Longford to face further sanctions?

[Mr A]

STRUGGLING Longford Town are facing the hammer blow of further sanctions after failing to meet another FAI imposed deadline.

The Midlanders had committed to paying monies owed to both current and former players by the close of business yesterday.

However, the Irish Independent understands that Longford failed to come up with the cash in time although they are hoping to have the finance in place by today.

Two weeks ago, Longford were deducted six Premier Division points and fined €6,000 for failing to comply with the requirements of the FAI Club Licensing Manual.

They had failed to furnish information about the club's finances and are being punished with a €2,000 penalty for every week that passes without providing those details. While it's believed that they are now in a position to supply that information, the club still had an obligation to pay bonuses owed to players both past and present by 5.0 yesterday.

For the full story- http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/mathews-may-quit-as-longford-woes-mount-689924.html

[jebus]

Jesus yet another hammer blow to last years licensing farce eh? How in the hell did Longford get in in the first place on promises of paying money? Surely if the committee were as strict with this as they were on Dundalk then we wouldn't be seeing the Eircom League being shown up as a farce to the barstoolers yet again

[eamo1]

their chairman said in a paper on tuesday that they would definatly have things cleared up and all monies owed to players etc paid back before yesterday but that was obviously bull.sad to see it happening though but i suppose there was only 400 people max at the game against us last tuesday night,you cant survive with those crowds.

[TheSaint2002]

has all the hallmarks of a dublin city style collapse, hopefully longford will still be there after the break two clubs going bust during two consecutive seasons would be embarrassing

[Red4Eva]

longford could hardly go out of business considering the asset they have in flancare, could they? Just have to ask some players nicely to leave in july and get others to take hefty pay cuts and just put out u21s for the rest of the season and get relegated in style

[oriel]

Jesus yet another hammer blow to last years licensing farce eh? How in the hell did Longford get in in the first place on promises of paying money? Surely if the committee were as strict with this as they were on Dundalk then we wouldn't be seeing the Eircom League being shown up as a farce to the barstoolers yet again

We failed because of performances in seasons 2003 and 2004. So nothing we could do but hope our off field performances were better than 11 others, at the time the IAG/FAI obviously ignored or failed to investigate fully (at least)two teams (Shels and Longford) so we lost out. Tough but there you go.

Anyway Id much prefer to go up as champions and on merit having earned it on the pitch.

[Paraic]

from longford town website

"Longford Town FC can confirm that all monies due to players and staff have been paid as per the individual agreements with the relevant players and staff, contrary to the report in todays Irish Independent."

Source (http://www.ltfc.ie/)


whatever about these payments, there's a seriously worrying trend for Longford.

I haven't been convinced of the ten team premier league, but given the persistent (and now somewhat more transparent) financial problems of clubs over recent seasons, it may be that that is what is sustainable in the longer term.

[The Man Himself]

what odds would you get for longford to fold before end of season.
all the hard work they did on flancare park looks like going down the toilet.

[RonnieB]

from ltfc.ie


Licensing Update

Today, 4:10PM

Furthermore, the club has also submitted all information required by the Club Licensing body, despite the statements in the paper. Hopefully the journalist in question will see fit to do proper research before writing defamotary articles about our club in future.

Yet again confidential issues between our club and the licnesing body have been trotted out in the media and it is extremely damaging to our club, and whilst incorrect information, the sources of these leaks need to be investigated by the FAI or all trust clubs have in the whole process will be seriously undermined.

The club has not appealed the decision to deduct the 6 points, but we are working very hard to ensure the club can come through this extremely difficult period and ask all our genuine supporters to help us in any way they can.

[Sonic]

Its pure bullsh1t. People should get their facts straight before spouting cr@p in newspapers. We wont fold!!!

[Tis-smeee]

Does the fact that longford has criticised the privacy issue between them and the fai mean they will get a fine? probably does

[eelmonster]

Just read on the Dundalk forum that David Freeman could be making his way to Oriel Park:

http://www.orielweb.com/dundalktalk/viewtopic.php?t=4523

Further woes for LTFC?

