FAI puts brave face on glum figures

DESPITE showing a massive loss for 2008, the FAI continues to insist there are better times ahead for Irish football.

Delegates at Saturday’s AGM in Monaghan heard that the Association retained a deficit of just over €16 million for 2008 – down from a surplus of €4m the previous year – some €5m of which was written off as “exceptional costs” arising from its funding and commitments to the Aviva Stadium development project.

However, citing confidentiality agreements, the FAI would not give any further details of those exceptional costs, nor would chief executive John Delaney be drawn on the precise number of 10-year tickets sold to date under the Association’s controversial Vantage Club scheme.

“We’ve huge support from within the game in terms of ticket sales – a lot of the members who were here have bought tickets,” said Delaney.

“The two grassroots schemes are going really, really well. But I’m not going to comment on the figures, you know that. I don’t talk about managers’ contracts and I don’t talk about the sales to date because we have a confidentiality agreement in place with (sales partners) ISG and IMG. But we’ll be okay, we’ll be fine.

“As I said in my address, people said we wouldn’t build it, people said we wouldn’t get planning, people said we wouldn’t get the money to pay for it – we’re doing all those things.”

Delaney said that 60% sales of the 10,000 tickets available under the scheme would get the association to a break-even position.

“And I’ll tell you what,” he said, “we’ll hit that 60% (by the projected opening date in August next year). I’m confident of that. Absolutely.”

Delaney also said that the association’s borrowing to cover funding commitments to the stadium was normal practice for such massive projects.

“Other sporting bodies like the GAA and IRFU they have borrowed in terms of the stadiums they have been involved with,” he pointed out, “as have the Welsh and the Scots, the English, all over Europe. When you buy a house you get a mortgage. We spoke well over a year ago to put a (borrowing) plan together for our requirements, and we have that in place for maybe a year and a half.”

Admitting that 2008 was a tough trading year for the Association, the FAI cited the lack of competitive home fixtures as a major factor in loss of revenue.

“It was not a surprise, the board budgeted for all of that,” said John Delaney. “We sat down in 2007 and we knew 2008 was going to be a tough trading year but as I said we cannot just turn the tap off at the end of 2007 and turn our back on 2009.

“All of our money goes into the investment of the game, I think we’ve seen those changes radically and throughout the organisation, be it with coaching side, the elite side or the participation side. All the wonderful things we’ve done in Monaghan this week have been an example of that.”

Honorary treasurer Eddie Murray told the AGM that the association was projecting a return to surplus for 2009, boosted in no small part by the money-spinning World Cup home game against Italy in October which guarantees a full house and significant broadcasting rights.

John Delaney also maintained that when the Aviva Stadium comes on stream it will both cut costs associated with the hire of Croke Park and help generate fresh income streams.

Said the chief executive: “Our trading deficit (for 2008) is €10m or €11m – and, of course, the extra €5m in a once off cost – but just to give it context: had we played our 2008 calendar, one competitive game at home and three friendlies, in the Aviva stadium the net benefit to the association would have been €5m.

“We’ve been delighted with the availability of Croke Park but there’s no doubt that owning half of your own stadium brings really significant financial earnings and by the time you take sale proceeds for any game above 50,000 and you put in the cost of hosting a game in the Aviva stadium, if you work that out that’s €1.25m per match of a difference from 2008 in Croke Park to games played in the Aviva Stadium.”

Under persistent questioning from the floor on Saturday, honorary secretary Michael Cody denied that the Association had breached either company law or its own rules by only issuing the accounts on the day of the AGM.

And Delaney added: “Some of the people asked questions, which they are entitled to do, but the broad feeling in the game is that we didn’t want our accounts on view for two weeks in the media which we all know would have happened.”

Of course, the big bonus for the FAI would be qualification for South Africa next year, something which John Delaney confirmed has not been factored into the Association’s projections.

Meanwhile, the FAI have announced that next year’s AGM – and associated ‘Festival of Football’ – is scheduled to take place in Wexford in August 2010.