Dublin's big four have grounds for sharing

There are 2 pretty much seperate issues here- insane levels of overspending all over the league that is totally unsustainable and the grounds issue. If the clubs involved have sense they'll keep the two issues seperate and not use capital gains for current expenditure. I don't think you'd get great odds on that though! Whatever happens there needs to be a serious look at how many clubs are run, or else we'll never escape the endless cycle of financial crisis after financial crisis.

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Originally Posted by Dassa

The whole thing seems to be quite a mess for clubs especially Shelbourne. No future at their Ground and losses of that nature cant be sustained. Heres hoping they get something sorted, for the future of the club and its fans.

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Sometimes it's important to get an objective opinion. This entire wheeze seems to be aimed at sorting out Shelbourne's future.

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Originally Posted by Dassa

The whole thing seems to be quite a mess for clubs especially Shelbourne. No future at their Ground and losses of that nature cant be sustained. Heres hoping they get something sorted, for the future of the club and its fans.

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Seems to be a "get out of jail free" card for Shelbourne to me.

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Originally Posted by Dassa

Here's hoping they get something sorted, for the future of the club and its fans.

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With all due respect for Shels' fans, for whom I have a lot of time in general, I'd almost be inclined to say sod the club. IF (to avoid the inevitable "What do you know" retorts) the stories about Ollie selling the ground without an alternative lined up and million pound losses in a single season are true, then this is a disgraceful way to run an eL club and it's about time the FAI or someone (Bohs will do nicely) stood up to this kind of thing. And hey, Ollie's hoping to put my club out of existence for all intents and purposes, so I'm quite happy to wish the same on his. He's a cancer on the game here and I hope he gets what's coming to him.

I can't help but see a future 20 years down the line where Shels are homeless, wandering from ground to ground, in administration and relegated. And in an ironic twist, wearing a green and white away kit. The way to stop this is to get Shels to buck up, not to bully other clubs to let them keep their reckless ways. You'd have thought the FAI had learnt from the Rovers saga, but no. Evidently not.

And for balance's sake, if Shels have genuine bona fide reasons for desiring/needing to move into Dalyer - none come to mind at the moment, mind - then the best of luck to them.

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Originally Posted by pineapple stu

I've only seen one club who made a profit last year - Kildare County, who finished third bottom of Division One after three seasons just outside the play-offs.

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Did I hear the Harps did too? What about Kilkenny? Did we make a loss?

You've seen a trend in Scotland where clubs have copped on and stopped overspending and cut back expenditure even if it meant doing badly. The likes of Hibs and Motherwell have just kept developing young players and selling them on and decided never to splash out again. Balancing the books have to be a priority. I've had someone important in the game tell me if that's the height of ambition in this country then you may as well give up. I think Irish football won't sort itself out until this kind of attitude goes by the wayside.

spot on pineapplestu. ya nailed it der. ollie deserves everythin he gets.i'll haqve no sympathy for them,. he seems to tnk that because they are Irelands "elite " team (not my opinion by de way) that everything is different for them. i'll have some smile on me de day he finally gets it. it will happen. keep de faith.

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Originally Posted by desaintsno.12

spot on pineapplestu. ya nailed it der. ollie deserves everythin he gets.i'll haqve no sympathy for them,. he seems to tnk that because they are Irelands "elite " team (not my opinion by de way) that everything is different for them. i'll have some smile on me de day he finally gets it. it will happen. keep de faith.

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Your not on your mobile now quit da txt sht

Clubs are not there to make a profit but massive losses on the scale of Shels should not be essentially condoned by the league.

pete

In the modern climate, Clubs need to , at the very least , balance their books.
Or else risk going the way of Omagh Town!

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Originally Posted by Speranza

Pats don't have to move. I would be disgusted if Pats were coerced into leaving Inchicore as no club should be taken away from its community.

