New league format

**geg124** · 01/12/2005, 9:58 PM

EL clubs will tonight be shown a radical new plan aimed at shaking up domestic football in Ireland. Following on from the recent genesis report, the league has committed to a new format for the 2007 season. But the shape of next seasons league has yet to be decided and league bigwigs want the clubs to thrash out what format that will take before januarys AGM. A radical circular went around to the clubs yesterday which put forward a proposal that would effectively see all 22 teams get an opportunity to win the title next year. AT tonights management committee meeting, the clubs will get the chance to discuss the plan, which suggests creating 2 regional divisions of 11 teams, roughly split on a north south basis. It couls all be good news for relegated Shamrock Rovers but Dublin citys outspoken Dermot Keely is sure to have plenty to say on the issue. Each section would be made up of 6 premier division clubs and 5 first division clubs, with the top 4 clubs from each sector progressing to an eight team play off for the championship. The top eight would play each other on a home and away basis while the bottom 14 clubs would go into a lower tier competition, where they would meet once with 7 home and 6 away matches. EL spokesman Andy Needham said: 'This proposal is only to stimulate debate before going forward to the AGM in the New Year. 'We don't want to throw something that hasn't been properly discussed by the clubs at the AGM. ' It is not done and dusted and some clubs have already said they don't like it, while others are prepared to give it some thought.' It the proposal were to go through, here is how it may look:

North prem clubs:- Bohemians, Derry City, Drogheda Utd, Longford Town, Shelbourne, Sligo Rvs. North First Div Clubs:-Athlone Town, Dundalk, Finn Harps, Monaghan utd, Shamrock Rovers.

South prem Clubs:- Bray Wanderers, Cork City, Dublin City, St Patrick's Athletic, UCD, Waterford Utd. First Div Clubs:-Cobh Ramblers, Galway Utd, Kildare County, Kilkenny City, Limerick FC

**Poor Student** · 01/12/2005, 10:02 PM

Eh, what the hell is the point in that set up?

What's the point in this 14 club lower tier competition?

Where's your source?

**soccerc** · 01/12/2005, 10:38 PM

Originally Posted by Poor Student

Eh, what the hell is the point in that set up?

What's the point in this 14 club lower tier competition?

Where's your source?

Seemingly it caused some "nice" debate at the meeting - there were some other more interesting and viable proposals but they would have meant turkeys voting for christmas and that will never happen.

As always "block self interest*" dominated the discussions.

When will the clubs wake up and smell the coffee?

*A small but vocal group together with individual clubs who are happy with the status quo

**EireBadBoy** · 01/12/2005, 10:43 PM

Was just reading about this, apparently Derry and Shelbourne are joining forces in opposing the new set up. Interesting collaboration.

**Speranza** · 01/12/2005, 10:56 PM

Originally Posted by EBB

Derry and Shelbourne are joining forces in opposing the new set up

**Buile Shuibhne** · 01/12/2005, 11:07 PM

Minutes of the eircom League Merger Group meeting held on Wednesday *******************
Attendance: Paddy McCaul, Eamon Naughton, John Byrne, Michael Hayes, Caroline Rhatigan, Jim Roddy, Ollie Byrne, Jim Murphy, Ray Gallagher

Minutes: The Steering Group in relation to the merger met in ******. The Steering Group decided on a time frame and prioritised issues that are to be completed by Christmas 2005. The Steering Group is to meet again on ******** and thereafter on a fortnightly basis until Christmas.

The members of the Steering Group are David Blood, President, FAI, Michael Cody, Secretary, FAI, John Delaney, CEO, FAI and Vincent Cummins, FAI Council Member together with Paddy McCaul, Chairman, eircom League, Eamon Naughton, Treasurer, eircom League and John Byrne, Acting Director, eircom League.

1. The structure of the League was parked until it was agreed that all items in the Heads of Agreement had been addressed.

2. The initial merged period is for 3 years and a full review will be conducted in third year.

3. Membership of the League will be way of a detailed Participation Agreement. ******** and ******* have been detailed to work on this document.

4. The Marketing and Sponsorship rights of the League have been sold up until 2008 and a high level document is to be prepared by ********************* and is to be ready before Christmas.

5. Club administration: ************** will liaise with the clubs in relation to club administration matters during the close season in conjunction with ************** and will devise a template for best practice in eircom League clubs.

6. ************ is to draw up a strategy in relation to wage control at individual clubs.

7. In relation to Solidarity Payments, ****************** have been delegated to define the requirements to qualify for Solidarity Payments.

8. Another key area to be addressed is the area of dual registration and this will require high level consultation with all relevant stakeholders.

9. ****************** are to prepare a paper on Community Links and are to have same ready before Christmas.

10. ********************** are to devise a Funding Plan and *****************is to explore areas of Public Funding.

