Suggestions for FAI el fans forum

[Martinho II]

i was at the meeting too. we were brought on a guided tour of the fai hq. we were shown a presentation dvd of last season,rtes presentation for the eircom league bid plus irelands bid for uefa cup final 2001. the three lads are passionate about the eircom league (fran gavin ex pats player, noel mooney(ex shams goalie) and padraig smith(drogs fan).

for the first time ever I am fully 100% behind the lads. they came across very well and had time for everyone that was there. we were told that if you need any assistance in any way, to give the lads a shout or an email.

they explained everything from the particaption aggreement, uefa licence every document rel to the eircom league was explained well.

I can appreciate a lot better how the different depts in the fai are run now.. It looks like this could be one of the first of many forums...

overall I thought it was successful.

[Rovers1]

for the first time ever I am fully 100% behind the lads. they came across very well and had time for everyone that was there. we were told that if you need any assistance in any way, to give the lads a shout or an email.

.

i emailed Noel + FAI about 6 weeks ago and they never got back to me!

[Martinho II]

I saw Gary kelly and Alan Kearns at it. Its a bit strange as one of our lads wasnt originally invited but he wrote in a letter to the fai with his prosposals for the eircom league and he got a phonecall yesterday and got invited...

[MariborKev]

for the first time ever I am fully 100% behind the lads. they came across very

And all it took was one free T-shirt.........

[Martinho II]

in actual fact maribor I have got two...

[pete]

Noel Mooney in particular came across as very passionate for the league. Looks like he is doing great job & promotion will be better this year.

Re: 65% Wage Cap.
Even if he is a Drogs fan Smith came across like he has his eye on the ball & have learnt from FA in England & others.
Clubs need to stay below 55% during the league otherwise the league gets involved.
If over 65% on full season can be stripped of prize money & removed from Europe.

Re: TV
RTE pitch for TV rights included lots of clips of the LOI. Whether that opportunism playing to its audience or genuine interest remains to be seen.

It has been clear for some time that the FAI have been scratching the governments back & Abbotstown part of that. It is also paying off in terms of grants etc...

[Terry]

Is it true that the season openers are derby matches again, exact same fixtures except for the change in clubs that got promoted/relegated?

[Conor H]

No it's not.

The Derby theme of last year isn't been continued this year,after speaking to Fran gavin afterwards.The fixtures will be out this week.
Terry i will give a summary of the meeting at our AGM Tuesday week.


Would have to agree 100% that Noel Mooney and Fran Gavin are doing an excellent job.Very committed to the cause.

[sligoman]

Sounds like they're not going to be easing up on fines though

[deecay]

Sounds like they're not going to be easing up on fines though

Here here as they say

[ndrog]

Noel Mooney in particular came across as very passionate for the league. Looks like he is doing great job & promotion will be better this year.

Re: 65% Wage Cap.
Even if he is a Drogs fan Smith came across like he has his eye on the ball & have learnt from FA in England & others.
Clubs need to stay below 55% during the league otherwise the league gets involved.
If over 65% on full season can be stripped of prize money & removed from Europe.

Re: TV
RTE pitch for TV rights included lots of clips of the LOI. Whether that opportunism playing to its audience or genuine interest remains to be seen.

It has been clear for some time that the FAI have been scratching the governments back & Abbotstown part of that. It is also paying off in terms of grants etc...

Did smith say he was a drogs fan or what ?

[pete]

Did smith say he was a drogs fan or what ?

Fran Gavin outed him

[Martinho II]

wasnt him that said it but fran gavin!!

[Ash]

wasnt him that said it but fran gavin!!

And his tie had flecks of claret and blue

[garykelly]

I suppose what is needed from the FAI (EL) is a bombardment of information of which they're can never be enough. Most of the posts here wouldnt be posted if there was enough information about. It was excellent to see/hear everything that went on during Saturday. After reading some posts I'll try give feedback on each based on what was said.

