THE TAKEOVER OF Treaty United by a Canadian investment firm has been hailed by the outgoing chairman as a defining moment that will help take the club to the next level.
Conn Murray is to step aside from his role at the amateur First Division outfit four years after it was established as a not-for-profit entity following the collapse of Limerick FC.
As revealed by The 42 earlier today, Tricor Pacific Capital are to become joint owners along with former Republic of Ireland international and current Treaty player Ciara McCormack.
The Vancouver-born defender won eight caps for Ireland, who she qualifies for through her parents, and will become the first female chief executive of a League of Ireland club.
Tricor were not required to pay an initial fee to purchase the club, however The 42 understands that a seven-figure sum will be invested as part of a long-term strategy incorporating all strands, from the men’s and women’s senior teams to its burgeoning academy set-up.
Murray confirmed to The 42 that the parties have been negotiating for more than six months and that Tricor, with McCormack in place as CEO, provided the necessary assurances that their investment would be for the long haul.
“There is no cost to them in taking over, the agreement was made on the basis of what they will invest,” Murray said.
“We could only bring the club so far without real investment and we recognised that. We worked off a shoestring for a number of years and did very well. The club has a good reputation, football wise and management wise, which is critically important for us. We leave the club in a good financial circumstance.
“But in order for the club to advance to the next level, which we believe it needs to, from the midwest perspective, then we had to think about what our strategy was. And our strategy was to attract an investor that can build on the foundation that we have put in place and bring it to the next level.
“I always said we were looking at a five-year horizon. The aim was to get the club off the ground and then look to see what the future would look like, and this is the future.”
Treaty’s senior men’s side reached the FAI Cup semi-final last season and have reached the First Division play-off series in each of the last two seasons.
But it is the women’s team that Murray describes as the club’s “flagship” team given they were the first to compete under the Treaty United banner.
“This [takeover] is about the whole club. They are our flagship from season one and I hope they get the attention that they deserve,” Murray added.
“When we sat across the table during this process we emphasised our culture, that we built from the ground up and are a community-based operation. They understood what we were about as a club and for that reason it is why we worked to bring it together.
“Our ambition was to not just have senior football in the midwest, but an academy that had value and could actually bring out the potential of those people in the midwest. They understood what we wanted to achieve, they had the same thinking and it aligned with what they wanted, so we saw this as a good way forward.”
On their website, Tricor describe themselves as a “a leading Canadian family office, actively investing our own capital and operating knowledge in a diverse group of companies and investments. Our intention is to build and hold our investments intergenerationally to create a lasting impact on the lives of our partners, our employees, our families and our community.”
They are understood to have interests in English rugby league and are expected to add further football expertise to their ownership structure as part of their long-term plan to turn Treaty into a professional outfit competing in the Premier Division.
“I would suggest that there is nothing instantaneous, particularly in football. Even if we went professional tomorrow, from what we know based on the teams we have been competing against it takes a few years to get to that level. The horizon is never a short one in football, it has to be long term,” Murray added.
“The understanding was that this has to be built in a stable way. They [Tricor] understood that, we wanted that. We’ve seen the comings and goings in the past. Our club’s foundation was built and now it can drive forward. We’ve built the platform and they can take it from here.”
This takeover comes at a time when other League of Ireland clubs also find themselves the subject of interest.
Hull City’s owner, the Turkish millionaire Acun Illali, completed his purchase of Shelbourne earlier this season.
In recent days, it emerged that Drogheda United are set to give the go-ahead to significant investment from the Alabama-based Trivela Group LLC, who already own English League Two club Walsall.
“This is genuinely a great news story for the club,” Murray insisted. “We had nothing when we started. I remember having to buy goals to make sure we could start the season.
“What’s been built since is a club with extraordinary volunteers, that’s the basis for the success we’ve had, and that is what sport is about, that passion. I would be encouraging that to continue.”
