Lads heard a humor that the backers of DUFC are going to pull out is any of this true?
Printable View
Lads heard a humor that the backers of DUFC are going to pull out is any of this true?
Its a story that's certainly doing the rounds. Whether its true or not is anyother thing. Much depends on whether they get planning permission for their development and whether the guys with the money are prepared to wait for the decision.
It must be a very worrying time for the Drogs. My own feeling is that the party's over.
:rolleyes:Quote:
Originally Posted by MickNolan
Getting old at this stage.
Its not a rumour, its a fact, if we don't get our stadium. Where have you been living for the last twelve months?:D
Is there anybody in Drogheda working on a Plan B?
Yes, apparently Oliver Plunkett is doing the plan B.Quote:
Originally Posted by SMorgan
If the NRA bugger off, then we should be strong for years to come. If they don't I would expect us to go back to where we were five years ago, being semi-pro.
However Vincent Hoey is a Drog through and through, always has been and I suspect always will be. This is not a plaything for him (a la Abramovich) or a property deal (a la Sunderland). This is his passion and he will go all the way to keep the club going. There is no fear of us doing a Cork (or Shels).
get the business post tomorrow ...big story on the stadium being printed
Yeah got a DUFC text alert telling people to get Sunday Bus Post for full story on stadium & club and also to listen to LMFM on Mon morning between 9.30 and 10am.
Since this alert is from the club I can only assume its good news.
the post story is much to do about nothing. it appears to me to be moaning by people that didn't get their own way. no good news there.
just read it - planning rows etc but nothing about the NRA or anything about the club etc.
http://www.sbpost.ie/post/pages/p/st...569-qqqx=1.asp
Not necessarily good news. I spoke to someone today who knows a bit about this area and thinks if the review goes ahead it could be a few years before Drogheda would get any sort of decision, but his view was based solely on this artile. Either way if I was a Drogheda fan I'd be worried about this because it causes a lot of uncertainty, in uncertain times
This paragraph is particularily worrying for Drogheda fans ......
McEntee believes there has been a pattern of worrying decisions and said the proposed Local Area Plan would scupper ‘‘the chances of Drogheda United building a new 10,000 seater state-of-the-art stadium in east Meath, as planned. What has been going on is a disgrace,’’ McEntee said.
This doesn't make particularly good reading for Drogheda fans. Is it just scare tactics by any chance or is there a very real chance of the club going under?
http://www.drogheda-independent.ie/s...t-1469604.html
No, just look at the last paragraph.Quote:
Originally Posted by Longfordian
Drogheda United sources say the club investors have spent €12 million in the past four years ‘on the basis that they would have a self supporting stadium by 2008. Time and money are now running out.’ Meanwhile Vincent Hoey is ‘not interested’ in getting involved in a planning controversy. ‘I am trying to repair the damage and save the club,’ he stressed.
They banked completely on getting the stadium. Hoey said before the start of last season that the club would fold if they didn't get it.
You hit the nail on the head, Vincent Hoey et al, have held this line for a few years now, every Drog is fully aware that if this stadium doesn't go ahead soon then we are finished.Quote:
Originally Posted by DmanDmythDledge
It would appear at the moment to be very ominous.
this is probably the worst thing that can happen to loi football if we do lose out on the stadium (which we have done, it just needs to be made public ). we could have set a benchmark for other clubs to strive to and if this fails its hard to see a healthy future for domestic football in this country. i know we're all well aware of the issues facing domestic football but the time has come (IMO) where either this country sinks or swims as regards its domestic game
I know about our own financial situation but 12m in 4 years if true is insanity. Why wasn't the stadium pursued without spending massive sums on the pitch? From what I can tell the success on the pitch hasn't really improved the crowds - possibly due to United Park unattractiveness.
:confused:
Doesn't make sense to me either. Presumably they wanted to have built a succesful team by the time the stadium was ready in hope that the support would then be there to support it but they would have been better off doing what Rovers/Athlone are doing and built it in stages.Quote:
Originally Posted by pete
Will Hoey et al finance enough of the debt for DUFC to survive in the First Division?
Are there any plans for a supporters trust to try and raise some sort of finance?
There will be lots of people saying "I told you so". However, the Drogheda plan could have worked if it went ahead a few years ago. I don't understand why the stadium was delayed so long and why the directors decided to spend money they have not yet earned.
It was a reckless gamble that looks unlikely to pay off. The housing market is dead and the effect is particularly strong in commuter towns like Drogheda. Even if planning permission was granted (which seems unlikely), has the developer the cash to build houses no one wants.
I fear that Hoey is right when he says that he is trying "to save the club".
Maybe it sounded better in the pitch to have a successful club playing European football in Drogheda instead of 400 souls watching a mid-table First Division tie.Quote:
Originally Posted by DmanDmythDledge
I mentioned that on their forum about a year ago; got one person replying saying Drogheda fans weren't really in for that sort of thing. The sentiment has been echoed a few times on their board in the past week. Given that, unlike other clubs (such as us) they have a vaguely decent home support, that's a fairly poor attitude, I would have thought. Rovers' crowds are almost half Drogs', but they managed it.Quote:
Originally Posted by dmandmythdledge
Possibly, but surely he got the club into its current predicament in the first place?Quote:
Originally Posted by white horse
There is a balance somewhere in between which should have been used.Quote:
Originally Posted by pineapple stu
Not in Ireland. It's all or nothing. 24000 against Depor but 1500 for a title winning campaign. That's Ireland for you.
(I'm not disagreeing with you, just saying it as it is...)
Seeing as you mention it could you post their average attendences since 2003 please?
Not from this computer. It's on the attendances thread though. From memory, it's been stable at around 1700.
