The ‘Rock & A hard place’ squad.

Ahead of the Gibraltar and German World Cup qualifiers, Martin O’Neill announced an initial 37 man squad including 5 goalkeepers, 11 defenders, 13 midfielders and 8 strikers; to be trimmed ahead of the qualifying games. I examined the league appearances the squad have made at their respective clubs this season and it threw up a nugget I found interesting, former League of Ireland [LOI] players are slightly ahead of the rest in England this season.

Now, I’m not a statistician and I’m aware there’s a danger I’m using data to back an already held belief. So, to be fair up front I’ll be honest, I cannot bear to see Irish kids aged 15 or 16 leaving school and travelling to a UK club where they’ll join 40/50 other kids in a 2-3 year battle for a couple of available professional contracts . The emergence of the development leagues for older players in the UK may have slightly increased the odds of getting that first professional contract, though the subsequent ones remain rare. I think there has to be a huge push across the FAI, SFAI and LOI clubs when it comes to the retention of young talent in Ireland, to include increasing the quality and frequency of coaching they’ll get at home.

The 37 man squad features 20 English Premier League [EPL] players, 15 Championship players, 1 Scottish premier League [SPL] player and 1 MLS player. 12 of the 37 man squad are former LOI players. Taking just those players who are based in England a month into the current season; former League of Ireland players are – on average – slightly outperforming those who bypassed the domestic league and left for the UK at a younger age.

The 20 EPL players have collectively made 57 appearances from a possible 100 opportunities to play [57% appearance rate]. The 15 Championship players have collectively made 95 appearances from a possible 120 opportunities to play [79% appearance rate].

7 of the former LoI players play in the EPL and have collectively made 24 appearances from 35 opportunities to play [69% appearance rate. The remaining 5 former LoI players in the squad play in the Championship and have collectively made 32 appearances from a possible 40 starts [80% appearance rate].

To give a direct comparison against players who have never played for a LOI club [regardless of whether the player was born in Ireland or not] the EPL % appearance rate is 51% and the Championship % appearance rate is 79%.

Anecdotal evidence suggests that former LoI players are simply better equipped to handle the transition to a UK club, they tend to be more mature, better educated, less likely to suffer home sickness and have at least some experience of a professional football environment.

I’ll be the first to admit that in a month’s time, these figures could read differently. Whether slightly ahead or behind the average though, one thing we can determine is there is absolutely no disadvantage for a talented player if he chooses to wait a little longer in Ireland and finish his education while playing LOI.

It”s up to the ‘football family’ in this country to ensure we sell that message to our kids.

FAI poised to deliver Euro2020 to Dublin

Released yesterday, the “UEFA Euro 2020 Qualitative report” is a huge boost to the FAI. The 84 page report serves only as an indicator ahead of next week’s vote in Geneva, with significant lobbying and conversation expected over the next eight days. However, there’s little doubt that the Aviva Stadium is now a strong favourite to become one of thirteen venues to host Euro 2020 matches.

UEFA invited application from all fifty-four member associations with thirty-two expressing interest in the process to UEFA. However, only nineteen bids were submitted ahead of the April deadline. Essentially, The FAI bid has to be seen to be better than six others to secure a place and should be extremely confident based on the report, the assessment criteria of which are

1. Vision, Concept & Legacy
2. Social responsibility and Sustainability
3. Political and Economic aspect
4. Legal aspects
5. Stadium
6. Mobility
7. Accommodation
8. Event Promotion
9. Commercial matters

Ireland has bid for the ‘standard package’ and so, if successful would be guaranteed three group games [though not necessarily Irish matches should we qualify] with either a second round or quarter final match. Only Wembley and the Allianz Arena, Munich are in contention for the alternative ‘Finals package’ to claim both semi-finals and the final. Reading the UEFA report, it would seem that the English FA currently have the edge over their German counterparts.

