Rebels with yet another just cause
Yesterday, another D-Day passed – and yet another looms in the High Court on Monday – but, with the unhappy vista of a Premier Division without Cork City weighing as heavily on minds in Dublin as it does in Cork, there’s a sense that, assuming there is a speedy and successful conclusion to the takeover bid, everything possible will be done to ensure one of the country’s best-supported clubs remains in the top flight next season.
But that will only be a cause for celebration if the new owners can avoid a repeat of the traumas which befell the club over the past season. And, indeed, the season before that. Because it’s not as if we haven’t been here before. Recall that even as City were lifting the FAI Cup in 2007 – just two years after they had won the league – captain Dan Murray was railing against the regime of then owners Arkaga.
Then came the abrupt departure of the said Arkaga, the near-death experience of examinership and the emergence of Tom Coughlan as the putative man on the white horse. One Setanta Cup victory later and even the FAI’s John Delaney was hailing the miracle on the Lee.
Since then it’s been a wearying tale of one financial crisis after another, a dizzying downward spiral of brinkmanship, broken promises and 11th hour escapes. Almost every time Coughlan announced a corner had been turned, the club promptly ran headlong into another oncoming bus (which, at times, might even have seemed preferable to the embarrassment of not being allowed to board the same vehicle, as happened on one especially dismal occasion last season). Somehow, in the midst of all this, and even with some of the club’s best players departing the scene, Cork managed to end the season with a European place – a remarkable testament to the talent and commitment of then manager Paul Doolin and his team.
But that the achievement came at huge personal cost – and not only financially but in terms of peace of mind – was made vividly clear by Dan Murray as he spoke about the stress caused by non-payment and late payment of wages. Describing last Christmas as “the worst he’s ever experienced”, the skipper said: “You can’t buy presents or travel home to England to see the family because you haven’t any money. You can’t put petrol in the car, can’t buy your family presents, you’re borrowing money off people just to pay the bills and put food on the table. I wouldn’t wish it upon your worst enemy.”
If ever there were rebels with a just cause, it’s the players who spoke out yesterday – and others, like Joe Gamble, who also gave vent to their anger and frustration during the course of a season of discontent. The players were just the most high-profile victims of the chaos – behind the scenes, other staffers were also struggling to make ends meet. Nothing is worth that. Not victory or defeat, not titles or relegation battles, not the weight of a club’s history or the hope for its future that always beats in the supporters’ hearts. If Cork City is to continue as a club playing professional football, whoever is in charge will have to ensure that, as a matter of priority its employees are looked after.
BUT then, it’s not as if we haven’t been here before. When Shelbourne’s gloried European express finally derailed, I recall talking after one game to a player who, lured by the prospect of a full-time career as a well-paid footballer, had given up a stable and potentially lucrative alternative trade, only to now find himself bedecked with medals but suddenly unable to pay the mortgage.
And that was in the era of boom. Now, in the era of bust – when the harsh experience suffered by the Cork City players is mirrored, to varying degrees, in the lives of many in the world beyond football – it’s a moot point whether the professional game can really be sustained in this country at all.
For all that, City have been rightly hailed for the passion and size of the club’s support, it has to be seen in the context of a domestic game which exerts only a modest popular appeal, not just in comparison with elite GAA or rugby, but also when set against the seemingly huge appetite for soccer in England. Again, this is not a new story – in truth, that battle was lost as long as 30 years ago – but it does mean that one club’s woes, however much mismanagement might add to the problems, can be viewed in isolation from the reality that low attendances are the norm at League of Ireland’s games.
The FAI’s John Delaney has indicated that he sees a silver lining to the cloud of the widespread financial problems in the domestic game in recent years, telling an Oireachteas Committee in December that many clubs have made considerable progress towards achieving what he calls a more sustainable business model.
The irony, of course, is that it was in the era of high wages that standards were visibly raised on the pitch, allowing the dream of European glory to appear more real than ever before. Now, with costs cut and budgets slashed, and players more likely to opt for the lower leagues in England – if that’s what will ensure a measure of job security – it remains to be seen if playing standards can be sustained.
Meantime, we also wait to see if it’s end game or new beginning for Cork City. But then, we’ve been here before too.
