O'Sullivan happy to focus on football
Credit: Extratime Team (ETPhotos)
Cork City Foras Co-op chairman John O’Sullivan is excited at the prospect of The Leesiders turning their attention to football now that the off-the-field traumas are consigned to the history books.
"It has been a tough couple of years for everyone in Cork football. Our message now is that it’s over and this Friday night is completely about football," O'Sullivan told Extratime.
"As Tommy [Dunne] and Kevin [Mullen] have said already, this year is about being sustainable and keeping things on an even keel, making sure we can pay our bills. We need to be making headlines for things on the pitch now rather than off of it.
"It’s an absolute joy to be concentrating on football for once and we just can’t wait for Friday night."
O’Sullivan, like all members of Foras, is a supporter of football before he is a businessman and admits that the realisation that he owns part of a football club still hasn’t sunk in yet.
"It’s still strange, I’m still getting used to the idea of being chairman of the club," he said.
"That’s really just a position I’m in because I was chairman of the supporters' trust. I didn’t go near a director’s box on Friday, I stayed in the same spot I’d been in everytime I went up to the Brandywell.
"It was fantastic, I don’t think I’ve ever celebrated a goal as much as the one Davin O’Neill scored and just the atmosphere and enthusiasm up there was truly amazing."
First-team boss Tommy Dunne has declared that he will be satisfied with a mid-table finish come the end of the season and O’Sullivan’s target is very much along the same lines.
"I would be very happy with being mid-table because this season is about getting a bit of credibility and pride back into football in the city," said O'Sullivan.
"We’ll only get what people put into it but we have to keep volunteers up, membership with the trust up and get good crowds in.
"It’s all about football this season but once we can keep things sustainable off the pitch it’ll be a good season."
The Foras Board of Management will be making a lot of the decisions behind the scenes but the key issues will still go down to a democratic vote.
The trust has grown from 450 to 600 members since they were granted a licence to compete in the league and O’Sullivan believes the fact that everybody is equal in a completely democratic club is one of their big selling points.
Similar to the model of Barcelona FC, the fans will elect the Board of Management and it will therefore ensure that the decision-making policy remains fair and constant throughout the trust.
“We have our AGM in March, and the members will get the chance to vote for who they want in the Board of Management. Essentially, that Board of Management are then entrusted to run the trust but for any of the major decisions will go back to the members," explained O'Sullivan.
"The decision to apply for a licence, the decision to get involved with the consortium to save the previous entity - they were all things that the members decided and that will continue.”
"It has been a tough couple of years for everyone in Cork football. Our message now is that it’s over and this Friday night is completely about football," O'Sullivan told Extratime.
"As Tommy [Dunne] and Kevin [Mullen] have said already, this year is about being sustainable and keeping things on an even keel, making sure we can pay our bills. We need to be making headlines for things on the pitch now rather than off of it.
"It’s an absolute joy to be concentrating on football for once and we just can’t wait for Friday night."
O’Sullivan, like all members of Foras, is a supporter of football before he is a businessman and admits that the realisation that he owns part of a football club still hasn’t sunk in yet.
"It’s still strange, I’m still getting used to the idea of being chairman of the club," he said.
"That’s really just a position I’m in because I was chairman of the supporters' trust. I didn’t go near a director’s box on Friday, I stayed in the same spot I’d been in everytime I went up to the Brandywell.
"It was fantastic, I don’t think I’ve ever celebrated a goal as much as the one Davin O’Neill scored and just the atmosphere and enthusiasm up there was truly amazing."
First-team boss Tommy Dunne has declared that he will be satisfied with a mid-table finish come the end of the season and O’Sullivan’s target is very much along the same lines.
"I would be very happy with being mid-table because this season is about getting a bit of credibility and pride back into football in the city," said O'Sullivan.
"We’ll only get what people put into it but we have to keep volunteers up, membership with the trust up and get good crowds in.
"It’s all about football this season but once we can keep things sustainable off the pitch it’ll be a good season."
The Foras Board of Management will be making a lot of the decisions behind the scenes but the key issues will still go down to a democratic vote.
The trust has grown from 450 to 600 members since they were granted a licence to compete in the league and O’Sullivan believes the fact that everybody is equal in a completely democratic club is one of their big selling points.
Similar to the model of Barcelona FC, the fans will elect the Board of Management and it will therefore ensure that the decision-making policy remains fair and constant throughout the trust.
“We have our AGM in March, and the members will get the chance to vote for who they want in the Board of Management. Essentially, that Board of Management are then entrusted to run the trust but for any of the major decisions will go back to the members," explained O'Sullivan.
"The decision to apply for a licence, the decision to get involved with the consortium to save the previous entity - they were all things that the members decided and that will continue.”
About Alan Smith
Alan Smith works as a sub-editor for the Guardian newspaper in London. Originally from Cork, he freelances for several other newspapers and websites. Follow him on twitter @alansmith90. View Full Profile