QuoteYou Dundalk fans never cease to amaze me with just how wrong you can be in such a short paragraph, it's quite a talent you guys have really.Originally Posted by Nesta99
Assuming you mean Pepper, they have nothing to do with the ownership of Shamrock Rovers. Wilson is a former employee of the company.
You Dundalk fans never cease to amaze me with just how wrong you can be in such a short paragraph, it's quite a talent you guys have really.
Firstly further development of Tallaght is a good thing, for SDCC and for shams and, most importantly, for the League. There is ring fenced Government funding for sports ground development (administered I think by the Sports Council, with a lot of influence by FAI as funding covers football at all levels). Local authorities can apply to central Government for funding for a variety of community projects including sports stadia.
Public authorities also like the applicant to (where possible) contribute to the proposal although this is not mandatory.
To be fair SDCC have been very supportive in what can be a very long drawn out process (funding development) sometimes with a stop/start roll out as funding is made available/withdrawn. Historically, GAA and IRFU have been much better at hassling public representatives and accordingly have been more successful at getting the bulk of funds. it is fair to say it (accessing funds) is one area that has improved in the John Delaney FAI era.
It wouldn't be hard to be better than what went before, but I'd still challenge this assertion.
Delaney has been at the top of the FAI tree for 15yrs (?).
In that time, what has he and the FAI delivered that they can genuinely point to and say probably wouldn't have happened without them ?
Conversely - just look at all the false dawn developments we've had regarding stadia in the league across that period, that went nowhere or fell apart.
15yrs is more than enough time to have delivered some results in this regard. Where are they ?
Is it a similar level of amazement to our perception of how gullible Rovers fans can be?
Still a wealthy backer, well connected to the club sponsor. But
I get your point on not being to do with Rovers ownership my apologies. The point still stands though that any clubs with wealthy backers could all be told where to go when they go looking for public money for ground development. Rovers are lucky that SDCC saw an opportunity and had the courage and vision to take it. Louth CoCo?? Well money would squeal to get out of their coffers (unless its 25k spent on a single flowerbed in the county but thats a different story). It is a serious hope that meeting funding from public grants will be a way of drawing out investment from club owners and even possibly with county council contribution. To use the County Ground agains as an example, LCC could partnership in this development, minimise their cost to the project and have access to at least part of its income generation. But nah! Instead the fully funded project is being stalled by the council by attempts to rezone land for housing that is currently zoned for industrial/sporting/retail. The land in question is between a number of factories and a retail park so not ideal for residential. I dont get the logic but then few do including the elected reps who struggle to get budget breakdowns from theCeo/DoS's eg on a €25k flowerbed.....
Admittedly the bar was very low but in recent years the FAI have assisted many clubs at junior level to get grants that previously they did not have the expertise to access. LOI clubs have also received assistance and backing from the FAI in their efforts to access public money but how many clubs have looked for it ?
To be fair the FAI cant look for funding for properties they don't own but they can assist the owners in applying, that is my point. The improved junior facilities around the country are proof of this, there are lists of projects funded available from the Sports Council, football is vying with other sports for available funds and in recent years has had more success than previously.
Assistance for SCG applications is also something that Local Authorities offer via the Local Sports Partnerships, my job in a previous life. The issue I have with the FAI's assistance with junior clubs is multifaceted - undue credit given to the FAI ie Delaney which was motivated in propping up support for himself in the organisation which imo has held back the FAI and the development of domestic football. Their role in reality was mainly to endorse applications as being backed by the NGB. They had a tendency to withhold endorsement of an application if the club delegates didnt play ball at AGMs etc. The hard work done at grassroots a lot of the time is down to the efforts at local level eg local development officers rather than part of an overall development strategy. That has changed under Ruud Dokter with the roll out of coaching pathways and underage national leagues as examples. Beyond that there was far too much 'what's in it for us' when dealing with the FAI in an official capacity. So much so that the Sports Council were on the verge of blacklisting the FAI as eligible for grants including Sports Capital for their lack of transparency. It is no coincidence that the larger grants did not go to projects always on merit but on how influencial members of a club, from schoolboys to Junior football, were when it came to how the FAI executive were not being held accountable.
They may have been marginally better than when the clubs ran senior football but only due to their being the personal egenda of one man rather than the individual agendas of 22 clubs!
Last edited by Nesta99; 14/12/2018 at 4:09 PM.
But this is all just indicative of John Delaney's model of power and patronage.
Assist and fund junior clubs around the country, making sure they know that he's the man who's watching their back. All the while starving the LOI. Why ? Because the league is the only potential power base that could challenge him (as happened to the FA in England, for example). It's straight out pf the Sepp Blatter playbook of lavishing resources on the little nations in order to deliver power. Can anyone give me any reason why the FAI offers such appallingly low prize money to our league ?
