Kilkenny City may be back!!

[Claret Murph]

I hope this is ture as I would very much hate to lose any more clubs from the league . I feel real sorry for the cats and then to lose Lim & Athlone would be a killer as we really don't need any more Dublin clubs in the league at the moment .....

[CJTheGull]

I hope this is ture as I would very much hate to lose any more clubs from the league . I feel real sorry for the cats and then to lose Lim & Athlone would be a killer as we really don't need any more Dublin clubs in the league at the moment .....

Yeah I agree - this Fingal team is a joke - what in God's name will make them any different to Dublin City F.C. who even me Ma knew would not survive beyond a few seasons - it's not as if Bohs, Rovers, Pat's, Shels etc are packing out their repective stadia every weekend so another Dublin team thrown into the mix is laughable.

It's time to start supporting the regional teams dotted around the league - fair play to Limerick and good luck to the rest.

[MyTown]

This morning's papers say that Limerick37 approached the FAI about their financial difficulties and that the FAI put them in touch with their new benefactor.

I know FAI bashing is all but obligatory here, but they deserve great credit if they've been instrumental in the rescue of Limerick37 IMO.

[Battery Rover]

Audio clip of fran gavin and Jim Rhatigan discussing the demise of Kilkenny City and what lies ahead for Sporting Fingal

http://www.rte.ie/sport/rams/2008/0120kilkennycity.smil

[Block G Raptor]

http://www.fai.ie/index.php?option=c...k=view&id=2784

Feckin' great news. Really hope it's the start of a trend. sad thought that it takes a yank to throw a few bob into an eL club while the Irish business community always look towards the UK

[L37Ultra]

Lads, heres a link to an article in the local newspaper in Limerick if anybody is interested. Its a great read (well for Limerick supporters anyways ) Good times ahead I hope http://www.limerickleader.ie/3420/Mc...ted.3697064.jp

[Lim till i die]

I know FAI bashing is all but obligatory here, but they deserve great credit if they've been instrumental in the rescue of Limerick37 IMO.

I..........agree........with...............you

[KevB76]

This morning's papers say that Limerick37 approached the FAI about their financial difficulties and that the FAI put them in touch with their new benefactor.

I know FAI bashing is all but obligatory here, but they deserve great credit if they've been instrumental in the rescue of Limerick37 IMO.

I've a new found respect for the FAI and John Delaney.
if they weren't involved, the latest debts could have been the end of senior soccer in Limerick.

[amjl]

Does it seem to anyone else that Delaney is going out of his way to save Limerick. It wouldn't look good for the FAI to nearly loose a senior team in limerick (3rd biggest city in the country) two years running, specially at the start of their tenure of running the league.

You could say I'm bitter & twisted and maybe I am, but could you blame me?

http://www.limerickleader.ie/3420/Mc...ted.3697064.jp

FAI CEO John Delaney introduced Jack McCarthy to the possibility of getting financially involved with Limerick 37 and explained the circumstances behind McCarthy's emergence as a potential investor.
"I have known Jack for the past 18 months or so and when he asked me about investing in a club in Ireland I gave him a couple of options! .

Delaney could have possibly touted Kilkenny to the Amercian for saving as one of the options. But as Fran Gavin's & Kilkenny's officail statement make if clear that it was the club's decsion to withdraw from the league.

I absolutely gutted City are gone but well done to Delaney?/Limerick for surviving and that its only 1 club gone this year.

Best of luck L37!

[Bluebeard]

I..........agree........with...............you

Foot.ie doesn't do "Unexpected Post of the Month", but if it did...

[Lim till i die]

Does it seem to anyone else that Delaney is going out of his way to save Limerick. It wouldn't look good for the FAI to nearly loose a senior team in limerick (3rd biggest city in the country) two years running, specially at the start of their tenure of running the league.

Most Definitely

Not being bad but if you could only save one club Limerick is the more obvious choice (poorly run though we consistently are)

The cynic in me thinks there's a lot more to it tbh but we're dug out of a hole for now so I'll worry about next year next year

[amjl]

The Limerick Regeneration Agency hopes to transform the inner city 'into one of the most vibrant and most sustainable suburbs in the country' and is now prepared to unveil a number of initiatives which include the development of a stadium at Caledonian Park (Hyde Road) to cater for soccer

Sound familiar Rovers Fans!!

and on the north side of the city the agency also hopes to develop another 'mini stadium' which has been earmarked to house rugby and Gaelic Games.

