What the FAI thinks of progressive clubs:

[Jofspring]

T

there'd be no option oso the Thomond company would be able to drive a really hard bargain. Maybe they would be more receptive than I give them credit for, but they have to look after their own interests and Limerick would definitely need them more than they'd need Limerick FC.

Almost 100% sure Thomond Park have a charge (€100,000 last i heard) and thats it so they wouldn't be trying to drive a hard bargain. Relations would also be good between Thomond Park and Limerick what with Limerick being involved in some way in the Shane Geoghegan Trust Day.

[Charlie Darwin]

The Financial Arrangements for this particular game. You know NOTHING about them. Zero. Zilch. Nada. You're just blindly speculating.

Of course I know more than nothing. More tickets sold = more income. Own stadium = no rent. It shouldn't be difficult to extrapolate that a fixture in the Aviva will generate more money.

Define "Irish Football"

Could mean anything from putting jacuzzis in Abbotstown to building a clubhouse for Ballymun United to paying off the FAI's Lansdowne debts*

*That last one is actually quite likely.

Two sides of the same coin. The quicker the Lansdowne debt is paid the better, as far as I'm concerned. Again, I'm not sure what arrangements the FAI has to service its debt - it may well be that they are currently on schedule and they wouldn't need to put the proceeds of a hypothetical game towards servicing it - but at the end of the day it's a few hundred grand that will help improve the organisation's financial standing.

As much as I'm sure money is wasted on junkets and the like at the FAI, it is a not-for-profit organisation that puts a lot of money into the game at grassroots level, and I'd expect a cash injection from any fixture would filter down to the clubs and underage game in some form. I don't have an awful lot of faith in the organisation, but I don't think it's the worst in the world either.

Almost 100% sure Thomond Park have a charge (€100,000 last i heard) and thats it so they wouldn't be trying to drive a hard bargain. Relations would also be good between Thomond Park and Limerick what with Limerick being involved in some way in the Shane Geoghegan Trust Day.

That's interesting, but seemingly counter-productive in this case. If that's true, I can definitely see why the FAI chose to play South Africa and Australia in Thomond if they were asking for a fraction of what the GAA was asking for Croker.

[Lim till i die]

Of course I know more than nothing. More tickets sold = more income. Own stadium = no rent. It shouldn't be difficult to extrapolate that a fixture in the Aviva will generate more money.

You know nothing about the financial arrangements for the proposed Limerick FC v FC Barcelona game in Thomond Park on the 31st of July.

All you have done here is compare the potential revenues from this game with the potential revenues from another game which only exists inside your head.

It's not even about Limerick FC anyway though is it. There's a bigger picture here, somewhere in this thread.......

[pineapple stu]

Of course I know more than nothing. More tickets sold = more income. Own stadium = no rent. It shouldn't be difficult to extrapolate that a fixture in the Aviva will generate more money.

Why on earth are you comparing two completely different games?

[Charlie Darwin]

Because it's not feasible for both to take place...

[pineapple stu]

There is no Barca game in the Aviva. It's pie in the sky. There's no point comparing it to anything.

[osarusan]

Because it's not feasible for both to take place...

It was never ever feasible for Barca to play in the Aviva this year as the only day they're available is the day the IRFU have a rugby doubleheader in the Aviva.

And it's perfectly feasible for Limerick to play them this year, and an airtricity/Ireland XI to play them next year.

This is why the possible Limerick friendly isn't taking much-needed funds out of the game - it's either Limerick or nobody on July 31st. The FAI have gone for nobody.

And i'm no mathematician or accountant, but even if Limerick's friendly had generated 1 euro for domestic football, it's 1 euro more than no friendly at all on that day will generate.

[Charlie Darwin]

Well the FAI have said they're in active negotiations with Barcelona so they must have some date in mind, unless they're lying about the whole thing. If the FAI doesn't organise a corresponding fixture, I'll admit that they fudged it (admittedly they've fudged just about everything so far) but as a fan of a Dublin team and Irish football in general I think a fixture at the Aviva is vastly preferable to one in Limerick.

