Stadium Updates (All Clubs)

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02/07/2020, 4:05 PM
Nesta99

To be really technical about it Dundalk own buildings, fixtures and fittings on land owned by the Casey Trust on long term lease to the club (80+ years left?). Hence how Gerry was able to threaten to demolish buildings (some might claim that wouldnt have been a bad thing) if he didnt get his pound of flesh and the Casey's couldnt have stopped him. As for the lease being practically held to ransom, well it got sorted but was an unfortunate end to the saga of a former owner that contributed a lot to the club - hopefully history will be a bit tad kinder on his tenure.
02/07/2020, 4:42 PM
The Lilywhites

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nesta99

To be really technical about it Dundalk own buildings, fixtures and fittings on land owned by the Casey Trust on long term lease to the club (80+ years left?). Hence how Gerry was able to threaten to demolish buildings (some might claim that wouldnt have been a bad thing) if he didnt get his pound of flesh and the Casey's couldnt have stopped him. As for the lease being practically held to ransom, well it got sorted but was an unfortunate end to the saga of a former owner that contributed a lot to the club - hopefully history will be a bit tad kinder on his tenure.

Well, yeah. 72 years left on it. Hopefully PEAK6 actually do knock down some things!

I don't think history will be kind to Matthews at all, even though he put a lot into the club. The way it ended, over the last couple of seasons, and some of the other things, will taint it. Hiring Sean Connor (especially after the treatment of Gill) was the start of it really, that 2009 season left us in a hole.

Still shouldn't be forgotten what he did. On the football side got us back into the PD (and by a large stroke of luck Europe), and a cup final which at the time was huge for us.

Probably isn't given enough credit for the facilities side of it. Built the Shed, toilets and extra dressing rooms in the ground, seats in the ground, put a new roof on the stand, built the club shop and offices, the sponsors lounge, the YDC (ok you can talk about the rates etc but it's now a very valuable asset to the club), put in the entrance and roadway around the ground and the underground carpark obviously.

I don't think there's been a tap done since he left (bar the toilets on the Carrick Road end) and the Enda McGuill Suite (which was ok as it was I thought) in the past year.

But yeah, all the other stuff that went with it and the way it ended will be in people's memory most I suppose.

Happens with a lot of owners, although not the Fastfix lads who funnily enough walked away with a very handsome reward at the end of their tenure. Fair play to them, it's been some run, but very rarely it works out that way for owners.
02/07/2020, 9:24 PM
Nesta99

I shall be a sprightly 111 years old before having to worry about the club ending up without a home. Time flies by as tbh I thought there was a bit longer on the lease. On Sean Connor, at that time, on paper, it wasnt the worst appointment. Bohs fans would differ but Sligo fans would probably have a more positive slant. I'd aso say that he was appointed more by the board than the owner who was a self professed non football man so deferred a lot of the football side of things to others. But then Trevor Anderson was initially considered as a good appointment too. Hindsight is a wonderful thing! I'd hate to think how much worse Oriel would be if it wasnt for Gerry Matthews so why I think in due course people will be more forgiving of his stubborn messing circa 2011/12. The public meeting where he demanded to know the identities of contributors to Oriel Web was, for me, the strangest moment of that ownership and there are no shortage of strange moments that era.

Peak6's policy on development spectator facilities is justified by the above examples. Fastfix lads focused on the team and are legends but never touched the ground. Matthews did stuff in the ground and while it was a complex situation he is vilified. If I was a new owner I know what route Id be inclined to follow initially anyway.
03/07/2020, 5:51 AM
Nah Nah Nah Nah

We would not have a positive slant on Sean Connor and would have warned Bohs and Dundalk fans what they were getting themselves into at the time
03/07/2020, 3:27 PM
Martinho II

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nah Nah Nah Nah

We would not have a positive slant on Sean Connor and would have warned Bohs and Dundalk fans what they were getting themselves into at the time

I dont get it Nah Nah Nah Nah he got ye promoted in 05. What was it about SC that you dont like about? I have heard the stories the last few mths bout him but was he always like that?
03/07/2020, 3:52 PM
Bucket

Yes he was and he reads LOI forums!
03/07/2020, 4:16 PM
Nah Nah Nah Nah

Quote:

Originally Posted by Martinho II

I dont get it Nah Nah Nah Nah he got ye promoted in 05. What was it about SC that you dont like about? I have heard the stories the last few mths bout him but was he always like that?

Our budget was way bigger then anyone else in that division that year
03/07/2020, 4:29 PM
Ezeikial

Quote:

Originally Posted by Martinho II

I dont get it Nah Nah Nah Nah he got ye promoted in 05. What was it about SC that you dont like about? I have heard the stories the last few mths bout him but was he always like that?

