FAI open talks with John Martin to become chief football officer

The former Hoops player left his Tallaght role recently.

Then Shamrock Rovers’ CEO John Martin at the Aviva Stadium earlier this season. Pic: INPHO/Ryan Byrne

The FAI have opened negotiations with ex-Shamrock Rovers chief executive John Martin to become their new chief football officer but no appointment has been rubberstamped by the association’s board.

Martin recently departed Rovers amid a power struggle at board level and was close to being recruited as the FAI’s chief football officer before Christina Kenny was chosen in February.

Final interviews held last week for the CFO vacancy whittled the field down to Martin against John Morling and the panel – consisting of chief executive David Courell, President Paul Cooke and head of high performance Packie Bonner –opted for the Irish-born candidate as their preference.

However, no deal has been finalised and the title conferred may not be that of chief football officer, as was originally detailed in the job advertisement.

Under that specification, both senior team managers, Heimir Hallgrímsson and Carla Ward, were to report to the CFO - the same line management structure under Marc Canham, who quit in February.

Martin doesn’t possess the Uefa Pro License listed as ‘desirable’ in the key skills and experience required, only the A License.

Spearheading the coach education syllabus forms a fundamental part of the role.

Courell has been in discussions with Martin in recent days fine-tuning his precise list of duties but his name has not been proposed to the 12-person board for ratification.

They last met on Tuesday to ratify the transformational plan that will entail a significant reduction of the 251-person workforce through voluntary and compulsory redundancies over the next four months.

Martin (45) left his job in Irish Life to join Rovers in June 2023 but tabled his notice to quit in April.

Dermot Desmond, who owns 25% of the Hoops, quickly gave his opinion on the background.

"It is over five years since I invested in Shamrock Rovers FC with your support,” he said in a letter to members.

“I am delighted that the funds provided helped play a part in putting Rovers on a sounder financial footing, the on-field success of recent years and allowing investment in the academy plan to continue and bear fruit.

"Unfortunately, in that time three high quality people have resigned as CEO, when all would otherwise have preferred to stay. In my view this is largely due to some non-executive directors appointed to represent the members club on the board of the football club acting in their own interest, rather than in the best interests of both you the membership and the club."

Martin (45) has been involved with the national league since joining UCD in 1997.

Son of Paul, who played in Athlone Town’s famous 1975 UEFA Cup scoreless draw against the mighty AC Milan and brother of Robbie, he played for the Students, Longford Town – winning the 2004 FAI Cup – before lining out for Shamrock Rovers.

A persistent hip injury during his two years at Tallaght eventually led to him retiring in early 2009 but he migrated into coaching, leading his family club, Leixlip Town, to success.

He worked as an assistant to Kevin Doherty at Shelbourne and Daire Doyle at Longford, coached the PFAI squad in Oslo in 2015 and served a stint as Rovers U19 manager.