View Full Version : Saudi Takeover of Galway
RathfarnhamHoop
24/06/2018, 1:34 PM
It was asked on the podcast what it's in for the Saudis. What are they after? There hasn't been a proper answer to that.
I'll assume it's money. Not that that necessarily a bad thing, mind.
From an outside viewpoint Galway are almost the perfect club to choose to invest in and build up, as to why Ireland at all, they were involved with a club in Saudi Arabia so maybe a combination of love of the game and relatively small investment needed to gain European success attracted them here
outspoken
24/06/2018, 2:03 PM
If these guys are as rich as they are though, do they really care about making a few hundred thousand or even a couple of million profit with Galway? It’s not worth there while. Surely if they wanted to buy a club just as a hobby they’d have looked elsewhere. It’s massively strange but then again I suppose peak 6 and Dundalk was a strange match too
Longfordian
24/06/2018, 2:14 PM
They’re probably more interested in the success and raising their profiles than making money. Assuming there’s not some wider agenda as regards other ventures in Galway.
outspoken
24/06/2018, 2:43 PM
They’re probably more interested in the success and raising their profiles than making money. Assuming there’s not some wider agenda as regards other ventures in Galway.
That was certainly a suggestion on LOI weekly (the other ventures in Galway that is)
brendy_éire
24/06/2018, 8:08 PM
They’re probably more interested in the success and raising their profiles than making money. Assuming there’s not some wider agenda as regards other ventures in Galway.
But if it's to raise their own profile, why Ireland, and why Galway?
We don't have the biggest population, Galway isn't the biggest of towns in the country, and certainly isn't a 'hotbed of soccer'.
Why not Slovan Bratislava, FK Novi Sad or even Bohs?
It seems like a strange choice just.
RathfarnhamHoop
24/06/2018, 8:46 PM
But if it's to raise their own profile, why Ireland, and why Galway?
We don't have the biggest population, Galway isn't the biggest of towns in the country, and certainly isn't a 'hotbed of soccer'.
Why not Slovan Bratislava, FK Novi Sad or even Bohs?
It seems like a strange choice just.
For Ireland cheap player wages, relatively easy to go from bottom to top, lots of European spots.
Galway is a one club city full of students and a population that loves a bandwagon and considering its situation could be got for half nothing and is essentially starting from scratch.
It doesn't make perfect sense but since when has anything in our league?
Charlie Darwin
25/06/2018, 9:18 PM
But if it's to raise their own profile, why Ireland, and why Galway?
We don't have the biggest population, Galway isn't the biggest of towns in the country, and certainly isn't a 'hotbed of soccer'.
Why not Slovan Bratislava, FK Novi Sad or even Bohs?
It seems like a strange choice just.
Well Bohs aren't for sale for a start.
ger121
25/06/2018, 10:44 PM
Well Bohs aren't for sale for a start.
We’re always for sale. Even went we can’t sell it, we can sell it.
They didn't pick Galway or LOI football. They were told about the club from a business partner originally from Galway. Why did they agree to it, we may never truely know, but going on apparent former ventures of theirs, they invested in Malaga football club and soon after ended up winning a contract to develop the harbour there, something that is currently going through the planning process in Galway also at the moment.
The main investor is sending over his son to be the CEO of the club, who is also a football agent, so we could also be looking at an easy passage for players coming from far off lands to gain easy visa entry to English lower league football?
Only time will tell. At the moment we are all celebrating the win over Egypt.
sbgawa
26/06/2018, 3:18 PM
They didn't pick Galway or LOI football. They were told about the club from a business partner originally from Galway. Why did they agree to it, we may never truely know, but going on apparent former ventures of theirs, they invested in Malaga football club and soon after ended up winning a contract to develop the harbour there, something that is currently going through the planning process in Galway also at the moment.
The main investor is sending over his son to be the CEO of the club, who is also a football agent, so we could also be looking at an easy passage for players coming from far off lands to gain easy visa entry to English lower league football?
Only time will tell. At the moment we are all celebrating the win over Egypt.
I was cheering for the Saudis due to their commitment to the LOI, but I'm not expecting much going forward.
