Bray statement

[ToberonaTornado]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DDl_CdKXoAIjn6M.jpghttps://pbs.twimg.com/media/DDl_CijXoAAcxCZ.jpg

[Nah Nah Nah Nah]

No great surprise there. Will they make it to the end of the season?

[sbgawa]

What a ****. Release a statement like that and then send your team out to play while they worr th will they get paid...

[LK37oldskool]

Class act to do that on match day. Worrying times for Bray

[Nah Nah Nah Nah]

Well it was sent out at half time (as you do with things like this). I'm sure the team didn't hear about it during the game.

[El-Pietro]

Another part of the plan? Part of their plan to move out of the Carlisle?

[Kingswood Rover]

The figure against Rovers is way off IMO, easily 2000 at that particular game, splittin hairs i know, hope they survive, come on Bray folk get out and support your team FFS

[Dalymountrower]

Enjoy the trip down there, but there is no interest in the town or it seems to me, no effort on the part of the club to establish links with the town, Shankill, greystones etc..
Handy six points for Bohs this season though, so hang on in there Bray!

[Nesta99]

So there was no offer for Connolly pre season yet less than 100k. 50k, 25k? I was always of the impression that a club enquired how much a player wold be to purchase and the owning club state how much or not for sale. An enquiry is hardly 'can i spend 100k on your player please?' That and the typo - did he run in at HT peeved at the crowd and rattled out some figures.

[Centenary]

No mention of what the club has done to engage the locals?

[Guitd]

Unfair on. Clubs like limerick galway Sligo etc who do there business properly Bray never could afford the money they were paying players with the crowds they were getting

[sbgawa]

Question is ....is he just putting this out there before he offloads some of the high earners to shut the fans up or is it a question of lodge the Connolly cheque and tonight's gate receipts and lock the gates ??

[pineapple stu]

Unfair on. Clubs like limerick galway Sligo etc who do there business properly Bray never could afford the money they were paying players with the crowds they were getting
In fairness, Galway have had their time on the other end of the spending stick.


No mention of what the club has done to engage the locals?
There's been a lot of work done at a local level I think; players at schools, local clubs, etc. 120+ players in a season-long fantasy football competition, including players/officials. Decent local media coverage. The mascot turned on the Christmas lights in Bray last year. There's more I'm sure. Bottom line is - welcome to the LoI.

[pineapple stu]

The figure against Rovers is way off IMO, easily 2000 at that particular game, splittin hairs i know, hope they survive, come on Bray folk get out and support your team FFS
Also, good aul foot.ie! A club releases what's at best a curious statement, at worst a quite worrying one which certainly seems to have overtures of financial trouble - and someone has to come out and say "The attendance was waaaay more than that"

Never change. :)

[joey B]

Have Bray ever had a substantial support? ? 59 adult season ticket sales is depressing though and would alarm bells not be ringing a lot sooner if that is all you sold pre-season? ?

[Treaty Gooner]

Unfair on. Clubs like limerick galway Sligo etc who do there business properly Bray never could afford the money they were paying players with the crowds they were getting

Wouldn't be so sure about Limerick. Last time Mad Pat pulled his money we were relegated. Nailed on to happen again if he repeats the trick.

[jinxy lilywhite]

The ST sales are absolutely abysmal.

I really hope the people of bray and wicklow can come out and watch their side. Is there anything else there sportswise that's keeping folk away in the area

[oriel]

They announced 1,538 tonight, based on those figures this makes it the season best, but I see the Rovers figure is disputed, to be fair I would have expected that to be higher given the proximity.

Why on earth did they feel the need to hand this statement out at HT?

[total hoofball]

What a bizarre statement of facts & figures from the usually Delusional Denis, not sure what his point is though, has he just suddenly realised that Bray might very well not be able to sustain a professional setup to compete in the Champions League in the near future?

I can only take it that somebody has been burning their cash on the club for the past 2 years so there should be nothing to worry about for Bray, in the short to medium term at least

Anyway nice to see some actual gate receipt figures (they look legit), if all 20 clubs did this the real figures would be a horrorshow for all at Abbotstown to cover up

[nigel-harps1954]

If those figures are correct in terms of paying customers, Bray handed out around 900 free tickets for the Shamrock Rovers game.