11. In relation to Private Investment, ************** will be pursuing the establishment of a Football Trust.

12. Genesis to continue to act as a source to the Steering Group.

13. ************** proposed that as a matter of priority that a Dispute Resolution Chamber (DRC) be established to deal with all disputes and that the appeal process remain intact.

14. ***************** asked the Group to examine the Heads of Agreement document before the next meeting and to prioritise areas from it for negotiation with the Steering Group.

15. One of the main areas where differences will arise is over the number, if any, of club representatives on the proposed 8 person Board who will have full autonomy in the day to day running of the League in a merged situation. It was decided to park this issue until all of the other outstanding issues had been dealt with.

16. The composition of the Merger Group in terms of representation from the Premier and First Divisions has changed and it was agreed to co-opt another representative from a First Division club. The Executive of the League undertook to fill the vacancy.

**Buile Shuibhne** · 01/12/2005, 11:10 PM

Genesis white paper on eircom League is released

Genesis says radical reform is required for eircom League to survive The Strategic Management consultants, Genesis, have said that radical reform of the eircom League is required to secure its future. Managing Director Alistair Gray said that many League clubs are financially unsustainable and the League in its current format is near to being bankrupt, economically and commercially as a sporting product. Genesis recommends sweeping changes to its structures and operations in order to sustain itself into the future.

Mr Gray was speaking as details of Genesis’ “white paper” were outlined to stakeholders within the game. Genesis had been commissioned by the eircom League and the FAI to review the League and prepare the “white paper” regarding the future strategic direction of the League in Ireland.

Mr Gray said the opportunity existed to radically reform the eircom League and create a successful vibrant senior game, integrated with the rest of football in Ireland. “The vision of a financially viable, sustainable, successful and marketable League can only occur if the reforms are radical — tinkering around with the League will lead it nowhere”, Mr Gray said.

He also said the current situation where the League is not managed by the FAI yet is financially dependent on the Association was unworkable.

Genesis have recommended actions across 10 key areas:

Merge fully with the FAI
Gives the League the benefits of operating under one operational entity; increases in marketing and sponsorship benefits and benefits for football as a whole
Change management structure running the League
Existing 22 strong Management Committee to be reduced to 8 person Executive Board with outside representation
Revamp League structures
National League of 10 teams with two regional Leagues (10 teams each) with under 18 and under 21 regional Leagues and links to schoolboys
Create mandatory participation agreements
Based on the principle of a contract, clubs will be invited to apply for membership of the league and must sign the participation agreement and be bound by its contents which will be strongly linked to the club licensing scheme

Prioritise investment in facilities development
Investment should be prioritized on the clubs with clear strategic plans and should deliver a range of high quality, family friendly stadia.
Dublin clubs will be encouraged to consider ground-sharing if they are to attract significant public funds for investment.
Step change in approach to marketing
The league should be re-branded and re-launched as part of a fully revised marketing strategy.
Improve club administration
Clubs must be managed to high levels of professionalism to raise the overall standards operating with long-term plans
Introduce wage controls
Mandatory wage control mechanism should be put in place for all clubs within the National League limiting spending to a maximum of 65% of turnover on players’ wages and costs. This should be monitored and enforced rigorously
Create clear development structures
Incorporating coaching, training and underage structures
Invest heavily in community links
Much stronger links needed to grow the game. League club to act as pinnacle of football in an area.

Commenting on the white paper, FAI Chief Executive Officer John Delaney said the document provided a pathway for the successful development of the game at senior level

“The challenge is now to grasp the ideas and press ahead in consultation with the stakeholders to reform the League”, he said. “Leaving the status quo is not an option for the League or the FAI”, he added.

Chairman of the eircom League, Paddy McCaul said the consultation process which led to today’s white paper was productive and the outcomes, in general, reflect the inputs of the stakeholders of the game. “eircom League clubs know that change has to take place in order for the League to prosper again”, he said. “We now have to continue that engagement to make the changes necessary for the future viability of the League”, headed.

Following a request from the eircom League the FAI Board has appointed John Byrne as Acting Director of the League. Michael Hayes, Acting General Manager, now assumes the position of Operations Manager for the League.

http://www.fai.ie/article.asp?hlid=3...avlid=&sublid=

**Student Mullet** · 01/12/2005, 11:17 PM

Originally Posted by Poor Student

What's the point in this 14 club lower tier competition?

I presume 2 of them would win promotion into a ten team premier for the following year. Sligo and Dublin City would definately be entitled to feel hard done by though.

**thomas** · 02/12/2005, 12:40 AM

Genesis is a cop out as far as structure goes. It makes no firm recommendations.