The feedback on the Irish bid is positive, with few concerns highlighted. The minor concerns listed do not appear to offer a significant disadvantage when compared the associations we’d expect to be competing against e.g. concerns regarding parking, accessibility and space around the Aviva Stadium are replicated in most bids, particularly around stadia located centrally within cities. The experience of hosting of the Europa League Final in 2011 is cited by UEFA as evidence of capability to mitigate those limitations.

Where the FAI bid seems to stand out is particularly on the Stadium criteria and Dublin itself. The Aviva Stadium has the twelfth highest capacity of the nineteen bids but the adaptability to cater for UEFA corporate partners is a clear advantage, even among the eleven larger stadia. The proximity of high quality hotels in the immediate vicinity of the Aviva Stadium, where UEFA can accommodate and entertain their high profile guests is positive, as is the quantity and cost of hotel beds for supporters and VIPs. Despite being an Island nation, the report is satisfied with our transport links, and while there is a concern expressed about Dublin airport’s ability to handle the extra travel volume in 2020, Cork and Shannon are listed as ‘nearby’ airports that can support. Which is still preferrable to e.g. the Spanish [Bilbao] bid which would require support from Bordeaux and Toulouse in France, as well as Madrid.

The training facilities and hotels for visiting teams are listed as ‘high-quality’ and ‘good standard’ and despite the report highlighting an incomplete training base, presumably the FAI pitches at Abbotstown, it should not be a concern compared to rival bids e.g. the Bulgarian bid will not see a suitable Stadium unless the bid itse;f is successful.

A huge strength of the Irish bid is clearly the level of governmental support. The facts that ticket sales are VAT exempt alongside the clever suggestion of setting up a corporation tax exempt FAI/UEFA company to host the games will go a huge distance to alleviating the financial exposure UEFA fear in other bids. The Irish government support is in stark contrast to e.g. the Swedish [Friends Arena] bid, the report stating “no government investment is projected at any level”.

In terms of the competition it’s likely we can discount the bids from MInsk, Belarus; Sofia, Bulgaria; Jerusalem , Israel and Skopje, Macedonia. All have fundamental issues with respect to the capacities of their respective Stadia which should rule them out even without the additional significant comments associated with each bid. The ‘increasingly complex political’ situation in Russia might see St. Petersburg lose out with UEFA equally likely to consider the current negative reaction that FIFA are experiencing following the awarding of the 2018 World Cup.

The FAI bid will also be perceived as stronger than the Scottish [Hampden] bid, which was submitted incomplete and contains a clear concern about political stability should the referendum to leave the UK pass, which may already be enough to rule them out before other concerns are considered. Surprisingly, the Welsh {Millennium Stadium] bid also seems far weaker than the FAI bid with concerns about Cardiff’s transport links and lack of accommodation availability. It is worth noting that at the outset of the Euro2020 bidding process Ireland, Scotland and Wales considered a joint bid for the tournament.

The lack of strong alternatives in Eastern Europe might mean a chance for the Azerbijan [Baku] bid, while it seems one of the weaker with the City proposing to mitigate their lack of hotel beds with guest houses and student accommodation, it’s likely that Azerbijan will have the means to address these issues and Platini’s assertion that he’s hoping to open up to new areas could see them as a viable location in the East.

My Predictions

Final and Semi-Finals: London.

QF/ group Stage: Munich, Amsterdam, Rome, Budapest

Second Rd./Group Stage: Baku, Brussels, Dublin, Copenhagen, Cardiff, Bucharest, Bilbao, Stockholm

Here is the “UEFA Euro2020 Bid Evaluation Report” in full link.http://www.uefa.com/MultimediaFiles/Download/competitions/General/02/14/49/29/2144929_DOWNLOAD.pdf

Designs on a more attractive League

In recent weeks an uprooted penalty spot, a Palestinian flag and failing floodlights caused deserved negative coverage of our league. I decided it worthwhile to celebrate an area where the League of Ireland collectively and quietly do a good job, an area which has improved greatly in the past twelve months.