The Drogheda plan is nearly certain to fail even if they get the planning to build. If a title wining team can't attract more than 1500 on average it does not matter how great the stadium is. Its ok for them to gamble their own existence away, but what about the damage they have cause to the league by paying crazy wages, a la Shelbourne and Bohes at present. How can any club justify paying someone of english conference standard over two grand a week, its the same delusion that claims that Joe Gamble is anything other than a very ordinary LOI player.
I take it you know nothing about what the planning application actually entailed or what the business model was to be?Quote:
Originally Posted by wonder88
DMDMDL - what debt do Drogheda United have?
Debt may have been the wrong choice of word but it is still obvious what I meant. Maybe you could enlighten us if there is any debt.Quote:
Originally Posted by Celdrog
I'll put the question differently for you anyway. Going by that article Drogs are making a loss of around €3m a year, which the directors are paying. They have said that his can't continue. So how much will they be willing to put into the club now that the stadium plans seem to be out the window?
How could debt have been the wrong word? It wasn't obvious to me what you meant. If you were not a UCD fan then perhaps I might have taken if differently.Quote:
Originally Posted by DmanDmythDledge
I have no idea what the debt is - that is why I asked.
Stu - you normally have a good handle on this. Think you posted it somewhere before. Is the debt low and the lads money is virtually unrecoverable?
As I've posted somewhere else I do not believe the club could be losing €3M per year. This may be the total ougoings (I'd say a lot of expenditure has gone on the new stadium plans), again I stand to be corrected.Quote:
Originally Posted by DmanDmythDledge
I also have no idea how much they are willing to put into the club after this, a fraction I would guess.
Again Stu - you are the psychic when it comes to Drogheda united.
The planning application and site costs etc have all been covered by Doyle Developments.The overall stadium cost was close to 55m if the road is included.
The lads(Byrne,Hoey and O Conner )had a 3 year plan...they are now in year 5.
The NRA decision to go to the board is likely to put the stadium back to at least Feb.Time the club dosnt have.
A few people said to me recently "what about the Champions League money"..they got 150k for facing Kiev but had to spend 120k on a charter flight to Kiev...football doesnt pay!
You don't think that maybe, in a time when your club appears to be in serious trouble, you might try and find these thigns out for yourselves?Quote:
Originally Posted by Celdrog
The club lost E2m last year. If the boys pull out and anything like that sort of cost structure is still in place, you're in serious trouble.
Debts are harder to call as the last accounts are only up to last November. The parent company's accounts haven't been submitted yet. The club is borderline solvent as all the losses (E5m to date) are covered by shares issued to the parent company. But there's E400k of debts in there.
It actually surprised me how ignorant of your own club's runnings you are. Maybe you all jumped on the success bandwagon and didn't care how it came about?
And none of that has to do with benig psychic. It just involved five minutes' research. But hey, not my club.
Article in the Indo about Hoey & Byrne ready to pull the plug on Drogs.
€4m a year is a effin joke. How can they sleep at night
http://www.independent.ie/sport/socc...r-1472088.html
Not when I can call on you to provide me with the info, its the quickest and cheapest way. I don't know anyone as obsessed about the Drogs as you.Quote:
Originally Posted by pineapple stu
We all know its simple. No stadium = unsustainable professional club. I don't need any facts from this.
All I have done is to get you to prove to the other UCD fan that he was ignorant of the level of debt that Drogheda United is carrying.
Yeah - didn't think they had lost €12MQuote:
Originally Posted by pineapple stu
We all know where it came from. And bandwagon, trust me I was going to Belfield before you were even in secondary school, never mind in Uni, at a time when a draw was a good result for us.;)Quote:
Originally Posted by pineapple stu
Please provide a link to those facts.Quote:
Originally Posted by pineapple stu
Sligoman - goto www.cro.ie
Quote:
Originally Posted by pineapple stu
Pineapple, is the Parent Company Hinge Trading?
:rolleyes:Quote:
Originally Posted by sligoman
You're not upset I gave out to your Sligo fan friend for unsubstantiated allegations, are you? Thought it was quite clear I was referring to the company's filed accounts.
Nope, Hinge Trading is the club. Parent company is Drogheda United (O2) Limited.Quote:
Originally Posted by SMorgan
That's a relief. For a moment there I thought you'd done something constructive to save your club. Oh well.Quote:
Originally Posted by Celdrog
No, just wanted proof of your statement.Quote:
Originally Posted by pineapple stu
Quote:
Originally Posted by pineapple stu
arent you the great one you were over on the sporting page slagging them for relying on shels and dundalk to bring them in big gates.you really do love sticking your nose into other clubs with your smart remarks and haughty attitude.well stick to our club and maybe you should do the same with yours.just because stuff aint out in the open doenst mean we will just sit back and let our club die.no doubt you will be looking for us to tell you what we are going to do but like i said well stick to our own club thanks
Well we can't have the business model of UCD unless we are going to get a large university in Drogheda, never mind the fact that we have too many fans, so Stu won't be able to help us.Quote:
Originally Posted by stamullendrog
Don't know about you StamullenDrog, but I'll depend on Vincent Hoey, if he asks for help I do whatever I can. He hasn't let us down in 46 years.
prefer the mons business model myself run it all off the bar i think there fan base is a bit higher than ucd's celdrog.think were in good hands with vincent to be fair loves the club and been there for years.Quote:
Originally Posted by Celdrog
I think the both Mons' and UCD's business models are based on the same fundamental principle.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fr1nzilLtkA
And still they come................
UCD lads - get over the fact that Paul Doolin wanted to go to a proper club and win trophies.
Suppose that's why you could only get five fans down to the ground for a piece with the local paper, is it?Quote:
Originally Posted by Celdrog
Adds a whole new meaning to "Famous 4 5 ultras"