My reading of it would take the ideal route as being a 14-16 team premier division and a regionalised lower division with two 10 team leagues, or 14-16 teams which would be an ideal number of games (26-30) going forward.

While they do seem to favour a 10 team premier, this flies in the face of the other recommendation to make each match an event. Playing a team 4 times every 9 weeks does not do that.

**Conor H** · 02/12/2005, 7:01 AM

IMO if that went through...which i doubt....the 1st pot looks alot more entertaining than the second.Cork will definitely vote against it if there going to be in that pot for half the season.

**patsh** · 02/12/2005, 7:09 AM

Originally Posted by Conor H

IMO if that went through...which i doubt....the 1st pot looks alot more entertaining than the second.Cork will definitely vote against it if there going to be in that pot for half the season.

City will vote against what?

**gufct** · 02/12/2005, 9:08 AM

a reality in 2007 whatever the structure is 10/16 Team Super league with some kind of a regionalised structure underneath. Teams have to get their houses in order now or they will not make the super league.

What is proposed for next season is just for one year to give clubs the chance to sort out all their defeciencies in the UEFA Licensing Criteria so that we will have the required number of teams for the super league.

We had a presentation from Genesis just over a week ago which was very interesting and I think supporters should encourage their clubs to do likewise.Genesis and the FAI merger are the way and clubs would want to wake up and smell the roses as a lot of big clubs will find it very hard to be sorted out in 16 Months.

**Krstic** · 02/12/2005, 10:07 AM

Originally Posted by gufct

Genesis and the FAI merger are the way and clubs would want to wake up and smell the roses as a lot of big clubs will find it very hard to be sorted out in 16 Months.

Why is a merger with the FAI 'the way'???

The FAI to me seem to be a very poorly run organisation, with little or no interest in local football or footballers.

So what will they bring to the party????

**Mr A** · 02/12/2005, 10:19 AM

Why is a merger with the FAI 'the way'???

Fair point- the FAI are probably the 2nd most incompetent organisation in the country.

Thing is, the eircom League is probably the most incompetent though!

**Dodge** · 02/12/2005, 10:42 AM

They're the same people. ******* all.

****ing ridiculous format. Obviously won't go ahead next year (2006) so if it comes in in 2007. Expect everyone bar the top 5 in the premier to stop trying. There'd be no point.

**Mr A** · 02/12/2005, 10:52 AM

The eL is run by the clubs, not the FAI. There may be some overlap but they're not the same. And the eL and FAI only reflect the blind self-interest and incompetence of most of their constituatant clubs.

I didn't think much of the format to begin with but it does have a certain amount going for it. It could be a big boost to football in the regions and would certainly be interesting for a few years. It just might give a lot of clubs breathing space to get their houses in order off the pitch- the league is going nowhere while most of its clubs are run in a totally half-assed manner. There would be a fair few derbies for everyone and it is the only way practical of moving towards a 16 team league as we currently don't have enough clubs for that.

The pool for those outside the top eight would have to be given a lot more thought, and it would have to be a lot clearer where the league is going after the transitional period. If it's to be brought in, it has to be next season otherwise next year will be meaningless.

**Vitruvian Man** · 02/12/2005, 11:05 AM

I heard that the FAI expressly told Genesis NOT to look at the all Ireland option for re-vitalising the league hence this abortion of a proposal.

You don't need to run an open year to decide the order of the clubs the existing structure has already done that. Cork City are the best team in the league and Athlone Town are the worst. If they are hoping that down and out clubs with great heritages, like Shamrock Rovers or Dundalk, will get their act together for the new format then they might as well just hand pick the teams they want in the top division and spare us the monkey-tennis 22 team league.

Notice how all of John Delaney’s plans for the league merger with FAI etc were backed-up by an "independent" FAI commissioned report. He who pays the piper etc.

Clubs on both sides of the boarder are crying out for an All Ireland league and with Setanta acting in the sky sports role it would give football the boost it needs on this island. But that wouldn't suit the cosy perks and ego trips of the FAI and IFA.

The FAI will never help professional football in this country. The only way is for the clubs to go it alone. IMO only Ollie has the balls to do it but he seems to like things the way they are at the moment.

**gufct** · 02/12/2005, 11:10 AM

The genesis report has been approved and the super league is happening for 2007 lads be it 10/12/14 or 16 teams. Fans of all clubs should be getting on to their Boards etc. to see what planning is being done to ensure that their team will be able to take their place in this super league. Entry will not be guaranteed to any club.

**Dodge** · 02/12/2005, 11:19 AM

When was it approved? A link if possible

**gufct** · 02/12/2005, 11:25 AM

I havent got a link.We had Bryan McNeice from Genesis down the week before last for an open forum which was very interesting and I think every club should do the same. The Genesis report has been adopted and its only the actual make up of the superleague that has to be sorted out.