Delaney is climbing the UEFA and FIFA ladders. He needs a solid base in Ireland to enable him to continue doing that. The only folk with the potential to upset that are the LOI clubs, so he keeps them malnourished and divided (e.g. the PCA). All of which retains him in power and enables the greasy pole to be shimmied. Now that the ordinary fans are revolting against this model, his proposal is to wipe his hands of the league entirely. When what he should be doing is meeting the demands that the FAI funds and markets it properly instead.
Athlones new astro is down and just needs to settle before it can be put to use. Still baffled as to why they put it on the main pitch and not the back one.
The only reason that makes any sense is short/medium term savings on the cost of maintaining a grass pitch. As was the case with Dundalk those savings end up being spent on the eventual replacement surface. In our case we managed to eke out a lot longer lifespan of the original which did lead to savings. As soon as we started competing for promotion, then Europe, and had to worry about the surface in Europe then 2 have been relayed since iirc.
Athlone could do the same where they currently lie in LoI with minimal pitch maintenance done and the pitch can stay a lot longer than it technically should. When their stock eventually rises then they will have to deal with the worn out auld carpet. It should be noted that when our own artificial pitch was first layed we were seeking re-election to the league, propping up the 1st Division table and since have 4 leagues, 2 FAI Cups, 2 League Cups and 28 European matches circa €10mil in prizemoney and a dedicated Foot.ie thread to our magic carpet bouncy castle!....
Couldn't argue with any of that. But as long as the league allows itself be pulled apart (and there is little indication of change) then snake oil merchants like Delaney will use and abuse it. historically clubs have shown they are incapable of maintaining the league and cannot be trusted to do so, some outside management is needed to develop but unfortunately Delaney et al will ensure that doesn't happen.
big clubs will never allow central contracting (even though the playing field and makes League more competitive) because it doesn't benefit them. clubs that have good facilities will block attempts to focus resources on ground facilities because there is no gain for them, think of any policy and a clubs response is - does it benefit us now ?As long as that remains the position clubs are incapable of managing the league.
Try these,
- all bar 10% of European earnings (after expenses) to be put in common pool for league promotion
- central contracts for all players with FAI and sub contracted out to clubs (FAI to cover insurance on wages).Draft system to be put in place.
- closer links with International set up with Ireland players to visit a LOI match prior/after each home International
- central contracting for provision of jerseys (including Bob Marley shirts)
- centralized league promotion (rather than individual club initiatives) and adherence to centralized plan to promote the League
- automatic deduction of points for delay in payment of player wages (by more than 3 weeks). operating licence permanently withdrawn after second offence in any season.
imagine the reaction.
Artificial pitches are a bit of a juggling act maintenance wise, you can get around 10 years out of the carpet with good maintenance or 5 with very little. The main attraction is the maintenance doesn't increase with increased usage as much as it does with grass pitches.The only reason that makes any sense is short/medium term savings on the cost of maintaining a grass pitch. As was the case with Dundalk those savings end up being spent on the eventual replacement surface. In our case we managed to eke out a lot longer lifespan of the original which did lead to savings. As soon as we started competing for promotion, then Europe, and had to worry about the surface in Europe then 2 have been relayed since iirc.
Athlone could do the same where they currently lie in LoI with minimal pitch maintenance done and the pitch can stay a lot longer than it technically should. When their stock eventually rises then they will have to deal with the worn out auld carpet. It should be noted that when our own artificial pitch was first layed we were seeking re-election to the league, propping up the 1st Division table and since have 4 leagues, 2 FAI Cups, 2 League Cups and 28 European matches circa €10mil in prizemoney and a dedicated Foot.ie thread to our magic carpet bouncy castle!....
Rovers have announced the new stand behind the goal will officially be the new 'singing section'. Makes sense though may annoy those that like the halfway line view and that the players can see them in the tunnel.
Had to happen, you cant be opening 3 stands and 8000 capacity with the costs of stewarding clean up etc when 2 stands is more than adequate for most matches.
Its F"""king ridiculous that our first home and away matches against Bohs are on Mondays and Tuesdays.
An early home match in Tallaght to open the new stand could have nearly sold out.
Half of the East stand (bypass/Square end) will be open for away fans, Rovers will have all of the West and South stands.
I like the idea of having the away fans over in the East stand.
Sitting as i normally do in the west stand its impossible to see the away support and having them in the main stand creates massive seat kills when there is a large traveling support.
so are ye saying lads that where the away fans are in tallaght will have to move so?
Gary Cronin is he the right man to manage Longford Town?
Could we get that in English please?
The away fans are moving to the end of the East stand nearest the shopping centre.
Means the west stand and South stands will be home supporters only. Not sure if that will be for all games or just matches with a Bigish away support
Are the toilets in the East Stand easy to close off to visiting fans?
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