Sporting Fingal Gone Belly Up

[Bunny Kelly]

I don't want to have to go through the whole thread so to get a little back on topic, what is the current state of Fingal. Will they be able to hold onto their players under contract, take part in the Europa lge or do they need to cut their costs ASAP?

[pineapple stu]

Officially, there's a budget review on at the moment, after which player issues will be decided. Gerry Gannon has put close on E2m into them in three years - Fingal are unsustainable in their current guise without him - and is now in NAMA. NAMA have said they want all sports sponsorship from those in NAMA to stop. Gerry may get his missus to put money in instead though.

That's about all we really know.

[Lamper.sffc]

I don't want to have to go through the whole thread so to get a little back on topic, what is the current state of Fingal. Will they be able to hold onto their players under contract, take part in the Europa lge or do they need to cut their costs ASAP?

What I think will happen is we will have to cut our costs and work under a smaller budget. We will probably lose some of the higher paid players. Personally I would like to know sooner rather than later myself.

[passerrby]

What I think will happen is we will have to cut our costs and work under a smaller budget..
ya mean its that bad

[Spudulika]

Checking through the PFAI list, some of the bigger earners are gone, and there is a great nucleus of young players left (Finn, Byrne, Williams, McFaul), so even on a reduced budget the club will be at worst a struggling mid-table outfit. That being said, Europe is on the cards again and if Bohs go down, and Sligo don't strengthen, it's going to be a case of catching Pats and Shamrock Rovers next season and a more level playing field.

[total hoofball]

http://www.fingal-independent.ie/premium/sport/soccer/gannon-steps-down-as-sporting-fingal-chair-2460071.html


Gannon steps down as Sporting Fingal chair

DEVELOPER TO CONCENTRATE ON BUSINESS INTERESTS



By Robin KIELY

Wednesday December 15 2010



THE future prospects of Sporting Fingal FC have taken a dramatic twist after it emerged developer and majority shareholder, Gerry Gannon, has resigned as club chairman.


Well, I'm truly shocked by that....


Anyway, does anyone have a full subscription to copy up the entire article?

[BonnieShels]

:eek:

THE future prospects of Sporting Fingal FC have taken a dramatic twist after it emerged developer and majority shareholder, Gerry Gannon, has resigned as club chairman.
In documents obtained from the Companies Registration Office, the Fingal Independent can reveal Mr Gannon stepped down from his post and that of company secretary on November 26th.
Sporting's very existence remains in the balance amid rumours of serious financial difficulties and suggestions the club may not be in a position to compete at the same level next year, while a review of its operations has been ongoing since the conclusion of the playing season at the end of October.
Mr Gannon, who has been replaced as company secretary by current club secretary, John O'Brien, made a € 750,000 'non-refundable contribution' last year, on top of a € 499,900 sponsorship payment in 2008. However, Sporting posted a loss of more than € 75,000 in 2009.
It's understood the club board is currently working with several parties who may be involved for the coming season, while a licensing application to compete in the Premier Division next year has been submitted to the FAI.
'Mr Gannon, who is a businessman based in Fingal, now wants to fully concentrate on his business interests, given the economic climate in Ireland,' a spokesperson for Mr Gannon said.
'He was glad to be a part of Sporting Fingal and he wishes them the best for the future.'
Speculation over the club's survival continues to be the talk of the League of Ireland, while contractual negotiations with players are taking place and a number have been released.
Club press officer, John Fallon, confirmed Mr Gannon's departure and said there was little prospect of Sporting's financial situation becoming clearer in the immediate future.
'There have been various exploratory talks taking place, but nothing has been developed to a point where we are close and I don't expect it will happen over the next few days,' Mr Fallon said.

[L.T.F.C.]

http://oi52.tinypic.com/2mxjwd4.jpg

[marinobohs]

given all the clubs liKely to be in the First Division next year maybe the League should just extend that Division :D

[Dodge]

Interesting that they've made a license application at the same time as saying they haven't a clue what their financial situation will be like

[legendz]

given all the clubs liKely to be in the First Division next year maybe the League should just extend that Division :D

With all the clubs in trouble, in some respects it hardly seems like the time to be expanding the Premier.

[superjohnny]

question on everyones lips though is, who is the LEP going to support next year.?

