They have managed a very good business in the town for many years. So people are judging them on their track record in business.
That is not always a guarantee when it comes to running a football club.
The Euro money makes Dundalk a mark in their custody battle over Oriel, I would say the man cheering the loudest was yer man, the lease guy that all the Dunnies hate.
Great for them though nobody can begrudge it, RTE and the Alickadoo sh1te couldn't care less though, it's like Hereford beating Watford in the cup, nothing to see here.
The problem with lump sums as opposed to revenue is that, you feel good just having that money in your pocket, and you go out just for a quiet pint, get a bit giddy and before you can say , rolled up fifty, it's cocaine and hookers. We have all been there.
To develop a Greenfield stadium, the cost of a site, planning, design, construction with every c*nt with his hand out 7m would go nowhere, and then there is cost of leaving Oriel, when the law get a sniff of money, is close to the poorhouse you are take it from one who knows.
When a club leaves it's historic ground so much of it dies, especially when the ground is among the little streets, all that is left is a set of jerseys, Tallaght, would ya have it?.
As L4s says the prospect of being able to leave oriel is definitely in play.
Don't get me wrong I live oriel, the old lady of dundalk, i have find memories even when we were in the mire but it would be foolish to pump good money after bad if it will cost too much to get right.
DKIT had a project with louth gaa of a solid 8 to 10k venue that suprising louth gaa threw back in their face a the south louth clubs wanted louth based in drogheda. This may be feasible.
We wouldn't be able to go alone on the project with a one off bonanza like this but we could embark on a partnership with DKIT and set up working relationships that benefit the club the town and the college.
Most dundalk fans want a legacy to be left from this. Some want to stay in oriel others want to move.
The game and the lease saga has shifted and is in the club's favour
Louth GAA eventually turned down this project as Drogheda clubs would not back the county stadium being in Dundalk.
DKIT were asking for €3.5m from Louth GAA.
They still want to proceed with a stadium but it was just a pipedream for ourselves until now.
Here are some details on the original proposal.
https://www.dkit.ie/presidents-offic...adium-proposal
https://www.dkit.ie/system/files/DkI...Proposal_1.pdf
Synthetic grass is driving people crazy. It's got to peeps in Dundalk, Greenfield sites are every thing that is wrong with modern football. We were in a similar difficult state in the 60s, two landlords, and a co tenant, we bought the ground by public subscription, Dundalk should buy the ground for the people of Dundalk, with their windfall and ensure that the game is played at Oriel until the meteorite hits.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...drug-dangerous
4,000 capacity fully covered seated stand, incorporating 4 fully fitted dressing rooms,
2 referees’ rooms, a physio and treatment room, player, official and public toilet blocks
and a 200 seat reception room
• Media facilities
• 5,000 terraced stand constructed to be converted to a 2,500 seated stand in the future
• 3,000 capacity embankments to the ends and sides of the ground
• Stadium fully enclosed with parking for 100 within the enclosed space
• Stadium grade pitch similar to that installed in major professional venues
• Floodlighting to 300Lux (with infrastructure to upgrade to 800Lux if required)
• Electronic scoreboard
edit, wrong thread! :D
I'd say yes and no on this one.
Yes, it means he knows the club have money so now is a good time to drive a hard bargain.
But also no - because the sum Dundalk will get will be big enough for them to say 'fcuk you' and look at starting the process of a new stadium somewhere else f he doesn't play ball. He'd then be left with a bit of land that he may or may not be able to monetise in other ways.
So a very interesting game of poker probably awaits.
They wanted to build a multi sports stadium and were seriously p1ssed when Croke Park insisted it would be GAA only.
DKIT want to specialise in sports science and that was the main reason they took over the JJB complex. However, they are limited in not having a stadium. The anger at which they greeted the U-turn by Croke Park was noticeable and unusually strongly stated in public.
I see no evidence to support a contention that DKIT are no longer interested in a stadium. They are the only ones that know for certain. I expect them to be quite coy about it in public as they would want to limit the cost to them and to achieve the biggest investment possible from other parties.
I know history is a big factor to take in but surely given the legal mess surrounding Oriel, maybe Dundalk would be better off saying Slán and either entering a partnership with DKIT or building their own ground from scratch. The former would be more feasible IMHO. Plenty of clubs here and abroad moved away from their historical home and set up shop elsewhere. Waterford played at Kilcohan from 1934 until 1993. Sure we lost a bit of tradition but it had become apparent by the mid 80s that staying at Kilcohan was going to be a non runner for a variety of reasons. Those millions should be put to better use and not to line some gob****e's pocket holding the Club to ransom over the lease.
The partnership with DKIT could be a very good option all right, presuming DKIT are still interested...
Yes it would involve leaving Oriel, but it's not like they'd be moving way out of the town to the countryside like Longford did. I'm sure the DKIT campus isn't as close to pubs like Oriel is but it's still in the town. Interested to hear the Dundalk lads' opinions...
Who owns the fields behind each goal? I heard something about a school buying them but not sure but if you got your hands on them or even part of them then either levelled that big shed thing of incorporated it somehow you'd have loads of space
Fair enough but I'd agree with that last line running a football club is a lot harder than running a business from what I've been told