Where now for Dundalk and Collie O’Neill 

Last Friday the beloved Jimmy Dainty was laid to rest.  Unfortunately circumstances prevented me from being there.  But I would like to extend my sympathy to Helen and all the family.  Jimmy was one of the English men who came to Ireland(Dundalk) and loved it.  Dundalk also loved Jimmy and like Ritchie Blackmore and myself took us into the Dundalk family.  I cannot put into words how it felt when I heard of his untimely death.  Jimmy was the most likeable of men and will be remembered by the people of Dundalk for a long time to come.  R.I.P. DAINT

Jimmy’s sad demise got me reflecting on Dundalk Football Club and its current owners – Peak 6.  I presume these are a group of venture capitalists who are looking  for a return on investment.  I have no problem with that but the failure to ensure the Wednesday night European match was shown on TV quite frankly deeply disturbed me.  I believe EIR made an offer to show the game, but this offer was turned down.  Now this could be because the T.V Company’s offer was so small that it could not be accepted or was it that the current owners wanted to ensure that people had to travel if they wanted to see the game.  Methinks this was the motive of the club.  They were able to stream the match for people outside of Ireland.  Keely’s Bar was one of the businesses to benefit from this.  But why can you watch the match if you are on holiday and not if you could not get time of work to travel to Dublin or if you genuinely could not get to the game.  The attendance was not I believe any greater than usual attendances for European matches.  Let me say that Dundalk people will travel to a European game.  They will not sit at home and watch it on television.  My own son who does not travel to games  but went to this one with his daughter.

The problem here is not supporters; the problem is that we haven’t got a stadium that is capable of showing a European game.  May I say to Peak 6 – you may own the infrastructure of Dundalk FC but you do not own the club.  It is owned by the people of Dundalk past and present.  So I understand your priority is to improve the standard of the players so that they can be serial winners of the League and hopefully in the near future progress to the knock-out stages of a European competition. But along with this we must also have a stadium that reflects this great club.  For too long we have been boom and bust.  My fear is that this will happen again to our great club.  If the owners cannot get a return on their investment, that they feel is appropriate then they could depart.  Leaving us with a load of memories and a stadium that is a disgrace in this day and age.

I repeat it is time for everybody to get together and put plans in place for a proper stadium to be built.  Let that be the legacy of Peak 6 NOT just the desire to get a financial return on investment.  We have already been down that road, and it was left to the ordinary supporters, the Maxi’s of this world, Andy Connolly and Paul Brown and all the people who put money in to save the club, let’s not let that happen again.  C’MON THE TOWN

UCD were beaten 10-1 by Bohs last Friday, what exactly does it mean for the LOI structure.  The people running our League have no interest in our League.  The First Division is a joke and teams that get promoted from it invariably go back down almost immediately.  I have long called for a larger Premier Division with a Regional League to back this up.  The winner of this Regional competition would then play off against the last team in the Premier Division.  But to play in the Premier Division you should have to meet a fixed set of criteria.

      1.  To have a ground available that is up to standard

      2.  To have the financial capability to survive the Premier Division e.g. Sponsorship, proper        budgets etc

      3.  To have a fan base or potential fan base that will allow the club to survive.

There are many more basic standards that could be applied.

So when we get results like the last weeks gone – Bohs v UCD and the recent result against Rovers what do we see? We see a club with one of the best coaches in the country struggling in the Premier Division.  So it is not his problem.  UCD are different to all other clubs, they use the football team to promote Academic excellence, it does not matter what division they are in.  Their model is not conducive to winning League and cups.  They do however produce fantastic players.  These players are then cherry-picked by League clubs.  If UCD were able to keep their promotion team together then they would not be in the position they are in now.  They had two 5^th year students and two 6^th year students in their team last week.  Alex Ferguson couldn’t coach this team successfully so having a brilliant young coach will not help when half your team wouldn’t get in to see an over 18 movie.

Since I wrote the above, events have overtaken me.  UCD took the decision to sack Collie O’Neill, a decision that defies logic and is an insult to a really good coach.  What do they expect to achieve by this outrageous decision.  Where will they get a coach who is prepared to build a team and have it whipped away from under his feet.  To the people who run UCD – shame on you.  I thought you were different. I thought you were smart.  I thought you had the education of players both academic and football at the heart of your club. You don’t, you have become just another second rate club.