[MMVIII]

No loss if they fold from the league. Never were a football 'club' in the first place. Shut the door on your way out :)

[sparky12345678]

No loss if they fold from the league. Never were a football 'club' in the first place. Shut the door on your way out :)

Well your losing fans of the LOI who wont have as strong an interest., surely thats a bad thing.

As a sporting fingal fan (cos morton stadium is in my back garden), i would be sad to see it go.

The LOI and its clubs do need major restructuring (much like the country and the government).

Honestly dont see how the greater Dublin area can support so many "professional" clubs, at least with the way domestic fan following os atm. but even without sporting fingal there are too much.
Cant see shels and bohs amalgamating tho (or rovers and pats).
Not to mention dundalk and droghed, bray and ucd.

[Schumi]

Mr Gannon... made a € 750,000 'non-refundable contribution' last yearIt still boggles the mind to see that and think that Fingal only came third in the First Division that year.

[Schumi]

Cant see shels and bohs amalgamating tho (or rovers and pats).
Not to mention dundalk and droghed, bray and ucd.

Fingal and Dublin City?

[pineapple stu]

It still boggles the mind to see that and think that Fingal only came third in the First Division that year.
Tee hee. :p

[legendz]

They might have only came third but they did win the Cup and kicked on this year to finish 4th in the Premier. It's sad to see any club in financial difficulty. I hope they can get their house in order. They seemed to have a good plan to build in Lusk. While not likely in the near future, if the can keep the show on the road over the next few years I'm sure they can look to build for that.

[The Lep]

question on everyones lips though is, who is the LEP going to support next year.?

Silly question. Dont get too excited, all is well :)

[sparky12345678]

Fingal and Dublin City?

well i dno.
I guess if we were to start from scratch, a northside and a southside team would be ideal...
But its naive to expect everyone to join together.

I grew up in ashbourne, I live and whole family are from santry/finglas and went to school in cabra. Santry is right on the border between fingal and dublin city. So its hard to choose, i do have a spot for bohs tho.

in general i consider myself a northsider, so my affinity lies with both bohs and fingal.
My preference as a newish fan to the LOI in general being Fingal.
I just wish we could sort it out properly for once and all

[Guinney]

With no disrespect to any Fingal fans out there, I was never a fan of the Sporting Fingal franchise. Basically its success was artificial with money been pumped in by a rich financier (who is now broke and been bailed out by NAMA). There is already to many clubs in Dublin and Fingal is completing with well-established clubs in the area for there fan base, so I can't see how there small fan base growing and ultimately the club becoming self-sustainable.

[White Horse]

Honestly dont see how the greater Dublin area can support so many "professional" clubs, at least with the way domestic fan following os atm. but even without sporting fingal there are too much.
Cant see shels and bohs amalgamating tho (or rovers and pats).
Not to mention dundalk and droghed, bray and ucd.

I can't speak for the others. But seriously, Dundalk in "greater" Dublin? Grrr.

[The Lep]

With no disrespect to any Fingal fans out there, I was never a fan of the Sporting Fingal franchise. Basically its success was artificial with money been pumped in by a rich financier (who is now broke and been bailed out by NAMA). There is already to many clubs in Dublin and Fingal is completing with well-established clubs in the area for there fan base, so I can't see how there small fan base growing and ultimately the club becoming self-sustainable.

There arent any well-established clubs in the area. Sporting Fingal is the ONLY club in Fingal ( league that is ). Have a look at your post again and see where you are going wrong.

[sparky12345678]

I can't speak for the others. But seriously, Dundalk in "greater" Dublin? Grrr.

Well it wasnt meant to offend. Just that if Bray is in greater Dublin, then i was including Drogheda (ie louth., ie Dundalk) as part of a central east coast concentration of clubs.
My naive suggestion would be to amalgamate Dundalk and drogheda, ha.
lol

Maybe the irish are just too parochial to fund and support big professional clubs (although it works in rugby the regional club thing works in rugby and the parochial thing in GAA so what is soccer doing wrong??)

[legendz]

There arent any well-established clubs in the area. Sporting Fingal is the ONLY club in Fingal ( league that is ). Have a look at your post again and see where you are going wrong.

This has been my understanding as well. Sporting Fingal is a club for Fingal. I haven't realised there is another LoI club in Fingal?
South Dublin has Shamrock Rovers.

