EMBATTLED LEAGUE OF Ireland outfit Monaghan United has opted to withdraw from top-flight football rather than shoulder the financial burden attendant upon completing the current season.
In a statement released this morning, club chairman Jim McGlone suggested the decision, possible only after “much deliberation and soul-searching”, was motivated by “mainly” but not exclusively by ongoing financial difficulties:
“The reason we have taken this decision is mainly but not only financial. To keep a team playing at the highest level in this country is expensive and with the clubs inability to tie down a anchor sponsor, coupled with the rising costs of membership of senior football and the lack of support from the national league it was felt that no other option was available.”
He remained optimistic, however, that the club could transition successfully to a new role, “pour[ing] all [its] energy, experience and facilities into the development of football in the county of Monaghan”.
After extending his heartfelt thanks to both players and coaching staff, McGlone concluded by extending a reassurance to creditors the club’s existing commitments would continue to be honoured.
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Founded in 1979, Monaghan United had competed in the League of Ireland since 1985.
This is poxy. Everyone across europe knows the words to “The Fields of Athenry” and at home a club is going down the pan due to apathy towards domestic football. Gonna get worse too.
The standard is poor, that’s the reason people don’t watch, it’s not some pro-English pseudo conspiracy or anything to be ashamed about that most football fans want to watch a good standard league. Also, the league may improve if more people went but not significantly, we’re a tiny country, best way to improve football here is to unite with the UK leagues. At least an all-island league may be a start
MnB, both of your arguments are flawed. Firstly, it’s plain you’ve not attended many LoI matches as there is in fact a relatively high standard of football, despite the poor support they receive from the FAI. I’d put the Irish Premier Division roughly on par with the Npower League 1. Secondly, the argument that because we’re a tiny country we can’t have a good league is specious to say the least. We have a similar population to countries such as Denmark, Switzerland and indeed Croatia, so on the face of it we should be able to have comparable leagues. The real issue is the popularity of the GAA as a national sport over football.
The Irish will fly around the world to watch football, but won’t walk down the street. The state of the game in this counry is depressing, all the more so because we’ve had to listen to two weeks of hearing how we’re the “best football fans in the world”.
You’re right Donal. Is this the same mentality that insists that we need to “keep confidence high” to ensure that we have a “successful economy”? It’s all a bit post colonial really.
Small towns like Monaghan, Cobh & Kilkenny will never have the population to support a team. Fewer teams based in Dublin & the bigger cities, cities with football cultures Waterford, Cork & Limerick are they way forward. The move to summer football has been a good idea.
Delaney’s rounds for the fans over in Poland would have kept Monaghan afloat for years. But sure he earns more than the president of America. He is worth it though, after all he is in charge of the league and the FAI.
Clubs just don’t have the support anymore and the fai don’t seem to care about the smaller clubs because they can’t make money off them, look at the situation in limerick where the club has been blocked from hosting a big game against Barcelona and now they have been stopped from hosting a tournament involving Chelsea, Celtic and two other teams, this was a huge coup for limerick fc and would be a huge earner for the club had the greedy fai let it go ahead. What hope do these small teams have in the future
As a Limerick FC fan, I find the way the FAI treat them to be absolutely appalling. It’s not like they’re a rich club with a wealthy backer, so events like the Barca match would have been a massive financial help in attempting to re-enter the Premier Division (hopefully) next year. The FAI are nothing but a bunch of scoundrels.
clubs in shite,John Delaney earns over 430K,getting pissed in Poland with his buddies at probably our expense,Carlsberg don’t do Football Associations………
Sad sad news. I’m a huge Man Utd and Ireland fan but something told me to take a more active interest in LOI. So I started doing the hour long drive to Sligo and every chance I get I’m done to watch The Bit of Red. And I’ve never had so much Craic.
The people and club officials could not be more welcoming. I’m welcomed by name (you wouldn’t get that at a premiership match regardless of how many years attendance) and the real buzz around the place is uplifting.
