GUST apply for first division licence

[Louth4sam]

GUST have never had control of a football club. They were running it during the 2011 season because the directors abandoned it. The people who did this have ****ed off.

Ah i get it, what you are saying it is ok for fans of clubs to ditch the clubs that are in debt to set up new clubs? Great stuff. I must bring this up at the next Dundalk supporters trust meeting as the club owes a far sum.

On second thoughts maybe I'll wait until we are relegated first as no point in going down a division unless we have to

[gufcfan]

Dundalk goes bust in the morning. What do you do, buy a Drogheda United jersey and go to Monster Munch Park in March? Cop on would you... Mervue despise Galway United and Devon wouldn't be any fan of the club either.

[gufct]

Ive Followed GUFC for 35 years and I go to see the other 2 teams but I would never support one of them. If Dundalk were in the same situation would you follow Drogheda build a bridge and get over your bitterness.

[Louth4sam]

Dundalk goes bust in the morning. What do you do, buy a Drogheda United jersey and go to Monster Munch Park in March? Cop on would you... Mervue despise Galway United and Devon wouldn't be any fan of the club either.

Ive Followed GUFC for 35 years and I go to see the other 2 teams but I would never support one of them. If Dundalk were in the same situation would you follow Drogheda build a bridge and get over your bitterness.

Firstly Galway United didn't go bust. GUST are walking away from them

And secondly If I was in the same situation I would probably do the exact same thing GUST are doing. It doesn't make it any less wrong. One thing I wouldn't be doing is coming on here and trying to defend my actions and asking fans of other clubs for support. I have no problem with GUST they are not doing anything that hasn't been done before. The problem is with the FAI

[Mr A]

Slightly less annoyed as at least they were relegated as punishment. I think it's a disgrace that clubs can walk away from debts and then buy back the clubs history a year later. A dangerous precedent had been set with Cork and Derry and I could see other clubs going that route as it's an easy option and Galway are the first.
The FAI should have stopped this by insisting that if a new club is formed then they are that. No history, use of crest, same name etc.

Finn harps had financial problems recently, why bother fund-raising why not just fold and form a new club?



I like almost every Dundalk fan was annoyed at the time. We should have received some sort of punishment from the FAI but I'm not surprised that we didn't

Agreed on all of this. But unfortunately the precedent is there and it would be unfair to deny GUST the same opportunity others have had, in some cases several times over. At least the GUST guys really tried to turn the old ship around.

But I've said it before and I'll say it again- if licensing is not there to prevent clubs running up debts, walking away from them and then starting again, what is it actually for? At some point they have to address this properly- but I think to do so now with GUST as the scapegoat would not be right.

There should be a period of five years at the very least before new entities can start claiming even the remotest of links with those gone before. There has to be a disincentive to this behaviour- otherwise there will be more and more of it. If Harps had had the option of following this route would we have been able to motivate people to work their butts off to keep the show on the road? Maybe not.

[gufc2000]

Firstly Galway United didn't go bust. GUST are walking away from them

And secondly If I was in the same situation I would probably do the exact same thing GUST are doing. It doesn't make it any less wrong. One thing I wouldn't be doing is coming on here and trying to defend my actions and asking fans of other clubs for support. I have no problem with GUST they are not doing anything that hasn't been done before. The problem is with the FAI

Why not? GUST have done nothing wrong, a lot of people like yourself have come on here spouting rubbish when they don't know all the facts

[Louth4sam]

Agreed on all of this. But unfortunately the precedent is there and it would be unfair to deny GUST the same opportunity others have had, in some cases several times over. At least the GUST guys really tried to turn the old ship around.

But I've said it before and I'll say it again- if licensing is not there to prevent clubs running up debts, walking away from them and then starting again, what is it actually for? At some point they have to address this properly- but I think to do so now with GUST as the scapegoat would not be right.

There should be a period of five years at the very least before new entities can start claiming even the remotest of links with those gone before. There has to be a disincentive to this behaviour- otherwise there will be more and more of it. If Harps had had the option of following this route would we have been able to motivate people to work their butts off to keep the show on the road? Maybe not.

That's the crux of the problem. Where do you draw the line in the sand, if you allow GUST to become Galway United at a later date then what about the next club that tries to go down this route? Surely they deserve the same opportunity and the next club after that and so on.
I don't think that anybody is arguing that GUST haven't tried to turn the ship around as you put it, but somebody needs to be the scapegoat if not now then when?