Either that, or they wildly inflated their official attendance figure.


They also left out the figure from the Harps game at the start of the season.

Bray v Harps - 1,117 (No figures from statement)
v Drogheda - 638 (305 paying customers)
v Limerick - 649 (342 paying)
v Galway - 477 (255 paying)
v Rovers - 2,225 (1,298 paying)
v Pats - 1,287 (786 paying)
v Bohs - 1,193 (1,015 paying)
v Sligo - no official figure (411 paying)
v Derry - 799 (365 paying)

[wonder88]

This shows how difficult it is to get people to go to LoI games. Also shows up the ridiculous wages paid in our league when one considers the demand i.e. fans going to games, for their services. Maybe this statement will waken up the local soccer public and get to go some games there.

[Pablo Escobar]

This shows how difficult it is to get people to go to LoI games. Also shows up the ridiculous wages paid in our league when one considers the demand i.e. fans going to games, for their services. Maybe this statement will waken up the local soccer public and get to go some games there.
Nobody should take this statement at face value.

[NeverFeltBetter]

Sure O'Sullivan has said much the same at Limerick matches, albeit the situation wasn't quite as bad. Assume Bray will settle back into lower half obscurity soon. Shame, but a statement like this probably won't light a fire under the town.

[legendz]

It came across as a fair statement. Fair enough as well to communicate it to their supporters at half time.

It's fair enough in response for people to ask what are the club doing to establish links within the community? When results aren't going the club's way, they'll need support. The statement is linking results to support.

I don't know much about the club and it's area. If their chairman is looking to move away from the Carlisle Grounds, is that a move their supporters are against?

[Ezeikial]

If their chairman is looking to move away from the Carlisle Grounds, is that a move their supporters are against?

There's not enough supporters, don't you see. Poor Denis might be forced to move the club away from the Carlisie Grounds because of this.

It's really all the fault of the local people

[legendz]

There's not enough supporters, don't you see. Poor Denis might be forced to move the club away from the Carlisie Grounds because of this.

It's really all the fault of the local people
Though they have small support, they have support. Their opinion on moving or not should not be dismissed because of those who stay away.

[gufct]

Bray settled on the steps of the Court last with their ex manager Mick Cooke who was looking for over €50k which wasn't reported in the sports media at all and this will have taken the majority of Dylan Connolly's transfer fee. The FAI Licensing Committee approved Brays Budget where they were agreeing huge wages for fairly average players and also approved the Athlone Town Budget which brings their role into the farce that is the way the League is handled, Promoted and funded by the FAI. If the league got the €500,000 that our CEO gets in wages , expenses and pension pot we might be halfway to building a proper league. Inflatables and Posters on random bus stops will not get people to go to LOI Games. The clubs are the only ones working on promoting the league with zero budgets from JD and the expenses and gravy train brigade who are milking the game dry in Ireland.

[legendz]

It's easy to keep blaming the FAI, like people blaming the government. It's only in the last year or so that the PCA started negotiating with and lobbying against the FAI on league matters.

The league itself has to generate revenue. The FAI can assist with that in conjunction with the PCA.

Is the current tv deal sufficient? EirSport seem to want to broadcast more games and present a far better live broadcast than RTÉ.

I know that the idea of a Europa League playoff hasn't universal backing. At the same time, where's the harm in trialling it to see if it can boost midtable attendances, revenue and possibly through media interest raise the profile of the league.

[nigel-harps1954]

It's easy to keep blaming the FAI, like people blaming the government. It's only in the last year or so that the PCA started negotiating with and lobbying against the FAI on league matters.

The league itself has to generate revenue. The FAI can assist with that in conjunction with the PCA.

Is the current tv deal sufficient? EirSport seem to want to broadcast more games and present a far better live broadcast than RTÉ.