In a league suffering from public apathy and struggling infrastructure Artwork & Design might not seem important, but there’s a growing awareness that it may be the first interaction a potential supporter will have with a club. While we must acknowledge that the league has work to do to retain new supporters, there are green shoots in the increasingly well crafted and artistic imagery that clubs are using to turn the heads of potential supporters.

Club Media officers, predominantly volunteers covering a licencing requirement, create volumes of strong content. However, it’s their growing familiarity with social media alongside reports of the World’s largest companies turning to visually led social media campaigns that have led to clubs’ using eye catching imagery and clever artwork to increase awareness. Despite football’s global popularity and ubiquity, the League of Ireland remains a niche pursuit and this gives us licence to take risks and try new ideas rare among global football brands and our own National Association. It’s something we’re good at.

By taking advantage of strong visuals, many containing tongue-in-cheek humour, League of Ireland clubs can push awareness into markets and regions we’d otherwise miss. Embracing creative Art & Design is not brand new concept though it’s use in the past year has been particularly clever. Below is some of my favourite work from the past year, in no particular order;

Bohemian FC

Right from the off, the ‘Bohs Graffiti Jam’ to redecorate Dalymount Park was a huge success driving interest and awareness of the club, solidifying the club’s brand colours black, red and white as the club played around with the familiar and traditional Red and Black stripes of the home jersey

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St. Patrick’s Athletic

St. Patrick’s Athletic include the strong Graffiti Art around Richmond Park into Press Days announcing new players, as they did with Keith Fahey. The ‘Once a Saint, Always a Saint’ artwork is a hugely strong visual, tying in well with the club’s branding, with the theme continuing through the club’s website and social media outlets.

Cork City FC

Cork City FC has worked with Kobe Designs this season for programme design and match posters, the latter in particular driving strong social media interaction as part of the club’s hugely successful marketing push this year. The Kobe design posters have raised awareness and have become the subject of news features. Quirky and professional, they’ve strengthened Cork City’s output this season.

Limerick FC

Limerick FC’s quality has improved dramatically since the introduction of Kreo Creative & Anthem to the club. The quality of the publications and match posters, combined with strong negotiating by the club, means they are one of the few in the League of Ireland producing a profitable match programme. The strong imagery is consistent across the club’s social media and website.

Sligo Rovers

Sligo Rovers create a really strong, eye-catching series of posters, notably the ‘Clash of the Rovers’ comic book series for games versus Shamrock Rovers which are among the best the league produce.

Dundalk

I said no particular order, but my personal favourite over the past twelve months is this brilliant minimalist Richie Towell cover on the Dundalk FC matchday magazine, adding brilliant design to the outstanding content that keeps it the League of Ireland’s best programme.

A tough year ahead for a new league.

In the week of two Senior International matches, you may not have noticed the FAI announcement today which opens expressions of interest in the new National Under 17 League to clubs or entities outside the SSE Airtricity League [SSEAL].

The FAI will apply conditions, presumably in line with the National U19 League, but notable today was the lack of application criteria for a league that will kick-off in August 2015. The FAI should expect huge interest and a significant workload, as they explain rejections to the many schoolboy clubs who will apply.

Why the huge interest? Money. There will be other reasons given, e.g. a desire to play at higher levels, but Elite Level schoolboy football in Ireland is influenced hugely by money, driven by Agents, clubs and parents.

A schoolboy club stands to earn minimum €20,000 training compensation from a UK transfer for each year a player was on their books. A club already moving players to the UK will want to retain Elite players for an additional year after the player would normally move from the schoolboy section or club, aged sixteen. Competing in a national league means your players are scouted in national competition. Should a promising schoolboy move cross-channel, that extra year [and extra €20,000] is important.

Costs will be steep but are unlikely to be prohibitive. The league will be regional, in line with the SSE Airtricity U19 League. An extra €20,000+ per player moved may justify it the application for a schoolboy club. The ability to offer progression to National League competition against professional clubs; a significant advantage over rivals offering national cups and representative sides certainly justifies the application. It will help to attract better players and subsequently additional income.

