involved in financial "irregularites"

[pineapple stu]

Is that the 40 points thing Delaney was on about?

Wonder when we'll hear of the 65% rule again? Or what will happen if clubs whose budgets have been rejected exceed the new FAI-set ones?

Interesting times. As ever in this league.

[Mr A]

AFAIK the league (and/or licensing committee) have added increased penalties etc for any club involved in financial "irregularites"

So they're moving from 'slap on the wrists' to 'slap on the wrists with a stern talking to'... it wouldn't take much to increase the penalties in all fairness.

[thischarmingman]

So they're moving from 'slap on the wrists' to 'slap on the wrists with a stern talking to'...

I believe in official terms, the process has now changed from, "Don't be at that..." to "Ah, come on now..."

[Mr A]

So questions that arise from this:

What happened with the 65% rule? Why were some clubs punished with transfer embargoes while others that seem to be clearly in breech of it were not punished?

Have the rules regarding facilities and specifically pitch sizes etc been dispensed with (while at the same time Dundalk have to wait for FIFA tests- surely even if they fail they could take the FAI to the cleaners if not let in premier)?

What exactly did Cobh fail on that was not also happening at other clubs?

[osarusan]

I believe in official terms, the process has now changed from, "Don't be at that..." to "Ah, come on now..."
Next year will be, "We'll come down on you like a ton of bricks"

[Longfordian]

Does writing off creditors as a result of their settlement in examinership count as income?. Might be why Cork and Drogs have seemingly gotten away with it?.

[WoodquayBoy]

And after that it will be 'right, last chance, stop it now will ye'

[thischarmingman]

Next year will be "We'll come down on you like a ton of bricks"

Or "Steady on..!"

[pineapple stu]

When do we get to "Careful now" and "Down with this sort of thing"?

[thischarmingman]

There's a very funny Dara O'Briain clip from one of his standup shows that would illustrate this point perfectly but I can't seem to find it. It's the one where he talks about how the English have 'Yes' and 'No' when it comes to what you can and can't do and how the Irish have 3 areas along the lines of, 'That's grand', 'Steady now,' and 'Yer takin' the **** now.' :)

[don ramo]

we have some new blood entering the board and commitee this year, proactive people so hopefully thing will change for the better, How many members did you inform of this meetin DR.I certainly got no notification of such meeting.
As for new blood coming onto the committee,from what I hear the people going forward are worse than the crowd there last year,most of them will be yes men for the chairman

new blood is needed, and no piont painting them with a brush untill you know what colour you have, i bet you dont even have 5 names

as i said it was arranged in the forums both of them, and dont bother trying to pull the one i never heard cause thats ****, you have been reading these boards for months and only recently registered, the club is relegeted 2 divisions and all ye muppet can talk about is having multiple accounts ye sad *****

[bellavistaman]

Cobh must be in an incredibly bad state to move from premier to A license pending further financial commitments being met!

Incredibly bad. :(


Are Cobh the first team to be relegated a Division as a direct result of annual Licensing decisions?
.

At least we created history. :o:D

[A face]

Here is the full list of clubs and their licences


The Independent Licensing Committee of the FAI has today (February 16) awarded 15 Premier Division licences and 7 First Division licences. 3 Newstalk A Championship licenses were also awarded. The Independent Club Licensing Committee will consider applications from the four clubs that have qualified for UEFA competitions in April 2009. Athlone Town, Cobh Ramblers, Cork City, Kildare County were given licences on the basis that financial commitments they have made will be honoured within the agreed dates before the start of the 2009 season.


Read more at www.eircomloi.ie (http://www.eircomloi.ie/news-centre/media-centre/february-2009/news/index.xml)


Prem 1st Div Newstalk A Championship
Bohemian FC Athlone Town Cobh Ramblers
Bray Wanderers Kildare County Salthill Devon
Cork City Limerick Tullamore Town
Derry City Longford Town
Drogheda United Mervue United
Dundalk Sporting Fingal
Finn Harps Wexford Youths
Galway United
Monaghan United
Shamrock Rovers
Shelbourne
Sligo Rovers
St. Patrick's Athletic
UCD AFC
Waterford United

[peadar1987]

Does anybody know if any clubs applied and failed to get licenses? So many people were sure Mullingar, Portlaoise, Carlow, Clonmel, Castlebar, Tralee etc. were going to be in the A Championship this season

edit: Didn't see Tullamore actually did get a license, rookie mistake!