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pats may be bribed/coerced/forced into groundsharing tallaght.

i would imagine a compromise along the lines of this: they could sell half richmond for apartments, then on the other half build a clubhouse/offices/shop/members bar/all weather facility etc to keep the club based in richmond. while playing games in tallaght, (its not too far up the road on the luas or bus.)
given groundsharing is likely to be forced, that would probably be pats best way of playing in a 10,000 modern all-seater stadium while still maintaining their inchicore identity

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Originally Posted by monkey magic

if that article is correct then bohs arent much better, 720,000 if frightening for a club who finished mid-table...

someone else mentioned short term thinking.. if anything this is an attempt at long term thinking in terms of developing better infrastructure and giving the clubs a base from which to build, dosent mean its a good idea though, and having property developers sniffing around is a serious red light, those are a class of individuals i inherently dont trust and should not be let near the pats boardroom, with whats at stake here.

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its not that frighteneing really.bohs finances have been documented in the sunday business post on a number of occasions over the last two years.
their debt was over E1.5M only 2 years ago. they used E700,000 that they recently got from the shopping centre developer to pay off some of their debt. theyve reached a deal with the revenue to pay (huge) outstanding taxes over the next 2 years or so. and their main focus seems to be to steadily reduce their debt in the short term.
id imagine bohs, while still in a quite precarious position, are not nearly in as frightening a position as it might look

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Originally Posted by pineapple stu

I've only seen one club who made a profit last year - Kildare County, who finished third bottom of Division One after three seasons just outside the play-offs.

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finn harps also made profit of about E2,000 last season.3rd profitable year in a row
Rovers , believe it or not,made a larger (but still small) profit as well

5th year in a row I think you'll find!

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Estimates of the stadium's real estate value vary from €30 million to around twice that figure and there are some fans who argue that selling up and using the cash to establish a new stadium and training facilities in the suburbs makes more sense. The FAI and Government would look dimly on such a move as, it seems, would Shelbourne at this stage given they own a lease on Tolka Park rather the ground itself and cannot, therefore, hope to raise as much money by having the developers around.

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Why would Bohs care what the FAI or Government think, let alone Shels, if €30million can be realised? €30mill, would buy a decent site, training academy etc with no Government or FAI support. Why they should care about Shels is beyond me, and shows the article to be pure spin. I'm disappointed in Emmet Malone tbh - I thought he was above this kind of stuff.

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Originally Posted by Macy

Why would Bohs care what the FAI or Government think, let alone Shels, if €30million can be realised? €30mill, would buy a decent site, training academy etc with no Government or FAI support. Why they should care about Shels is beyond me, and shows the article to be pure spin. I'm disappointed in Emmet Malone tbh - I thought he was above this kind of stuff.

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Exactly, while the FAI would be unhappy as Shels would be in a spot of bother they would hardly cut their nose off to spite their face. If we sold and if these valuations are right we would be the wealthiest club in the country with the best facilities.

Yeah, forgot about Harps - another example of a profitable club being screwed over. I suppose technically Rovers only made a profit by virtue of rather a large write off ;), but again, adds to the point. Haven't heard about UCD or Kilkenny. Our budget was being cut back this year, so we probably made a loss. A small manageable one though.

And hey - look what happens to Shels one day later! :)

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Originally Posted by pineapple stu

And hey - look what happens to Shels one day later! :)

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pineapply, i really think your jumpin the gun here, kinda like when longford didnt get their liscence initially... i cant understand why there hasnt been more media comment if shels really are gonna be wound up.

[QUOTE=pineapple stu]Drogs (lost) E100k or so (you can download their accounts through CRO.ie)./QUOTE]
I must correct myself actually - Drogs lost E15k in the year ended 31 December 2004. Not sure where I got the E100k figure from.

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Originally Posted by Poor Student

Did we (UCD) make a loss?

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Yep. Only about E10k apparently. Fits in with what I was saying earlier about a small but manageable loss which was being reflected in this year's budget.

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Originally Posted by monkey magic

pineapply, i really think your jumpin the gun here, kinda like when longford didnt get their liscence initially... i cant understand why there hasnt been more media comment if shels really are gonna be wound up.

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Most Irish journos are lazy sods who steal all their good ideas from message boards on foot.ie perhaps? :D

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Originally Posted by pineapple stu

Yep. Only about E10k apparently. Fits in with what I was saying earlier about a small but manageable loss which was being reflected in this year's budget.

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Are you going to the Alumni Dinner to help clear the debt? :D