We Don't Care

If that kind of money can't keep a LoI running then the league is doomed!

WHAT COUNTRY HAS A PREMIER LEAGUE CLUB THAT ONLY ATTRACTS 250/750 SUPPORTERS TO THEIR HOME GAMES?

The league and football in the country is rotten to the core. But here is just a brief indication of the mentalness of the whole situation.

The cost of entry into the league of Ireland is 19k.

The breakdown of prize money is as follows:


1.100,000
2.45,000
3.25,000
4.15,000
5.10,000
6.7,500
7.6,000
8.5,000
9.5,000
10.5,000
11.5,000
12.5,000


So unless you finish top 3, you have already lost a minimum of 4k upon entry.

The 19k does not include matchday official costs. These are roughly 1200 per game, or roughly 120 tickets sold. Drogheda were due 17 home games this season before mons went. Thats a further 20,400 euro to be paid out. Therefore any club has outgoings of just under 40k in money paid out to the Fai before a ball is even kicked. The only real money you can budget to come in from the Fai is 5k.

Tv money has been taken away from clubs. Rte still fork out the money, but it goes directly to the Fai. The fai claim this trickles down into prize money.

In effect, very little prize money is offered from the Fai. There is something like a 5k difference in what is accumalated by the 19k entrance fees and total prize money. (The data is from last season when there was 10 teams, iv assumed that the extra two teams each get 5k as well, but the likelyhood is slim, meaning prize money would be less than what the clubs put in.)

In previous seasons, Cup finalists have had to pay a fee upon reaching the final to cover the costs of their own medals.


The fai make money from sponsors and television for the League. There are deals in place with EA, Ford, Newstalk, Lucozade, Eircom, Airtricity etc. etc. Where does this go?? Does money come from the Fai to the clubs in any other way? Or does it all go into the big debt? Bit ironic that the sponsors are claiming to be sponsors of the league then.

John Delaney currently earns 400k a year. Whilst employees of the Fai have been let go, his wages have increased under his own order. This is corruption and cronyism of the highest. Any one who seen the picture of the man in this weeks papers will know exactly what a tool he is.

The fai have also been known to be very quick to take money off clubs in the form of fines. My latest favourite is for shels fans signing "Rte is fcuking ****e!". Shelbourne have pleaded lately with their fans to stop mentioning delaney in songs as they cannot afford the repeated fines every time his name is mentioned. Delaney was stripped of his footwear and basically made a twat of by irish fans in Poland this week. Fine? Nah Money behind the bar for the lads having the craic!!

The past two weeks have been very bleak for Irish football. Were the club rumored to have a meeting tomorrow also go to the wall, then it could be said without a doubt, that what should have been two of the greatest weeks in Irish footballing history will go down as its darkest two. Delaney needs to walk on the back of the past two weeks. A complete revamp of the league is needed. The figures above make no sense and show exactly what monaghan were facing when they had tiny crowds and zero sponsorship. There but for the grace of god (well hunky doreys and the supporters) go us, and who knows this time next year it could be us. After looking into those figures a bit more, I have 100 times more respect for any body running a football club in this country.

I also have 100 times more respect for any one who continues to support the league. The general public of Monaghan should hang their heads in shame. They are a disgrace. Any other newly promoted club usually sees a boost in crowds. Mick cooke brought them to two cup semis and inches from the premier league. Roddy got them to the premier and yet they still couldnt even jump on a bandwagon.

Lestor and any other mons fan on here, I can only express my symphaties. I dont know what id end up doing where Drogheda to face the same fate. Hopefully you can keep the club going in some form and come back some day into hopefully a better ran league. I also hope you look down your nose at every monaghan person with a premier league jersey on.