Sean Connor has an amazing ability to rub people up the wrong way, but the reality of it was he achieved a lot at Sligo Rovers in his short time there. He won the First Division title in 2005 and then guided the club to fifth place in the Premier Division in 2006 along with reaching the FAI Cup semi-finals. According to Sean Connor he took Sligo to their "highest league position for eight years or more"

His resignation near the end of 2006 season seemed to trigger more resentment then celebration in Sligo
03/07/2020, 4:42 PM
pesky

Does anyone have any recent pics of the inside of the YDC, couldn't find any online.
03/07/2020, 5:06 PM
oriel

Some of the other Dundalk lads on here might, but I believe DFC might be looking at publishing new photos of the inside of it later this year. By all accounts it seems to have been an excellent investment with new dressing rooms, new players canteen, upgrades to the gym, video - mini cinema - media room / recovery room / car paking along with the indoor pitches etc.

Waiting for The Lilywhites response.........................
03/07/2020, 8:18 PM
The Lilywhites

On the point of Sean Connor, we knew exactly what we were getting ourselves into at the time, particularly on the back of his time at Bohs.

Although we qualified for Europe under him (because of Cork's and Derry's issues) we required a 100k loan that year after all the on-field and off-field antics (all too long and boring to list tbh - the board falling for his promise of a Barcelona friendly is worth mentioning though).

It was a circus, from the very first game against Bohs until the very end. The one blessing was that Connor was only given a one year contract, otherwise God knows where we would have ended up.

Quote:

Originally Posted by oriel

Some of the other Dundalk lads on here might, but I believe DFC might be looking at publishing new photos of the inside of it later this year. By all accounts it seems to have been an excellent investment with new dressing rooms, new players canteen, upgrades to the gym, video - mini cinema - media room / recovery room / car paking along with the indoor pitches etc.

Waiting for The Lilywhites response.........................

I'd love to see pictures of it too, to see exactly where the "750k" went. The dressing rooms are meant to be particularly impressive. I'd be interested to see what has happened to the upstairs area where the bar was - the Fastfix lads were meant to have done some work to the bar area there (to the point where it was almost ready to open) but never saw that so don't know if that was the case.
04/07/2020, 1:11 AM
Nesta99

While tapping the wallet against Bohs that first game back lacked class, we had a decent side really. Maybe a circus act but not so sure that we knew what to expect in advance. Bar an N'Do master class we'd have won that game well. Again Sligo lads would be better positioned to comment. If the basis of a SC circus is on the budget then Terry Eviston, Martin Murray, Jim Gannon, T****r A******N even, it was Moffetts in Oriel long before Seanie! Could possibly throw Fossie in there too.
04/07/2020, 5:53 AM
David BOHie

Dundalk got about 6 red cards against Bohs that season too. Absolute hatchet jobs. Filthiest LOI team I've ever seen under SC.
04/07/2020, 7:39 AM
Nah Nah Nah Nah

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ezeikial

Sean Connor has an amazing ability to rub people up the wrong way, but the reality of it was he achieved a lot at Sligo Rovers in his short time there. He won the First Division title in 2005 and then guided the club to fifth place in the Premier Division in 2006 along with reaching the FAI Cup semi-finals. According to Sean Connor he took Sligo to their "highest league position for eight years or more"

His resignation near the end of 2006 season seemed to trigger more resentment then celebration in Sligo

He wasn’t popular long before he resigned and the resentment was around the fact that everyone knew he had been talking to Bohs before he resigned and was tapping up players to go with him. I have seen nothing from him since to disprove the thoughts around him.
04/07/2020, 4:31 PM
Martinho II

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nah Nah Nah Nah

He wasn’t popular long before he resigned and the resentment was around the fact that everyone knew he had been talking to Bohs before he resigned and was tapping up players to go with him. I have seen nothing from him since to disprove the thoughts around him.

Yeah that brings back memories for me all of a sudden. Harpal Singh one of yer better plyr followed him to Bohs and then did a disappearing act!Who else from Sligo followed SC ?
04/07/2020, 5:17 PM
D24Saint

https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/oth...vour-1.4295774

Good piece in the times about the morton stadium , I never took to it as a football ground.
04/07/2020, 5:41 PM
Nah Nah Nah Nah

Quote:

Originally Posted by Martinho II

Yeah that brings back memories for me all of a sudden. Harpal Singh one of yer better plyr followed him to Bohs and then did a disappearing act!Who else from Sligo followed SC ?

Liam Burns and Darren Mansaram as well anyway. Can’t remember if there was more
04/07/2020, 8:26 PM
Ezeikial

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nah Nah Nah Nah

Liam Burns and Darren Mansaram as well anyway. Can’t remember if there was more

Chris Turner signed in the mid season transfer window
05/07/2020, 1:29 AM
vinnie

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ezeikial

Chris Turner signed in the mid season transfer window

Ah Tina, he was a decent player for Rovers, played in the Euro team, mad c�nt though
05/07/2020, 10:01 AM
Ezeikial

Quote:

Originally Posted by vinnie

Ah Tina, he was a decent player for Rovers, played in the Euro team, mad c�nt though

Controversial signing with many questions about the probity of the player and both Rovers clubs at the time!

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