[Ezeikial]

Well it wasnt meant to offend. Just that if Bray is in greater Dublin, then i was including Drogheda (ie louth., ie Dundalk) as part of a central east coast concentration of clubs.
My naive suggestion would be to amalgamate Dundalk and drogheda, ha.
lol


This suggestion raises its head from time to time - including from Fran Gavin back when he was PFAI Director.

An amalgamation of Dundalk and Drogheda would effectively mean the demise of one club, and realistically could only occur in these extreme circumstances.

While the possibility of Drogheda folding is not far-fetched, the prospects of there being a new "Louth United" are so remote as to be almost non-existent.

Co Louth is better off with two vibrant clubs, and the League of Ireland likewise for having as wide a spread as possible from outside Dublin

[passerrby]

amalgamamtion of long est clubs is hairbrained and proposed by non foobtballing people I like most league supporters follow my club and would never counternance supporting another no matter what name they used.
However I would not mind the mons Joining up with rovers ,they would benifit from our fan base making them a massive club while we can claim rapid funding for our work in disadvantaged areas.

[Nesta99]

Passer surely there are designated RAPID areas in Monaghan too?

[SkStu]

This suggestion raises its head from time to time - including from Fran Gavin back when he was PFAI Director.

An amalgamation of Dundalk and Drogheda would effectively mean the demise of one club, and realistically could only occur in these extreme circumstances.


in reality an amalgamation of any 2 clubs would actually mean the demise of both clubs.

[John83]

Silly question. Dont get too excited, all is well :)
Are you on here long enough to remember SuperGretna?

[passerrby]

Passer surely there are designated RAPID areas in Monaghan too?

yes gortakeegan.
If we amalgamamted we would be known as shamon mother****ers

[PartySaint]

This has been my understanding as well. Sporting Fingal is a club for Fingal. I haven't realised there is another LoI club in Fingal?
South Dublin has Shamrock Rovers.

Eh!! Are you serious??

[legendz]

Eh!! Are you serious??

Not all of South Dublin now like. Are St. Pat's in the region of South Dublin County Council?

[passerrby]

rovers and pats are both south dublin while bohs, shels are north side inner city while fingal is north side subarbia,not 100% sure am open to correction.
but as someone says any attempt at joining two clubs only means the demise of one.

[legendz]

Sorry, I thought St. Pat's/Inchicore was closer to the city and not in the South Dublin County Council area.

[The Lep]

Are you on here long enough to remember SuperGretna?

Long enough :)

[Spudulika]

No loss if they fold from the league. Never were a football 'club' in the first place. Shut the door on your way out :)

I know you're saying that tongue firmly in cheek, however I remember alot of people saying the same thing about Shamrock Rovers, Shels........then again, it's first nature for Irish football to kill itself, does a far better job than the sky leagues or our meeja ever could!

[BonnieShels]

Sorry, I thought St. Pat's/Inchicore was closer to the city and not in the South Dublin County Council area.

They're smack bang in Dublin City. Palmerstown is the nearest point to Inchicore that's in South Dublin. This bull about Dublin having a team for each council area is nonsense. And the idea that there is a Fingal identity nowadays is mental. I am aware of the history of Fingal and the historical significance of same but I dare ya to say it to someone from Dunboyne that they're from Fingal now!

Anyway, The Lep geographical denials aside, we asked months ago about what was going on with Spingal and yoursmelf and Lamper as the 2 prominent Fingal fans here were asked what was going on and you assured us that everything is fine. Now, no reason to doubt ye but is this Gannon resignation a surprise to ye or was it on the cards long ago when it became clear he wouldn't be funding ye this seasin?

[Charlie Darwin]

Smack bang is a huge exaggeration - it's not much closer to the city centre than UCD.

[BonnieShels]

You'll note I didn't say in the middle. It's in Dublin City unlike UCD. And besides its not the important part of my post. Don't distract the Lep.

[The Lep]

They're smack bang in Dublin City. Palmerstown is the nearest point to Inchicore that's in South Dublin. This bull about Dublin having a team for each council area is nonsense. And the idea that there is a Fingal identity nowadays is mental. I am aware of the history of Fingal and the historical significance of same but I dare ya to say it to someone from Dunboyne that they're from Fingal now!

