Rovers are in the top flight: Where have the fans gone?
Good article by Gerry Farry in the Weekender:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sligo Weekender
One of my guests on last Tuesday’s North West Today programme on Ocean FM was Finbar Flood, the chairman of Shelbourne Football Club, a man, who, as well as being the former managing director of Guinness PLC and chairman of the Labour Court, was also goalkeeper for Sligo Rovers in the then League of Ireland for over five years.
It was back in the 1950s that Finbar played in The Showgrounds and he spoke to me in glowing terms of how well the players were treated by the then chairman, Charlie Courtney, and the club committee, and how he loves going back to The Showgrounds now when he can.
We also spoke about the progress made both on and off the field by his present club, Shelbourne, in recent years.
He also spoke of the constant struggle which all eircom League clubs have to undertake, to not only ensure that they are successful on the field of play but to also keep themselves solvent while doing this.
The fine balance between success and failure on the field of play is well known to all of us who follow football, but the balance between success and failure commercially and financially is another matter altogether.
Let us look at our own club, Sligo Rovers. For several years, we would all bump into former patrons of The Showgrounds who would tell us that they had no interest in going to see matches against the teams in the eircom First Division.
Their usual catchphrase was ‘if only Rovers were in the Premier League that would be a different story’.
The club’s committee members were also well used to hearing these stories and proceeded to put a plan together to bring Rovers back to the top table of the eircom League.
Last year’s success story has been well documented, but prior to that, the management committee were working away tirelessly to give the public the proper type of stadium with which to deliver the product.
Although not quite finished yet, The Showgrounds is nearly unrecognisable from the type of ground it was 10 years ago.
The floodlights, the new stand, the astroturf pitches and the new retaining wall have all been put in place while the club were being put on a sound financial footing and were also building to where the team is today.
The new UEFA Licensing regulations have no grey areas when it comes to financial matters. All financial demands, including taxation etc., must be up to scratch.
Only last week, the aforementioned Shelbourne had to fork out upwards of a quarter of a million euro because they missed a payment deadline. It really is that strict.
For their part, Sligo Rovers have met all their obligations while still managing to deliver success on the field of play.
Promotion to the Premier Division brings with it a whole series of problems. The management committee have to make the decision of whether to trust in what they have already or whether they should invest in bringing in new and potentially better, but more expensive players.
Quite rightly, I feel the management committee have gone along with the wishes of the manager and the team has undergone a transformation from the one that gained promotion.
Financial constraints have meant bringing in younger professionals but, despite that, I would have thought that the general public would have faith in judgement which has been proven to be sound. Sadly, I have been proved very wrong.
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