Big changes at Bray Wanderers

[nigel-harps1954]

Bray Wanderers bought by McGettigans Group, who coincidentally are also the main sponsors at Finn Harps.

A new kit deal with Nike, Saturday evening kick-offs, new crest and season ticket changes. All on their 30th year in the League of Ireland.
Safe to say, it's looking like a big year for Bray.



PROUD HISTORY AND BRIGHT FUTURE FOR BRAY WANDERERS FOOTBALL CLUB

The 2015 season will be the 30th anniversary since Bray Wanderers FC was elected into the League of Ireland and it is in this landmark year that we are delighted to announce that the club is to be taken over by new owners.

McGettigan’s Group expects to purchase the majority shareholding of Bray Wanderers Football Club in the coming weeks, with the main aim of getting the club back up the league where it belongs. The McGettigan family has had The Royal Hotel in their name for the past 33 years and they are delighted to announce that the hotel will be coming on board as the main sponsor of Bray Wanderers for the 2015 season. The McGettigan family knows exactly how important Bray Wanderers Football Club is to the community, because of their long history at The Royal Hotel.

McGettigan’s Group currently owns several bars and a hotel in the UAE, including 3 pubs in Dubai and 1 in Abu Dhabi. In total, the group owns 10 hotels and 7 bars, with 2 on the way in March 2015 with the opening of bars in both New York and Singapore. There will also be a further 3 bars due to open in September 2015 – including the McGettigan’s Bar at The Royal Hotel in Bray.

Bray Wanderers was elected to the League of Ireland when it was expanded to two divisions for the 1985/86 season. They played their first game as a League of Ireland club on the 8TH September 1985 in an FAI League Cup match against Dundalk. The Seagulls secured promotion to the Premier Division by winning the League of Ireland First Division Championship that year.

Dennis McGettigan, CEO of the McGettigan Group said, “The emphasis is 100% focused on forging a relationship between The Royal Hotel with the new McGettigan’s Bar (opening in 2015 at the hotel) and the football club. We will be able to give full access of our facilities to the club. The team can now use our boardrooms for meetings, they can use our Merrill Leisure Club at the hotel for fitness training sessions, and they can use any of our hotels around Ireland to stay in for away fixtures. We are here to offer Bray Wanderers unlimited support and the goal is simple – we want to take this famous football club back up the league table and to assure supporters that this club has a very secure future for many years to come. We want to make match days a family day out by injecting fun back into the occasion, and we have a wonderful team ready to make this happen”, added Dennis McGettigan.

Bray Wanderers and McGettigan’s Brand Director, Declan Pierce said, “The aim is to make Bray Wanderers a football club that is run through community support. We are now in a position to start the sale of 2015 season tickets, which are available from the club office at the Carlisle Grounds, The Royal Hotel Bray and Costello Opticians. We have been working with representatives from local clubs; Ardmore Rovers, Phoenix Youth and the Bray Wanderers Supporters Club to prepare for the 2015 season and we are delighted to announce we will be hosting our games on Saturday evenings with a 5.45pm start - this will make it easier for both home and away fans to get to the ground, avoid Friday evening rush hour traffic, and make the games more family-friendly. Finally, we have redesigned the club’s crest with the help of a selection of fans; this change will honour the club’s history and this historic 30th year in the League of Ireland. We have signed a deal with Nike, who will now become the official supplier of the team kits and replica kits for fans. We will have new online sales facilities up and running shortly for fans to purchase the Bray Wanderers kits”.

Bray Wanderers Director of Football, Alan Matthews commented, "We are trying to make a positive change to the match-day experience at the Carlisle Grounds and playing on Saturday evening will give the club this opportunity".

Speaking about the change within Bray Wanderers, Chairman Denis O’Connor said, “In the coming season, we see the football club being run by a Board of Management on a voluntary basis. At the end of the day this journey will not be possible without the support of the community of Bray or indeed the loyal supporters of our football team. We are extremely excited about welcoming the full crew from the McGettigan’s Group to Bray Wanderers. There is a massive sense of positivity around the Carlisle Grounds again about the future of this proud club”.

One thing is for sure – Bray Wanderers is now in very good hands. The financial and infrastructural support offered by The Royal Hotel and the McGettigan’s Group means that Bray Wanderers future is very bright. The Seagulls have grown new and very strong wings!

[tippex]

All in all pretty Positive for the Club

[nigel-harps1954]

New jersey too. This is a beaut.

https://scontent-b-lhr.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfp1/v/t1.0-9/10868134_989348644412410_7443749823938636105_n.jpg ?oh=70ce87c0e1474990c4c96b4251c7b12d&oe=55423BC5

[tippex]

Just seen that and I'm really not sold on it at all. Tho it will be good to have nike kit :)

[Mr A]

Club forum has been back for several hours. Keep up tippex :)

[nigel-harps1954]

Club forum has been back for several hours. Keep up tippex :)


Easily solved..

http://www.comparestoreprices.co.uk/images/ra/rapid-tipp-ex-rapid-correction-fluid.jpg

[tippex]

Yeah I made an assumption lol more fool me

[redobit]

Bray Wanderers bought by McGettigans Group, who coincidentally are also the main sponsors at Finn Harps.

