Originally Posted by pól-dcfc
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How come when anyone posts in a contentious topic like this, he often has to spend time defending himself over what he doesn't think, or hasn't said, rather than what is actually in his posts?
At no time since I started this thread have I e.g. denied or defended DCFC's deplorable treatment by the IL during the 1970's. But neither have I been in any way sectarian or bigoted in any post, something which I find grossly offensive, especially when coming from people who know nothing about me or my views on religion/politics. (Thanks, Kristic, Pol etc).
Neither am I blaming DCFC for other NI clubs being chronically underfunded (DCFC Steve).
I'm not saying the Dublin Government can't give money to whoever they like.
Nor do I "blame" DCFC for making an application to anyone who might be able to help, nor that their application is not frivolous and ill-thought out.
Nor do I ever object generally to seeing football clubs getting Government help; how could I? I'm a fan as well as a taxpayer myself.
As for this stuff about Dublin paying for roads etc in NI - I fail to see what that has to do with football, since this comes from entirely separate budgets, and is applied to entirely non-footballing purposes.
However, I do object on a number of serious grounds, which DCFC fans, in their haste to complain about me, are mostly ignoring or dismissing without much more reasoning than "We want the money, we're entitled to it, we've been hard done by in the past, so anyone who objects is a nasty bigot who can just f cuk off"
In fact, it is this sense of "entitlement", fuelled by historic grievances which (imo) are no longer relevant, which causes me to consider that DCFC are overstating their case on this one.
Specifically, this has the following elements.
1. The amounts being sought. I know people have brought up Institute FC receiving funding for floodlights fromn Dublin, but how much are we really talking about? £50k? That comes to 1% of what DCFC are seeking from Stormaont alone, or 0.5% when Dublin is added in. When you consider just how starved IL clubs have been in the past, this is bad enough, but does anyone seriously think that if/when other clubs in NI were to apply for anything similar, that they would get it? Or that e.g. Linfield or Glentoran would get £5m from Dublin? Someone mentioned LFC receiving an unspecified sum, on some unspecified date from Dublin in the past. But all I can think of is that this was in conjunction with work they are doing with Dundalk on a cross-border basis ("Dunfield").
2. DCFC fans keep bringing up the circumstances of their leaving the IL for the Eircom. Fair enough, they deserve sympathy over this but frankly, those days are long past. Their unique circumstances have been addressed by their being allowed to benefit from an unique case (for Ireland) of residing in one country, but playing in the other country's League.
3. However, by seeming to feel they're entitled for grant aid from two Governments and maybe even two Football Associations, this is far greater redress than is justified (imo) and would surely be a case of "the pendulum swinging too far the other way". If nothing else, it would give them an unfair advantage over all other clubs on the island, even greater than that other perennial bone of contention, Linfield's soaking of the IFA over the rental of Windsor for internationals. (Or does my anger over this make me a Prod-hating bigot, as well as a fenian-hater?). On which point, I will risk further shouts of "Bigot", by pointing out that if DCFC were to apply to rejoin the IL, then their case for substantial grant-aid from Stormont and/or the IFA would be immeasurably greater (imo). [At which point, before some of their fans' heads explode, I should reiterate that I hold no grudge against DCFC for joining the Eircom, or sticking with it even after they would be welcomed back into the IL]
4. In making their case for regeneration of the area, providing jobs etc, that's all very well, but for all that they point to deprivation around the Brandywell etc, is it really any worse than that around many other NI clubs? In the end, these are issues which imo should be sorted out by the appropriate agencies, charities, Govt.bodies etc. But even if you disagree, how much of this money being claimed will actually go towards housing, jobs, education, welfare, training etc? And how much will go towards building grandstands and covertly subsidising/releasing other funds for players' wages? I've no doubt that a lot of good things will be done with this money if allocated, but in the end, DCFC is a football club, and one which seeks to be a profitable, commercial venture (as is only proper). I am on the record as being utterly opposed to the proposed stadium at the Maze for a host of reasons, but at least I can see how there could be a benefit, however overpriced and overrated, for the whole of NI, rather than one individual club or organisation.
5. Which brings me to the aspect which most concerns me. At the end of the BBC Report, the DCFC Chairman was quoted as saying:
"If we don't get it [i.e. the funding], it's going to case serious problems as regards full-time football in Derry".
I'm sorry, but it should not be for Governments to subsidise f-t football, in Derry or anywhere else. In the end, if the city, either as part of the FAI set-up (or back in the IFA set-up) is incapable of supporting a full-time team, then it is not for the taxpayer to do so, or for the other clubs to sustain a correspondingly reduced share for themselves from the overall pot for football.
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