[gufcfan]

Firstly Galway United didn't go bust. GUST are walking away from them

Galway United would never have been given a licence for 2012, which is the same thing.

The problem is with the FAI

Agreed. Licensing is an absolute sham.

[Mr A]

The line in the sand should come after a clear statement and amendment of rules from the FAI. That way the next club to run into the issue cannot really complain too much.

[Louth4sam]

Why not? GUST have done nothing wrong, a lot of people like yourself have come on here spouting rubbish when they don't know all the facts

2011 - Galway United heavilly in debt
2012 - GUST FC is born. Start debt free
2013 - GUST FC renamed Galway United. Galway United are now debt free while clubs around them are up to their necks in debt.

It doesn't matter who owns the club. Galway United FC will likely be debt free this time next year. I really can't see how you can't see how this is unfair to other clubs

[marinobohs]

What part of bank debt owed by the previous holding company is not liable to GUST do you not understand?

GUST will honour the debts they accrued, but why should they be responsible for the directors loans and bank debt built up by the previous regime

What part of "new club" do you not understand ? If they area new club then start at the bottom - like any other new club if they are the "old club" then pay whet they owe. changing directors/owners is not a new club.

The fact that this "cut and paste" approach to clubs has, wrongly, been allowed before does not mean it should continue to be allowed. The FAI gave Galway a break last year on licencing rules, and this is where it got them.


* By the way not having a go at Galway or GUST - who put in great efforts - but simply pointing out the flaws in the current system

[Guitd]

If the FAI had any balls they would never have allowed 3 clubs in galway ,they have created the problem and kept their head in the sand, they should have shown leadership and direction and some time back brought the three clubs togeather into one room and planned a way forward for Galway soccer which is now in a complete shambles from u10 up to senior ,with so many average local players playing loi it had diluted junior soccer and standards have plumited--mr Gavin,Delaney,Naughton are planning their trips to poland HA HA

[Olander]

I can't believe this Christmas tree molester has got so many bites.

[gufcfan]

If the FAI had any balls they would never have allowed 3 clubs in galway ,

Was it not the FAI that begged them to go forward with the applications in the first place?

Galway United would never have needed to give either of those teams a second thought if it had been run with any sort of common sense. They have no fans. Granted some of the tiny pool of advertising revenue is taken by them, but with a competently run Galway United they are not even on the radar. Parish clubs who can't even garner support from the housing estate/bog that they are situated in.

[bluewhitearmy]

Galway united were obviously in no shape to compete in the premier division both on the field and off the field. Running up debts they couldn't afford deprived a well run club in Monaghan a place they deserved.

They lost the play off so they didnt deserve to be there.

If it was the other way round would Mons say no its grand we dont want the bigger crowds in the prem we will drop down to the 1st,not a chance they would.

[passerrby]

Bottom line for me is if a club leaves the league or is forced out due to mounting debts then no licence should be issued to a new group trying to maintain loi status ,most people feel that a club must leave the league and start over,of course I reserve my right to change my opinion if it's my club.

[Patrick Dunne]

Some very valid points about the re-formation of clubs and the re-use of old names. The core problem is the ownership of clubs. In the past Galway United have been owned by benevolent local businesspeople who had the best interests of the club and community at heart. Supporters contributed financially through fundraisers. This model worked reasonably well, even if there were issues from time to time in relation to decision making.

An element emerged to take control over the past few years, from outside Galway and with no long-term roots in the business community. The FAI licencing system is not unfortunately not sufficiently structured to monitor or block these type of individuals (see Cork City). The FA have a fit and proper person test.

GUST just want a chance to re-establish a members owned, city and county team at the lowest national level possible. If the A Championship was in place we would have settled for an A licence.

[Dodge]

If the FAI had any balls they would never have allowed 3 clubs in galway

I wouldn't be saying that too loudly, seeing as you're looking to be the third now...

[Guitd]

I wouldn't be saying that too loudly, seeing as you're looking to be the third now...

thats my point the other 2 dont represent galway as such just their local; parishes we need a representation covering county galway and its surrounding area

[passerrby]

But both of these are I would imagine sure to get a first div licence while ye are at the mercy of the gods (or in this case one god).