Could you not have got an investor from Germany or maybe Brazil !
redarmyfaction
26/06/2018, 4:45 PM
They didn't pick Galway or LOI football. They were told about the club from a business partner originally from Galway. Why did they agree to it, we may never truely know, but going on apparent former ventures of theirs, they invested in Malaga football club and soon after ended up winning a contract to develop the harbour there, something that is currently going through the planning process in Galway also at the moment.
The main investor is sending over his son to be the CEO of the club, who is also a football agent, so we could also be looking at an easy passage for players coming from far off lands to gain easy visa entry to English lower league football?
Only time will tell. At the moment we are all celebrating the win over Egypt.
So they may have their eyes on a bigger prize in Galway property rather than the LOI, sheikhs your money maker so.
So they may have their eyes on a bigger prize in Galway property rather than the LOI, sheikhs your money maker so.
Correct, as well as developing the harbour in malaga, they built a few hotels which they still run today. They are talking mainly with the Comers in these ongoing meetings, and they own half the city so there is plenty of developement opportunities.
Poor Student
26/06/2018, 9:12 PM
Correct, as well as developing the harbour in malaga, they built a few hotels which they still run today. They are talking mainly with the Comers in these ongoing meetings, and they own half the city so there is plenty of developement opportunities.
As we all know large investment in an LOI club often comes with implicit or explicit motivations on property. This would entirely make sense. There's no way to churn a return on investment on a significant outlay into GUFC. At best some capital investment will go into the club and at worst expenditure will be ramped up to terminal levels and the plug pulled. We'll all be entertained along the way though.
Redzer
26/06/2018, 9:17 PM
The main investor is sending over his son to be the CEO of the club, who is also a football agent, so we could also be looking at an easy passage for players coming from far off lands to gain easy visa entry to English lower league football?
Only time will tell. At the moment we are all celebrating the win over Egypt.
Jeez, our tanoy announcer has trouble with Raff Cretaro. Don't know how he'll manage a squad of 16 Arabs;)
Jeez, our tanoy announcer has trouble with Raff Cretaro. Don't know how he'll manage a squad of 16 Arabs;)
One name at a time!
Will try and throw in a few Kazakhs and Indians to make it more fun for everyone !
sbgawa
27/06/2018, 9:07 AM
Buttimer won't allow all them Mohammad's with clashing names on the back of the jersey.
Apparantly Rovers have been warned about having two Bolgers and two Kavanaghs on the pitch at the same time
gufct
27/06/2018, 10:05 AM
Correct, as well as developing the harbour in malaga, they built a few hotels which they still run today. They are talking mainly with the Comers in these ongoing meetings, and they own half the city so there is plenty of developement opportunities.
I don't know where you got that story the Saudi's have no connections with the Comers and had not met them up to last week. There is no talk of these lads being involved in any other deals in Galway. GUFC don't own any Property so there is nothing to develop.
gufct
27/06/2018, 10:15 AM
They didn't pick Galway or LOI football. They were told about the club from a business partner originally from Galway. Why did they agree to it, we may never truely know, but going on apparent former ventures of theirs, they invested in Malaga football club and soon after ended up winning a contract to develop the harbour there, something that is currently going through the planning process in Galway also at the moment.
The main investor is sending over his son to be the CEO of the club, who is also a football agent, so we could also be looking at an easy passage for players coming from far off lands to gain easy visa entry to English lower league football?
Only time will tell. At the moment we are all celebrating the win over Egypt.
https://edition.cnn.com/2012/08/22/sport/football/malaga-cazorla-al-thani-football/index.html
Not the same owners not even from the same country. if you checked your facts and his son is not a football agent . Galway is the best City in the world for Gossip and tails being added to stories. The second investor is a Football Agent.
I don't know where you got that story the Saudi's have no connections with the Comers and had not met them up to last week. There is no talk of these lads being involved in any other deals in Galway. GUFC don't own any Property so there is nothing to develop.
The Saudi's and Comer connection was quoted from a certain journalist that broke the story , and can be found at www.galwayunitedfc.net
Where did I state that GUFC own property?
