Quotehes distracting everyone from the fact that he shouldnt even be in the job he now has
as for the new CEO position, its just delay delay delaney
Here's an article from today's indo. It's mostly an interview with John Delaney.
Delaney ready to use stick as well as carrot
ANY Eircom League club which fails to get a licence when the club licensing appeals committee meets on February 9 could still be lining up for the big kick-off in mid-March but it will be at a massive price.
In the fallout from the first instance committee's decision not to award any of the 22 Eircom League clubs a licence, it has emerged that it will be the Eircom League, and not the appeals committee, which will ultimately decide what to do if clubs aren't awarded licences next month.
There won't be anything the FAI can do about it as the League still holds a degree of autonomy over its affairs and the association has no jurisdiction over how it reacts to the outcome of the licensing process.
But FAI interim chief executive John Delaney does have one stick with which to beat non-compliant clubs - and he has left nobody in any doubt that he will be prepared to use it.
"Given the willingness of the Department of Sport to support the clubs' efforts under the club licensing scheme to date, it would be a huge setback for clubs and the League if this much-needed revenue was not available going forward," he said.
"That funding is at risk to any club that doesn't get a licence. I believe that any club that doesn't get a licence shouldn't be funded. It's as simple as that.
"Maybe this is a reality check for some of the clubs that this is a serious process and needs to be treated seriously. The fact that their funding would be affected in the immediate term by non-compliance is a reality check that everybody has to learn from," said Delaney.
The FAI's licensing manager, Bob Breen, who monitors daily how licensing is being operated in the other 51 UEFA countries, agrees.
"In Scotland they are moving towards a situation where the sanctions would be of a financial nature. Government is supportive of the licensing process and if clubs can't cross the line then their funding is seriously at risk and I think that is a much more significant sanction than whether or not they play in the Premier Division, First Division," said Breen.
The €3m which the Government allocated in 2003 to help clubs meet the costly infrastructure criteria of club licensing has still not been drawn down and will be allocated once the current licensing process is completed.
In addition, clubs will shortly be asked to submit their applications for 2005 funding and there is no doubt that cutting off the grant tap will seriously hinder clubs in trying to carry out the works laid out in their club infrastructure plan.
Two years ago a survey conducted by the FAI's club licensing department revealed that clubs needed to spend over €15m to meet the minimum infrastructure requirements and every dog in the street knows that they can't fund that themselves.
Although most clubs expect to gain their licences on appeal, the 22 failures has sent shock waves through the game and have shown them that they have to take licensing seriously. That, of course, is going to cost money and Delaney believes that it will help concentrate minds on the proposed merger between the FAI and the Eircom League.
One of the carrots being dangled in front of the clubs is a massive improvement in prize money with the FAI pointing to their Setanta Cup as proof of their ability to deliver big bucks. The prize fund for the north-south competition this year will be €350,000, with the winners walking off with a staggering €150,000.
Shelbourne got €18,000 for winning the Eircom League Premier Division this year so that puts things in perspective as does the €15,000 advance that each of the six Setanta Cup competitors received when they signed up.
Delaney firmly believes that the future for the Eircom League clubs is the proposed merger with the FAI and the matter is on the agenda for the association's Board of Management meeting on February 1.
"If the FAI is going to be granting licences then we should have jurisdiction as to what the sanctions and punitive actions should be for clubs who fail to reach the required standard."
Not surprisingly, Delaney is pushing hard to get the merger through so that the FAI can take over the running of the Eircom League in 2006.
'Any club that doesn't get a licence shouldn't be funded. It's as simple as that'
A heads of agreement document has already been drawn up and in recent weeks Delaney has brought the subject before the board of management, national council and divisional associations as well as holding discussions with the Eircom League's interim chairman Paddy McCaul.
"It is important to have a structured development of our game in Ireland. The League at the moment is in limbo. It's neither merged or not merged and issues like licensing shows the need for this matter to be concluded," said Delaney.
With Breen warning that the FAI's financial criteria is benign compared to the other 51 UEFA members and that clubs can expect it to be cranked up further in the coming years, the issue of money will be foremost for all clubs.
So, as the clubs start the search for their missing documents and fill in the blanks on their appeal forms they will have plenty to think about in the days ahead.
Gerry McDermott
Bootroom
I don't like the way Delaney is treating this. He is using the situation to advance this merger, which is completly seperate from the licenceing issue. Also he's being very negative accusing clubs of not taking the process seriously, when most clubs take it very seriously. This type of talk would be better kept untill the appeals have been processed and the clubs which failed on small issues are seperated from the rest.
hes distracting everyone from the fact that he shouldnt even be in the job he now has
as for the new CEO position, its just delay delay delaney
Followin Our Own Teams In Eire
theres no cure for the League of Ireland bug. spread it :)
What willingness would that be? Has any club got any money from these grants?Originally Posted by Bald Student
We're not arrogant, we're just better.
