Sporting Fingal Gone Belly Up

**pineapple stu** · 13/02/2011, 12:01 PM

The LoI clubs are at the whim of the FAI though, and the FAI aren't really dependent on the LoI for Revenue (the interesting debate about prize money v sponsorship aside)

**Buile Shuibhne** · 13/02/2011, 2:06 PM

An excellent summary of the Franchise folly:

Yet over the past few weeks the sheer lunacy of the venture was laid bare. They had known that Gerry Gannon's money was on a temporary basis from the beginning, yet there's little evidence that any contingency plans were put in place. When Gannon hit the skids last year, the club proceeded on the basis that new investment would appear from somewhere. Anywhere. Last month Liam Buckley was still signing new players. Two weeks ago a commercial director was appointed. What strain of madness had gripped them? While they believed they were close to signing a sponsorship deal with a UK-based firm that would net them �170,000 a year, that would merely have put a small dent in an annual budget believed to be in excess of �750,000. How did they envisage meeting the shortfall? By filling Dalymount Park every home game? Perhaps they fancied a sustained, lucrative run in the Europa League? Over the previous three seasons Gannon had ploughed �2m into the club. Without that money, Sporting Fingal were goosed. The equation was as simple as that.

Why the farce was allowed to continue as long as it did is an indictment not just of those who ran the club, but of the Council that facilitated them. From the evidence of Fingal Council meetings it is clear that the close relationship between the Council and the club was a source of unease to several councillors and questions about it popped up on a regular basis. ............

http://www.independent.ie/sport/socc...?service=Print

**peadar1987** · 13/02/2011, 2:20 PM

It still baffles me why Fingal went with the tried and tested model for failure. With Gannon's money, they had the opportunity to try something different, invest it in training facilities, a tidy stadium at the heart of the community, and a big media campaign to get punters through the gates.

Come to think of it, Gannon's money would have been better invested in a national campaign of hyping up the league before each season, rather than wages for a club which, with the greatest of respect, looks set to disappear with barely a ripple.

**The Lep** · 13/02/2011, 2:29 PM

Originally Posted by Buile Shuibhne

An excellent summary of the Franchise folly:

http://www.independent.ie/sport/socc...?service=Print

You post a lot from the indo dont you. Do you work for them?

**SkStu** · 13/02/2011, 2:56 PM

The Northside People id say.

**Lamper.sffc** · 13/02/2011, 5:04 PM

Originally Posted by peadar1987

It still baffles me why Fingal went with the tried and tested model for failure. With Gannon's money, they had the opportunity to try something different, invest it in training facilities, a tidy stadium at the heart of the community, and a big media campaign to get punters through the gates.

Come to think of it, Gannon's money would have been better invested in a national campaign of hyping up the league before each season, rather than wages for a club which, with the greatest of respect, looks set to disappear with barely a ripple.

Because ultimately the people making the decisions where morons. It became a vanity project and when it was mentioned to them to reduce the playing budget, these suggestions fell on deaf ears. They ruined what could have been a very good club in the long run. They took the original clubs ethos and pi$$ed all over it and now they get to walk away leaving the staff, players and fans without a club. Idiots

**pauliek** · 13/02/2011, 7:17 PM

It was a great day for Irish football.

The worst day off my life was when Fingal bet us in the Cup final, it made it worse the way their fans ''celebrated'', they didnt give a ****, it was a day out for them and that was hard to take

**Spudulika** · 13/02/2011, 8:20 PM

Originally Posted by peadar1987

Spudulika, that would be true if "the fans" were a united body who all pulled in the one direction, but we're not. You can blame LOI fans as a group, but blaming any individual ones not in a position of power just seems wrong. So long as you have so many different agents all acting in supposed self-interest, you're always going to have some of them overreaching and gambling that the money they are spending will lead to success, and the arms race starts all over again. The fans have very little power to do anything about this, however, the FAI, as organising authority, do. That's why everybody looks to them for a solution, not as a psychological defence mechanism, but because they're the ones with the wherewithall to make a difference.

In a large way you're right, the fans are always seen as some grouping who are in it for the club, though it's not always the case. I agree totally that this arms race effect or MAD always will play out when clubs try to compete, though while the FAI have the authority, I don't know if they are always best placed to provide a solution, not disputing that they're not just a psychological defence mechanism. I still stand by it that fans/supporters do have the power to make a change, if not the whole group, but a substantial number. Then again it might be a bit too pollyanna to look at it this way. It's just frustrating to see the same old situations crop up time and again only in different guises.

**Charlie Darwin** · 13/02/2011, 8:57 PM

Originally Posted by pauliek

It was a great day for Irish football.

The worst day off my life was when Fingal bet us in the Cup final, it made it worse the way their fans ''celebrated'', they didnt give a ****, it was a day out for them and that was hard to take

You're annoyed they didn't fall to their knees and thank the Lord?

**The Lep** · 13/02/2011, 9:06 PM

Originally Posted by pauliek

It was a great day for Irish football.

The worst day off my life was when Fingal bet us in the Cup final, it made it worse the way their fans ''celebrated'', they didnt give a ****, it was a day out for them and that was hard to take

It was a day out for most of your day trippers as well. It made my day when i saw all the sligo cars clamped at the garage because they was too mean to pay €2 in the car park

You seriously need to get over it at this stage.

**Oldred** · 13/02/2011, 10:56 PM

Lep, our day trippers are still around, and will be. But where are ye going to trip to now?
I think this thread is now like Sporting Fingal. Going nowhere.

**The Lep** · 13/02/2011, 11:32 PM

So are ours

Where am i going to trip to now? 2 weeks in the sun to start off with followed by a few trips across the water followed by a week in the sun. It sounds good to me

I was going to take in a game or 2 at Richmond but they wont let me

.

**BonnieShels** · 13/02/2011, 11:51 PM

Richmond Park or Richmond Road?

**The Lep** · 13/02/2011, 11:55 PM

Who plays at richmond road?

**BonnieShels** · 13/02/2011, 11:57 PM

You should have been last Thursday.

**The Lep** · 14/02/2011, 12:00 AM

No, that was ment to be at Tolka. Have shells changed the name of the ground?

**BonnieShels** · 14/02/2011, 12:04 AM

Please tell me you're having a laugh?
My initial post was a joke and now you're annoying me.

Tolka Park is on Richmond Road. Sheesh.

**The Lep** · 14/02/2011, 12:09 AM

I know where it is. I would have said Tolka if i ment shells .

**Aaron** · 14/02/2011, 12:16 AM

Originally Posted by Oldred

Lep, our day trippers are still around, and will be. But where are ye going to trip to now?
I think this thread is now like Sporting Fingal. Going nowhere.

Look forward to the thousands who were at Lansdowne for the Cup Final pack into the Showgrounds when we visit then

**BonnieShels** · 14/02/2011, 12:20 AM

Originally Posted by The Lep

I know where it is. I would have said Tolka if i ment shells .

Like most of us would. And in fact I knew you were talking Pats but I thought in the spirit of having a laugh I posted a half jokey/smartarse comment that I expected no reaction to and you singlehandedly have managed to extract almost all of what little humour it from it. So much so that I think I'm going to have to go out now and shoot some rabbits at point blank range to relieve the frustration you've just caused me.

Huzzah sir. Your club may have died but your skill lives on.