I know that the idea of a Europa League playoff hasn't universal backing. At the same time, where's the harm in trialling it to see if it can boost midtable attendances, revenue and possibly through media interest raise the profile of the league.

The same PCA headed by Denis O'Connor?

[bluewhitearmy]

The PCA is just as much if not more of a joke than the FAI.

[legendz]

The same PCA headed by Denis O'Connor?If you're suggesting the PCA have the wrong person leading their negotiations, the clubs have to sort that out.

[nigel-harps1954]

If you're suggesting the PCA have the wrong person leading their negotiations, the clubs have to sort that out.

Essentially suggesting the PCA is a complete load of sh!te, especially with someone like Denis O'Connor at the helm.

[gufct]

It's easy to keep blaming the FAI, like people blaming the government. It's only in the last year or so that the PCA started negotiating with and lobbying against the FAI on league matters.

The league itself has to generate revenue. The FAI can assist with that in conjunction with the PCA.

Is the current tv deal sufficient? EirSport seem to want to broadcast more games and present a far better live broadcast than RTÉ.

I know that the idea of a Europa League playoff hasn't universal backing. At the same time, where's the harm in trialling it to see if it can boost midtable attendances, revenue and possibly through media interest raise the profile of the league.

Your post shows complete ignorance off how the FAI run the league and why they refuse to give the clubs information on how much their receipts and payments are broken down into running the league. As for the TV Deal the clubs have nothing to do with that and don't get a red cent from it. The PCA is a joke should be only one body for all clubs and not give in to JD and his bootboys divide and conquer tactics. The womens national team showed the way to take on the FAI but have the club the balls to do it.

[legendz]

Your post shows complete ignorance off how the FAI run the league and why they refuse to give the clubs information on how much their receipts and payments are broken down into running the league. As for the TV Deal the clubs have nothing to do with that and don't get a red cent from it. The PCA is a joke should be only one body for all clubs and not give in to JD and his bootboys divide and conquer tactics. The womens national team showed the way to take on the FAI but have the club the balls to do it.It's only in the last year or so that clubs have been pressing for more information. At the end of your post you are rightly directing attention to the clubs. Whatever happened in the past that the FAI assumed such a dominant position, it is not beyond clubs to work together and dance with the dinosaur. If weak clubs are giving in to divide and conquer tactics, I'd be asking questions of those clubs.

[Lim till i die]

It always makes me smile the way league of irelands fans go on about solidarity when the actual clubs and the people running the clubs would gouge your eye out for a fiver.

You could as a club delegate stand up at a meeting of clubs and deliver the most impassioned speech against Delaney and how the league is ran. And as soon as you finished your speech there would be a stampede for the door by delegates from other clubs to see who could be the first to ring John or Fran or Eamon to mark your card in the hope that in return they'll get a few nods and winks come licensing time.

Because there isn't a club in the country that would pass a proper licensing system if it was actually enforced. The license serves as a band aid for pr purposes and a tool for shafting naughty teams. That's about the size of it.

Bray's crowds (like more or less every team in the league) are a figment of some lads imagination on match night. It's a moot point anyway. Who in the name of jaysus thinks you can run a football club on gate receipts?

[pineapple stu]

Tony O'Donoghue interview with Denis O'Connor (https://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2017/0701/887019-efused-to-offer-any-assurances-about-the-future-of-the/)

Not a huge amount new really.

[legendz]

I think their chairman spoke well there anyway. I await those making their counter arguments.

[White Horse]

Tony O'Donoghue interview with Denis O'Connor (https://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2017/0701/887019-efused-to-offer-any-assurances-about-the-future-of-the/)

Not a huge amount new really.


Interesting comment he made about complimentary tickets. The amount of people not paying in to certain grounds is significant.

[Lim till i die]

Interesting comment he made about complimentary tickets. The amount of people not paying in to certain grounds is significant.

Which ones and why do you reckon?

[Martinho II]

Enjoy the trip down there, but there is no interest in the town or it seems to me, no effort on the part of the club to establish links with the town, Shankill, greystones etc..
Handy six points for Bohs this season though, so hang on in there Bray!

bit like with us. oh I wish to have the days like we had with Stephen Kenny when there was huge interest in our matches!