If we learnt anything from the Shamrock Rovers/Thomas Davis debacle, Its important to keep the GAA (& Rugby in Limerick) happy at all costs.

[BohsPartisan]

Most Definitely

Not being bad but if you could only save one club Limerick is the more obvious choice (poorly run though we consistently are)

The cynic in me thinks there's a lot more to it tbh but we're dug out of a hole for now so I'll worry about next year next year

If you only save one club this year...

Would like to see a Limerick side in the Premier division.

[Rocky77]

Delaney could have possibly touted Kilkenny to the Amercian for saving as one of the options. But as Fran Gavin's & Kilkenny's officail statement make if clear that it was the club's decsion to withdraw from the league

Was it not true, as reported in one of the papers last Saturday

[amjl]

Was it not true, as reported in one of the papers last Saturday

was what bit not true?

[dcfcsteve]

Serious? I was just told off a friend who said he heard this on the news

Is he a taxi driver, by any chance......?

[Rocky77]

was what bit not true?

Jaysus, I dunoo what happened there. Edited a spelling error and half the message disappeared!!!

Anyway, last Saturday's Daily Mail was reporting that an American investor — maybe the same one — had an offer to save the club turned down by Jim Rhatigan. I'll see if I can root out the story

[dcfcsteve]

Does it seem to anyone else that Delaney is going out of his way to save Limerick. It wouldn't look good for the FAI to nearly loose a senior team in limerick (3rd biggest city in the country) two years running, specially at the start of their tenure of running the league.

You could say I'm bitter & twisted and maybe I am, but could you blame me?

Three words explain Delaney and the FAI's new found energy for all things EL :

All-Ireland League.

Bit of a coincidence that the first time they get directly involved in helping troubled clubs is when there's someone in the background actively courting clubs to effectively replace the FAI. Uncanny timing.

Though I agree it would also look shocking for the FAI if a quarter of the First Division teams went belly-up in the first year of their watch.

Delaney could have possibly touted Kilkenny to the Amercian for saving as one of the options. But as Fran Gavin's & Kilkenny's officail statement make if clear that it was the club's decsion to withdraw from the league.

I absolutely gutted City are gone but well done to Delaney?/Limerick for surviving and that its only 1 club gone this year.

My question about this unexpected development is - how come Delaney appears to have had someone ready, willing and able to invest in Irish soccer sitting in his back pocket for so long ??

Apparently he's been grooming this Yank for 18mths ! I can understand that Limerick has the potential to be a good 'investment' (better than a smaller area like Kilkenny anyway), but why didn't Delaney get this guy involved in a club before-hand ? Who are the other clubs he dangled in-front of him, that are now potentially going to lose investment to Limerick ? And most importantly - what would Delaney have done with this guy had Limerick not been in financial difficulties now ? Just let him continue stewing in his back pocket for another 18mths, by which time he might have lost interest in investing in Irish football, had a better offer for his money elsewhere etc ??

This is a good development for Limerick, but the timing vis-a-vis the Platinum One proposals make me deeply suspicious of Delaney's motives and credibility here....

[amjl]

I can understand that Limerick has the potential to be a good 'investment' (better than a smaller area like Kilkenny anyway)

Plus, I'm sure the whole the Regeneration Project in Limerick played a massive part in convincing the American to invest in L37

[COLOR=#800080]http://www.fai.ie/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2784[/COLOR]


"We are committed to the development of soccer at all levels in Limerick and will be playing an active role in the Regeneration Plan. We will have coaches working in the community and are working to develop football facilities in the city, including a new stadium that will eventually become a home for Limerick 37."

“Limerick needs a strong senior soccer club and while that won’t happen overnight, I am confident that in Jack McCarthy they have man who will leave no stone unturned to achieve that,” said Delaney. "

Wasn't this Regeneration Plan officailly launched recently???

Curious timing??

[Buile Shuibhne]

The chairman of the Limerick Regeneration Agency, John Fitzgerald - Limerick native and former Dublin City Manager (the Corpo that is) - is also a member of the UEFA Licence IAG (Independent Assessment Group).