
Originally Posted by
barryk
The following article appears in tonights Limerick Leader. If anyone does facebook you might throw it up?
"With the current season about to kick off and the usual shenanigans of the close season nearly at an end players are preparing for nine months of hard slog ahead.
Every club has it’s share of loyal clubmen who give freely of their time and effort to make it possible for the chosen eleven players to take the field on match day.
How does such dedication and selflessness compare to some of today’s players who are reportedly being financially rewarded by “their clubs” for services rendered?
As long as I have been involved in soccer, rumours of players getting paid have been rife, but what is a taboo subject for a lot of people may not be as black and white an issue as first appears.
The FAI rulebook says that a player may only be paid expenses for travel, hotel etc.
It goes on to say that any player receiving more than justified expenses may lose his amateur status.
That’s where it gets tricky.
Travel expenses? If one were to travel by car, a “fiver” should cover expenses but if one pays a driver to wait around for two hours to drive you home it would increase the cost significantly.
The rule does not stipulate what is not allowed!
Back in the 70’s a famous player transferred to a neighbouring club and despite living a stone’s throw from his new club reportedly benefited from travel expenses.
There was also the famous case in the 80’s where a number of players left Ballynanty to join another club where a red carpet (or whatever colour they chose!) was laid on for them.
The veracity of these and hundreds of other stories has yet to be proven but I have no doubt the majority if not false, were at least greatly exaggerated.
Any player who left one club for another is invariably accused of getting paid because the thoughts that one would prefer to play with another club was less palatable to the jilted party.
A bit like agents talking up their players, some of the current crop of players are well capable of spinning a yarn in the hope that some club would take the bait.
The rumour mill has even spread beyond these shores. Stevie Quane of Weston Villa fame tells a story of collecting the usual €2 from his players after a game. Approaching a new signing with little English, Stevie was taken aback as the debutant made it known that he “would not take any pay this week”.
I am not naive enough to think that no players are getting paid but I think it is a very small number.
Granted it is breaking the rules of the game and the usual argument from the clubs partaking in such practices is that the big clubs in Dublin are doing it, so to compete you must do the same.
Obviously that argument is flawed but some of these people have convinced themselves this is true.
I would not blame the players who benefit, as some of these lads may have families and be out of work so if any club is silly enough to pay up, then why look a gift horse in the mouth.
It is a short sighted practice that might bring short term success to a club but will be at a price much greater than the monetary cost.
A payment to some players is surely an insult to any others not being similarly rewarded.
Good players will come and go but good clubmen are the real prize"
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