AT 11.05 on May 26 last, the following statement was posted on the website of League of Ireland champions Drogheda United FC on behalf of [club chairman Vincent Hoey and his fellow directors:
"On the 9th of June next, there is a vital meeting of Meath County Council to consider our stadium plan. The approval of the councillors is essential if the stadium is to proceed. The very future of Drogheda United is at stake. We have put all the details before the councillors and are confident that they will support the club. However, a few prayers from the supporters would be appreciated."
It was typical of Hoey. Reserved. Respectful. Regal. Understated too, it could be argued, but that's always been his modus operandi. Those who know him best will attest that, over the years, he's never been the sort to bang the drum or cry wolf.
Few, however, who picked up on the original statement (published again in last Tuesday night's match programme) fully appreciated the quiet desperation contained his carefully chosen words which fell some way short of articulating the real sense of turmoil currently being experienced by himself and fellow directors Chris Byrne and Eugene O'Connor.
Almost always positive in outlook, Hoey's "plea" merely hinted at the gravity of the scenario facing the club should the vote on the latest stage of their quest to construct a new state-of-the-art 10,000 plus seater stadium on the outskirts of the town fail to garner the required 75 per cent support of all Meath County Councillors when they sit in judgement a week tomorrow.
The message, however, is stark. The very existence of the defending League champions at a senior level in the game lies almost entirely in the hands of the 29 men and women who are due to consider a material contravention request for the rezoning of agricultural land to facilitate the project.
It's just another (and far from the biggest, it has to be said) obstacle in a convoluted and somewhat bewildering process for all concerned, but a thumbs-up will at least show progress, however small, and cement the future of the club for evermore.
Already, though, Drogheda are on borrowed given that a now dilapidated United Park falls well below the standards demanded under UEFA's licensing procedures. Their Champions League qualifying games will have to be played elsewhere and, with the possibilities for commercial development at their current Windmill Road base nonexistent, staying put is not an option.
Thus, the consequences of a no vote are unthinkable - and not only for Drogheda. A number of other clubs -including the big money investors at both Cork City and St Patrick's Athletic who are believed to have similar plans in the pipeline - are monitoring the current situation and. anxiously awaiting developments before considering their own options. Should Drogheda's project stumble and fall, few (especially in light of Shamrock Rovers' Tallaght saga) are likely to have the stomach for similarly costly and laborious campaigns with no guarantees at the end.
That Drogheda are now regarded so highly is remarkable turnaround in itself. Having narrowly avoided going to the wall in 2002, the Boynesiders emerged stronger than ever, determined the mistakes of the past would not be repeated. The decision was subsequently taken to leave United Park, develop a full-time professional club and establish it in a state-of-the-art facility replete with sufficient associated commercial ventures feeding in to ensure its sustainability long after the current board has departed.
It was a bold and brave move but, as the most ambitious and convincing business plan ever produced by a LOI club, a suitably impressed FAI put its full weight behind the project holding it up as the prototype for other aspiring members. (Indeed such was the comprehensive and radical nature of the plan, detailing as it did substantial job and tourism opportunities, it got an audience far beyond the modest League of Ireland community.) .
Four years since the process began and almost €10million later, however, Drogheda United are once again peering into an abyss and the FAI may have to look elsewhere for then-standard bearers.
Without some indication that then-ambitious plans might yet come to
fruition, frustration has grown to such an extent that Hoey, Byrne and O'Connor are on the verge of cutting their losses and walking away despite the thousands of hours, millions of euro and boundless energy expended in pursuit of a dream.
Regarded as the driving force behind the current move, Byrne (whose father, Paddy, 86, passed away on Thursday, 11 years to the day after his mother Alice) feels he can do no more. His exasperation reached its zenith in recent weeks to the point that he is no longer willing to even discuss the proposal either in private or in public.
O'Connor, meanwhile, is still recovering from a recent serious accident (he fell from a scaffold). Not a known lover of football despite his input, the down time has afforded ,him an opportunity to reflect on the past and contemplate the future.
Hoey, retired solicitor, lifelong fan and one of the club's founding fathers, will probably find it hardest to extricate himself emotionally, but, like his colleagues, he has over €3m reasons to do so at this point.
Remarkably, and for once, in League of Ireland terms, it won't be the lack of finance or ambition that will have thwarted the efforts of
those harbouring lofty ambitions. Rather, a combination of seemingly endless red tape and a not inconsiderable level of what has been described as 'disingenuous opposition'.
The club had initially attempted to pitch camp in its traditional heartland to the north of the river Boyne. But, despite whispered assurances of a positive outcome, they were forced into a rethink following a significant period (over 12 months) consumed by the ultimately futile pursuit of land purchase and rezoning amid rumours of broken promises and political interference on a number of levels.
Determined to press ahead, they turned their focus across the county line to Meath, commissioning an archeological survey of their chosen site (at a cost of €250,000). Once again, however, they've encountered resistance to the project on a number of fronts, not all of which can be said to be motivated by genuine or legitimate concerns.
So far, councillors have been appraised of the project in detail through information sessions and meetings with planners with another in the offing before the week is out. Some, though, are said to be still unconvinced of its bona fides.
Central to the apparent confusion is the description of the site area (carried on the council's website) as being 25.925 hectares (64 acres) with the stadium accounting for just over 20 acres. The balance, however, is easily accounted for in the four kilometres of link road, roundabouts and services between the Ml and Nl.
The planning authorities are satisfied with the. proposal and have already indicated that the project should get the green light. It remains to be seen, however, whether the councillors can be persuaded in time. While fear that Drogheda United will lose its benefactors and the town its club along with a substantial development grows by the day, Hoey, Byrne and O'Connor retain a modicum of hope it won't come to that. In the event of the unthinkable, however, there are few, if any, who will bear them any ill will given the unprecedented commitment they have shown the club since helping save it from certain extinction in 2002.
Their input, both practical and financial, at a time when the club just barely survived the latest in a seemingly endless stream of financial crises cannot be overstated. They've presided over a period of unqualified success (one Eircom League Championship, one Ford FAI Cup, two Setanta Sports All-Ireland Cups)... an impressive haul for an outfit with just one League Cup to show for its 40 previous years.
It had to end sometime, though. That they have persisted thus far is to be lauded but such support was never sustainable, regardless of the perceptions abroad. It doesn't help either that the uncertainty over the future also appears to be having an effect on the field of play.
Manager Paul Doolin all but waved the white flag in the club's League title defence following Tuesday night's home draw with Sligo Rovers amid tales of unrest in the dressing room, much of it (according to one playing source) linked to the apparent unwillingness to enter contract talks with up to 11 players until after the June 9 vote.
But while there is no question that the club won't see out the remainder of the current season, what happens after that is anybody's guess.
The chatter of "less than helpful" forces at work in the murky worlds of construction, local politics and with no little negative input from other vested interests has never been far from the surface.
As a result, there is now a palpable fear on the United Park terraces (such as they are) that a council with no real attachment to the club (or the League of Ireland for that matter) will be less than sympathetic to its plight and ultimately, if not intentionally, preside over its demise.
On the positive side, Drogheda Borough Council has been true to its word and rezoned United Park which, owing to its location, will fetch a pretty penny towards the new stadium. (Planning permission for 115 apartments and 20,000 sq ft of retail space has been granted in the past couple of weeks and although this will not proceed if the club does not relocate.)
Unless their counterparts across the river in Meath can also deliver, however, it will have been a wasted exercise, an expensive lesson and possibly a watershed in the FAI's hopes of ever developing a national league of stature.
