
Originally Posted by
bluemovie
I'm hearing breaking news on the grapevine that a new club is about to enter the league. I have it on good authority that the new club will be based in County Roscommon and will go by the name Termonbarry City. There's seriously big investment behind this club and the FAI are giving it their full backing. Apparently, the chairman came up with the idea of forming a new football club last Saturday and the FAI are expected to give them the greenlight to enter the league.
The main investor has made millions in Fresh Air sales in recent years. Irish fresh air is highly sought after particularly in smog-afflicted areas such as Los Angeles and Beijing. There's been a lot of debate in the general election campaign about Ireland's ability to become world leaders in "the fresh economy" and, with full government backing, the market is expected to explode in the near future.
The unnamed investor is said to want to give something back to the community where much of his company's fresh air is sourced and sees "the massive untapped potential of Termonbarry" as an ideal location for a League of Ireland club. The proximity to Longford Town and Athlone Town adds to the attraction as it will provide competitive rivalry and 'City' will act as an outlet for midlands League of Ireland football fans who do not already support Athlone or Longford.
The club's main sponsor is rumoured to be the successful vegetable distributor 'Magic' Beans and, despite some reservations from other League of Ireland clubs, the FAI view the new venture as an exciting and sustainable development just when the league needs a boost. Termonbarry are expected to build slowly with youth teams from under 19s all the way down to an elite under fours 'dribblers' squad. However, it is thought that they are to be granted entry into the 2011 First Division due to the insufficient size of Cobh Ramblers' chip van. My source says that they've already offered serious money to Glen Crowe for this season. There's also a chance that one or two big names are coming back from England in order to get in on this exciting opportunity at ground level.
Discussions about the formation of the club are understood to have taken place on Saturday night/Sunday morning in the Purple Onion, Termonbarry after watching one of the most eventful episodes of Match of the Day ever featuring Newcastle's comeback against Arsenal, Everton v Blackpool and Wolves defeating Man U. The soccer-mad mystery investor is thought to have been a Leeds United fan in the past although he confesses to having a childhood affinity with Derby County. He is determined to avoid the pitfalls of other clubs by building slowly although he admits to seeing amazing potential for an Irish team to reach the Champions League group stages by 2015 - the income from which would make the club self-finacing. Although my source says it was difficult to hear over the singing of Garth Brooks songs in the Purple Onion, apparently the new owner is intrigued by the regularity with which Rosenborg qualify for the Champions League and get to play all the major European teams.
While a suitable home ground has yet to be found for this year's matches, it is planned to build a 12,000 seater stadium on the banks of the River Shannon at Sand Street giving Termonbarry City one of the best grounds in the country and affording fans the unique opportunity to travel to games by boat. This will help to attract fans from the entire Shannon region - something which has met with opposition from begrudging teams like Athlone and Limerick (although the FAI have methods to stop these from holding the league back). A temporary club office has been established at The Cardhouse, Termonbarry where a licensing application is being hurried through - although Abbotstown is expected to give City the necessary leeway to develop many aspects.
Personally, I'm really excited by the prospect of this new club even though it may make it much more difficult for my team to win promotion this year. Many lessons have been learned from the failures of Sporting Fingal, Kildare County, Kilkenny City, Dublin City, Thurles Town, Cork United, Brooklyn, Reds United, etc so this wealth of knowledge will surely help the new investors. With the league suffering a major blow after the loss of Sporting Fingal, this clearly makes it the ideal time for an ambitious new project to energise the league and the media have been very receptive to the idea. I'm sure there'll be some negative people on this site though who will scoff and knock the idea. Begrudgers.
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