[Sonic]

Just read on the Dundalk forum that David Freeman could be making his way to Oriel Park:

http://www.orielweb.com/dundalktalk/viewtopic.php?t=4523

Further woes for LTFC?


No thats no woe to us whatsoever. The mans dirt with a capital "D".

[Risteard]

Any players to be picked off that could make it at the top end of the table?

[OhNoYouDidn't]

from ltfc.ie

that was the first thing that struck me. whats this doing in the indo?

[Bluebeard]

that was the first thing that struck me. whats this doing in the indo?

It being the Indo, an editor probably thought it was an article on Luton Town and only discovered it was an Irish team when it was gone to print.

[Sonic]

Any players to be picked off that could make it at the top end of the table?

No well that doesnt apply to you then seeing as you arent up the top;)

[CuanaD]

that was the first thing that struck me. whats this doing in the indo?

They only EVER print articles that are dismissive of the eL

I'll stick with TheStar thanks, it may be full of crap about Z-list GB would-be-celebs, but the eL gets a fair share of the sports pages:ball:

[micls]

No well that doesnt apply to you then seeing as you arent up the top

How is fifth not the top end in a 10 team league :confused:

No wonder ye'r in trouble with that kind of maths :D:p

[Martinho II]

typical of that certain broadsheet newspaper. they were the first to break the news that we had not submitted the correct information that lead to the points deduction.:mad:

they seem to have something personal on this. I know for a fact that our committee have worked exceptionally hard to resolve this. i know our sponsors flancare pumped 180 k to sort out the wages and arrears. fair play to them. so long as we survive to the end of the season and start again.

we would never go bust as we have an excellent asset in flancare park.

[Mr A]

Article on Longford in today's Irish Times. It's premium content so I'll chance posting it here.


Longford's difficulties won't clear quickly

Emmet Malone

On Soccer: Longford fans may view with some bemusement the idea that their counterparts at Sligo are to meet this evening at the Ark Hotel on the town's High Street to consider chairman Michael Toolan's observation that Rovers are at something of a "crossroads". The Flancare Park faithful, after all, could be forgiven for seeing their own club's preferred road configuration these days as being a cul-de-sac.

Against a backdrop of belt-tightening, some unfortunate financial glitches and (as a consequence) departing players, the imposition of a six-point penalty on the club for failing to provide paperwork required under the licensing scheme was taken by some as further evidence that a club that had come pretty much from nowhere to win three cups and twice represent the league in European had embarked upon its return journey to obscurity.

What's certainly true is these are not good times to be a Longford Town supporter, for the club, now rooted to the foot of the table after defeats by Waterford United and Galway United, faces a battle to stave off relegation and, one presumes, another outflow of squad members.

There have been suggestions that the order might be reversed, but despite several delays with payments to playing staff this season, including one 16-day spell without wages being paid, nobody has at any point actively sought to trigger the mechanism that might have earned them "free agent" status.

A handful of prominent players apparently raised the idea late last week after the club failed to meet a deadline for the payment of all outstanding money, but the club insists cheques for the sums outstanding, believed to be in the region of €20,000, have since been posted to the people involved.

That the amounts at stake are so modest by the standards of, say, what happened at Shelbourne, has only served to heighten frustrations on all sides. Board members believe that the problems have been blown out of proportion, while those on the non-receiving end, so to speak, complain of poor communications and general disorganisation at a club whose progress on the field, as well as in terms of bricks and mortar infrastructure, has not been matched in the development of a solid commercial and administrative management.

Longford's difficulties are hardly unique. Toolan suggested last week that Sligo's problems have been exacerbated by the switch to summer football, and Galway United officials have expressed similar doubts about the supposed benefits of the move.

What's different is that those clubs appear to be streets ahead of Longford in their overall organisation, with a far wider group involved in running various aspects of the operation and, in both instances, a small core employed to oversee the day-to-day business operation.

