You may be conflating matters here. Think John didnāt want his generosity being publicised, as he felt the only way Mark Tighe could have learned about his loan was via information gleaned from his divorce proceedings which were in camera. But the loan itself was to help the FAI over a cash flow speed bump. Their cash flow is very lumpy (e.g. upfront TV rights, season ticket, grant income etc) rather than smooth / regular weekly cash incomings. There can be the odd pinch point during the year and I think John stepped in back in 2017 to avoid a breach of loan covenants. Iām sure itāll be cleared up today to the satisfaction of all concerned.
1 Like
Lads getting their knickers in a twist over business men. Will ye go out and enjoy the lovely sunny weather and stop fretting over a ceo. Iād imagine most of ye donāt bother going to local games or support local teams because ye never talk about it.even international games, I donāt see anyone attending. Stuck for a bit of gossip, like old women.
2 Likes
Has a circular gone out to mention pinch point as often as possible?
How many season tickets did they sell, amd how many at full price
So what? They still get pinch points, itās a fact of life in business.
Have the gaa or irfu got many to the tune of 100k recently? Maybe focus your anger on answering my question, it might clarify things
The collective wetting of oneselves by sports journalists, and football ones in particular on social media, is quite unedifying.
1 Like
Listen the FAI had a lot of debt. Thatās just a fact.
You can blame John Delaney for messing up the 10 year tickets (they could have got a big float upfront) but at the same time, the FAI ran into the biggest global recession in 80 years.
The GGA are not comparable. They donāt pay many people. The people who provide the shouldering at their venues donāt get paid, by and large. The IRFU of course pay players now, but they didnāt always do so and have a significant balance sheet accumulated through years of amateurism (and savvy management since professionalism).
It is naive and ignorant to think that large organisations do not need overdrafts or invoice discounting. That is a fact of life for many big ones.
The question for me always was why Delaney needed to personally give this loan and why the FAI could not use their existing overdraft facilities or get an extension if required.
Itās always a bit cringy when football journalists try to make stories all about themselves. One such example is when thereās a brilliant game with loads of late drama and they all start tweeting about the impact on their print deadlines and it becomes a really lame in joke (like @Horsebox and the ladsā tired posts about Delaney needing to be removed). This morning was a variation on that theme with all of them āquippingā about wearing suits and seemingly taking turns to take photographs of each other in the corridor outside the hearing.
1 Like
Sweeeeeeep sweeeeeeeep
Sure Dela probably didnāt want to be annoying the hardworking chaps in the bank like @Bandage when he had the money himself. Thatās probably the long and the short of it.
2 Likes
I understand that the FAIās overdraft usage has traditionally been hardcore.
I dont see anyone blaming him for this colossal fuck up
The gaa funds clubs and county boards, to a far higher amount than the FAI funds its clubs id wager. The gaa funds ground building all over the country, the FAI gets the IRFU or government to step in and help
Did they not run into the same recession that you say damaged the FAI?
1 Like
As much as the Sport Ireland withdrawal/postponement of the next tranche of grant funding was a token sop to the screaming Marys, I did feel sorry for my ex Bank of Ireland colleagues. Sport Ireland didnāt acknowledge that their populist decision yesterday will have ramifications for the BOI team in charge of the FAI relationship. Some poor chap will probably be preparing an internal credit memo today because of them.
1 Like
Once again, the GGA self tickets to shouldering exhibitions and pocket nearly all of the cash.
That is not comparable to the FAI, who have to pay players, managers and other teams expenses. The FAI also operate in an international context, meaning that eyeballs are drawn to better quality abroad. Hence all the EPL barstoolers in Ireland. The GGA have none of those issues.
As I said re the IRFU, they have accumulated significant assets over the years due to amaterism and establishing a strong pro game in Ireland. I am an IRFU man and soccer wouldnāt be near my top few sports, but I recognize that the FAI have challenges that the others do not. There is no doubt that the FAI have made a shambles of a lot in the last, but there is constant hyperbole and misinformation spouted about them.
1 Like
Denis o Brien paid managers for them, and how often do the pay players, and how much.
Its a terrible product run incompetently in ireland. All the bogey men in tbe world, barstoolers, recession canāt hide that.
1.5 million people pay into the shouldering competitions every year, more again into club games, a phenomenal organization
This will drive some fellas demented.
Gavan Reilly is loving life on that thread. Explaining how committees work to the uninitiated
Heās a right little gimpish nerd, that fella.
John Delaney has given a statement. He confirmed it would take 2/3 minutes to read