Harps Statement

The board of Finn Harps FC can confirm that a special information meeting has been arranged for Wed 19th July to appraise the clubs shareholders of the ongoing financial situation at the club. The club set a strong budget at the start of this season with a view to allowing the team to challenge for an immediate return to the Premier Division. The club stated publicly at the time that we were depending on support of our fans to ensure we could maintain a strong team following relegation. "To maintain a strong budget despite dropping down a Division the club will need the loyal support of the supporters, not only on the terraces but by supporting other club fundraisers which are vital in ensuring the team budget can be maintained" (press release 6th Jan 2006).

Unfortunately results on the field early in the season have not lived up to the expectation of most supporters and the clubs mid table league position has seen a collapse in support for the team through the turnstiles.

Other factors such as the World Cup and the ongoing detrimental affect of summer football on attendances have exacerbated the situation. The club would like to acknowledge the huge contribution being made by those supporters who are attending games, members of the 500 club and those working hard to raise funds through the monster draw and other ventures, however the income from gate receipts has dropped to an unsustainable level. The potential for this situation to arise had been identified at
board level and active measures were undertaken over the preceeding months to compensate for the shortfall at the gate, however this deficit can no longer be maintained.

The board have decided to inform the shareholders of the details of the situation and measures which we feel must be taken to protect the future of the club. These measures must include a cut back on outgoing expenditure as well as seeking to raise sources of income to meet the shortfall in gates. To this end the club have had several discussions with team manager Anthony Gorman and have arranged to meet the players this week to discuss the situation.

The significant debt which existed 5 or 6 years ago has been reduced significantly, therefore we must continue to set in place a stable financial base for the future. In this regard also, there have been positive steps in relation to the new stadium in recent weeks, and the Club hope to be in a position to make further information available in this
regard within the next month.

The 306 people who turned up to watch us play last night definitely didnt help them. They'll probably didnt even get the bus fare home back. Hope they sort things out as they have a decent side and their fans are always a pleasant lot. Good luck!

It goes to show the importance of correct budgeting. Waterford budgeted incorrectly last season and suffered similar problems. It shows how difficult it is to run a tight ship in the eL. It wasn't an unreasonable thing to try and budget for a promotion push. Best of luck to Haps and hope they can overcome their difficulties.

Not really fussed about the mess they are in but its typical of the way that club has been run. Donegal has huge potential yet the sheep have never had a period of success, that points to mismanagement through the years and a lack of ambition. Thats my obviously biased view and one other thing....Forever in our shadow! :)

Hopefully they will get out of the mess. Always enjoyed a run down to Ballybofey, the craic is always great and also i wud prefer them to stay around so we can get our annual 9 points a season!!:D :D

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Originally Posted by Speranza

Not really fussed about the mess they are in but its typical of the way that club has been run. Donegal has huge potential yet the sheep have never had a period of success, that points to mismanagement through the years and a lack of ambition. Thats my obviously biased view and one other thing....Forever in our shadow! :)

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Thanks for your consern:mad: Fans like myself are worried for the future of our club and to read crap like the above just sickens me.

Finn Harps are one of the stalwart clubs in the League and I am appalled at their plight. Their genuine supporters are the best in the country, and they appreciate it when you make the long trek to Finn Park.
But I think it's time we as EL fans faced facts.
This is a fickle country, full of glory hunting , bandwagon jumping so called "supporters".
Look at rugby for example. Two years ago Leinster played Glasgow in a Celtic League match in front of 60 supporters in Lansdowne Road. This year they got 13,000 in the RDS for Heineken Cup ties.
GAA fans are no better . Dublin barely fill 10,000 capacity Parnell Park for National League games yet come the Championship and they stuff Croke Park. This is a country of event junkies. How can we expect it to be any different for our run of the mill fixtures?

They, ( i.e. event junkie bandwagon jumping supporters) have deserted the League this season in droves and what we are left with is the real hardcore support at each club. And the 306 that went to the Shels-Finn Harps League Cup tie illustrates that point.

Crowds are down , and from the support standpoint , summer soccer has failed. It has led to more success in Europe, but if the clubs have to go bust cause nobody goes to the other bread and butter fixtures, what the hell use is that?