Anyway, The Lep geographical denials aside, we asked months ago about what was going on with Spingal and yoursmelf and Lamper as the 2 prominent Fingal fans here were asked what was going on and you assured us that everything is fine. Now, no reason to doubt ye but is this Gannon resignation a surprise to ye or was it on the cards long ago when it became clear he wouldn't be funding ye this seasin?

Dunboyne isnt in Fingal :) Do you read back what you post :) What have i denied geographically ? :)

[The Lep]

You'll note I didn't say in the middle. It's in Dublin City unlike UCD. And besides its not the important part of my post. Don't distract the Lep.

What are you on about? :)

[SwanVsDalton]

"Hmm haven't been on foot.ie for a while, think I'll check out what's going on. Oh could be an update on Sporting Fingal's situation..."

*click*
*read*
*read*
*read*

"...nope just a page and a half debate on Dublin's city/county boundaries. The new season can't come quick enough"

[Lamper.sffc]

They're smack bang in Dublin City. Palmerstown is the nearest point to Inchicore that's in South Dublin. This bull about Dublin having a team for each council area is nonsense. And the idea that there is a Fingal identity nowadays is mental. I am aware of the history of Fingal and the historical significance of same but I dare ya to say it to someone from Dunboyne that they're from Fingal now!

Anyway, The Lep geographical denials aside, we asked months ago about what was going on with Spingal and yoursmelf and Lamper as the 2 prominent Fingal fans here were asked what was going on and you assured us that everything is fine. Now, no reason to doubt ye but is this Gannon resignation a surprise to ye or was it on the cards long ago when it became clear he wouldn't be funding ye this seasin?

Bonnie can I just say for the last time. I never denied anything ok. Read back over any of my posts in the thread and you will see. Im starting to think now that you are on a wind up, as iv said this to you before.

As for the fingal not having any identity, well the idea of the club from what I could tell was, that it is not a club created from the idea of fingal having a well established identity but a way of helping the area to re-establish the fingal identity. It was formed so people would start thinking of fingal as a defined area in the north of Dublin county again and hopefully bring a sense of pride to the area (whether it will work is another debate). There is a difference between north county Dublin and inner city Dublin (no jokes please:)) and a lot of people from around my area know this. We also understand about fingal in a way that a lot of other Dubliners dont. Now im not saying for one minute this is everybody but it is evident in a lot of people out our way. Most of the people Iv talked to about Fingal at games are delighted to have a club for our area finally. This is how they feel and why they support the club.

The Gannon resignation is not a surprise but not because I knew something yous didnt. I think it was quite easy to see that the writing was on the wall for us getting money from gannon when it was announced that anybody involved in Nama cant make contibutions to sport and so forth.

No head in sand, no denying anything just not wanting to get into endless arguments over this again and again.

Im worried and have been for a while now. Iv already said this in earlier posts.

[Buile Shuibhne]

Cheerio



THE departure of developer Gerry Gannon from Sporting Fingal has been confirmed, leaving the club in severe need of investment if they are to remain a professional outfit in 2011.

Gannon's cash propelled Fingal into the upper reaches of the Premier Division and to FAI Cup glory in the space of just three years.

However, the developer -- who was a member of the Anglo 10 -- is now tied up in NAMA and is unable to spend money on any recreational project ..................


http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/gannon-exit-leaves-fingal-in-frantic-funding-search-2465626.html

[drummerboy]

It was a crazy idea pushed through by Buckley and a few deluded Fingal County civil servants, most of who don't even live in the Fingal county boundaries.

[LeixlipRed]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rX7wtNOkuHo&feature=related

[Poor Student]

You'll note I didn't say in the middle. It's in Dublin City unlike UCD. And besides its not the important part of my post. Don't distract the Lep.

I think UCD lies in both Dublin City and Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown.

[The Lep]

Cheerio





http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/gannon-exit-leaves-fingal-in-frantic-funding-search-2465626.html

Where are you going ? :)

When you come back try and keep up as that has been posted a few pages ago. With you being a jurno and all that it should be easy for you to keep up with the news :)

[OneForTheFuture]

Fingal is a council administration area. Thats all.

I have never heard anybody say they were from Fingal if they were from Lusk or Littlepace, just that thats who does their bins and cuts off their water!

What a load of nonsense.