You'll be foolish to think they are coming for the football club alone !
https://edition.cnn.com/2012/08/22/sport/football/malaga-cazorla-al-thani-football/index.html
Not the same owners not even from the same country. if you checked your facts and his son is not a football agent . Galway is the best City in the world for Gossip and tails being added to stories. The second investor is a Football Agent.
At least some of the story is factual !
Only time will tell what the real reason is.
There is no connection between them and the Comers but they will be meeting them as the comers are our main sponsors and have been brilliant for gufc. The connection lives in Galway and is a personal friend of the son of the sheikh . He is also a gufc supporter since the club started in the loi.
MattB11
02/07/2018, 9:17 AM
Jim McGuiness linked to Galway United job
The Donie Forde
02/07/2018, 9:27 AM
Who was in charge of Galway last Friday night?
Gary O’Connor was interim manager the players once again let him and the fans down
poster
02/07/2018, 9:58 AM
Galway is the best City in the world for Gossip and tails being added to stories.
Nope. Sligo, albeit not a city, trumps Galway once more.
CorribsideSteve
02/07/2018, 10:26 AM
Nope. Sligo, albeit not a city, trumps Galway once more.
Leave Trump out of this, there are already enough people in Galway and Sligo with orange skin and weird hair :p
McGuinness would be an interesting appointment. It looks increasingly likely that we'll still be in Div 1 next season so that will be a big factor in the quality of Manager we get in.
http://galwayunitedfc.ie/alan-murphy-appointed-manager/
Ezeikial
03/07/2018, 6:11 PM
http://galwayunitedfc.ie/alan-murphy-appointed-manager/
One of the good guys.
Best of luck to Alan Murphy
sidewayspasser
03/07/2018, 6:28 PM
So the Saudis aren't splashing the cash on a high-profile manager just yet.
Will Murphy take up a player-manager role, or is he hanging up his playing boots?
Martinho II
03/07/2018, 6:29 PM
does that mean AM is retired from playin?
Alan will still be playing. The sensible decision with Mark Herrick a great addition. Due diligence is still taking place so the Saudi's wouldn't have had any input.
I don't really see the point of getting rid of Keegan if all you're going to do is throw the job to a player from a group who didn't seem to be exactly busting themselves to be honest.
Olander
04/07/2018, 12:57 PM
I don't really see the point of getting rid of Keegan if all you're going to do is throw the job to a player from a group who didn't seem to be exactly busting themselves to be honest.
Keegan did an absolutely abysmal job as manager this season - he had to go without question.
We're currently sixth in the First Division and he has to take a large proportion of the blame for that, the buck stops with him. The players have to accept blame also. Bizarrely, there is a narrative going around from some of our supporters that our players are the only ones to blame for this miserable season and Keegan is faultless, which is so naive.
The players are obviously culpable, but some of our supporters don't want to admit that Keegan was obviously way out of his depth. He is a terribly nice guy, but when his tenure is accessed over the year and a half that he was charge, in the cold light of day, it was disaster, but it's easier to lay all the blame at the players door. Really it was both and Keegan was clueless as to how to fix things.
Alan Murphy, who is 36, has been one of our better performers this year - that says it all really.
He's one of the few leaders in our team and he played the 90 minutes against Finn Harps a few weeks back with a broken rib, so I wouldn't necessarily agree with him "not exactly busting" himself.
The club needed to take a different path and Murphy will not be one bit frightened to make the changes required in our squad. I would expect and hope to see a serious clear-out of players in the coming week or two. It's badly needed and the place needs freshening up, it's gone seriously stale.
Maybe it'll all work out. Our experiences of giving the job to a senior player rather than interviewing have rarely worked well. Just seems odd to me.. unless maybe Keegan still has to be paid so the budget isn't there to add much to wage bill?
Olander
04/07/2018, 2:24 PM
Maybe it'll all work out. Our experiences of giving the job to a senior player rather than interviewing have rarely worked well. Just seems odd to me.. unless maybe Keegan still has to be paid so the budget isn't there to add much to wage bill?
I don't think Keegan was due a huge pay-off.
