Leeson joins United team

**Patrick Dunne** · 16/04/2005, 2:59 PM

Nick Leeson has been appointed as the new Commercial Manager of Galway United. See www.galwayunitedfc.ie for further details.

On behalf of, well, myself, I would like to wish Nick well at his new job. Galway United urgently needs more revenue for one reason and one reason only - to strengthen the inadequate playing squad. As soon as the inevitable media interest settles after a week or so, Nick will become merely an employee of GUFC and he should be judged exactly the same as everyone else within our club.

This weeks priority is our upcoming game against Kildare County on Friday 22nd in Terryland Park (KO 7.30pm). Let nobody be sidetracked by PR guff or self-serving rubbish about how we are massive off the pitch.

Best of luck Nick, as you will be working with the GUFC Lotto team, we might see you pulling the balls with Ronan Coleman in Doc Watsons soon !

Come on United !

PD.

**DonO'Bate** · 16/04/2005, 4:21 PM

I haven't heard any mention of it yet on the radio or telly, there more interested in Rule 42 and Shamrock Rovers. Perhaps the MEEJAH thinks its another chapter in the GUFC April Fools stories. This is a crucial appointment by the club as his endeavours will determine the success or otherwise of our season. Best of luck, Nick.

**Terry** · 18/04/2005, 10:20 AM

PR Working already!

I sent a link to sky news this morning to see if i could stir up some interest and low and behold there it is on the opening headlines on the eleven o'clock news. GIVE ME THE PRO JOB AT THE CLUB

Now wait and see if the BBC will do the same thing

http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0...331695,00.html

**Eire06** · 18/04/2005, 10:36 AM

Originally Posted by Terry

PR Working already!

I sent a link to sky news this morning to see if i could stir up some interest and low and behold there it is on the opening headlines on the eleven o'clock news. GIVE ME THE PRO JOB AT THE CLUB

Now wait and see if the BBC will do the same thing

Good stuff.. It was bad timing with the rule 42 and all so hopefully it'll put Galway Utd on the map..

**Eire06** · 18/04/2005, 4:05 PM

Supposed to be discussing Nick Leeson signing for GUFC on the last word on todayFm today if anyone interested

**DonO'Bate** · 18/04/2005, 6:38 PM

The PR is beginning to work, I heard the story mentioned on BBC Radio 5 Live last night and again this morning. Leeson and Nial O'Reilly were interviewed on RTE's 6-1 news this evening. Terryland Park looked well.

**Pablo** · 18/04/2005, 6:40 PM

Originally Posted by DonO'Bate

The PR is beginning to work, I heard the story mentioned on BBC Radio 5 Live last night and again this morning. Leeson and Nial O'Reilly were interviewed on RTE's 6-1 news this evening. Terryland Park looked well.

i hope he doesn't back the payroll on the stock exchange!

**GalwayFrancis** · 18/04/2005, 7:03 PM

just read the leeson story at http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...=latin_america ...... galway united has been getting so much publicity him

**DonO'Bate** · 18/04/2005, 7:34 PM

Originally Posted by Pablo

i hope he doesn't back the payroll on the stock exchange!

I am sure he wont, anyway our payroll is a fraction of what your club probably's forks out each week.

I have also read the story on the Yahoo Website and in the Irish Daily Mirror and it was on the front page of the Sunday Times Irish Version.

**galwaygirl** · 19/04/2005, 8:40 AM

The story has even made it to Kansas City

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansas...s/11425140.htm

Rogue trader' who broke Barings Bank takes job with Irish soccer club
Nick Leeson, who committed the world's biggest banking fraud, has landed his first new job in a decade � overseeing the books and other business transactions for a soccer club in the west of Ireland.

Leeson spent four years in prison in Singapore for covering up more than 800 million British pounds ($1.2 billion) in trading losses that destroyed Barings, Britain's oldest merchant bank, in 1995. His best-selling autobiography, �Rogue Trader,� became a film of the same name starring Ewan McGregor.

He game to Galway 2 1/2 years ago with his second wife, Leona, who comes from the western Irish city. Until now, he said, he's been earning a living principally from delivering speeches on the Barings disaster, his survival of colon cancer, and the lessons those experiences have taught him.

