Council ‘surprised’ as Bray Wanderers chairman reveals ambitious plans

In an astonishing statement posted on their website, Bray Wanderers chairman Gerry Mulvey claimed that the club’s immediate future is secure as well as announcing that they are in negotiations to leave the Carlisle Grounds and purchase a new ground.

However, expressing surprise at the statement, Wicklow County Council subsequently said that it has had no discussion with Bray Wanderers about the redevelopment of the Carlisle Grounds. And, as of yesterday, it’s understood that some Bray players were still seeking evidence that their contracts would continue to be honoured at the club.

But what really sent social media into overdrive was some of the content of the original Bray statement, including the chairman’s reference to Wicklow County as “the North Korea of Ireland for business”, his claim that the rezoning of the Carlisle Grounds would fund an academy, based on the Barcelona and Man Utd models, to “rival the best in the world” and, by way of conclusion, a quote from Ghanaian writer Ernest Agyemang Yeboah, aimed at what Mulvey dubbed “naysayers”, which included the line: