obviously FC RAF’s financial issues are well documeneted and next season they are prepared to go part time, i knew Fingal were in a spot of bother financially as their main money men now have a slight NAMA issue but it would appear to me here that Fingal could no longer afford the rent in Santry and are now paying the BSC pittance to play in this shithole for the next three years.
I had predicted that SF would go bust in < 10 years, similar to Dublin City, they will get even less fans in dalymount than they did in santry so i can only presume the only reason why they are switching venues is that the BSC are so desperate for cash any rental income at all will suffice and they let SF in.
It’s a fine idea in theory - see Wexford Youths for how to do it - but Gannon’s motives were always about development. There are three “Gannon Parks” within about 4 miles of eachother in Fingal and all were “gifted” to the community in exchange for massive amounts of rezoning. He’s a prick obviously but the club won’t survive because they have no substance at all. No fans, no support in Fingal, nothing. The worst thing about the Airtricity League at the moment.
a lot of LOI fans are against SF but in fairness to them they have done a lot of things right-trying to get a community behind the club , community work & they have a professional approach- play good ball too
the whole council getting into bed with a property developer shit was wrong & he was into them so he could get land developed when he built their stadium-
so for all the good behind the club the premise was flawed
they are a club on the verge of oblivion like fc biggles,galway & drogheda
The future of League of Ireland side Sporting Fingal is in serious doubt after the Professional Footballers’ Association of Ireland (PFAI) released a statement tonight confirming that the club has cancelled the contracts of its entire playing staff.
The club have lost some of their key backers and have withdrawn from the Setanta Cup, with UCD taking their place.
The FAI are in talks with the club about whether they will be in a position to obtain a club license to play in the upcoming Premier Division season. The Independent Licensing Committee meets on Sunday to decide on licenses for the 2011 season.
In a statement tonight the club said: “Sporting Fingal FC is disappointed to be unable to participate in the 2011 Setanta Sports Cup competition.
“Due to ongoing negotiations with regard to FAI licensing matters, it is Sporting Fingal’s intention to make a statement in relation to the club’s position during the coming days”.
Earlier a statement from the PFAI expressed their disappointment that contracts, some that have been recently signed, are not being honoured. They also confirmed that the players involved are now seeking employment elsewhere.
Sporting Fingal were badly hit after property developer Gerry Gannon stood down from his role as chairman. He was also a key benefactor behind the club that won the 2009 FAI Ford Cup.
Just last weekend the club announced that the 13 players remaining on their books had been paid their overdue wages and the club were preparing for their opening Setanta Cup game against Lisburn Distillery at their new home Dalymount Park on St Valentine’s Day. UCD have now stepped in to take their place in the eight-team competition.
erra, its not a good day for football in ireland
the idea was never , ever going to work, they had previous data with dublin city going bust in june 2006 to show that their was no market in dublin for another football team.
This coupled with Shels going to the wall and Bohs on the edge showed that even if the existing traditional teams could not survive how the hell could a new club attampt to tap into a dead market.
look, i have the utmost respect for anyone who invests in a LOI club, they must genuiely do it for the love of the game as they know ( or at least they have to ) that the ROI on it will be very very negative, i dont know what really happened at Fingal and i have no idea why the club was invented in the first place but i presume there must have been some good in the original intention of bringing a football club to an area.
however, the fact remains that you have to be an idiot to invest in a LOI club, and the fact remains that the guys who do generally are… Tom Coughlan tried to help Cork, but just didnt know how, Shelbourne ended up killing olly byrne after he tried the spend, spend to buy a CL place , ( a vision i liked but it was so hi risk that failure, even tho inevitible was going to result in a catastrophe, and olly just choose not to see it).
i know bohs want fans to loan money to help their club and whilst i applaud anyone who will donate those doing so have to be prepared to loose it all.
i enjoyed Fingal, they played the best football in the league with UCD and sligo last year and gave Maritimo a huge scare in the UEFA cup, i presume Rovers will hoover up most their squad on free transfers with the rest heading to Pats.
There were undoubtedly people with good intentions and people who put an awful lot into it expecting not much in return.
Gerry Gannon wasn’t one of those though. He was in it for land swap reasons and Fingal CoCo should never have done any deals with him as TASE says. But he’s been at this for years in Fingal so he was on friendly terms with every councillor in the place the prick.
I didn’t see much interaction with local clubs either. Wexford Youths seem to have a decent relationship with the district league there. I don’t think the same was ever mirrored in Fingal.
What state are Pats in at the moment? They seem to be the only Dublin club that hasn’t had major financial problems in the last 5 or 10 years. Or maybe they have and I don’t remember them?
