Cork City confirm Mathews departure
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Cork City have confirmed the departure of manager Alan Mathews after less than one year in charge at the club.
The former Longford Town boss was named as the successor to Damien Richardson in January this year. However, despite leading the club to Setanta Cup glory in his first season in charge, Mathews has been let go as the new Cork City board look to stabilise the club's finances.
A statement from the club today read: "Cork City Football Club today announces that it has suspended discussions and withdrawn all recent offers to its club manager Mr Alan Mathews on offering him a new contract. Cork City has recently come out of examinership and needs to bring the salary structures within the club to sustainable levels to ensure the long term survival of the club."
Cork City chairman Tom Coughlan said: “Alan has been a tremendous leader throughout the examinership process and is a very talented football manager and I would like to thank him for efforts in this difficult time for the club. I have no doubt he will have a great future in football. The challenge facing Cork City for the foreseeable future is to operate on tight financial restraints, to avoid what has happened in the past 12 months and to ensure the club has a sustainable future. The opportunity for all of us is to attract the best squad of players to ensure we are challenging for the league title next season.”
Gerry Nagle, chief executive of Cork City, added: "For the club to survive long term it must be at the heart of the sporting community in Cork. We want to bring back volunteers to Cork City and deliver top class football to our supporters, fans and our sponsors who we are very grateful to for their ongoing support. Following recent discussions we are looking forward to working closely with Foras as recently announced with the new Cork City FC club committee structures. We are all operating in a tough economic environment and everybody has a role to play to ensure the survival of top class football in Cork. Realistic cost structures are a key component in terms of our long term plans for the club. In this challenging economic environment we must deliver extra value for a sustainable future for the club.”
The statement from the club added: "We would like to thank Alan and his players for their contribution over what was a very difficult financial year for the club and wish Alan well with his future plans."
Rumours are rife that former Cork City striker, John Caulfield could be offered the job. Caufield is currently in charge of MSL side Avondale United and is held in the highest of regards in footballing circles in Cork. He holds the record for most appearances as well as scoring 129 goals for the club, a record which he shares with Pat Morley.