To Collie O’Neill I say, you have performed a minor miracle with this team.  You will be appreciated over the next period of time. You are a man slight in stature but huge in integrity.  I have had the pleasure to work with you and see your ability and character.  You will be a huge loss to UCD and more importantly to our League.  Take a break, you will be back soon. Our League cannot afford to be without people as good as you.

I have stayed quiet about Shels in the first division.  I have been afraid to say anything in case things went belly up.  But their win over Longford puts them in the driving seat.  I hope they can now finish off the job and get back to their rightful place in the Premier Division.  Shels tick all the boxes as far as eligibility for the Premier Division is concerned.  I hope this year they finally make it.

Why no TV coverage??

Dundalk, the last team standing, play tonight in Tallaght, a beautiful stadium, which I believe shows our League at its very best, but the match is not on TV.  WHY??  This match is very much alive and the winners will probably play AJAX - what a prize to play for.

You have to wonder what does a League of Ireland team have to do to get on RTE, our “national” broadcaster.  We’ve had the situation before this season, when the Rovers European tie was not shown, what do we have to do to get proper coverage of our game.  I believe there are only two reasons for the game not to be televised.

          1        RTE just don’t want to and don’t have to.

2    2          The owners of Dundalk for some reason don’t want it to be shown.

To deal with the first point you must look at what RTE are contractually obliged to broadcast every year. Easy you might think NO! Nobody knows details of the broadcasting contract because the FAI won’t tell us.  Part of the secrecy for which our great leaders are responsible.  We know already that the FAI have no interest in supporting our League, so it might be fair to assume that they sold the TV rights for International football and have not included the League in this deal.  But we don’t know because it is a SECRET.

We should be promoting League of Ireland.  There should a Friday night match on every Friday and probably a follow up on another night. The FAI should be able to ensure this happens, offering a package that includes LOI to RTE or another broadcaster. The belief in RTE is that viewing figures are too low for broadcasting the LOI, but we can only grow these numbers by showing our product every week.  RTE have not shown a League match for at least two months.  This is a public service station set up not only for major events but to help develop the Arts and Sports area.  Last Friday night there was no mention of the FAI Cup, our major Cup competition on the 9 O’Clock news – no mention!!.  Today while Dundalk is representing Ireland, we can instead watch a programme on Vitamin Pills and a British programme on cars.  I don’t imagine the numbers will go through the roof for these mouth-watering programmes.

The second scenario, the one I hope is not the case, is that the owners of Dundalk FC, Peak 6 are not allowing the game to be shown because they want people to go to the match in Dublin.  I hope this is not the case.  The people of Dundalk are the most generous people in the world.  They will go to see Dundalk whether the match is televised or not.  They love “The Town”, as much as they are generous and welcoming they are also capable of withdrawing their support if they think they are being used and abused.

We should have our own stadium, one to match our team.  Nothing has been said about developing a stadium.  It is now time for everybody to sit down and discuss how we go about getting one.  Or is it the case that Peak 6 invests in the team only, win the League year after year, simply for a return on their investment.  I hope not.  For someone who was adopted by the lovely people of Dundalk I would not like to be Peak 6 and incur their wrath should this be the case.

Tonight I will be watching the Dundalk game which we purchased and is available to supporters outside of Ireland. This is great for us but it is a shame that supporters in Ireland who cannot travel to Tallaght to see the match will have to listen to it on the radio like I used to do when I was a child 60 years ago, surely we should have progressed from this.

 Club Funding ( or lack of) 

A week on and Dundalk are out of the Champions League and Rovers are out of the Europa League.  Doom and gloom.  NO WAY.  These two clubs are improving year on year.  They have raised the bar for League of Ireland football.  Dundalk was beaten by a superior side in Qarabag.  A club with far more economic clout and most importantly better players.  Dundalk has exited the Champions League where they should have.  The important thing is, I believe, that they were competitive with a team that were superior to them.  They played like a team that believed in themselves and the way they play.  They are really up against it next round and realistically they should depart the scene.  This is not important.  What is important is that the team’s performance is improving every year, that means the standard in our League is also improving.

