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Participation Agreement
A detailed participation agreement should be drawn up for all league clubs. The participation agreement will be based on the principle of a contract and will contain clear obligations for participating clubs. The clubs will be invited to apply for membership of the league and must sign the participation agreement and be bound by its contents. The agreement will be strongly linked to the club licensing scheme and consistent with club obligations within that scheme.
The agreement should cover aspects like:
• The League, Membership rules, Promotion/Relegation, Play-Offs, Becoming a member, Ceasing to be a member, Expulsion, Resignation, Relationship between Clubs and the League
• Finance including obligation of the League and the clubs, wage control, accounting practice, operating and other expenses, distribution of league revenues, power to deduct, submission of club accounts, power to inspect, UEFA club licence obligations
• Fixtures including arranging, rearranging, postponement, failure to play, replaying, other competitions, match delegate, full strength teams, team sheet, substitutes, use of official ball, technical area, penalties, etc.
• Player identification and strip including home and away and advertising
• Match officials
• Medical personnel
• Ground criteria, including safety certificates, ownership of ground and training facilities, ground regulations, facilities (dressing rooms, media, the pitch, technical areas, floodlights, sanitary facilities etc.)
• Managers including code of conduct, coaching qualifications, contracts, registration, pre-season meeting, dispute resolution etc.
• Players including approaches to/from players, public statements, inducements, contracts, fines, dispute resolution, registration, etc.
• Youth development
• Disciplinary procedures and arbitration.
Facilities
There is a need for considerable investment in facilities in all league clubs. However, investment should be prioritized on the clubs with clear strategic plans and planned outcomes. Investment in facilities should be prioritised in top National league clubs and/or clubs serving large population centres. The facilities investment should include provision to ensure high standards of:
• Floodlights
• Playing surface
• Training
• TV and media provision
• Family friendly facilities
• Seating
• Toilet and other facilities
• Catering/hospitality
Ultimately, the planned programme of investment in facilities should deliver a range of high quality, family friendly stadia and clubs across the main population centres and strongholds of football throughout the country. The facilities should be equipped to support the clubs in providing revenues outside match days.
It is inevitable that Dublin clubs will be encouraged to consider ground-sharing if they are to attract significant public funds for investment.
Marketing
The league should be re-branded and re-launched as part of a revised marketing strategy. In re-branding the league, we believe the key attributes that should be emphasised are ‘Irish’, ‘Professional’, ‘New’, ‘Different’, ‘Quality’, ‘Premium’, ‘The Best of Ireland’.
Some Possible Names for the new League:
• eircom Professional Super league
• eircom Elite Irish League
• eircom Ireland Super League
• eircom Irish Premiership
• eircom FAI Premiership.
A significant marketing budget should be set aside to support, promote and market the league strongly. Efforts must be made to ensure there is a partnership with TV and the media in general to deliver the re-branded league and to present the league in a consistent manner. Consistent branding should be implemented in all grounds to ensure a common presentation, and look and feel at all grounds. The league will need to work closely with sponsors and partners to deliver on the marketing strategy. The merger of the league with the FAI will facilitate a more integrated league from a sponsor’s point of view. Clubs must work closely with the league to ensure there is a consistent brand identity established, obligations to sponsors are delivered efficiently and an integrated marketing campaign is executed throughout the league. A strong partnership relationship with sponsors is critical to maximise the benefit to the League. Rugby’s Heineken Cup and the Guinness sponsorship of the GAA Hurling Championships are excellent examples of how sponsors, working very closely with the rights holder, can help transform the product to the benefit of all involved.
Club Administration
For the league to work, the clubs must be managed to high levels of professionalism to raise the overall standards. Clubs should operate against long-term plans with a clear focus on planned outcomes.
The clubs must possess strong skills in:
• Leadership
• Strategic planning
• Finance and Administration
• Marketing and PR.
Where appropriate, assistance should be provided to clubs to help build and develop their capabilities in these areas.
Wage Control
A mandatory wage control mechanism should be put in place for all clubs within the National League. Clubs should be limited to spending 65% of turnover on players’ wages and costs. This should be monitored and enforced rigorously.
Development
All National League clubs must have a clear development structure in place that incorporates:
• Qualified coaches (with UEFA accreditation)
• Coaching structures (clearly defined and working)
• Training facilities (high quality)
• Under age teams (at all levels)
• Links with amateur clubs.
In particular it is important to continue with an Under Age National League. The current Under 21 league is a key step on the player pathway, although there are some operational issues associated with the league that need to be resolved. Most importantly, the issue of dual registration should be addressed. All schoolboy leagues and clubs should be attached to a league club and players should be allowed participate in the Under 21 league and still play for their club sides.
In addition to the Under 21 league, an Under 18 or elite Youth League should be established along similar lines to ensure a clear pathway exists from schoolboy to Senior football for talented players. Again dual registration is an imperative for this to work.
The role of the clubs must be to develop and nurture talent within their catchment area and to work in partnership with non-league clubs and leagues in a positive partnership model.
Community Links
The clubs must focus on building strong links and associations with their local communities, both from a playing and non-playing perspective. On the playing side, the league club should act as the pinnacle of football in the area in a pyramid structure. The clubs should have the capability to recruit, coach and retain local talent from under age through to the Senior team. Ideally, the club should work in partnership with all clubs in its area to support the development of players and create a genuine partnership between the local amateur clubs and the league club. As outlined above, each amateur club/league should be attached to a league club. For this to work efficiently the issue of compensation to amateur/schoolboy clubs/leagues should be addressed and a clear protocol agreed.
Off the field, the clubs should invest in building closer relationships with the local schools, clubs, and the community in general. There are numerous examples of innovative community-based schemes in sports throughout the world. For example, most UK clubs operate a ‘Football in the Community’ scheme. Bolton Wanderers’ scheme included over 20,000 adults and children last year in a diverse range of activities. By developing community-based schemes, clubs can attract new fans to the club and strengthen the loyalties of longer established supporters.
It is possible that public funding may be available for Football in the Community officers to be appointed at league clubs. This should be pursued aggressively.
Funding of the Plan
The recommendations outlined above will require significant investment. We have not developed a detailed assessment of the scale of investment required. The investment will come from four key areas.
FAI – the FAI itself will have responsibility for raising and allocating funds through grant schemes, the attraction of sponsorship income, broadcasting income and other means of income generation on behalf of the League. Funds should be allocated, strategically, against planned outcomes to ensure that the maximum return on any investment is delivered.
Public funds – both the Government and local authorities (city and county councils) should be targeted to support specific programmes as part of the overall strategy. For example, the Government has already committed significant funds for facilities investment and this is to be welcomed. Of further benefit would be a commitment to multi annual planned funding for facilities improvement. An ongoing planned programme of facilities upgrades should be developed to ensure clear strategic priority is set for such a programme of investment in facilities. Local authorities should be engaged in a partnership model to facilitate, for example, the community linkage for the clubs as part of the overall strategy.