To be fair to the club, we're not just giving the job to any random player in the squad. Alan Murphy has done very well as our under 17 manager over the last two seasons and is highly regarded by many people inside the club. I suppose the equivalent would be like Finn Harps giving the job to someone like Kevin McHugh, which I'm sure would be warmly greeted by some and maybe not others, who think a more experienced person from outside would be a better choice.
The news of Jim McGuinness being in for the job probably raised some peoples expectations to an unrealistic level. Some of the eejits on our forum were speculating that we should be appointing Fenlon and Brian Kerr. :D On a different planet...
Keegan was not up to the job, some of the players aren't either / they aren't bothered. Keegan was dispensed of, rightfully so. Some of the players will also be dispensed of in the coming weeks also.
I wouldn't say Murphy will guarantee us a Play off spot or anything, he's inherited a group of players who were mollycoddled for too long by the previous management, with a bad attitude, and we're 6 points behind the top 4. I would be happy if he came in and cleared house, releasing 4-5 players. He needs to bring in some fresh blood and actually get us playing, even if it's with "lesser" players that actually care. I still believe there is an outside chance that we can get a Play off spot.
nigel-harps1954
04/07/2018, 2:47 PM
I don't think Keegan was due a huge pay-off.
To be fair to the club, we're not just giving the job to any random player in the squad. Alan Murphy has done very well as our under 17 manager over the last two seasons and is highly regarded by many people inside the club. I suppose the equivalent would be like Finn Harps giving the job to someone like Kevin McHugh, which I'm sure would be warmly greeted by some and maybe not others, who think a more experienced person from outside would be a better choice.
Or James Gallagher, or Anthony Gorman, or Peter Hutton.
We've had a pretty poor run of ex-players in charge in the near past. Even Ollie Horgan was greeted with a large degree of negativity due to people wanting a more experienced proven league manager with our run of inexperienced managers proving disastrous.
ArFella
09/08/2018, 10:30 AM
It seems Galway's Saudi experience may be over before it even began...
https://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/galway-saudi-takeover-deal-hits-rocks-37198656.html
Lim till i die
09/08/2018, 1:14 PM
If only galway was ran by some kind of supporters trust, you wouldn't have crap like this going on.
ger121
09/08/2018, 5:19 PM
Galway should have Saudis coming
pateen
06/10/2018, 11:00 AM
Just bumping this thread up. What was the outcome of this in the end?
nigel-harps1954
06/10/2018, 11:13 AM
Just bumping this thread up. What was the outcome of this in the end?
Beheadings
osarusan
06/10/2018, 11:18 AM
SNB. Saudi No Bobs
Dalymountrower
06/10/2018, 1:42 PM
Sheikh down.
Nesta99
06/10/2018, 4:10 PM
So no Eamon Dinar Park then!
Paulgufc
07/10/2018, 6:19 PM
Fans pushed the kit van a marathon distance today to raise funds for the club. These volunteers never cease to amaze me.
You can can support here if you wish.
http://gufc-coop.com/loi-push/
EatYerGreens
08/10/2018, 4:13 PM
Fans pushed the kit van a marathon distance today to raise funds for the club. These volunteers never cease to amaze me.
You can can support here if you wish.
http://gufc-coop.com/loi-push/
Jaysus - do yees not even have money for diesel at Galway these days ?!
CorribsideSteve
08/10/2018, 4:34 PM
Just bumping this thread up. What was the outcome of this in the end?
Their proposed method of dealing with unruly fans fell through because plenty of people in Galway are already stoned :p
joey B
17/02/2019, 2:28 PM
Emerging that the reason this fell through is that the investors weren't exactly who they said they were,and turned out they were the same group involved in the dodgy investment at Athlone!
Should be noted the FAI sanctioned both of the investment proposals,due process working well in Abbotstown anyway!!!
outspoken
17/02/2019, 2:29 PM
Seen this on FB but no source or link to any articles or anything?
joey B
17/02/2019, 2:32 PM
Yeah nothing,but I don't think the lad that shared it would post it without some kind of substance to it,time will tell I suppose......
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