Continued improvement within the Eircom League
MORE evidence of the continued improvement within the Eircom League will be shown on Friday when An Taoiseach Bertie Ahern turns the first sod on Athlone Town's new €4m stadium.
The imminent introduction of the UEFA Club Licence, and the knowledge that the three-acre site that currently houses St Mel's Park was not suitable for development, forced Athlone to act.
They acquired a 10-acre site beside the new Regional Sports Centre and will build a facility that compliments the Westmeath County Council development.
Having got a Sports Capital Grant of €1m, Athlone have been busy trying to raise the €1.5m needed to complete the first phase and have assembled a team, made up of people not involved in the day to day running of the club, to look after the entire project.
Athlone chairman Paddy McCaul is confident that, having done their sums properly, Athlone's development will come in on time and on budget and leave the Midlands outfit ready to step up to the Premier Division if they achieve their goal of winning promotion in 2004.
The UEFA Licence is currently taxing the minds of all 22 Eircom League clubs but its benefits will be enormous and will add an aura of authenticity to the Irish soccer industry. A club Licence will be the footballing equivalent of an ISO number or a Q mark that you'd find in any other industry.
The FAI have set up an independent licensing authority headed by Ken Robinson, chairman of the Institute of Leisure Amenity Managers, who will award licenses to those clubs who fulfil the necessary criteria and ensure that the whole process is above board.
November 30 is the deadline for the submission of completed application forms in which clubs have to show they fulfil criteria in five key areas - Sporting, Infrastructure, Personnel & Administrative, Legal and Financial.
Two types of Licences will be issued and only clubs with Premier Division Licences will be able to participate in the top flight of the Eircom League from next season.
Four of the five criteria are well within the capabilities of all 22 clubs but it is the infrastructure requirements that are causing problems and threatens to turn the Club Licence scheme into a political football that will be kicked up and down Merrion Square.
That's the last thing the Eircom League needs at this stage as the UEFA Club Licence is a magnificent opportunity for regulation in an industry that has been tarnished by the actions of a few cowboys over many years.
If the scheme is parked for 12 months, as is being suggested by some, it will send out the wrong message.
The FAI has continually stressed that there will be no fudge and one hopes they still have the moral courage to see this thing through. There would be nothing wrong with imposing four of the five criteria and giving clubs a strictly-enforced time frame in which to fulfil the infrastructure requirements.
Unfortunately, the introduction of the UEFA Club Licence is coinciding with a massive power battle being fought within Merrion Square.
One would expect the Eircom League clubs to stick together and fight their own corner in the united way other FAI affiliates do, but self-interest is always the prevailing attitude of some.
So much so, that several Eircom League clubs are actively trying to undermine chairman Brendan Dillon because he's a man who has proved to be far too independent for some people's liking.
Rather than put forward a candidate at an annual general meeting, they resort to other means like trying to force the administration of the Eircom League under the direct control of the FAI.
Now, Fran Rooney, as chief executive of the FAI, has enough things on his plate without having to deal with the Eircom League clubs on a day to day basis. But, when the Eircom League currently has the best administration structure in its 82-year history, the need for direct rule by the FAI seems ridiculous.
Instead of playing politics, clubs would be better thinking about how to find the €17m they need to carry out the infrastructure requirements demanded by the UEFA Licence criteria.
And they would also be well served if they turned their attention to the alarming prospect of six Dublin sides in next season's Premier Division with the Western seaboard unrepresented in the top flight. A lot less narrow-mindedness and a little more vision would go a long way.
Great to see Athlone on the up!
As for six Dub sides, that only rubbish stirring. All clubs have to work together. Its up to other clubs outside Dublin to raise the bar like Longford, Cork, Drogheda, Limerick, Kildare etc. No one club has a right to play in the Premier ask Dundalk or Derry.
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