+ Lack of Assistance (in terms of CPOs) to EL Division 1 Clubs

In terms of CPO's some clubs dont have the structures in place to support having one. The FAI want to be sure that a CPO is put in place to just do that job and to not get dragged into other facets of the club which has happened apparently. The long and short of it is that if any club wants a CPO then they must ask for it and the FAI will support it. 15k is paid by FAI with club making up other half. Some clubs dont want to invest 15k in the CPO which is a shame as an effective CPO will bring back more than that.

Government Funding
The EL league has outstanding issues with Revenue. This is being worked on by the FAI and are making significant progress. The Revenue have stated that once they get back what their owed, and effectively improve the leagues credit rating, then talks can begin on introducing incentives for EL clubs.

Kilkenny's Demise
This was the decision of Kilkenny football club and nobody else. The FAI talked over all the options with them but the club said they couldnt commit to the level needed to compete in the EL. The plan is for Kilkenny (if they accept) to play in the U20 league, try to rebuild and apply for re-entry at a later date. A shame as Kilkenny are fantastically run and have a smashing ground there.

Fines

The FAI have nothing to do with the fines. There is an independant body who deal with issuing fines based on the report back from matches. Having an independant body is UEFA/FIFA template. They decide the fines and the FAI dont have a say in it. They agree with that certain issues are a bit non-sensical but the structure in place prevents them overruling any decision. Only 5 fines were actually paid last year - I can only assume the rest were appealed, I dont know. I thought myself that having an independant body is too far detached from the league and they wouldnt understand the EL league but it's a UEFA template so it must be a workable model.

Fixtures
I thought this was straight forward but there are a shocking amount of variables involved, including clubs not wanting to clash home games with local events in the calendar. It seems a tough job as they are trying to keep everyone happy.

FAI Cup
This will be the first time the FAI (EL) run the competition. They are looking to build it up and make the final a real showpiece. The final will be 2 weeks after the EL - i think this will be the same each year. Interesting to note thomond park a possible contender to host the final.

Overall I am 100% behind the new set-up. Noel Mooney and co and top people for the job of improving the league. I would say they should release piles more information as I feel it would help promote their own work and help people be less criticial (which is understandble too given info available; i've always been critical myself) Their resources seemed stretched and they are learning themselves. This is the best model the league has ever had and hopefully we will all back it to success.

Anyway I hope this gives people some more information about whats happening !!

[Block G Raptor]

Sounds like passing the buck IMO

I

The long and short of it is that if any club wants a CPO then they must ask for it and the FAI will support it.

improve the leagues credit rating, then talks can begin on introducing incentives for EL clubs.

Kilkenny's Demise
This was the decision of Kilkenny football club and nobody else.

Fines

The FAI have nothing to do with the fines. .

Fixtures
IIt seems a tough job as they are trying to keep everyone happy.

[Sheridan]

There is an independant body who deal with issuing fines based on the report back from matches.

LOL! Any chance they could reveal who these disciples of Solomon are and then let us judge their independence or otherwise?

[Jerry The Saint]

LOL! Any chance they could reveal who these disciples of Solomon are and then let us judge their independence or otherwise?

Isn't it nice that this independent body will fine anyone who criticises the FAI? How very noble of them, sticking up for the honour of an organisation that they have no connection to whatsoever.


Any reason given for the two week gap to the mid-December cup final Is it so they can be more like the Super Bowl and give the players a bye week to prepare for the big game?

[MariborKev]

Sounds like passing the buck IMO

Fair enough.

I don't think people who would there saw it that way,

There was acceptance on behalf on Gavin and Mooney that there are things they haven't got right.

[Block G Raptor]

Fair enough.

I don't think people who would there saw it that way,

There was acceptance on behalf on Gavin and Mooney that there are things they haven't got right.

No I'll take word for it, that was just an impression i got from reading the quoted parts of the post