Larry Ryan: Convincing the moneymen on FAI’s slow climb to excellence
DRIVEN: Ireland U21 manager Jim Crawford, pictured in Cork. Pic: Denis Minihane.
This week I was flicking through the 2014 book , the autobiography of Arnold O’Byrne, who ran Opel Ireland in the 80s and 90s. In it, he recalls the evening the FAI rang asking if Opel would consider offering a car, at a knockdown price, for a raffle, to raise a few quid.
What about sponsorship instead, Arnold countered, and had an excited deputation of three FAI officials in his office the following morning. He was surprised by the thoroughness of the presentation they’d managed to put together overnight, though later learned this was a well-worn pitch that had been delivered to half the firms in the land, with no joy.
He agreed a deal, anyhow — £400,000 for four years as main sponsor. And was duly lambasted by the rest of his management team, upon breaking this news.
“After an initial silence, they told me in no uncertain terms that I had made a mistake, a big mistake, and recounted tales of the ineptitude of the FAI, apocryphal or otherwise, to convince me of my error.”
Arnold had the last laugh on this one, of course, getting in on the ground floor before the Italia ‘90 buzz soon saw the Irish lads hawking everything from cheese slices to bureau de change services.
But of course that golden FAI age as a suitable bedfellow for bluechip corporates was well and truly squandered. And no doubt many presentations have been fruitlessly delivered in the last few years. And many who fancied a punt, like Arnold, have been warned off by their board.
This week’s branding makeover is seen by some as the latest gambit by the FAI to secure a main sponsor for the men’s teams. The separation of the FAI from the national teams, via two new logos, regarded as an attempt to cleanse the on-field operation of taint by association with gaffes in the corridors of governance.
Yet that might be unfair. The association has elected to stick with the FAI name, despite speculation there would be a full reboot. Chief executive Jonathan Hill was bullish in his briefing to the General Assembly, citing strong ticket sales and five new sponsors ready to do business, even if top billing remains unsold.
So what would it take for companies to once more covet a place on the chests of Ireland players? Qualification for a big one would help. But outside of that. What does the association have to do? Or what does the corporate world need to see?
Jim Crawford, the Ireland U21 boss, was in Cork this week, checking out Turner’s Cross, visiting the Fota Island hotel, meeting clubs, people, smelling the Corkness. Seeing if it would work to replant the Ireland U21s’ base to Leeside. He is hopeful, detecting a hunger for live sport in Cork that won’t resist the excitement around a new wave of Irish talent. But everything will have to be right. Standards of preparation will be the priority.
Crawford always comes across as reflective, measured, humble, but driven. He is writing his thesis for a Masters in Coaching Science at the University of Limerick. Part of his study forced him to reflect on why exactly he is coaching, what is his motivation. What will keep him going, if a bad decision costs you a game? Or if a fine qualification campaign ends in pain, like the last one did in a shootout with Israel?
He decided, as an important cog on our development pathway, that his chief motivation is to help every player on his watch to reach his ceiling, whatever that is. “It might be as a senior international, it might be an amazing career in the Championship. That’s what drives me.”
Planning for results aside, he aims to improve technically every player who earns an Ireland call, which seems a tall order, in short camps, when most of their learning is done under club managers whose jobs hinge on them doing things the way they want.
But he broke down how that can be achieved, with time and patience.
“I watch, as much as I can, every minute that every player plays with their club. It’s a lot of time but I could see something in a game I can talk about with him in a Zoom call. I can’t go in saying, you should be doing this, should be doing that. Clubs have got their own philosophy, it might not map itself onto ours. But you can help him technically with something he can practise. Whether it’s checking his shoulders before he receives the ball, his body shape. And you hope he takes that on board and works on it, though I physically can’t stand there and pass balls into him until he comes into camp.
“I’d get along with most of the club coaches anyway. So I find out if there is an individual learning plan for that player. And then we try to incorporate it into our training sessions.”
His Masters forced Jim to reflect on something else: What does it mean to be an excellent coach? What does excellence look like?
And that, I suppose, is what everyone working for the FAI has to ask. And then have the time and patience for the slow climb to excellence in every facet. Ultimately, the moneymen won’t be betting on a logo or a brand identity, they will be trusting people with vision and ability.
No doubt many in the organisation are well along that road. One morning this week, former Cork City great Derek Coughlan oversaw more than 100 fifth and sixth-class girls play in the Primary School 5s FAI tournament in Carrigaline. Many of the players looked accomplished veterans of the local leagues. But others might have been fairly new to the great old game, not that it seemed to be impairing their enjoyment.
Amid the high drama, Derek, now an FAI Development Officer, was consoling the unfortunates who missed pens in nail-biting shootouts and joining in the gleeful celebrations of the winners. The execution of the event was excellent. Social media shows the scenes were replicated with boys and girls from schools across the country, all dreaming of a trip to the Aviva. It's the kind of mobilisation of community spirit the GAA does so well and gets so much credit for. No wonder Spar are back as headline sponsors.
No doubt there's much to work on too, but there seems to be lots in place around Irish football to suggest a helping hand from the corporate world mightn’t be wasted this time. The women's qualification. Encouraging results across the underage teams. A genuine buzz around the League of Ireland. Academy structures that are the green shoots of a proper local football industry. But there’s a missing ingredient. Money.
Crawford read recently about the number of full-time coaches employed by Luton Town and figured we don’t have as many across all the clubs in this country. How can we ensure a primary or secondary school kid gets the football education he needs at home?
“There are lots of outstanding coaches who have to take credit for the players that are produced, But we always have to say let's get better, but it’s down to funding.
“Football is the highest participation sport in the country and it isn’t really reflected in funding. I think we just need to sit down with the powers that be and convince them: let’s get more money into our games.”
