A new season and no players apparently. The thread over on boards saying there are rumours that the club close to going bust 
Well there’s a shock. It was only a matter of time. Pat Sullivan isn’t mega wealthy and wasn’t going to be able to keep ploughing money into the club. They must have been paying a decent whack to rent TP too.
Up to a couple of weeks ago there were only 8 players under contract for this season. It’s a pity they can’t get the crowds as Pat Sullivan has put in a lot of work but junior soccer is king in the city.
Has the begging letter gone to JP yet?
Pretty much has given the very public utterances of the man in charge.
Following ongoing speculation and rumours over the past weekend and enquiries from local and national media, as Chairman of Limerick FC, I would like to state the following:
The O’Sullivan Family and their company, the club’s main sponsor Galtee Fuels, over the past 12 months have made it clear that they can no longer continue to fund the club to the level that they have in the past number of seasons.
My first involvement began when Limerick Football Club called a public meeting on the 12th July 2009. This meeting was for the purpose of trying to raise funds to keep the club alive as the then owner of senior soccer had given written instructions that unless financial support from the people of Limerick was given then the club was to be closed down the following day. At this meeting I was the only person that stated that I was willing to give financial support to the club.
On the 14th July I put the club in funds to meet its immediate financial needs.
Promptly, I met with the club Committee, the senior team manager and the players and assured them that I would meet the liabilities of the club for the remainder of the season. When I took over senior soccer my commitment was to:
[LIST]
[]1. Bring the club to Premier status
[]2. Return the club to its natural home, the Markets Field
[*]3. And also to put the club on a sustainable pathway through the development of underage structures, and to find a suitable base for the club to call its home
[/LIST]
To ensure that soccer continued to be the largest played sport in the region, I applied for a licence to the FAI and was successful. My reason for saving Limerick soccer was driven by a number of factors including using sport to change the perception of Limerick at the time which had significant ongoing anti-social issues.
Limerick soccer has never had a pathway or structure from schoolboy to senior soccer to allow those who wish to play this sport to do so at the highest level with the best of coaching in parallel.
We started with Baby Blues at three years of age in 2010. We have now bridged the gap from schoolboys to our senior team. We now have an Under-19 team playing in the Elite League. We will have a national Under-17 team commencing in August. We have produced in excess of 20 young international players playing for Ireland. Over the past two weeks, seven Limerick youths played International soccer for Ireland.
The purpose of the investment in the underage structure was to provide a conveyor system of local players for our senior team, and we have achieved this.
We support ladies soccer; we would like to do much more here.
We fully fund and sustain special needs soccer teams.
Limerick senior soccer has never had a home of its own. We have now addressed this matter by the purchase of the FCJ convent in Bruff, along with extra lands which will become a regional Centre of Excellence for soccer when completed, for which we expect full planning permission during February 2015.
The club will also return to the Markets Field in March 2015 which had been one of my original ambitions.
With the reduction of the significant annual sponsorship that has been provided by Galtee Fuels and the O’Sullivan Family over the past six years, this requires that the club must now learn to live within its means. A position which should not be uncommon or a surprise to many individuals and companies that has observed what has happened in our country over the past number of years.
I am committed to ensuring the long-term sustainability of Limerick senior soccer which brings many social benefits to our community.
In conclusion I wish to thank all who have supported the club over the past years – commercially, voluntary and paid employees – and I look forward to your continued support to achieving the further development of Limerick soccer and its collaboration with other sports to assist in the process of healthy living particularly for our valued youth.
Yours in Sport,
Pat O’Sullivan,
Chairman, Limerick FC.
So what exactly is he saying?
An outsiders reading of it.
They’re putting less money in because
- they have funded and pulled the club up from nothing
- set up proper structures
- given them a home
- created a link between youth and adult levels
- all clubs should be self sufficient and they are no different
He may also be looking for a bit of credit for what he’s done, which from only going on that there, seems generally impressive all considered.
We are living beyond our means…we need to tighten our belts.
It sounds like a thinly veiled “what more do you fucking want from me”
help
That statement sounds ominous. Can’t really blame him, he saved the club a few years back but they just can’t attract the crowds unfortunately.
Pity when they are so close to getting back to the markets field where’d they’d actually be able to generate an atmosphere.
Thomond park was a disaster for attendances, games on Tuesday nights Wednesday nights and Thursday nights , there was no consistency. At least now back in their own ground you can know home games will nearly always be Friday and Saturday nights.
He should be crying out to the lads looking for a bandwagon since the Munster Rugby one started dying. Make it fashionable to support LOI in Limerick again. Maybe that’s his plan. How many people would the Markets Field hold?
Unfortunately the only way to make something fashionable is by winning (or else having pulled pork baps & fixies). Markets field in the initial stages will only hold about 3k I’d say. I don’t know if that much has even been done to improve things there?
They could do with changing the name of the place for a start. Sounds like the type of place you’d go to play a Sunday League game and expect your gear to be robbed from the dressing room.
What are you on about? The Markets Field is Limerick FC.
(plus you will get robbed there)
You are thinking of cals park. You park you car half a mile away and walk
Football in Limerick has no credibility since the Rovers fans took the steering wheel
Fixed that for you mate