Financial woes may force Kildare GAA to cut teams

Kildare are facing the prospect of having to withdraw teams from competition if they don’t get their house in order with regard to finances.

That is the stark message that has been delivered to clubs in a series of meetings in the past week and will be given to delegates at tonight’s county board meeting as they seek support for a major fundraising draw.

New chairman, Ger Donnelly and his committee are desperate to get to grips with a situation that has seen Kildare GAA approach its overdraft limit, following a year that showed a deficit of €180,000.

This deficit existed despite a cash surplus of in excess of €70,000 but with loan repayments of €250,000 a year, income was nowhere near sufficient levels.

The budgetary committee has brought significant reductions in expenses in recent years but last year’s income included funds from two Allianz Football League Division 1 games in Croke Park, as well as a health and safety grant for carrying out improvements to St Conleth’s Park that saw the stadium’s capacity increased from 6,500 to 10,000.

With that funding unavailable to them this year, and the loans for the Hawkfield Centre of Excellence and from Croke Park to be serviced, the situation is perilous. Although team preparation has been quoted as being responsible for just 32% of the expenditure, a further cut in this area will result if sufficient funds are not raised.

The county’s clubs are being asked to participate in an annual grand draw in a bid to raise money. The clubs will retain 65% of their ticket sales but must pay a minimum of €1,000 up front to get their allocations.

There are a number of different categories for allocations, with the county board deciding what categories the clubs will be in if they choose to participate.

While there has been some grumbling around the board’s failure to control spending and the demands being placed on clubs as a result, there is a general acceptance the new committee is attempting to address the situation and that a draw of this magnitude, which offers four cars and €90,000 in cash amongst its prizes, could represent the best way of clawing Kildare GAA out of a deep hole.