Gavin urges financial restraint

LEAGUE of Ireland director Fran Gavin has warned clubs that it is vital they keep their houses in order this year.

Speaking in Tallaght at the official launch of the 2009 season, Gavin called on club owners and managers to exercise strict control of budgets.

“The bottom line,” he said, “is that clubs owe it to players and fans that spending in 2009 is realistic. We expect clubs to take that responsibility. We owe it to the fans that short-term goals do not jeopardise the long-term future of the club. Our league is strong and getting stronger and I believe that short-term pain will translate into long-term gain. Hopes are high that progress can be made on and off the pitch.”

Gavin conceded that the introduction last season of the FAI’s mandatory Salary Cost Protocol — which caps payment to players at 65% of turnover — was “a painful but necessary corrective”. Previously, 95% of income in the league had gone on players’ wages which he described as “the highest ratio in European football” and which UEFA general secretary David Taylor – the guest of honour at yesterday’s event — called “an unenviable record”.

Taylor went on to praise the FAI for their cost control measures and Gavin said that the future of the domestic game was “healthier” as a result of the Salary Cost Protocol and other initiatives, citing a reduction in the league’s accumulated losses from €7m in 2007 to €3.5m in 2008. The goal now, he said, was to try and achieve break-even in 2010.

Despite the absence of a title sponsor for the 2009 season, the new multi-sponsorship deal for the league sees an increase in the prize fund to over €1m, representing a 26% increase on last year, according to the FAI. “In these times, to increase the prize money by that amount is a good achievement by the organisation,” said the Association’s chief executive John Delaney.

However, the FAI boss admitted that RTÉ’s decision not to proceed with their regular Friday night live radio coverage of the league was something to be regretted, although he insisted that the domestic game would still have a high profile in the electronic media.

Yesterday’s launch took place at the Maldron Hotel overlooking Shamrock Rovers’ new home in the Tallaght Stadium. Finishing touches are still being applied to the ground but Rovers chairman Jonathan Roche yesterday assured visitors that it would be open for business in time for the club’s first home game of the new season, against Sligo Rovers on Friday March 13.

Current capacity in the impressive new ground is 3,300, and a further 3,000 will be added when a twin stand is completed directly across from the existing stand in the summer. The stadium will eventually be a UEFA Category Three ground.

As a Category Three ground, the new stadium, when completed, will be able to host European club qualifying games and U-21 internationals.

According to Roche, 1,600 season tickets have already been sold in advance of the ground’s opening, and the first two home games — against Sligo and Derry City — are guaranteed sell-outs.

The Rovers team, under new manager Michael O’ Neill, will hold their first training session on the Tallaght Stadium pitch today.

Meanwhile, Cork City submitted their audited accounts to the FAI by yesterday’s extended club licensing deadline and have had their Premier Division licence confirmed for the 2009 season.