Big League Shakeup thread

**SkStu** · 13/02/2011, 3:07 PM

the info is on the FAI website under Training and Solidarity Payments. It gives examples too so it is pretty good info.

**Titan** · 13/02/2011, 8:33 PM

A common theme in threads such as this is a salary cap type dealy. Great idea but I THINK its against some EU treehugging law! Restriction of earnings or some such nonsense. If I am wrong then Delaney et al in the FAI need to be taken to the field behind abbotstown and shot with balls of their own excrement for not insisting on a salary cap for the league!

And also youd have some cute hooers trying to do under the table payments and making a joke of it!

**Eminence Grise** · 14/02/2011, 1:47 PM

Originally Posted by compo

The structure of the league isn't that bad. It's the behaviour of the clubs that's the problem. Stricter and more thorough oversight is required to ensure clubs don't mess around as has been the case in the past.

Too true! Some of the financial stories coming from the league in the last few years would make Seanie Fitz blush for shame.

The biggest restructuting the league needs is off the field. Annual revenue audits of all clubs are needed until they prove they can trade legally. And if that means winding-up orders have to be enforced, so be it. History and tradition count for squat in the real business world: either trade within the law, or suffer the consequences.

The Director for Corporate Enforcement should stick his oar in too, and apply to the courts to restrict club directors who breach company law. There have been too many well-intentioned, but ultimately feckless and reckless, people involved with running clubs: would the possibility of a seven year restriction as a company director have made, say, Cork City less attractive to a few of its former owners?

One or two high profile sacrifical lambs might be needed, but there's nothing like the threat of real punishment pour encourager les autres.

**Spudulika** · 14/02/2011, 3:18 PM

Brilliant post EG, it came to me today, listening to the interview with Stephen McGuinness about the SF closure. He seemed almost shocked by how quickly it came and how clean the break was. I had to listen to it again as I was wondering if I'd picked up the tone of his response/speech wrong. It was a grudging respect for the club and while he mentioned looking for redundancy, he also sounded like he was a bit put out. However I thought, if clubs who were staring the abyss in the face, instead of scrambling, taking the p$$$ out of the supporters and demeaning players and causing yet another bad LOI story in the media, they just accepted they were in the wrong and just shut up shop - maybe starting elsewhere or starting over. Like you say, history counts for squat in the real business world. Look around Europe and see clubs going to the wall in a hurry and then coming back in a different form. Now maybe a pyramid is needed to bring clubs back in, but maybe not.

One question, a Director who runs a club into the ground or bankrupts them, are they not covered under the general bankruptcy laws?

**Red Army** · 14/02/2011, 6:56 PM

Yet another lets fix the league thread by peadar1987

**Spudulika** · 14/02/2011, 6:59 PM

Red Army, you can only criticise if he insists on Bray being permanent members of the Premier and that a special subsidy is paid to a local building firm to maintain walls!

**peadar1987** · 14/02/2011, 9:04 PM

Originally Posted by Spudulika

Red Army, you can only criticise if he insists on Bray being permanent members of the Premier and that a special subsidy is paid to a local building firm to maintain walls!

I thought we were permanent members of the Premier! We tried so hard to be relegated!

And Red Army, if you don't like it, don't read it, to be fair, it should have been fairly obvious from the title what the thread was about!

**Red Army** · 15/02/2011, 8:16 AM

Fair enough peadar1987 but after 101 threads on it I thought you might be getting a bit bored of fantasy league by now.

**legendz** · 15/02/2011, 1:28 PM

Originally Posted by compo

The structure of the league isn't that bad. It's the behaviour of the clubs that's the problem. Stricter and more thorough oversight is required to ensure clubs don't mess around as has been the case in the past. In the US, clubs are tied to a very strict wage structure, where the wages paid are dependent on experience and status, not on how good the player's agent is. Keep the A Championship and, below that, have a set provincial "Qualifying Leagues" to determine entry into the A League. This pyramid structure will take time to develop, but will also afford clubs time to adapt from local to national competition

At the end of the day after all the discussion, it it a fair point that the structure is ok. As long as a path to the LoI exists, be it through the A Championship or Reserve League, there can't be much complaints.

Originally Posted by Red Army

Fair enough peadar1987 but after 101 threads on it I thought you might be getting a bit bored of fantasy league by now.

It isn't much fantasy football when clubs were meeting last year looking for a revamp of the league. Admittedly though it does touch near fantasy looking for an expanded Premier of 16 when only 14 clubs can get a Premier Licence and no A Championship club can get a First Division licence.
On pyramid structures, if it was to happen, it will only happen within the provinces. It'll have to come down to the Intermediate/Senior leagues to develop links with the various Junior/District leagues. With the politics involved and clubs happy to be the big fish in their pool, it's never likely to happen. All the FAI can ever do is encourage discussion between the various organisations if they were to put some structure in place.

Hopefully the likes of Shamrock and Sligo Rovers can bring news headlines back to performances on the pitch. The FAI Cup Final 2010 was a great advertisement for the domestic game. Hopefully the respective clubs can kick on from there.

**legendz** · 05/07/2011, 5:55 PM

I'm not looking to drag up an old topic, just looking for clarity on something I heard recently: the FAI inviting all interested non-League clubs to apply for the 2012 First Division.

Have the FAI clarified whether there has to be a set number of clubs in this Division, i.e. 10 or 12 or is it a case that it's going to be a non-defined number with clubs free to apply every year for membership, even if it could lead for any number of clubs from 9 to 15 or more taking part?

**culloty82** · 05/07/2011, 7:38 PM

Nothing on the Airtricity League or FAI sites yet - of course, there's nothing to stop them just rejecting every application like with Cobh's last year, but they seem to be pushing this more than the clubs. There are a number of teams that have the set-ups to make a go of senior football, but most of them don't want to leave their junior and intermediate comfort zones, so can't see any more than four applications, if Carlow and Fanad also want to make the step up.

**legendz** · 10/09/2011, 8:16 PM

Originally Posted by Spudulika

Brilliant post EG, it came to me today, listening to the interview with Stephen McGuinness about the SF closure. He seemed almost shocked by how quickly it came and how clean the break was. I had to listen to it again as I was wondering if I'd picked up the tone of his response/speech wrong. It was a grudging respect for the club and while he mentioned looking for redundancy, he also sounded like he was a bit put out. However I thought, if clubs who were staring the abyss in the face, instead of scrambling, taking the p$$$ out of the supporters and demeaning players and causing yet another bad LOI story in the media, they just accepted they were in the wrong and just shut up shop - maybe starting elsewhere or starting over. Like you say, history counts for squat in the real business world. Look around Europe and see clubs going to the wall in a hurry and then coming back in a different form. Now maybe a pyramid is needed to bring clubs back in, but maybe not.

One question, a Director who runs a club into the ground or bankrupts them, are they not covered under the general bankruptcy laws?

It's the second time I've said on here I'm not looking to bring up an old topic. At the end of the day, I think the current structures are grand as long as Kerry has a club in the League of Ireland. It has to be said though, the other major sports all have a pyramid structure. The GAA clubs have their levels in hurling and football. I've been to Junior and Intermediate club provincial and All-Irleand games, good buzz around the games. The AIL Rugby League has a pyramid system as well. Four provincial winners play some round robin tournament with the winner replacing the last team in the lowest AIL division.
With summer and winter seasons though, I'm not asking for it. Only pointing out the other sports have their structures in place. The A Championship as it was was a good stepping stone at the time if there were, though very few, progressive clubs looking to make the next step.