People should really start going to local soccer matches as they need the revenue FAR MORE than Delaney and his pals in Abbotstown. Over 400 grand a year for his job? He’s a disgrace.
There is a solution that would be mutually beneficial to both the domestic league and national team! If a huge drive was put on to increase technical abilities in our younger players perhaps in years to come we would reap the benefits on both fronts! I’d love to be able to go to games on a frequent basis but not a single other football fan I know is interested! Too busy saving for their monthly trips to OT!
Kevin I would consider myself a Pats fan but the last game I was able to drag anyone to was the European qualifier in the RDS against Hertha! I think that was 2008! Used to be great travelling around Dublin to the different grounds! Atmosphere usually very good!
Ah I love it! Never been to an away game (unless u count cup finals in 2010 and last year!) but must do it some time. The FAI have seriously gotta do something about this farce.
yes the LOI is not at the premier league standard,and never will be without money and investment,but as a weekly attendee of games its not as bad as some people think or say, and for a gate fee of roughly 15 quid its alot cheaper than “Irish football fans” who spend 60 pounds sterling plus air fare every other week to support “their” team. The fai and Ireland fans need to realise that grassroots starts at home,and without their support the national team will continue to suffer as it has the past two weeks. shamrock rovers made history for Irish football with their appearence in Europe last season and the gap between irish football was shown for what it is,but surly if a full time fai funded Irish league existed to blood players was in place this appearence in European football would not just be a flash in the pan,and the level our football would be played at would improve. people need to realise that football in this country will die on its feet without support from both the fai and the football loving public. rant over….
Absolutely spot on Ciaran. It is important that people see the value of the LOI and attend games. Without the LOI fewer young players will get the chance to develop and there will be fewer James McCleans. As a Derry City fan there is no better feeling than supporting your own team and seeing young local talent flourish and make it to the very top. It’s not English Premiership stuff but it offers a connection with a locality that a remote English team cannot possibly provide.
“EMBATTLED LEAGUE OF Ireland outfit Monaghan United has opted to withdraw from top-flight football rather than shoulder the financial burden attendant upon completing the current season”
What part of that sentence suggests that the authour doesn’t know that its mid season?
Sad to see this happening especially the last couple of years. Clubs that try to make the jump to a full time set up seems to be a gamble, which unfortunatly dosnt pay off alot of the time. It also seems there is a lack of support from the LOI.
It should be considered a criminal offence! Honestly there could never be justification for it in a country where support of local soccer clubs is so low!
The standard of football excuse is starting to wear a bit thin tbh, especially considering the VASTLY exagerrated standard of football in everyones beloved “mighty Premiership”. It really is nothing more then laziness and apathy towards our own. Nothing annoys me more then the end of May every year when you get the usual “don’t know what I’m going to do for the next 8 weeks now with no football being on”.
People need to get out and support their local clubs, its as simple as.
Well said Val. 20,000 fans watch Millwall play at home rather than going to Chelsea, Arsenal or Spurs! 20,000 fans watch Standard Liege play at home rather than crossing the border to watch the vastly superior Bayern Munich. The FAI should use this tournament to generate interest in the domestic league instead of letting it fall apart!
The simple reality of the matter is the vast majority of Irish football fans prefer their football on TV than going out to watch it. While millions of people tune in each week to watch football beamed in from England or Spain League of Ireland games attract attendances more often measured in hundreds than thousands. Against such massive disinterest it is impossible to run a professional league be it either full time or part time. The financial rewards of League of Ireland are such that many talented players chose to remain in their own local junior leagues where they don’t have to travel far for games.
