Clubs and counties feeling the pinch

MUNSTER Council PRO Jim Forbes has forecast a significant drop in the total expenditure by clubs and counties in the province on physical development projects over the next few years.

Figures released by the Council yesterday revealed that the figure spent on physical development projects in Munster dropped in 2010 to €14,544,267 from the 2009 total of €22,604,020. Forbes predicts that greater prudence by clubs and county boards due to the worsening economic situation will lead to further falls in that total.

“It was a huge figure that was spent in the province this year but it is way down on previous years. I would expect that figure to continue to drop in the coming years. I think it’s safe to say that there’ll be no major construction projects done by clubs and counties for the foreseeable future. Clubs and county boards will probably be more prudent now.

“The vast majority of clubs would have spent on development over the last decade but at the end of the day whatever a club spends, they’ll have to raise the vast majority of that amount themselves. That is not easy to do now in the current climate and especially with sponsorship starting to drift away. The big National Lottery grants are also gone now.

“But it is still fantastic to see this year the amount of money that was spent in development work throughout the province and that especially in times of recession, clubs are still willing to invest in their grounds and structures. This money has been pumped into the construction industry in Munster at a time of deep economic difficulties for the industry and is helping to keep businesses afloat and keep people employed across the province. I still believe clubs will continue to upgrade their facilities and do maintenance work but the day of the big development is probably over. But we will recover and the country will recover, it just needs to be given time for that to happen.”

Forbes revealed that due to income from gate receipts, the Munster Council was able to re-distribute €3,887,573 to the six counties in the province. That figure was broken down into €1,059,181 in team expenses and field rent, €339,630 in projects, €880,613 in coaching personnel and €1,608,149 in physical development. Clare received €480,752, Limerick was allocated €578,519, a figure of €739,877 went to Tipperary, Cork received €976,642, €746,007 was distributed to Kerry and €365,776 was distributed to Waterford. In addition, the GAA’s Central Council has contributed €2,381,805 to club physical development grants over the same period.

“This money has in the main been generated from gate receipts and illustrates Munster GAA’s commitment to reinvesting the revenue generated from the Munster Championships back into the clubs and counties of Munster”, said Forbes. “The fact that our gates held up at all levels this year allowed us to have the money to give out around the province. It’s a big benefit to clubs that when they go about upgrading their facilities, they know they will be grant-aided.”

Forbes also referenced the Council’s pricing structure for 2010 and insisted that they continue to provide value for money to supporters around the province when it comes to attending championship games.

“We endeavoured to provide value for money to patrons at all times, while still maintaining our commitment to supporting clubs and counties. U16’s are free in to all non-ticket matches. During the 2010 championship season then, Munster GAA introduced a family ticket discount scheme. Over 17,961 children and their families availed of this scheme, and this saved families across the province a total of €403,554.

“In addition 11,927 students and OAP’s received discounted access to ticketed Munster Championship games providing them with savings of €110,000.”

The Council also administered a student bursary scheme across all third-level colleges in Munster which is worth €70,000 to students and contributed a total of €340,000 towards player welfare and other schemes.