Kildare GAA to withdraw teams if finances don't improve

By Daragh Ó Conchúir

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.

To that end, 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 an up-front sum of a minimum of €1000 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.

Tickets for the draw are priced at €100 with the bottom category of allocation relating to 29 tickets and an initial payment of €1000. The next category is 58 tickets for €2000, rising to €3,000 for 86 tickets and €4,000 for 115. Clubs in the first category will have to sell 16 tickets to break even but will make a profit of €1900 if they sell their entire allocation. Clubs will have their names put on unsold tickets.

While there have been some grumblings around the board’s failure to control spending in recent years and the demands being placed on clubs as a result, there is a general acceptance that 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.