The armchair fan who decrys the standards of LoI invariably has only ever been at a couple of gamesand these often years apart. Despite their indepth knowledge of players teams and grounds in the UK they would struggle to name half a dozen LoI players. Their knowledge of tactics, formations and rules have been lovingly imparted to them by Alan Hansen, Andy Gray, Gary Lineker etc. They will tell you, if you’re prepared to listen ,of their trip to Old Trafford or Anfield or some other Premier League ground, about the crowd, the athmosphere , the game. These are often the people who wouldn’t dream of going to Landsdowne Road for the qualifier against the likes of Latvia but will complain bitterly about how the “genuine fans” can’t tickets for the big qualifier against France or whoever. If you can get them to count you invariably find that these massive fans have actaully attended less than one live match for each year of their lives. And yet these are the people that the League of Ireland need to attract.
The rugby comparison is probably unfair in that rugby has only four professional teams in the country who do not play in a domestic league. The structure of football is such that UEFA will never allow a European League as exists in rugby so the only outlet for the FAI to harness that huge interest in football is through the senior international side. Their promotion of that aspect at the expense of the domestic game is relentless. In many ways the LoI appears to be a neccessary irritant to the FAI in that to remain within UEFA they must run the domestic league. I susppect that if a Euro League were to be set up at the expense of domestic leagues the FAI would be the first to sign up.
The poor performance in the Euros certainly requires much thought but it is impossible to build a structure from the top down which is exactly what the FAI have done and are trying to do. A fraction of the salaries paid to the management teamof the senior side would make such a difference to a club like Monaghan United. The FAI have got to look after the game in this country first and foremost and try to stop the drain of money from this country to the game in the UK. There have been many noted noted Irish investors in UK clubs, like Celtic, Sunderland, and Man U, not to mention the likes of Carlisle, Peterborough in the lower leagues there. It is investment like that the FAI must chase for the domestic game if they have any interest in it. The first step will be to start to educate the fans about the importance of the domestic game. I am sure that players like James McClean, Seamus Coleman. Shane Long. Kevin Doyle etc who have played LOI would willingly assist in a advertising campaign to help the league that launched their careers and brought them riches they could only dream about. It might not be much but it would be a start and could be followed by the FAI investing in upgrading facilities in the LoI grounds. This is the route that Bordn na gConn successfully pursued with greyhound stadiums around the country a few years ago.
The ball is truely in the FAI’s court now and as they have their board meeting amidst the glamour of the Euros in Poland they might well reflect that holding the next one in the club bar in Gortakeegan would be a proper reality check on the state of the game here.
Scrap the league entirely and introduce a new league with county teams. Town/city clubs are just too small to survive on their own or to invest anything for the future. County teams are the way to go. The rivalry is already there for over 100 years.
Spot on… There are far too many Dublin teams in the LoI. Perhaps the provincial model of rugby (modified) where local clubs feed into a representative team.
A ten or twelve team league with larger population centres having two teams (for the obligatory local derbies), and regional teams incorporating, for example, Carlow, Laois, Kilkenny, another with Wexford, Wicklow and Waterford… etc.
By all means have regional ‘senior’ leagues where the clubs have their breeding ground, yet feed into the representative sides.
I’m not articulating this terribly well, but hopefully you’ll get the idea!
that doesn’t solve anything?scrapping one league of teams to create other league of teams to do the same thing? your obviously not a loi fan either,Waterford utd, wexford youths, cork city,sligo rovers,limerick, longford town, derry city, and up Untill this morning there was monaghan utd.There already is rivalry which is fierce and well fought, the bottom line in money,both from investment from the fai and from income earned at the stalls week in week out.
@Ciaran I agree with you in terms of rivalry. However, it’s unsustainable. You’re right, I’m not a LoI fan (anymore) – but, I was once, and could be again, if it was done correctly. Again, struggling for articulation, but it has to change to make the product (horrible term) more attractive to average punters.
Does this mean that Sligo Rovers are back in the FAI cup. No seriously it is a shame, they did seem to be improving. Maybe if they stuck at it they could have attracted more supporters however the consensus seems to be that most clubs based in large towns/small cities garner pretty much all their support from the town itself and cant attract any support from around their surrounding county and regions. Would soccer fans from Cavan have considered supporting Monaghan Utd, unfortunately a natural GAA type mentality means they probably didn’t.