�It's been lucrative but all very piecemeal, so I've been keeping one eye open all the time for something interesting,� Leeson said in a phone interview.

When he interviewed for the job at Galway United Football Club, he said he offered no references � and began by discussing the scandal. �The first thing you must deal with is the collapse of the bank and you don't try to put any gloss on it,� he said.

The soccer club's board approved his appointment as commercial director on Friday. A commercial director's responsibilities generally include merchandise and ticket sales as well as the financial side of players' contracts and broadcasting rights.

�It is impossible to ignore the events which have made Nick Leeson known worldwide,� said club chairman John Fallon. �But long after the fanfare about his appointment has passed, Nick Leeson will be tasked with the demanding job of implementing a series of commercial initiatives aimed at developing Galway United FC.�

**pete** · 19/04/2005, 9:15 PM

Want ti update his bio on wikipedia.org

Add nice link to Galway Utd site?

Seems like someone got there before me.

**DonO'Bate** · 19/04/2005, 9:36 PM

Leeson was on the Gerry Ryan Radio Show and on page 7 of today's USA Today. This appointment is part of the clubs strategy to go global, now if we can only get out of the First Division!!!!

**Terry** · 20/04/2005, 10:51 AM

HOW ironic that the man who broke Barings Bank is now working within the Eircom League at a time when bank managers have been reduced to nervous wrecks by the financial antics of clubs.

Shamrock Rovers have debts of �2.36m and a High Court-appointed examiner is battling to save the club from going bust.

Dundalk have to sell their only asset, the pitch used for youths matches, because they can't get a loan using it as collateral. They also need the FAI to go guarantor if they are to get the bridging finance necessary to complete the installation of an artificial pitch at Oriel Park.

There are other clubs on the verge of financial meltdown.

Nobody needs to be a graduate of the Smurfit Business School or the London School of Economics to realise why Eircom League lurch from one financial crisis to another.

The culture that exists within the League is such that clubs continually over-extend themselves by investing money they don't have in their team in the hope this will bring success.

The belief is that with success will come increased income through bigger gates, improved merchandise sales and prize money that will cover the outlay.

In other words, it's a gamble and often they would be better throwing it on the nose of a nag in the 4.30 at Gowran Park than splashing out on a new striker.

There are players in the Eircom League currently earning over �1,500 per week, more than some Irish rugby internationals earn, and in the effort to meet the weekly wage bill clubs are ignoring the bills and destroying the goodwill of their local business community.

While some wonder how certain clubs received their club licences for 2005 situations like those at Shamrock Rovers probably wouldn't have come to light if they hadn't been required to prepare audited accounts.

The financial criteria demanded by UEFA and the FAI is set to crank up in 2005 with the introduction of monthly accounts and detailed debt scheduling - expect more financially reckless clubs to be outed over the next 12 months.

The appointment of Nick Leeson as Galway United's commercial manager has attracted a lot of interest primarily because of his notoriety but he will be judged on whether he has met his targets rather than the number of column inches he has generated for the club.

Galway are a progressive club who definitely seem to be getting their house in order having realised the days of depending on local benefactors to bail them out of trouble no longer works.

They are attempting to be self-financing and operate from a realisation that gate receipts only provide between 10 and 20 per cent of their income.

Galway has a Board of Directors that contains 15 members drawn from a wide variety of backgrounds and expertise.

All the directors are volunteers who pay their own way, from purchasing season tickets and club gear to looking after their own expenses on away trips.

The day-to-day running of the club is conducted by the club executive made up of five people each of whom represents a key committee - finance, marketing, secretary/legal, UEFA Licence and facilities. Overall, there are around 45 volunteers running the club.

The employee side is under the control of General Manager Tony Mannion which includes the team manager, backroom staff and players as well as the new commercial manager, office manager and liaison officer.

Like every club in the League, Galway did their budgets at the start of the year and know what they must take in to meet their costs. Crucially, they have set targets to be met during the season and alarm bells will go off if they are not reached.

"There is a tremendous level of visibility and the board and the members of the executive know what is going on in every area of the club. It's transparent so problems can be spotted," says chairman John Fallon.

"Sentiment goes out the window when you have got to deliver on the balance sheet. The club has to be run as a business or else it is not going to succeed," he added.

It's a message others within the Eircom League should note.