I felt the same watching Shamrock Rovers.  The days are gone when we can look down on a League like Cyprus.  Back in the day if you got a team from Cyprus you thought you were into the next round.  This is not now the case.  These “lower” leagues have grown and developed over the years and are now at the same level or higher than our teams.  This match was 50/50 and I think either team could have won.  The most important thing is that our League needs to improve.

This really brings me to the nub of the matter all of these “foreign” leagues have been helped by their own associations. 

In our League all our clubs are left to their own devices.  5 years ago Dundalk was on the verge of going under.  Only local businessmen Andy Connolly and Paul Brown stepped in the club was dead and gone.  Rovers have also had a long time in the wilderness until they found their home in Tallaght.  They have a beautiful stadium and a wonderful team but have had huge backing from South Dublin County Council.  I don’t believe Dundalk have received any help from the council in Louth.  Let’s face it, Dundalk might be the best team in the country but they must have the worst stadium in the country.  The work the club do in the community, the love the people of Dundalk feel for their club is huge.  It must be the only town in the country where you see more kids with Dundalk tops rather than the English Premiership tops, this is all done locally.

This brings me to my Bete Noir – the FAI and John Delaney and all of the executives of whatever they were called in times gone by.  Their job is to promote our League, to seek government funding for our League teams, to develop our infrastructure.  I have been banging on about this for 20 years to no avail. I don’t believe the Government department responsible for sport even know there is a League of Ireland.  I have just read about John Delaney’s “Golden Handcuffs”, where it is alleged that he doubled his salary to close to €1M a year and nobody knew, it didn’t appear in the accounts.... Same Old, same Old.  Maybe if the old fashioned handcuffs were used for the guilty parties, whoever they are, we might get a change in culture, not a change in the status quo.

European Games and the FAI (again!)

What a good week for Irish Football.  Two great performances from the best 2 teams in the country – Dundalk and Shamrock Rovers.  Both teams showed their character and their self belief.  Both teams gave away really early goals and both came back to draw and win respectively.  These performances are great news for our league.  People have to remember that at the moment it is Dundalk and Shamrock Rovers representing our League, but it will not always be these two teams, other teams will get a chance..

I have been reading about teams complaining about matches being called off because of European games.  Two things strike me about this moaning.  One we are a national League.  The clubs involved are representing our League.  We are not the GAA; we are not based on the parish/county model.  We are National.  When our current teams do well, the teams that will represent us in the next few years will benefit.  So let’s get rid of Parish Pump politics and complaining.

My second point concerns the plight of the smaller clubs, in fact all of the other clubs who are not in Europe.  They lose out on gate receipts when matches are called off.  This is a huge problem for the clubs as regards week to week cash flow.  But clubs do not call off matches – the League does, hence the problem.  The FAI does not give a damn about our League.  There is no planning for Europe when they organise the fixtures list at the start of the season.  They know which clubs are involved and should be able to plan for the European games in their fixture list.

Secondly the League should be able to cover the loss of gate receipts. Maybe a small levy on European earnings could be applied.  This would have to be ring fenced and used only to help clubs which are affected by a European Campaign.  It obviously would have to be open and honest.  These are two words that you would not put in the same sentence as the FAI at the moment...

Part of the problem with the lack of interest the FAI have in our League was highlighted last week when Shamrock Rovers played Apollon Limassol in  a packed Tallaght stadium.  The Rovers performance matched the great crowd, but unfortunately our National Broadcaster chose to ignore this game completely.  You would have to wonder what deal is done with RTE.  Do they pay only for the right to show International football and then choose what they want when it comes to League of Ireland.If RTE want to show IRELAND playing they should have to show a number of LEAGUE OF IRELAND GAMES also.  Their lack of respect or interest is so disheartening for the league.

But we need an association that backs our League not ignores it.  Nothing that went on at the AGM convinced me that change is afoot.  Changes are being made to the structures but no changes are being made to the culture.  They were very quick to implement the change that allowed 2 Board Members to stay on for a year.  It also appears that people who were previously on the board can put themselves forward for election next year.  As I said in my last blog – NO!!! The two members who are staying on for a year should announce publicly that they are doing so for a year and then they will resign and not go forward for any position on the new board or for any of the subsidiary roles next year.