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This is poxy. Everyone across europe knows the words to “The Fields of Athenry” and at home a club is going down the pan due to apathy towards domestic football. Gonna get worse too.
Most people only know the chorus to the fields of athenry lol
The standard is poor, that’s the reason people don’t watch, it’s not some pro-English pseudo conspiracy or anything to be ashamed about that most football fans want to watch a good standard league. Also, the league may improve if more people went but not significantly, we’re a tiny country, best way to improve football here is to unite with the UK leagues. At least an all-island league may be a start
Never said there was a conspiracy. You might be surprised at the standard if you went though.
MnB, both of your arguments are flawed. Firstly, it’s plain you’ve not attended many LoI matches as there is in fact a relatively high standard of football, despite the poor support they receive from the FAI. I’d put the Irish Premier Division roughly on par with the Npower League 1. Secondly, the argument that because we’re a tiny country we can’t have a good league is specious to say the least. We have a similar population to countries such as Denmark, Switzerland and indeed Croatia, so on the face of it we should be able to have comparable leagues. The real issue is the popularity of the GAA as a national sport over football.
The Irish will fly around the world to watch football, but won’t walk down the street. The state of the game in this counry is depressing, all the more so because we’ve had to listen to two weeks of hearing how we’re the “best football fans in the world”.
You’re right Donal. Is this the same mentality that insists that we need to “keep confidence high” to ensure that we have a “successful economy”? It’s all a bit post colonial really.
Devastating news
Small towns like Monaghan, Cobh & Kilkenny will never have the population to support a team. Fewer teams based in Dublin & the bigger cities, cities with football cultures Waterford, Cork & Limerick are they way forward. The move to summer football has been a good idea.
Delaney’s rounds for the fans over in Poland would have kept Monaghan afloat for years. But sure he earns more than the president of America. He is worth it though, after all he is in charge of the league and the FAI.
Clubs just don’t have the support anymore and the fai don’t seem to care about the smaller clubs because they can’t make money off them, look at the situation in limerick where the club has been blocked from hosting a big game against Barcelona and now they have been stopped from hosting a tournament involving Chelsea, Celtic and two other teams, this was a huge coup for limerick fc and would be a huge earner for the club had the greedy fai let it go ahead. What hope do these small teams have in the future
John delaney’s on 450k a year or something, scandalous.
You are 100 per cent correct Frank, the greed, and the pettiness of the FAI , is mind boggling , the are reaping what the sewed now in Poland .
As a Limerick FC fan, I find the way the FAI treat them to be absolutely appalling. It’s not like they’re a rich club with a wealthy backer, so events like the Barca match would have been a massive financial help in attempting to re-enter the Premier Division (hopefully) next year. The FAI are nothing but a bunch of scoundrels.
clubs in shite,John Delaney earns over 430K,getting pissed in Poland with his buddies at probably our expense,Carlsberg don’t do Football Associations………
Kind of symptomatic of the Irish attitude to football that the author of this piece doesn’t seem to know that our league is in mid-season…
I was kinda wondering about that myself
Sad sad news. I’m a huge Man Utd and Ireland fan but something told me to take a more active interest in LOI. So I started doing the hour long drive to Sligo and every chance I get I’m done to watch The Bit of Red. And I’ve never had so much Craic.
The people and club officials could not be more welcoming. I’m welcomed by name (you wouldn’t get that at a premiership match regardless of how many years attendance) and the real buzz around the place is uplifting.
People should really start going to local soccer matches as they need the revenue FAR MORE than Delaney and his pals in Abbotstown. Over 400 grand a year for his job? He’s a disgrace.
There is a solution that would be mutually beneficial to both the domestic league and national team! If a huge drive was put on to increase technical abilities in our younger players perhaps in years to come we would reap the benefits on both fronts! I’d love to be able to go to games on a frequent basis but not a single other football fan I know is interested! Too busy saving for their monthly trips to OT!
Ted all it takes is one game! Fair play for trying but keep at them! Who do u follow out of interest???