.

Would that be an issue they were playing in the same division. Say if Bray get relegated. (Harps wont get promoted so no point putting that forward :p )

[tippex]

Are they still sponsors of harps? thought it was a tad strange all right

[Darklordsbane]

If Harps sign a good goal scorer I'd fancy thier chances of at least a play-off spot. They are very hard to beat and if they turn some of those draws that they are so good at into wins they won't be far away

[White Horse]

What does the takeover mean? Will Bray suddenly get an injection of capital? Are the new owners trying to do anything different to the old ones?

[tippex]

Hopefully it means both a cash injection and the ability of the club to get the town on its side.
The amount of crap that the club had to battle within the town and the wider wicklow football community was crazy. (what went on with how they handled posts here certainly didn't help)

Considering the size of bray and the surrounding areas they should be one of the best supported clubs in the league (yes we all know that the Carlisle also needs a major upgrade). Baby steps for the club but as I said if they can get the town on its side then you just never know what can be achieved.

[superfrank]

It will be helpful for the club to get a breath of fresh air in.

There's still loads to do and I haven't seen any indication that the new owners are going to start flooding money in or turn us into a Drogs/Dublin City/Fingal deal.

Personally, I'm very excited to see a new board and new people brought in. Those involved previously have done a very good job but it's good to have a change, I think the previous board had taken us as far as they could.

[Spudulika]

Good look to Bray, they are a potential top-6 team who can qualify for Europe every other year. They deserve some luck.

[paykanti]

What happened with Bray and these forums? I never could access the note that was meant to explain it on here.

[Brusher]

As a Bohs fan,but also a person who wants the League to reach its potential,I congratulate Bray Wanderers and indeed the Mc Gettigan Group on forming this new alliance !Maybe more companies may come on board other clubs.

[Charlie Darwin]

What happened with Bray and these forums? I never could access the note that was meant to explain it on here.
A few people were discussing goings-on at board level, a solicitor's letter (or several) was received and dahamsta decided closing the board down was easier than having to deal with an overly-litigious club.

[eitoof]

Doesn't read well.

http://balls.ie/football/irish-mail-sunday-huge-story-one-loi-club-today/

[IrishRossi]

not sure where to put this
http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/league-of-ireland/league-of-ireland-club-being-investigated-over-450k-fraud-claim-30935340.html

[ger121]

Those who shall not be named, named for not showing,what they should have showed.

[Mr A]

Jeepers, McGettigan's must be wondering what the hell they have got themselves into!

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B8MadyBIQAA8TpH.jpg

I would just remind people to tread very carefully around this topic, and also that of Darren Quigley very carefully (Have a look back over his timeline here (https://twitter.com/DarQuigs) if you're wondering). The people involved have threatened this site before so we're not going to tolerate anything that may lead to further hassle.

[Mr A]

Some more on this here: http://player.98fm.com/player/podcasts/Now_Thats_What_I_Call_Sport/98FM_Now_That39s_What_I_Call_Sport/31257/2/Johnny_Sexton_on_concussion__The_Sunday_Papers

[Spudulika]

This is not going to end well. A read through that twitter feed is toe curdling!

[wandererfan]

First the club heard of this was this morning , dept of sport check done a few months ago and nothing flagged . Tells you alot when the club have to look into this now

[White Horse]

I'm more shock that almost a million spent on the Carlisle Grounds.

[wandererfan]

I'm more shock that almost a million spent on the Carlisle Grounds.

Ground work on the porter cabins cost a fair whack as far as I know , dept of sport checked up on it a few months back and didn't raise any issue

[Longfordian]

Someone knew where the bodies were buried obviously. Disgruntled former members no doubt. I can't imagine it's only recently come to their attention. Big trouble for Bray if this is proven.

[tippex]

In fairness there were people involved in the club for years so I'm sure like all clubs everyone has dirt on everyone else.
It is worrying that this is coming out now. If the takeover hasn't gone through it could scupper everything I would imagine.
I would imagine it will be a hornets nest to go through everything. not looking forward to the outcome of all this.

[tippex]

according to what I hear on the radio they are claiming the cost of the portacabins work was over 400k. That is mind boggling.

[Acornvilla]

according to what I hear on the radio they are claiming the cost of the portacabins work was over 400k. That is mind boggling.
Your username is very appropriate at the minute :D

[Joe Strummer]

BRAY WANDERERS CLUB STATEMENT:
Statement on behalf of Bray Wanderers Football Club (The Club)

In October last, Officers past and present of the Club met with officials from the Department of Tourism, Transport and Sport concerning grant-aid to the club under various Sports Capital Programmes.
One of the conditions attaching to grant approvals was that the project might be subject to inspection by representatives of the Department. The Club was selected to form part of the Department’s 2014 Capital Inspection Programme.
This inspection duly took place on October 9th last. The Club provided all information requested and cooperated fully with the Department’s inquiries.

