you obviously dont agree so.Originally Posted by bennocelt
No they should be congratulated!
Seriously, do you work for the failures?
what exactly are you critical of and what would you have done better?
Of all the mistakes the F AI has made, or of all their failings, the stadium decision is nowhere near their worst. They're about as much to blame as any household or business that took out a mortgage in Ireland in 2006. Everyone was duped into thinking we were a prosperous country.
The problem isn't really the fact they built a stadium - from a business point of view, the IRFU owns the site and they needed a partner to build the stadium, so the FAI did quite well there. It's not like they went out and spent billions on a site. It could have been a lot worse, but they were presented with a reasonably good deal. Their problem is that people don't want to see the team play, which they have to take part of the responsibility for, and the fact corporate spending is a fraction of what it used to be so matchday income isn't what it might have been.
Ha, not everyone, will be looking forward to buying my first house soon - called saving, no mortgage. Maybe its cause I am not a celtic cub (apologies for the gloat)
FAI spent a lot on a rather small stadium - and in the end football in this country STILL wont have their own football stadium - great15 million to build the stadium of light in sunderland - 50,000 capacitymany cheapish ones in germany too
And the debacle that was the 10 year tickets sales, and turning down the guaranteed offer?
If you attack me with stupidity, I'll be forced to defend myself with sarcasm.
You can't really compare the Aviva to the Stadium of Light in any way - different era, different ground, different location, different costs. The Stadium of Light is a big box on an industrial estate - the Aviva is a world class stadium situated in a heavily-populated area and had to take account of all the costs that involves. They had to pay off the residents, they had to design a stadium that caused as little light interference as possible, they had to pay for all of the public transport disruption the construction cost and they had to pay boom-era construction prices, among many other things. Not to say the project was value for money, but they weren't operation in the same market.
was there ever a market for 10 year corporate seats even when we were at our most successful?
there was never a corporate market for Ireland V Armenia (etc) on a week night and id blame whatever marketing company was involved for pretending otherwise to the FAI.
even if that guaranteed offer did exist and was taken up on id be pretty sure the subsequent dismal sales would have resulted in the outcome being played out in a courtroom somewhere.
No1 is disputing their involvement in stadium. As the biggest playing sport in the country, a stadium is essential and would've happened yrs ago with eircom park only for opposition of the present CEO.
The problem is paying d mortgage. Anyone cud see 30 grand tickets wouldn't sell but the Fai refused to change approach. No point blaming advisors, only the Fai.
Now they're still sticking to this 2020 guff when there's no hope of that happening.
Spade. Hole. Dig.
So why didnt they build a cheap stadium outside the city then?
The facts are they are heavily in debt and once again football in ireland has no long term home.
What would crowds have been like in a cheap, out-of-city stadium?
No point saving money if it means it loses you even more money.
And football in Ireland has about as long-term a home as its ever had.
The transport infrastructure doesn't exist to bring upwards of 50,000 extra people out of town at the tail end of rush hour. And the cost of buying a greenfield site the size of a football stadium along the M50 during the boom was insane. Not to mention laying on services - water, sewerage, electricity, roads, paths, lighting etc - that are a given at Landsdowne. Plus, stadia cost money to run when they're not in use: that means hiring it out for other sports and concerts for revenue, but with Landsdowne and Croke Park central and served by the bus and rail network, where would a promoter would prefer to go? And there isn't a market for that many big stadium concerts.
50 years in Landsdowne is a decent long-term option as well. I just hope it's long enough to outlast Delaney!
Hello, hello? What's going on? What's all this shouting, we'll have no trouble here!
- E Tattsyrup.
Thats fair enough
Anyway the gah boys dont seem to be doing too badly with their stadium, are they still paying interest/debt on it?
I was out of the country during this period, what did he do then?
No long term home? Is there a longer term home of international football anywhere else on the planet?
jesus, hilarious stuff - fai = no money = not good for football in ireland. Thats it
Well the IFA had nearly 80 years left on their lease of Windsor...
What's the jazz now there?
DID YOU NOTICE A SIGN OUTSIDE MY HOUSE...?
A 80 year lease contract in itself is not a home, one also needs a structure.
Rebuilding the structure?What's the jazz now there?
In the UK 80 years is not a long time on a lease, in fact it would be hard to remortgage with that.
Having the long leasehold is just as good pretty much as the freehold, assuming no more external structural changes required of course.
I'm a bloke,I'm an ocker
And I really love your knockers,I'm a labourer by day,
I **** up all me pay,Watching footy on TV,
Just feed me more VB,Just pour my beer,And get my smokes, And go away
Government appear a little unsure of the FAIs predicament......
http://www.independent.ie/sport/socc...-29418547.html
And now the department, which indirectly helps to fund the FAI's football programme each year via the Irish Sports Council, is expressing a desire to know more about the Association's finances. The source added that the department does not know if there are or are not serious issues, "but we would like to know".
In March of last year, the Irish Sports Council approved the payment of almost €3m to the FAI but documents released to the Sunday Independent under the Freedom of Information Act show that this was only after chief executive John Treacy told board members that the Council "received confirmation on an annual basis from the FAI's auditors that their accounts were in order and the monies provided by the council were utilised for the purposes given".
This beggars belief. Following several blow-ups of sports national governing bodies here in the UK, and one notable instance when one NGB "found" £10mm in an bank account it had forgotten it had, a government review led to a severe tightening of oversight of NGBs and made sure only those NGBs whose governance and operational standards were fit for purpose continued to get funding, via the UK's equivalent of the ISC.
It appears here that despite public concern and much media speculation about the state of the FAI's finances the government and the ISC have placed no pressure on the FAI to be transparent or applied any scrutiny (over and above basic superficial stuff) to the FAI's governance or financial situation. No wonder the FAI operates the way it does - one of its biggest stakeholders, and certainly its most powerful - doesn't even try to hold it accountable. Instead, once in a blue moon you get clowns like Enda Kenny making twee remarks about a united Ireland football team as being some sort of panacea.
You can almost imagine Delaney's conversations with John Treacy and Leo Varadaker (minister of sport?):
JD: Lads, I think we need about €3mm for a few things.
(puts phone on mute: Milo asks where he got that figure from. Out of my ar$se JD replies. Both hum the bassline to "Money" by Pink Floyd with JD doing the ker-chink sounds)
ISC: That'll be grand. Are you still solvent?
JD: Solvent by a mile, just a little illiquid.
ISC: OK the cheque'll be in the post. Do you promise to spend it on what we're giving it to you for?
JD: Of course John.
Treacy then goes back to his board and gets asked if the FAI gave a transparent account of their finances and whether they explained if the fall in revenues left them vulnerable to their big mortgage commitment on the stadium. Treacy says he forgot to ask.
Banana XXXXing Republic. If the government wants to know they should haul the FAI into Leinster House or wherever they hold meetings and demand full answers. The FAI avails of public money so has no reason not to be compliant with any requests.
Over here the Department of Media Culture and Sport initiated a full Select Committee Enquiry into the state of football governance in England. No stone was left unturned calling for and hearing evidence from a diverse range of informed commentators.
Last edited by Stuttgart88; 16/07/2013 at 12:53 PM.
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