Kevin I would consider myself a Pats fan but the last game I was able to drag anyone to was the European qualifier in the RDS against Hertha! I think that was 2008! Used to be great travelling around Dublin to the different grounds! Atmosphere usually very good!
Ah I love it! Never been to an away game (unless u count cup finals in 2010 and last year!) but must do it some time. The FAI have seriously gotta do something about this farce.
yes the LOI is not at the premier league standard,and never will be without money and investment,but as a weekly attendee of games its not as bad as some people think or say, and for a gate fee of roughly 15 quid its alot cheaper than “Irish football fans” who spend 60 pounds sterling plus air fare every other week to support “their” team. The fai and Ireland fans need to realise that grassroots starts at home,and without their support the national team will continue to suffer as it has the past two weeks. shamrock rovers made history for Irish football with their appearence in Europe last season and the gap between irish football was shown for what it is,but surly if a full time fai funded Irish league existed to blood players was in place this appearence in European football would not just be a flash in the pan,and the level our football would be played at would improve. people need to realise that football in this country will die on its feet without support from both the fai and the football loving public. rant over….
Absolutely spot on Ciaran. It is important that people see the value of the LOI and attend games. Without the LOI fewer young players will get the chance to develop and there will be fewer James McCleans. As a Derry City fan there is no better feeling than supporting your own team and seeing young local talent flourish and make it to the very top. It’s not English Premiership stuff but it offers a connection with a locality that a remote English team cannot possibly provide.
“EMBATTLED LEAGUE OF Ireland outfit Monaghan United has opted to withdraw from top-flight football rather than shoulder the financial burden attendant upon completing the current season”
What part of that sentence suggests that the authour doesn’t know that its mid season?
Thanks Damian, but the lads are referring to an earlier draft of the post. It included a typo.
Apologies all!
The greatest fans in the world will now be singing a fields of anfield road from the comfort of a barstool
Sad to see this happening especially the last couple of years. Clubs that try to make the jump to a full time set up seems to be a gamble, which unfortunatly dosnt pay off alot of the time. It also seems there is a lack of support from the LOI.
I presume many clubs could be rescued by supporting them E430,000 every year instead of one person’s pocket…
It should be considered a criminal offence! Honestly there could never be justification for it in a country where support of local soccer clubs is so low!
The standard of football excuse is starting to wear a bit thin tbh, especially considering the VASTLY exagerrated standard of football in everyones beloved “mighty Premiership”. It really is nothing more then laziness and apathy towards our own. Nothing annoys me more then the end of May every year when you get the usual “don’t know what I’m going to do for the next 8 weeks now with no football being on”.
People need to get out and support their local clubs, its as simple as.
I agree entirely
Well said Val. 20,000 fans watch Millwall play at home rather than going to Chelsea, Arsenal or Spurs! 20,000 fans watch Standard Liege play at home rather than crossing the border to watch the vastly superior Bayern Munich. The FAI should use this tournament to generate interest in the domestic league instead of letting it fall apart!
Does this mean Roddy is available to take over from Trap, coincidence, I don’t think so.
The simple reality of the matter is the vast majority of Irish football fans prefer their football on TV than going out to watch it. While millions of people tune in each week to watch football beamed in from England or Spain League of Ireland games attract attendances more often measured in hundreds than thousands. Against such massive disinterest it is impossible to run a professional league be it either full time or part time. The financial rewards of League of Ireland are such that many talented players chose to remain in their own local junior leagues where they don’t have to travel far for games.
The armchair fan who decrys the standards of LoI invariably has only ever been at a couple of gamesand these often years apart. Despite their indepth knowledge of players teams and grounds in the UK they would struggle to name half a dozen LoI players. Their knowledge of tactics, formations and rules have been lovingly imparted to them by Alan Hansen, Andy Gray, Gary Lineker etc. They will tell you, if you’re prepared to listen ,of their trip to Old Trafford or Anfield or some other Premier League ground, about the crowd, the athmosphere , the game. These are often the people who wouldn’t dream of going to Landsdowne Road for the qualifier against the likes of Latvia but will complain bitterly about how the “genuine fans” can’t tickets for the big qualifier against France or whoever. If you can get them to count you invariably find that these massive fans have actaully attended less than one live match for each year of their lives. And yet these are the people that the League of Ireland need to attract.