[Dodge]

They said they were looking at next year from what I read

[A N Mouse]

Well the FAI have said they're in active negotiations with Barcelona so they must have some date in mind, unless they're lying about the whole thing. If the FAI doesn't organise a corresponding fixture, I'll admit that they fudged it (admittedly they've fudged just about everything so far) but as a fan of a Dublin team and Irish football in general I think a fixture at the Aviva is vastly preferable to one in Limerick.

I think the vast majority of loi fans would prefer fixtures anywhere than limerick.

But in fairness it's probably a better place for limerick to stage a home fixture than dublin.

I don't recommend holding your breath waiting on the fai to announce a game vs barca, rumor would have it at least a year off.

[Charlie Darwin]

In that case they've probably screwed up. I guess we'll have to wait and see what this contract business involves then.

[Longfordian]

What was that about the clubs banding together?

A meeting of the Airtricity League Clubs took place yesterday prior to the FAI Cup Draw. Discussions on the continuation of the current League Merger with the FAI was the sole purpose of the meeting. It was accepted that the merger with the FAI has been an overwhelming success and has addressed many difficulties of the clubs and the league in general.

The sentiments expressed at the meeting were very positive towards continuing with the Merger and the Clubs acknowledged the positive role that the FAI has played in developing the game at Senior level in this country. The outcome of the meeting was that a postal vote would be undertaken to confirm the Clubs intention to continue with the merger with the FAI.

As the meeting was breaking up a representative of Limerick FC addressed the meeting and detailed their current difficulties concerning their proposed friendly with FC Barcelona. On listening to Limerick FC’s viewpoint, the meeting agreed to contact the FAI seeking clarification on matters that may preclude a friendly match being sanctioned.

At no stage was a formal vote of the clubs undertaken.

The Clubs feel that some of the sensational reporting that followed this meeting is not truly reflective of the context of the meeting. Portrayal of the meeting in this light was not envisaged and was certainly not intended.

Fear of adverse reaction from the powers that be by the looks of things

[Dodge]

Or at least holding fire until they get a reply

if they get that, then we'll see

[jebus]

FAI most likely made it clear that clubs should wind their neck in on this or they will pull out out of the LoI

I know a lot of people are hoping that happens but I still think a national league needs to be run by the national association (preferably a more competent one but this is the hand the cloubs have been dealt with)

Fran Gavin needs top resign however after his performance on MNS, clearly stumbling over his half-truths and trying to shift 100% of the attention on to Limerick so the hard questions about this 3rd party agreement aren't asked

[OneRedArmy]

In that case they've probably screwed up. I guess we'll have to wait and see what this contract business involves then.

Au contraire. They haven't screwed up.

They've done exactly what they wanted to do, and if Limerick had rolled over like the FAI presumed they would, we wouldn't know about any of this.

Of course the FAI had no agreement with Barca. Their name may have been on an FAI short or a long list to consider a friendly at some future date (along with AC Milan and various other footballing superpowers) but its clear that the FAI are pre-emptively laying down a line in the sand as to how things will work in the new Aviva world, where cashflow to the Association is the overwhelming concern.

It will be interesting to see which clubs crumble first. I'm actually surprised they got as far as signing a joint statement. Over half the clubs wouldn't either have the demand/wherewithall or contacts to organise a big-name friendly anyway, so they are the easy targets for the FAI. Once you get a couple onside, its divide and conquer and before you know it Limerick are left sitting on their own like chumps.

[Charlie Darwin]

I think you're being a little fanciful. They're unlikely to go to all this trouble unless somebody was telling them they couldn't sanction the fixture.

[jebus]

Then you would have to wonder why our national association has made such binding agreements that work against the best interests of the individual clubs no?

[fieldofmarkets]

I think you're being a little fanciful. They're unlikely to go to all this trouble unless somebody was telling them they couldn't sanction the fixture.

