Clubs need to work otgether to reduce costs

It is time for the league to etc smart and begin working together to reduce costs to clubs. I believe a unit should be set up in the FAI to handle central purchasing for the league clubs - surely 90% of purchases by a club are the same for all clubs.

- kits
- yearly bus travel for teams
- sports gear (balls etc)
- even tea bags
- paper
- computers
- telephone rates/deals
- elect bills (if these can be negotiated)
- for clubs with bars all the bar stuff
- pitch stuff (seed/equipment etc etc)- etc etc

You get the drift. For example in Dublin one bus company can win the contracts for all the clubs business if the price is right - this has to save money. The other side for the companies is that the FAI underwrites the contracts hence their is security for businesses in return for lower rates etc.

This is only an off the cuff posting but the idea deserves investigation. Clubs need to realise that we are all in the same boat and need to work together where there are opportunities.

Discuss?

or how about Clubs try and get the best deal possible for themselves, and see where that leaves them

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Originally Posted by Dodge

or how about Clubs try and get the best deal possible for themselves, and see where that leaves them

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The key point is that it leads to a form of bulk buying to reduce cost (which an individual club cannot do) and removes replication of activity via central purchasing (again reduces overall league costs).

It's the players that are too expensive, not the tea bags.

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Originally Posted by pineapple stu

It's the players that are too expensive, not the tea bags.

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Please don't spoil a good thread with reality! :)

I think SeanDrog has a valid point to an extent. The government is all about shared services in the Public service in it's efforts to save money so why shouldn't the League of Ireland look into the same thing?

Things like jerseys could be contentious as bigger clubs might look to have individual deals, but there would be scope there for clubs to participate if they wanted to. Electricity costs, office supplies, gas, transport and other services could certainly be examined to see if it would be possible to go to tender for them, even something like a printer that would cover all clubs match programmes and promotional material.

a template website that all clubs have the same like they do in other sports elsewhere. the website are brutal for clubs(cork actually has/had the best).

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Originally Posted by SeanDrog

The key point is that it leads to a form of bulk buying to reduce cost (which an individual club cannot do) and removes replication of activity via central purchasing (again reduces overall league costs).

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Think you're overestimating how many teabags club use.

The main (non wages) outlays are security, transport and gear

Gear is always going to be individual. Transport prices don't wildly vary, and location does playa part. Securiyt in Dublin is already done by the same company

Would this have an adverse effect on clubs sponsorship, as local buisness's would'nt be interested if clubs sourced products centrally from the Fai.

I believe that Gerry Matthews, the owner of Dundalk wrote to every club in the league appealing for a co-ordinated response to the difficulties that the league find itself in.

He made a number of suggestions including an across the board reduction in wages. The reward he got for his trouble was a rumour that Dundalk were in financial trouble and was enforcing a pay cut on its players.

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Originally Posted by Dodge

Gear is always going to be individual

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Not necessarily. Reebok provide all the kit for NHL teams:

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Originally Posted by http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NHL_uniform

From the 2000–01 season, up to the 2005–06 NHL season, all team jerseys were made by The Hockey Company in an NHL-wide deal...
Following Reebok's purchase of The Hockey Company, all official NHL team jerseys were switched to the Reebok (Rbk Hockey) brand...

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I think that more centralisation should be an aim of the league. Each of the LoI clubs is too small, and it works well for rugby over here and for most professional and semi-pro sports leagues in North America.

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Originally Posted by whinnie01

Would this have an adverse effect on clubs sponsorship, as local buisness's would'nt be interested if clubs sourced products centrally from the Fai.

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I'd think so

The NHL (or indeed the other US sports, as they all have exclusive deals) doesn't really apply as while Reebok might sell a million jersies, the LOI sides won't. Some clubs are earning money from their kit deal, others are paying for kit. I don't think its fair that progressive clubs are penalised for being able to shift a few thousand jersies.

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Originally Posted by pineapple stu

It's the players that are too expensive, not the tea bags.

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:D:D my list was purely a quick pull together of things clubs might purchase etc.

I take on board not wanting to alienate local communities etc but there have to be activities that can be centralsied and save everyone money (the website template & programme printing etc are very good and in the spirit of the threads intentions).

I dont see why the kit should be ruled out just because we are a small league, if this is the case why do companies deal with individual clubs - surely it would be attractive for jako or someone else to supply the whole league (also reserve teams, youths etc) than just one or two clubs. Of course there are issues with different clubs urrently having different contract in place but perhaps it would be planned for a roll out when the majority of clubs have finished their current contracts.

Clearly I dont know all the angles etc but I thought this thread would make a proactive change on how things could be improved outside of the other threads of wages too high / clubs going bust / league is doomed.