No one who has served under John Delaney should be allowed into a position of power nor should any of their acolytes, a clean sweep is needed.  The mantra that “we did not know what was going on” is not acceptable.  Ignorance is not an excuse

Wishing Dundalk and Rovers the very best of luck in their games tonight and tomorrow.  We will have a good LOI crowd in Keely’s Bar Lanzarote cheering them on.

Memories of a great footballer, the FAI and Europe

It is with a heavy heart that I write this piece.  I got the news yesterday morning that my old friend and fellow Dundalk player Jimmy Dainty has passed away.  Jimmy, who was a smashing footballer, was also a wonderful person, although born and bred in England he loved Dundalk FC and the people of Dundalk, and this love was reciprocated.  He came back to Dundalk regularly to visit the friends he had made and was as well know around Dundalk as any local.  Jane and I had the pleasure of meeting him and Helen in Birmingham a couple of years ago.  Needless to say the craic was great and a few drinks were had.  We were delighted when Jimmy and Helen joined us in Lanzarote last September for our wedding and he really enjoyed the sun, the few drinks and the chat with football people at the wedding.  To Helen and family I would like to extend my deepest sympathy.  I cannot imagine the pain you are going through but you are in my thoughts.  Words cannot express how sad I feel at the moment.  Daint, you are one of my abiding memories of the Dundalk I love. Rest in peace my friend.

The next section of this piece is even harder to write.  I go from a man who loved our League, to the machinations of people whose only interest in our League is what they can get from it.  There is an EGM this week, and AGM next week, with the FAI people who have been directly responsible for the mess that we are in going up for re-election.  There is no change in the culture of the FAI.  In our typically Irish tradition they have decided to let things lie for a couple of months and then when everybody forgets we will just continue as before.

Well I say NO!!

NO to any of the board going up for re-election

NO to a continuation of the status quo

NO to a new board infiltrated by previous allegiances

YES to a new era of openness

John Delaney is gone, but is he?

Nothing has been said now for a couple of months, is he still getting paid?

Why is there no set of Accounts available for the AGM?

Will the AGM be the same as before, no reporters, no questions,

no information.

As you may understand I am angry, I am angry that a good friend has died, but I am also angry because I don’t believe there is the stomach for any real change in the FAI.  Maybe I am wrong, we will see in the next couple of weeks as the BLAZERS gather.

Back to the League I love.  Europe was a disappointment.  Cork and Pat’s are effectively gone.  Dundalk I thought were disappointing, I feel they were afraid to give away a goal.  Riga were well organised and came for a draw and got it.  I still believe that Dundalk are a better side and Riga has to try and win this time.  That will suit Dundalk and hopefully we will get a win.  C’MON THE TOWN!

I was mightily impressed by Shamrock Rovers.  They were particularly strong in the 2^nd half.  They are in a great position to go through.  My fear for them is that they do not have an out and out striker to finish off their lovely football, but hopefully this not will prevent them from getting through to the next round.

In the 1^st Division Shels look to be in a great position.  Their next three matches are against the 3 teams towards the end of the table.  But this can sometimes be a negative if attitude isn’t right.  Hopefully they will do the business and get Shels back to the big league where they belong.  Drogheda and Longford are keeping Shels honest.  I obviously can’t watch the graveyard that is the 1^st Division but these two teams appear to be capable of winning a playoff against a Premier Division side.  Well done to Collie and UCD, great result against a really good Bohs team.  Houdini O’Neill

Today as I mourn the passing of Dainty, I remember Tommy Mac and the Craic we all had together, both now gone.  I feel my mortality....