[GlasnevinRed]

Afaik back in 07 we were issued a FD licence to replace the PD one we already had or something along those lines.

[culloty82]

What about Carlow, Castlebar and Tralee? Should they not have been awarded A Championship licenses?

As far as I know, Carlow and Tralee were instructed by the FAI and the League on how to get their licences before they were awarded places in the A Championship, so I presume they're confirmed for this year.

[srfc1928]

no togetherness down here, its a disgrace, i arranged a meetin for fundraising ideas on this and other forums, and 3 people tuned up, says it all really

were either gonna come back stronger, our just flicker out of existence,

we have some new blood entering the board and commitee this year, proactive people so hopefully thing will change for the better,

Hopefully ye come back stronger.
A club with too much tradition and history to let die.

[AnnaghRed]

Quite sad that who's made it and who hasn't has to made by somebody with a length of red tape 3 weeks before seasons start. Irish league heading the same way. Seems little point competing on the pitch any more :(

[Dodge]

Quite sad that who's made it and who hasn't has to made by somebody with a length of red tape 3 weeks before seasons start. Irish league heading the same way. Seems little point competing on the pitch any more :(

Except the top league are all there on merit. It's not like they force the clubs to have 10,000 seats or anything. Just basic facilities, after that it's about football

[AnnaghRed]

Is Kildares ground that much better than Cobhs?

[gael353]

dont think it has anything to do with whos ground is the best. its finances too, not sure about kildare but cobh have about half a million of debt around their necks

[Longfordian]

They never managed to pay the Revenue and/or do a deal with their players I think. If they could have managed those they'd probably have been alright but apparently their Revenue debt was or is something like €160,000.

[AnnaghRed]

I dont know the ins & outs to be honest, but as i see it higher profile clubs haven't been punished to the same extent [virtual extinction] for committing similar crimes to Cobh.

I stand to be corrected, but it stinks to me of making an example of the minnow because theres less likely to be any comeback.

[don ramo]

our ground has been upgraded over the last 2 years to the tune of 1,3 million euro, it has a 1500 seating capacity, with an addition 3000 odd standing,(premier division standard) we had new floodlights installed, a new stand built, the old stand reseated, pitch lenghted and widend and new dressing rooms, all seemingly gone down the can,

players were sorted, its the revenue that killed us, now we have a half a million debth, with i think 7 home games to generate cash, (we also have a clubhouse that is ahead of its targets and more of less keeping us going),

[SeanDrog]

I dont know the ins & outs to be honest, but as i see it higher profile clubs haven't been punished to the same extent [virtual extinction] for committing similar crimes to Cobh.

I stand to be corrected, but it stinks to me of making an example of the minnow because theres less likely to be any comeback.

Wel other clubs got their act i order, cork and drogs taking the very risky and painful route of examinership, like it or not a legal process to get your house in order - Cobh have not addressed their debt issues, I asked previosuly and I ask again what have the Cobh supporters done to reduce this debt as all I see is crys of being hard done by being directed at clubs who got their affairs in order.

[passerrby]

I dont know the ins & outs to be honest, but as i see it higher profile clubs haven't been punished to the same extent [virtual extinction] for committing similar crimes to Cobh.

I stand to be corrected, but it stinks to me of making an example of the minnow because theres less likely to be any comeback.

there is some merit in what you say .some of the higher profile clubs should have been punished for breaching the protocol but were give the all clear to ensure we had a premier league.
I believe licensing has lost any remaining credability it had

[Mr A]

Yes, the massive, polka dot wearing, tap dancing elephant elephant in the room here is the 65% rule. It seems that this has simply been ignored because of the clubs it would affect. Are the FAI seriously trying to have us believe that only GUFC and Sligo breached this, and that once they reined back everything was hunky dory?