Also don't forget that it'd cost the FAI to run such a scheme - at least the cost of one full-time person to administer it - which would possibly cost the clubs more than they'd save.

Also, the individual deals clubs have are an important consideration. UCD, for example, get free gear from O'Neills in return for access to the Superleague market. (And our inters wear hand-me-downs from the senior team). A central gear deal would actually cost us money.

clealry cost benefits would have to be run - no arguement there.

There is another consideration - at the moment alot of clubs are fire fighting from week to week and to remove the noise of dealing with many suppliers/tendering processes etc would help clear their lines of slight so to speak to deal with other issues.

I suppose thinking about it more it would link in well with the whole franchise oncept that the FAi gives the franchise to a club and like a coffee shop (take BB muffins as a visual) they then supply all the bits and bobs with savings through bulk buying.

As stated cost benefit would need to be done but compaines are doing this everyday of the week to save costs, coporate alliances etc - there just has to be something in there for the league - at least open up a discussion with clubs - pity Dundalk were basiccally ignored (might go back to clubs firefighting and not having time to be strategic).

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Originally Posted by Dodge

I'd think so

The NHL (or indeed the other US sports, as they all have exclusive deals) doesn't really apply as while Reebok might sell a million jersies, the LOI sides won't. Some clubs are earning money from their kit deal, others are paying for kit. I don't think its fair that progressive clubs are penalised for being able to shift a few thousand jersies.

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Totally agree - it's like United now being sponsored by Pappa John's Pizza - we get cheap Pizza for the players. But if the League's pizza sponsor was given to another company this would only benefit Pat's as John Lester's food bill would be massively reduced. Imagine the queue of clubs who'd be looking to sign Keith Foy! :p

On a serious note though the real issue is the wages that players are being paid. They are clearly unsustainable but the impression is that if Club A doesn't pay Stuart Byrne €x000 a week then some other club will. The fact is if clubs A, B, C, D and E won't pay that much he's running out of options.
95% of players don't have the option of going to England - so it's either play for a much reduced salary or don't play at all.

Although they're not as offensive a club as Dublin City were it's great to see how Sporting Fingal are struggling to get promoted - I think most people have forgotten that Zayed, O'Neill and Paisley are players in the league!

Maybe a group of clubs (ones located close together) could come together and do it themselves - Drogs /Dundallk/Monaghan perhaps - use the same bus company (which offers the best deal), same printers for programs, same office suppliers etc. A procurement committee could be put togetehr from all the clubs to run the excerise hence no additional payroll isses.

We could all cite examples where it wouldnt work but unless a discussion takes place with clubs then we won't find the examples of where it will work - I am actually very annoyed that Drogs didnt respond to Dundalk - esp. given how we need to watch every cent.

I see your point! Student Unions in the UK all purchase under NUSSL(National Union of Students Services) and therefore save significant amounts of cash bulk buying everything form booze to paper to electricity, the smaller Unions benefit most. First things first though,lets get clubs to stop breaking rules, stay within salary protocols and then agree to a general wage reduction.

There's nothing stopping clubs paying less. They decide on wages. No one else

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Originally Posted by Nesta99

I see your point! Student Unions in the UK all purchase under NUSSL(National Union of Students Services) and therefore save significant amounts of cash bulk buying everything form booze to paper to electricity, the smaller Unions benefit most.

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Electricity isn't covered by NUSSL (I used to be a Board member) - it's stock for bars, shops, cafes etc. They also used to do travel briefly (my legacy :o) but there was never a real interest in doing it, so that got stopped/privatised.

The fundamnetal problem is that there are only 22 LOI clubs, and they don't use significant volumes of anything.

Bulk buying obviously would lead to some cost savings, but they'd be minimal - to the point where it probably wouldn't be worth the grief dealing with 22 different clubs, their staff, their foibles, their inevitable moans and groans etc, just to save 2% on a £2,000 per club annual outlay on paper, for example. NUSSL works because it is the UK's largest non-governmental purchasing consortium, and even then they only really deliver serious discounts on alcohol.

Plus the FAI would be bonkers if they arranged anything that left them holding the financial baby centrally for items supplied to clubs, as we all know what would happen once clubs got in the fiscal sh!t.

For the small monetary savings that can be secured through bulk-purchasing, it would make more sense for the FAI to introduce the league clubs to businesses that exist to provide bulk purchasing to small firms like accountants, doctors, lawyers etc. The consortiums provide access to guaranteed cheaper goods, and in return they take half the savings (dependent upon their business model).

It's still the equivalent of looking to get cheaper net curtains when your salary doesn't even cover the mortgage on your house in the first place though. Financial priorities.