Something in the Air

Interesting to read the ramblings of my former nemesis Pat Dolan in the Star last week.  Just a week after Stephen Bradley’s comments about the current team v the Michael O’Neill team, but as usual Pat brought it to a new level.  I’m happy for him that he seems to have found religion as he has gotten older and particularly St Anthony who I believe you pray to if you have lost something.  Well from the article it is obvious what Pat has lost – THE PLOT. I think Owen Cowzer or Neil O’Riordan of the Sun would have accused me of being on the drink if I said I was talking to St. Anthony.... With all this talk of climate change and such like I wonder is there a link between Pat’s ramblings and Stephen’s?  Maybe there is psychic phenomenon at play out in Tallaght. Perhaps we should ask one of our Climatologists to visit the area and give us an opinion.  Maybe it’s just something in the Tallaght air or God forbid – are we going to find out that this mystic cloud could be on the move.  Be careful Vinny Perth

The weekend fixtures did not go as planned.  Shamrock Rovers despite battering Sligo Rovers could only manage a draw.  They really need Graham Cummins to come good for them.  If they get a striker who scores consistently for the rest of the season they have a real chance.  Whether Cummins is that player – we will find out.

Dundalk also dropped 2 points away to Derry.  This was made more palatable when taken in conjunction with Shamrock Rovers result.  Declan (Decky) Devine has done a good job with Derry and I’m sure will be hoping to secure 3^rd spot.  Bohs with Keith Long will have something to say about that.

I was absolutely delighted for Collie O’Neill and UCD to finally get a win.  He is doing Trojan work with UCD and how he manages to keep it going is beyond me.  He has lost so many good players that he is lucky to be able to put a team out.  But besides being an excellent coach and really genuine he is a stubborn little git.  A fact obviously inherited from his Dad Paddy.

Longford’s defeat in the first division was a real boost to Shels and the Drogs.  I hope Shels can go on and win and get out of the desert that is the 1^st division.

This is European week and it is really important that the Irish teams do well for the next two weeks.  Let’s support the League.  Wear your club colours, but go and support the League of Ireland.  We are a small niche league but the performance of all the teams in Europe is really important.  People who do not go to matches frequently are always interested in European results.  So wherever your allegiance lies go and support the League, go and support, St. Pat’s, Shamrock Rovers, Cork and Dundalk.  If you are on holidays in Lanzarote come to Keely’s Bar, we will show all the games, have a bit of craic and some real football talk.

Mid Season Thoughts

Sorry about the blog going missing over the last couple of weeks. Just been a busy few weeks, but as usual I never tire of League of Ireland. The games have come hot and heavy.  Why is it necessary to cram so many matches in the first half of the season, why have a mid season break, why not extend the League?  All of these things jump out at you as you watch the madness unfold.  There is no logical reason for the League fixtures to be arranged in such a manner.  Gates have seen a big improvement this year but supporters cannot afford to go to matches Friday and Monday.  Players cannot give of their best in the same scenario.  The managers consistently complain that the players are too tired to give of their best Friday and Monday which unfortunately affects the pace of the game and the crowds are also noticeably smaller.  No thought appears to go into the making of our fixtures.  This is not only the fault of administrators but also of the clubs.  As Keith Long pointed out having such a long layoff is false economy.  We are also striving for a professional League and if you want to play in it you must be able to pay your players 52 weeks of the year, I know this would put pressure on the smaller clubs but by extending the league I think the average gate would increase and it would end this nonsense of playing on Friday and Monday.

On a brighter note we were able to show Dundalk play Waterford in Keely’s Bar on Monday due to the introduction of a pilot project whereby Dundalk and Cork are streaming 4 matches each which can be seen by people outside of Ireland.  It went off brilliantly and it is the forward looking attitude that we as a league need to adapt.  We will now be able to see Cork, Bohs, Sligo, Dundalk, Finn Harps, Shamrock Rovers and Pats over the next few weeks.  Allowing the public to see the real quality we have in our league can only be beneficial.  It is therefore vital that the players are in the best condition possible to showcase it.  This is not possible playing Friday and Monday.

I must say I was amazed at Stephen Bradley’s comments on the current Shamrock Rovers team.  To say they are a better team than the Michael O’Neill (MON) team that won the League was quite ridiculous.  Maybe they are, time will tell, but the MON team won a league, the true test of a team.  The best team wins the League – FACT- he may well win the league this year and if he does then he will be in a position to compare his team with any other Rovers team.

The current team may be better than many other teams past and present, if judgement was on the standard of football they play - which is outstanding. But playing lovely football is not the sign of a great team; teams are judged by the number of leagues they win. Trying to win a league is not the same as trying to win a beauty contest.  The prettiest team does not always win – the best team wins.