League of Ireland clubs to receive up to €3m to kickstart academy model

An initial agreement for €2.6m was agreed in principle last week but that has now increased, it's understood.

FUTURE PROOF: League of Ireland academy development manager Will Clarke. Pic: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

Irish football will finally directly benefit from the government’s budget today, with an expected allocation of up to €3million to kickstart a club-led academy development model.

Pleas for State support have ramped up since Brexit in 2020 raised the age at which Irish cadets can join UK clubs from 16 to 18.

In this absence, the onus on Irish clubs was welcomed but also feared due to the lack of functioning industry to hothouse talent.

While some clubs such as Shamrock Rovers, St Patrick’s Athletic and Bohemians could use private funds to invest, most were wholly dependent on external assistance to both employ staff and develop infrastructure.

The FAI’s dire financial state of still servicing €40m of debt restricted their payout to a measly €10,000 per annum and, even with the Uefa solidarity pot rocketing to €368,000 for Premier Division clubs, it falls short of the required subvention.

A highline figure of €8m per year over an 11-year period was floated but the initial grant sought to stimulate an industry for 26 academies, across boys and girls from U14, was just over half that at €4.45m.

It’s understood an initial agreement for €2.6m to be ringfenced was agreed in principle within government last week but that has increased in recent days.

Eventually, the annual payouts are anticipated to cease as the industry becomes self-sufficient by generating income from player transfers and Uefa prize money.

The specific proposal submitted centred on creating 81 jobs in the first phase, specifically an academy director, head of coaching and an academy administrator for each.

The pace of that employment may be staggered but clubs will be listening carefully when the ministers provide details in Dáil Eireann later on Tuesday.

Congratulations Jack Chambers, Patrick O’Donovan, Charlie McConalogue and our Government for recognising the need for investment in our LOI Academies. Today represents a huge commitment from our Government and credit to everyone for the foresight needed to invest in our future… pic.twitter.com/4LlOlOfuwT

— Caroline Rhatigan (@Rhat1) October 7, 2025

It follows 18 months of intense lobbying within Leinster House by the football fraternity.

Of most significance was a meeting hosted by Paschal Donohoe, the Minister for Public of Expenditure and Reform, with officials from the FAI and League of Ireland in July 2024.

That Minister Donohoe’s retired Fine Gael colleague, Michael Ring, was invited to join the National League Committee in March of this year was another encouraging step.

League of Ireland academy manager Will Clarke was central to the talks after his annual presentations spelt out the repercussions of the investment deficit. Ireland’s presence across the top five leagues in Europe, especially the English Premier League, has been in decline for decades and predicted to worsen unless direct action is taken in providing the environment to develop the next generation.

Once the Department of Sport granted funding for the League of Ireland to engage a specialist company, Belgian outfit Double Pass, to audit the requests from clubs, traction was building. State agency Sport Ireland were fully onboard, working closely with Clarke and his team to finalise the blueprint for the paymasters to consider.

Not even the most recent scandals within the FAI, played out in public at their latest botched appearance before the Joint Oireachtas Committee for Sport two weeks ago, could derail what is a necessary and overdue contribution from the exchequer.