[Mr A]

Would not believe a word from O'Connor given his history at the Tribunal where he was a associated with Lowry.

I was told he recently made an appearance or two in Stubb's Gazette. The sooner Bray get him out the door the better.

[Seagull]

What brought Denis O'Connor to Bray in the first place? Out of the blue he decided he'd buy an Irish football club and he chose Bray Wanderers? Never forget what this man is https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/soccer/rover-s-return-moriarty-tribunal-found-accountant-denis-o-connor-orchestrated-choreographed-falsehood-with-lowry-1.2295040. From the start he and his brother were divisive, driving away many people who had been loyal to the club for many years. They, along with a couple of willing local lickspittles took to Facebook to ridicule and belittle people (supporters) culminating in Murt O'Connor's racist and homophobic posts which at least put a stop to their use of Facebook. The supporters club has been wound up after the O'Connors set up a Bray Wanderers members club, controlled by themselves. And now he whinges about the lack of support? He drove people away, he had to know before he got involved with the club that support was small. I'm involved with a local schoolboy club and we haven't heard one word from Bray since the O'Connors came in, I'm sure we're not the only ones. Coincidentally, shortly after settling with Mick Cooke's unfair dismissal claim https://www.pressreader.com/ireland/irish-examiner/20170620/281801398957595 we sell Dylan Connolly to Dundalk. Walking around Bray on matchdays you'd have no idea there was a game on, not a poster or anything around the town. I agree with Mr. A, Denis O'Connor is the problem, he needs to get the hell out of Bray.

[legendz]

Where's the money coming from that has been invested in a squad sitting 3rd placed in the league?

[littlebray]

Denis O'Connor is the problem
I wish it was as simple as that, but it's not.
1. True, the O'Connors could have used their new brooms a little more cleverly when they took over, and yes, they didn't handle the long-serving volunteers very well. But that sort of bad start doesn't make them the enemy.
2. The town of Bray seems to have given up on Bray Wanderers once they joined the LOI in 1985 - with the exception of FAI Cup Semi-Finals and Finals, of course. Prior to that, there are plenty of reports of large attendances at matches.
3. Efforts to build support for the club have been intermittent, it is true, but have taken place every couple of years since 1985, with only very limited success. These involved approaches to local junior clubs, the Wicklow League, the Chamber of Commerce, the Town Council, and almost everyone who could possibly be of assistance. Hardly a school in the vicinity - well outside Bray town itself - didn't get visits from players, and the Cup was paraded around for good measure during the two years Wanderers had it.
4. Bray have no history of paying huge or even modestly inflated wages to players. In fact, a lot of the time they were paying well below the League averages.
5. Anyone with the time and determination could find practically annual rants by Pat Devlin amounting to much the same message as Denis O'C spelled out last night.
Wish there was a moneybags, even for a couple of seasons. We could do with one.

[Longfordian]

PFAI have just tweeted that Bray have told all players their wages are only covered up to next week and they can all go to other clubs.

[White Horse]

Looks like only two teams will be going down this season.

[Jofspring]

PFAI have just tweeted that Bray have told all players their wages are only covered up to next week and they can all go to other clubs.

Dundalk should have held out for a freebie.

In all seriousness though, I can't understand the point in contracts if you can just tell players we can't pay you anymore, move on.

[total hoofball]

PFAI have just tweeted that Bray have told all players their wages are only covered up to next week and they can all go to other clubs.
Another year and another club granted a fake license on phantom sources of money.

Bray players performance was way off against Dundalk, the squad must have known this was coming. Some will get contracts elsewhere but most won't get anything like they are on. Time for PFAI to take legal action on both Bray and the FAI for this.

[Ezeikial]

Though they have small support, they have support. Their opinion on moving or not should not be dismissed because of those who stay away.

Did you get the irony / sarcasm of the original post?

[Ezeikial]

Where's the money coming from that has been invested in a squad sitting 3rd placed in the league?

That's the question the players are currently asking - where will the money come form?