It would be a disgrace if a club like Harps went to the wall.
The government pump money in dope fuelled greyhounds, a horse racing scene where corruption is rampant and a sporting organisation where bigotry is ingrained in their constitution, yet the top 22 football clubs in the country struggle to survive!

Hope you enjoy the prawn sambos in Old Trafford, Bertie! :rolleyes:

Hopefully Harps will sort things out, I have great time for them
and the Harps fans. Always made us feel more than welcome
in Ballybofey and we're always good craic when they came down
to Mels.

Where does all this leave the new stadium?

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It goes to show the importance of correct budgeting. Waterford budgeted incorrectly last season and suffered similar problems. It shows how difficult it is to run a tight ship in the eL. It wasn't an unreasonable thing to try and budget for a promotion push. Best of luck to Haps and hope they can overcome their difficulties.

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In fairness Harps budgeting has lead the club to be attacked as unambitious, but has seen our finances recover from the brink of extinction 5 or 6 years ago to a pint now were if we can survive these problems and make it to the end of the season we'll be not too far off debt free and moving rapidly towards a brand new stadium. The club aimed to push for promotion this year but the team hasn't performed and the gate receipts have dropped to just 20% of what they were during the same period our last year in the first- and who in their right mind would budget for that? Football is a very fickle game, and even the most careful clubs can get caught out- but at least Harps are trying to avert crisis rather than reacting to it after it has reached meltdown proportions. Wages to date have been paid, and if we can get the wagebill down sufficiently we'll be in a position to build again from next year.

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Where does all this leave the new stadium?

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This makes no difference to the stadium plans. Hopefully positive news on that will appear in the next few weeks.

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Originally Posted by Peadar

It would be a disgrace if a club like Harps went to the wall.
The government pump money in dope fuelled greyhounds, a horse racing scene where corruption is rampant and a sporting organisation where bigotry is ingrained in their constitution, yet the top 22 football clubs in the country struggle to survive!

Hope you enjoy the prawn sambos in Old Trafford, Bertie! :rolleyes:

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Here Here. Why oh Why cant an eircom league Chairman run for leadership of Fianna Fail or Fine Gael as it's the only way we'll ever get any support from those muppets in Leinster(Old Trafford mark II) House

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Originally Posted by Galway Harps

This makes no difference to the stadium plans. Hopefully positive news on that will appear in the next few weeks.

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Glad to hear that.

Overall I think it's positive that the club's administrators are taking a straight and open approach to the current situation, as opposed to burying their heads in the sand and hoping all problems will soon pass over like a bad storm. It certainly seems that you have a bunch of level-headed people in charge, and that can only auger well for the future.

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Originally Posted by Peadar

It would be a disgrace if a club like Harps went to the wall.
The government pump money in dope fuelled greyhounds, a horse racing scene where corruption is rampant and a sporting organisation where bigotry is ingrained in their constitution, yet the top 22 football clubs in the country struggle to survive!

Hope you enjoy the prawn sambos in Old Trafford, Bertie! :rolleyes:

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Well said Peadar. Couldn't have put it better myself.
Best of luck to Finn Harps. Hope the club pulls through.

hope it works out for you, best of luck,
spranza your all thats wrong with football

Good to hear Harps' people not burying their head in the sand and trying to sort their woes out.

Best of luck to them

Best of luck to everyone involved with harps.

If ye want a hand cutting the wage bill, we will gladely take Breen, Malseed and O'Donnell of ye to help with the proceedure

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Originally Posted by Speranza

Not really fussed about the mess they are in but its typical of the way that club has been run. Donegal has huge potential yet the sheep have never had a period of success, that points to mismanagement through the years and a lack of ambition. Thats my obviously biased view and one other thing....Forever in our shadow! :)

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Wasnt so long ago that L'Derry had their bare arse hanging out the window.

Tosser.

UP THE HARPS.

I wouldnt worry too much about Speranza, most derry fans would hate to see harps in bother.

We will survive this and go on. But the free state government has to seriously start helping the league out!

how about making players wages exempt from tax?