You've got to consider the possibility that the 3rd party agreement doesn't exist...at least one that precludes any other games by a LOI side of 15/20k attendance. I want to see the clubs force disclosure of this agreement. If it does exist, I suspect its the Aviva sponsorship deal. 15k may be the breakeven point for attendance at that stadium. In order to get value for their sponsorship money, they want it open for as many game days as possible.

Its one thing for the FAI to hold all their games there....its quite another for them to prevent individual clubs from holding games elsewhere. While Dublin clubs could potentially host a glamour friendly there....none of the other clubs could..although I doubt the FAI would allow say St.Pats bring Mourinho's Inter to the Aviva anyway as not enough of the revenue would go directly to Abbottsown, prefering instead to bring Inter themselves.

Now this whole mess could only happen in one place, Limerick. As there's no other suitable stadium for marquee teams to visit with attendance over 15/20k. So I guess it won't effect most clubs. Removing of this facility from Limerick FC's potential revenue is a huge shame for Limerick FC and the city. I wonder if the FAI or Aviva foresaw the possiblity of Thomond Park taking revenue from the new Aviva in the long run.

The bigger picture however is that all clubs now know they have limits placed on how much they can grow by the FAI. Better hope nice stadiums don't get built in a town near you. The clubs need to have all commercial agreements and restrictions aired out in front of them before they agree to re-upping the PA. The current setup facilitates the moving of potential revenue from the clubs to the FAI so we can pay an Italian €2M to fail with a team from the English Premiership. Admittedly the potential revenue of the clubs was historically low...but as we've just seen, could be much much higher. Those limits are now the same for all our LOI clubs.

[jebus]

If it is due to their contract with Aviva I'd be interested to know if the clubs were informed of a change to the participation agreement as obviously the Aviva deal was only announced last year. Yes you could still blame the clubs for overlooking it if that turned out to be the case but it would seem quite shady of the FAI to just insert it and not inform the clubs.

That of course is going under the assumption that the Aviva deal is what has caused this, but I think it's a fair one to make at this point, especially considering the silence from the FAI on the matter

[Charlie Darwin]

Then you would have to wonder why our national association has made such binding agreements that work against the best interests of the individual clubs no?

It's worked against the best interests of one club in this particular instance. If this clause does in fact exist, it's an unusual one for a company like Kentaro or Platinum One to put in unless they had an intention of actually invoking it. You'd have to take into account the fixtures organised by Kentaro or whoever in judging whether the deal was beneficial or detrimental for Irish clubs.

You've got to consider the possibility that the 3rd party agreement doesn't exist...at least one that precludes any other games by a LOI side of 15/20k attendance. I want to see the clubs force disclosure of this agreement. If it does exist, I suspect its the Aviva sponsorship deal. 15k may be the breakeven point for attendance at that stadium. In order to get value for their sponsorship money, they want it open for as many game days as possible.

Well a game at Thomond wouldn't interfere with that as the FAI doesn't appear to be arranging a game on that date. I hadn't considered the possibility Aviva could be the third party, though. It's an interesting possibility.

Now this whole mess could only happen in one place, Limerick. As there's no other suitable stadium for marquee teams to visit with attendance over 15/20k. So I guess it won't effect most clubs. Removing of this facility from Limerick FC's potential revenue is a huge shame for Limerick FC and the city. I wonder if the FAI or Aviva foresaw the possiblity of Thomond Park taking revenue from the new Aviva in the long run.

I suspect the RDS may be the intended target as its capacity is just a notch over 15,000 and Kentaro have two upcoming fixtures there.

The bigger picture however is that all clubs now know they have limits placed on how much they can grow by the FAI. Better hope nice stadiums don't get built in a town near you. The clubs need to have all commercial agreements and restrictions aired out in front of them before they agree to re-upping the PA. The current setup facilitates the moving of potential revenue from the clubs to the FAI so we can pay an Italian €2M to fail with a team from the English Premiership. Admittedly the potential revenue of the clubs was historically low...but as we've just seen, could be much much higher. Those limits are now the same for all our LOI clubs.

I'm not sure how much Limerick FC would grow as a result of Barcelona's visit. It would be a windfall payday and a massive coup for the club but in all likelihood it would be a once-off.