Any serious Elite schoolboy club already developing top players to sixteen will look to be involved in a National U17 League.

There will be intense opposition from SSEAL clubs. Their argument against inclusion of non-SSEAL clubs will be developmental; objections will cite schoolboy clubs’ lack of Elite structure beyond seventeen to further develop players. They will point to the lack of places for U17 players in a smaller U19 League, reducing the standard and competitiveness of the U17 league for no benefit. But like schoolboy clubs, the real opposition will be based on finance and SSEAL clubs will most vocally oppose competition from their local schoolboy clubs.

If SSEAL clubs must fund an Under 17 team, they will want first access to the best players in their region. If they have to compete with local schoolboy clubs, operating at much lower cost bases, they will lose out on some players. Losing out on a local player who would otherwise have signed could impact upon future transfer income, which due to UEFA ratings is €60,000 per year of player registration.

When the A Championship and U19 league were put in place, League clubs welcomed Tralee Dynamos, Fanad United and others. They saw potential League of Ireland clubs for under-represented parts of the country; but there was also the lack of real local competition, except in Galway, where football crumbled before the recovery of the last twelve months. The ‘A’ and U19 leagues offered clubs the chance to assess National Competition in the hope they’d join the League of Ireland over a period where we lost e.g. Kilkenny City, Kildare County and Monaghan United.

SSEAL clubs will not see the U17 league in the same way, nor should they. The costs of running a SSEAL club are huge, with approx. €250,000 required to run an amateur set up each season, rising quickly as you add semi-pro, then professional players. If you want to compete at the highest level, you will likely need a consistent annual turnover in excess of €1,000,000. Neither Tralee Dynamos nor Fanad Utd could justify the cost. No schoolboy club will enter an U17 League and subsequently add a National U19 side to their ranks before applying for a First Division SSEAL licence. Even if it were to happen, the schoolboy clubs best equipped to compete operate within the DDSL, an already saturated League of Ireland market.

In turn, Schoolboy Clubs will deem it hypocritical that any SSEAL Club seeks to influence development at all. This may be a valid viewpoint. As welcome as Tralee Dynamos and Fanad United were, many clubs didn’t want an U19 League, some will secretly hope the U17 League never kicks off. Few clubs put real investment into their U19 structures, fewer put investment into younger age groups. Limerick FC and Shamrock Rovers are two clubs with strong academies featuring strong coaches; but their presence in schoolboy football causes it’s own difficulties as professional football and schoolboy football, and the respective egos within, collide.

The same collision occurs at national level; schoolboy clubs within the U17 National League could cause problems for the FAI as the SFAI [schoolboy association] will, based on my experience during meetings on the proposed U17 league, look to exert control and influence, especially as the new league will be followed by the U15 and U13 national leagues that Ruud Dokter has deemed essential for Elite player development. The relationship between the FAI and SFAI has been strained recently and schoolboy football within a National League will add pressure to that relationship.

With competing factions, neither with the purest motives, Dokter and John Delaney must be strong and stick to the mantra ‘the best, with the best, against the best’. The best and most experienced coaches in the country gravitate towards our domestic league, the best place for our elite players to be positioned, where they can learn within a professional environment is within SSEAL clubs. The Under 19 league has been a success, the numbers progressing to professional football are impressive. It’s not perfect, but as a template for the U17 league, it’s as good as we’ve got.