This tough stance and general gobbledeegook Delaney is spewing is an obvious attempt by him to heighten his profile and change his image so that he can secure the top job on a permanent basis. if he gave a s-ite about the clubs image the minor flaws in licence submissions would have been referred back to clubs and sorted before going public with the spectacular, and most negative, announcement that all clubs failed the test.
Were it required ,this is proof positive that this man is not suitable to head up any sort of body, sporting or other. Bertie please take note!
That man is evil. I'd bet my house on him getting the job full-time, which would be enough to inspire an armed assault on Merrion Square. Who's in with me....?
The cheek of the FAI now talking big about prize money because they've blagged one well-sponsored competition.
Prize money is far from the best way to distribute income amongst our clubs, as it'll at best fall into 3-4 different hands. Dramatically increasing the funds for winning the league etc, without other avenues of accessing significant funding, will only lead to clubs gambling on success in hot pursuit of Euros. Cue Leeds United etc.....
I'll just quote the Bohs website, hopefully I wont be accused of stealing or anything as serious as that though...
Pretty much sums up how I feel about it.Annual UEFA Club Licensing Pantomime:::25/01/05
http://www.bohemians.ie/news.htm#Ann...ime:::25/01/05
The FAI has today announced that NO club in the eircom League has been granted an UEFA Licence.
Hopefully this year, the FAI, on the back of their recent windfall Umbro sponsorship deal, might provide some real prize money, and grants, to enable cash-strapped clubs to make the structural changes needed to obtain the relevant licences.
It might also spur the Irish government to provide, even a fraction of the, funding given to other sports in this state.
Clubs are now free to start an appeals process.
Lets follow the FAI logic through..
Clubs that get a license get more funding. Clubs that don't get a license get no more funding. So clubs already with good facilities etc get more mone. Clubs with poor facilities get no money and so are hampered in trying to develop facilities. How do clubs that don't get a license get one in the future. It means we could have clubs (some in the first division) with really good facilities and getting better and better, with clubs (some in the premier) who have poor facilities and those that they do have fall further and further behind.
Maybe I missed something in what he said.
"It's impossible to make a man understand something when his livelihood depends on him not understanding" Upton Sinclair
there is no logic
its all a sham
these guys are playin politics with filthy money at stake - typical ireland - typical fai - im so angry - and people swallow their PR bullsh;t - expose these shams and get investment in the game now!
honestly - ANY eircom league fan who think these guys -delaney/breen or their hair brained handling of grants and their misuse of the licensing issue are anything to do with helping to develop the game here are living in denial - its about strengthening delaneys already tenuous hold on power
he is a wnker and a fraud
For this year's licencing, you don't have to have all the infrastructure stuff built, plans will do for a lot of the stuff (e.g. the 1,500 covered seats for the premier). I think the point is that only clubs which pass the financial, legal and administrative parts will get funding for their ground improvements.
We're not arrogant, we're just better.
Lovely to be able to agree with ya WWSSpot on. The FAI will be responsible for no end of heart attacks if they keep this up
Lads, you are all losing the rag here an jumping up and down .... but we all know you'll do nothing, you'll be out of pints at the weekend and it'll be the furthest thing from your minds ..... you'll have settled down by Monday ... we wont even remember it happened.
The SFAI are the governing body for grassroots football in Ireland, not the FAI. Its success or the lack of is all down to them.
true
god damit!
Delaney seems to have got the interim CEO position largely based on eL club support. Now he seems to think that the FAI process will give him the job but needs government & public support to hold onto it. Bash everybodys favourite whipping boys & public think hes great.
Fcuking hell!!!
Shag winning the league, win the Setanta Cup instead!
As I say, we're just young & a bit nieve.
I'm sure I heard somewhere before that eircom sponsor the league to something like 1 million (i'm open to correction) but most of its spent on the wages of league officials (chairman, admin, PR etc...) so feck all left for a prize fund.
Anyone know anything about eircom sponsorship?
I wish it wasn't though !!
Viva NLU !!
The SFAI are the governing body for grassroots football in Ireland, not the FAI. Its success or the lack of is all down to them.
While Delaney seems to think that Dept of Sport grants should be withheld from clubs on his word he spent ages ignoring the Dept of Sport's request that the CEO position (that he had been appointed to) be advertised.
Hopefully he may be overestimating his influence within the department.
I thought it was very bad of him to come down so hard on the clubs, when the appeals process hasn't even been completed and the grants supposedly due from last years licencing process haven't been released.
As someelse said he used it as oppurtunity to slag off the EL clubs, a soft target.
You'd expect the National Association to be more supportive of the clubs.
I'm what? I'm ants at a picnic?
Saw delaney sipping away on a pint in the bar in the middle bar in dalyer lastnight watching the utd V chelsea match
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