The Club has heard nothing further since then and is not aware of any issue arising from any sports grants received at any time by the Club. It has never been contacted by An Garda Siochana and is entirely unaware of any Garda investigation.
The Club has been and is always prepared to provide the fullest cooperation with the Department of Tourism, Transport and Sports and An Garda Siochana.

The Club’s financial books and records are and have been independently audited each financial year and its affairs are entirely compliant .There have never been any issues raised concerning irregularities in its accounts including for the years 2006, 2007 and 2008.

Regrettably, over the past few weeks the Club has become aware of attempts to prevent the proposed new administration taking place and canvassing the Club to engage in a commercial property development of the Carlisle Grounds. The Club do not accept that this is the way forward.

Bray Wanderers are committed to keeping Premier League football in the town ,to keeping the Carlisle Grounds open for football and prevent it falling into the hands of property developers, and to move forward with the exciting plans for the coming season and beyond with new investors ,local youth and football clubs and the involvement of an enthusiastic community .

As is well known the new administration were not involved in the years 2006 to 2008 when there was an entirely different Board of Directors in control. However, we will cooperate with any official enquiry and will continue to try and get the community of Bray focussed on our football and community endeavours.
End Statement January 25th 2015

[White Horse]

It might make more sense for the new owners to start a new club if there is a big risk of legacy issues coming to light.

[Mr A]

Too late for a new club to apply for a license for 2015. The FAI invoked that with GUST but ignored with Derry so no telling whether that matters.

[Spudulika]

My first reaction was above, now I'm thinking, before Christmas I read about the shenanigans with the WC stadia in Russia and the hundreds of millions disappeared, so this is nothing. But then I thought of how we're always bemoaning the fact that LOI facilities are poor (Bray I can say in an exception as it's a nice little ground). I hope this is sorted out quickly, and that we don't end up with one big league of 18 teams!

[pineapple stu]

LoI facilities are poor, but Bray is an exception?

When were you last in the toilets in the Carlisle?

[nigel-harps1954]

Hold on......there's toilets in the Carlisle?

[littlebray]

not sure where to put this
http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/league-of-ireland/league-of-ireland-club-being-investigated-over-450k-fraud-claim-30935340.html

Neither is the Indo, apparently. I got 404 when I tried to follow the link, and no sign of the story in any index when I went through the front door.

[IrishRossi]

JD has got his friend dinny to take it down

[littlebray]

JD has got his friend dinny to take it down

That great friend of BW? - The previous administration, I should clarify!

[pineapple stu]

Hold on......there's toilets in the Carlisle?
Yup. Cost about €350k apparently

[peadar1987]

Hold on......there's toilets in the Carlisle?

They're on the home side, Harps troublemakers aren't allowed in ;)

[wonder88]

Do Bray W own the Carlisle Grounds?

[Seagull]

Do Bray W own the Carlisle Grounds?

No, they have a long term sporting lease on the ground from Bray Town Council. I can't remember exactly but the FAI were involved in the lease at one stage, when the lights went in, I think.

[NeverFeltBetter]

I've never used its toilets, but I do think Carlisle is a nice little ground. I'll have to check out the facilities next time though, see what 400K buys!

[Mr A]

Independent article is now longer, and here: http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/league-of-ireland/bray-wanderers-unaware-of-any-garda-investigation-into-450k-fraud-claim-30936986.html

[littlebray]

Only seems longer, as it (like RTE.ie yesterday) quotes the club statement in full. The only additional element is a mention of the Quigley dispute, first time in the national media I think. FAI money can be explained, and FAI will help craft the response, I feel, unless there is a real vendetta being waged against former Directors, who didn't always see eye-to-eye with JD (not to put too fine a point on it).

Possibly the real worry is the reference in the club statement:

"Regrettably, over the past few weeks the Club has become aware of attempts to prevent the proposed new administration taking place and canvassing the Club to engage in a commercial property development of the Carlisle Grounds."

The long-term lease at the Carlisle was achieved only after lengthy lobbying, and in the face of stiff resistance by a rump of public representatives. It wouldn't take a lot to raise the question again, and there would be a fair amount of hostility if the bad publicity continues.

Not that the lease itself would be queried, but if there was any legal loophole at all, there would be those who would wish to use it ...

[Trainee]

If their is a fraud charge to be answered surley its a criminal case against The directors of the club at the time the alleged incident happened rather than the club itself.

So I cant see it being a major issue for Bray & its new owners.

[Charlie Darwin]

If their is a fraud charge to be answered surley its a criminal case against The directors of the club at the time the alleged incident happened rather than the club itself.

So I cant see it being a major issue for Bray & its new owners.
The entity that misspent the money would still be liable to pay it back, although they could sue the directors was any impropriety proven.

[paykanti]

Just noticed Darren Quigley giving it some on twitter.

[Bunny Kelly]

Just noticed Darren Quigley giving it some on twitter.



Again