SSE Airtricity League Clubs must be the most important members of the U17 League. We need to be serious about development and reflect on a week of arguments over the merits of a 27 year old Englishman for the Senior International side, his agent seemingly more committed to the Irish cause than he. SSEAL clubs have the structures to provide U17 graduates with the strongest National Competition at U19 and Senior level, they have professional players and coaches from whom Elite players can learn. They must be the first consulted on the new league and their’s the first concerns addressed. However, those SSEAL clubs must also be held to account on development. It’s not good enough to pay lip service to the U19 and U17 leagues. We know that the long term plan for development of Elite players in this country consists of contentious U15 and U13 national leagues and SSEAL clubs must start planning for that eventuality. If they don’t, we may have to spend a long time looking to English players snubbed by the FA.

http://www.sseairtricityleague.ie/news/5696-expression-of-interest-sought-for-u17-league

 

Happy Birthday FORAS

On 1st September 2014, FORAS celebrates it’s 6th birthday. We officially launched on 1st September 2008 at 4pm, the date and time chosen in advance to deliver a launch on 1/9/8/4, evoking the year of formation of Cork City FC. A few weeks earlier, the club had unexpectedly gone into examinership while in control of the Arkaga group, which immediately cast those involved in FORAS into the limelight and into the battle to save the club. As it is the Trust’s Sixth birthday, here are six little memories;

1. Half a Dozen

The truth is, as we were getting FORAS off the ground , Arkaga were splashing so much cash around that the vast majority of City supporters saw no need for the safety net it would later provide. To set up FORAS as a credible corporate body, we required seven individuals to sign up directors. Despite FORAS growing to 700 members at it’s peak; back in 2008, we couldn’t find a seventh director. The six who initially signed had been involved in some way with the Official Cork City Supporters’ Club and despite strong support for the concept it took us over a month to find a seventh person to put their name to a project that was to prove so important later. 

2. Liam Buckley & Glasgow Rangers

One pleasant surprise was when board member Seán O’Conáil was contacted by the Scottish FA to advise on issues surrounding Rangers FC as that club entered administration. Cork City FC had bolstered his reputation in sports law and Cork City was seen as a supportive club. A lot of this was due to advice from Shamrock Rovers and support from people like Liam Buckley https://ninetyplusfour.wordpress.com/2013/10/16/liam-buckley-gent/ that we wanted to pay forward. That support was a huge plus and a factor in the development of the clubs ethos of cooperation, domestically and internationally, which has seen the club meet with Michel Platini as part of a Supporters Direct Europe project. 

3. Bring your boots

In one memorable meeting with the FAI in the Maryborough House hotel, a member of the FAI delegation asked us, seriously, if any of the board could play football so that we could be registered for the team to face Derry a week later. FORAS had been awarded a First Division licence late as the decision of the Independent Licencing Committee on Tom Coughlan’s application was postponed. We found ourselves in a situation where we could sign only unattached amateurs or out of work professionals [we were even denied access to players on our own underage teams]. The Board were, admittedly, unattached amateurs and despite a few claiming to have been handy footballers when younger,  we managed to avoid resorting to board members on the pitch and traveled to Derry with 13 great players who secured a draw.

4. Paul Deasy, MOTM

One short-lived fundraiser was text voting for Man of the Match at home games. Supporters would vote by text, with the club getting a % of the 20c cost. It backfired funnily (in hindsight) when a group of supporters who had sponsored young winger Paul Deasy for the season, hijacked the vote and made their point about a poor performance by ensuring Paul won MOTM in a game where he appeared as an 87th minute substitute. The announcement of Paul as the winner was certainly the biggest cheer in an otherwise forgettable game, though embarrassing for me and the board at the time.

5. Championship Manager 2011

LoI fans often argue about the standard of the league in comparison to the levels in the UK; is a player EPL or Championship level? How would the Champions fare in the Championship or League One? One well known Championship manager, of a famous old club, left us in no doubt of his opinion while making a “derisory” offer for Graham Cummins, who scored almost a goal per game in 2011. We were solid financially and Graham was hugely important for the run in, so we politely turned down the offer. Surprisingly, this resulted in a barrage of verbal abuse “you’re a nothing little f**king club, in a nothing little f**king league; you’re not even f***king Blue Square Premier level“. I guess he was under pressure but it was a lovely feeling to hang up on him, knowing the club didn’t need that few quid. Graham didn’t join that club, moving to Preston NE in the following transfer window.

6. Blow your F**king whistle

Best moment? This.