The rugby comparison is probably unfair in that rugby has only four professional teams in the country who do not play in a domestic league. The structure of football is such that UEFA will never allow a European League as exists in rugby so the only outlet for the FAI to harness that huge interest in football is through the senior international side. Their promotion of that aspect at the expense of the domestic game is relentless. In many ways the LoI appears to be a neccessary irritant to the FAI in that to remain within UEFA they must run the domestic league. I susppect that if a Euro League were to be set up at the expense of domestic leagues the FAI would be the first to sign up.
The poor performance in the Euros certainly requires much thought but it is impossible to build a structure from the top down which is exactly what the FAI have done and are trying to do. A fraction of the salaries paid to the management teamof the senior side would make such a difference to a club like Monaghan United. The FAI have got to look after the game in this country first and foremost and try to stop the drain of money from this country to the game in the UK. There have been many noted noted Irish investors in UK clubs, like Celtic, Sunderland, and Man U, not to mention the likes of Carlisle, Peterborough in the lower leagues there. It is investment like that the FAI must chase for the domestic game if they have any interest in it. The first step will be to start to educate the fans about the importance of the domestic game. I am sure that players like James McClean, Seamus Coleman. Shane Long. Kevin Doyle etc who have played LOI would willingly assist in a advertising campaign to help the league that launched their careers and brought them riches they could only dream about. It might not be much but it would be a start and could be followed by the FAI investing in upgrading facilities in the LoI grounds. This is the route that Bordn na gConn successfully pursued with greyhound stadiums around the country a few years ago.
The ball is truely in the FAI’s court now and as they have their board meeting amidst the glamour of the Euros in Poland they might well reflect that holding the next one in the club bar in Gortakeegan would be a proper reality check on the state of the game here.
very well said John.nail and head comes to mind
Scrap the league entirely and introduce a new league with county teams. Town/city clubs are just too small to survive on their own or to invest anything for the future. County teams are the way to go. The rivalry is already there for over 100 years.
Spot on… There are far too many Dublin teams in the LoI. Perhaps the provincial model of rugby (modified) where local clubs feed into a representative team.
A ten or twelve team league with larger population centres having two teams (for the obligatory local derbies), and regional teams incorporating, for example, Carlow, Laois, Kilkenny, another with Wexford, Wicklow and Waterford… etc.
By all means have regional ‘senior’ leagues where the clubs have their breeding ground, yet feed into the representative sides.
I’m not articulating this terribly well, but hopefully you’ll get the idea!
that doesn’t solve anything?scrapping one league of teams to create other league of teams to do the same thing? your obviously not a loi fan either,Waterford utd, wexford youths, cork city,sligo rovers,limerick, longford town, derry city, and up Untill this morning there was monaghan utd.There already is rivalry which is fierce and well fought, the bottom line in money,both from investment from the fai and from income earned at the stalls week in week out.
@Ciaran I agree with you in terms of rivalry. However, it’s unsustainable. You’re right, I’m not a LoI fan (anymore) – but, I was once, and could be again, if it was done correctly. Again, struggling for articulation, but it has to change to make the product (horrible term) more attractive to average punters.
Heartbroken
Does this mean that Sligo Rovers are back in the FAI cup. No seriously it is a shame, they did seem to be improving. Maybe if they stuck at it they could have attracted more supporters however the consensus seems to be that most clubs based in large towns/small cities garner pretty much all their support from the town itself and cant attract any support from around their surrounding county and regions. Would soccer fans from Cavan have considered supporting Monaghan Utd, unfortunately a natural GAA type mentality means they probably didn’t.
experience and facilities into the development of football in the county of Monaghan”.
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