Longford's chairman, Jim Hanley, concedes that things can be a struggle when so much is undertaken by volunteers and, having become involved with the club when the league was played through the winter, he shares the concerns of his counterparts, particularly after a period in which attendances at Flancare Park have been steadily declining. Last Tuesday's clash against Galway was the worst to date, with just 350 paying in to see a crucial match.

Obviously, such gates have little effect on a wage bill estimated to be around €15,000 a week during the season, and rivals attribute much of the club's plight to its perceived generosity towards part-time players. While Galway and Sligo spend more, for instance, they employ full-time squads which means, among other things, the bulk of the squad live locally, which helps to build a bond with the community.

At Longford, in contrast, a Dublin-based group of players arrive in for home games, play and then depart. That approach always looks justified when you are getting players who would not sign otherwise and, as a result, doing as well as Longford have done under Stephen Kenny and, particularly, Alan Matthews.

The system, though, makes the development of local talent difficult (Jonathan Douglas, for instance, once observed he didn't know any of his team-mates at Monaghan United and found it difficult to settle in the team because he, the only player actually from the locality, trained with a local schoolboy outfit while the rest, Dubs pretty much one and all, gathered in the capital between games) and real loyalty hard to generate.

What reserves of this precious latter commodity continue to exist for the club and around the town are likely to be further tested. Despite the problems - and, some might suggest, because most would struggle to get the same money elsewhere - most of the players are said to be reluctant to undermine a club they feel has generally treated them well. Matthews has probably made his understandable frustration a little too well known for the liking of his employers, but he too has repeatedly expressed the desire to stay at the club as long its current problems are sorted out and its future clarified.

Whether that can be done this year when morale has already been so badly dented and income so dramatically hit seems doubtful, but Hanley, whose own long-term commitment has been a matter for some speculation, insists he is there for the long haul and that the club, after a prolonged spell of frantic growth, is merely undergoing what might be described as an adjustment.

Asked where he sees it in five years, he insists he anticipates it being a top-flight outfit. He may yet prove the sceptics wrong, but one suspects that, without a sudden change of fortune, the club's journey from here to the Premier Division of 2012 might involve an early and undesired detour.

[BohsFans]

more trouble: http://www.eleven-a-side.com/eircomleague/irish_soccer_detail.asp?newsid=27992

[eelmonster]

the club is enduring the worst season in its history.


Apart from the 60 [!] years the club played amateur football outside of the League of Ireland, I presume?

[De Town]

Finally a bit of good news.

ON the front of a suppliment with the local paper, Jim Hanley (chairman) says he has spoken to 5 or 6 people about them investing in the club and that he hopes to have something sorted soon.

[Schumi]

Finally a bit of good news.

ON the front of a suppliment with the local paper, Jim Hanley (chairman) says he has spoken to 5 or 6 people about them investing in the club and that he hopes to have something sorted soon.Didn't Ollie Byrne (repeatedly) say the same thing last season?

[Sonic]

hmmmm sounds too good to be true we shall wait developments!!

[De Town]

Didn't Ollie Byrne (repeatedly) say the same thing last season?

Yeah probably but sure we can only hope!

[Mr A]

Longford aren't in a good state to be seeking investors. They look doomed to relegation but have a nice bit of land which they've recently highlighted the potential of.

I'd love to see Longford get back on their feet- but there needs to be cuation exercised in case any potential investors are only in it for the land and development potential.

[John83]

Jesus yet another hammer blow to last years licensing farce eh? How in the hell did Longford get in in the first place on promises of paying money?
Are you kidding me? Read this (http://stigonline.com/misc/accounts05.htm). It's out of date and has an error or two in the club accounts bit, but it explains how UEFA licensing is pathetically ineffective at dealing with bad finances.

[John83]

Longford aren't in a good state to be seeking investors...
Unlike many clubs, Longford are located in a place where property developers are less likely to be after them than locals are likely to give the club a dig out. Not saying that there's no-strings investment coming, or even any investment but it's more credible than Ollie's word.