Galway United on the brink
Credit: Extratime Team (ETPhotos)
The news emerging today that Airtricity Premier Division side Galway United are in financial difficulty and have had to defer players' wage payments for a week has come as little surprise to those who have been following the club's fortunes in recent times.
Gate receipts have plummeted again this year, with an average attendance in the region of 850 people coming through the Terryland Park turnstiles for the club's first nine home fixtures. Only one clash, the visit of Shamrock Rovers (who brought in the region of 250 away fans with them), has broken the 1,000 mark.
Compare this to just last season, when five of the first nine games (v Dundalk, Sligo, Shamrock Rovers, St. Pat's, and Cork City) all surpassed the four-figure mark. While a recession can be touted as a factor in this decline, the club must ask itself has it done enough to keep those customers, which unfortunately in this day and age is what fans have become, happy and ensure their return on a regular basis.
For the second successive season since the doomed attempt to bring in a full-time set-up in 2008, the playing budget has been drastically reduced, yet still the books are becoming harder and harder to balance.
The effect of Mervue United and Salthill Devon entering the league's ranks has been negligible in relation to crowds, yet opinions vary as to why the club's fortunes have not improved as it continued to put down roots in the Premier Division. The most common trend emerging is a general feeling of apathy from the greater sporting public in a city of over 70,000 people towards the club.
This feeling is not just reserved for the soccer club, however, and it is generally acknowledged in the West that the majority of sporting enthusiasts here are a fickle bunch who will fall over themselves to get to a big event such a Cup semi-final or final, but shun the more humdrum fare on offer at regular league encounters.
Examples of this include Connacht Rugby, who packed the Sportsground for the visit of Toulon in the Amlin Challenge Cup but average around 1,500 for Magners League games, while in both GAA codes the Allianz League crowds at Pearse Stadium are miniscule in comparison to the scramble for tickets when a big day at Croke Park beckons. Has Galway become the "Event Junkie" capital of the country or are they just a discerning customer who expect, nay demand, value for money?
Club CEO Nick Leeson has admitted numerous mistakes were made, none more so than the farcical attempt to charge an extra admission fee of €5 into the newly-built Corribside Stand in 2008. The vista may be one of the best in the country, but for €25 you expect to see a team not only winning regularly but stylishly, not languishing in the lower half of the table as Tony Cousins' side then were.
Leeson is now trying to re-establish broken links with the local game at both junior and juvenile level. Club legend Paul McGee has been brought on board to oversee the U20 side and has a decent squad assembled, but despite constant pleas for increased support in the local media over the opening half of the season, they appear to have fallen on deaf ears and the end of Premier Division football in Connacht's capital, one way or another, could well be nigh.
As it stands, manager Sean Connor will now probably see his first team torn to shreds as the undoubted talent that lies within it is plucked from his grasp by those with an eye for a bargain. Karl Sheppard, Anto Flood, Stephen O'Donnell, and Seamus Conneely are some of those who could be on the way out the door once the window opens.
On a separate issue, questions too must be asked of the administrators who organise the fixture lists at the beginning of the season. With only two clubs competing from outside the Leinster area, surely it would have taken not a lot of common sense to realise that, after a mid-season break where a club which is known to have financial difficulties and has had no home fixture (or income) for four weeks, a more attractive proposition than Bray Wanderers (no disrespect intended but they are no crowd pullers on a Monday night) could have been scheduled.
Knowing the likelihood of a meagre turnout, Galway United have announced that they are halving the admission fee to only €10 for this game in the hope of an increased turnout. For the loyal band of supporters and volunteers who have diligently been fundraising for many years to try and keep the club afloat, hopefully this move will not be seen as "too little too late" in years to come.
Gate receipts have plummeted again this year, with an average attendance in the region of 850 people coming through the Terryland Park turnstiles for the club's first nine home fixtures. Only one clash, the visit of Shamrock Rovers (who brought in the region of 250 away fans with them), has broken the 1,000 mark.
Compare this to just last season, when five of the first nine games (v Dundalk, Sligo, Shamrock Rovers, St. Pat's, and Cork City) all surpassed the four-figure mark. While a recession can be touted as a factor in this decline, the club must ask itself has it done enough to keep those customers, which unfortunately in this day and age is what fans have become, happy and ensure their return on a regular basis.
For the second successive season since the doomed attempt to bring in a full-time set-up in 2008, the playing budget has been drastically reduced, yet still the books are becoming harder and harder to balance.
The effect of Mervue United and Salthill Devon entering the league's ranks has been negligible in relation to crowds, yet opinions vary as to why the club's fortunes have not improved as it continued to put down roots in the Premier Division. The most common trend emerging is a general feeling of apathy from the greater sporting public in a city of over 70,000 people towards the club.
This feeling is not just reserved for the soccer club, however, and it is generally acknowledged in the West that the majority of sporting enthusiasts here are a fickle bunch who will fall over themselves to get to a big event such a Cup semi-final or final, but shun the more humdrum fare on offer at regular league encounters.
Examples of this include Connacht Rugby, who packed the Sportsground for the visit of Toulon in the Amlin Challenge Cup but average around 1,500 for Magners League games, while in both GAA codes the Allianz League crowds at Pearse Stadium are miniscule in comparison to the scramble for tickets when a big day at Croke Park beckons. Has Galway become the "Event Junkie" capital of the country or are they just a discerning customer who expect, nay demand, value for money?
Club CEO Nick Leeson has admitted numerous mistakes were made, none more so than the farcical attempt to charge an extra admission fee of €5 into the newly-built Corribside Stand in 2008. The vista may be one of the best in the country, but for €25 you expect to see a team not only winning regularly but stylishly, not languishing in the lower half of the table as Tony Cousins' side then were.
Leeson is now trying to re-establish broken links with the local game at both junior and juvenile level. Club legend Paul McGee has been brought on board to oversee the U20 side and has a decent squad assembled, but despite constant pleas for increased support in the local media over the opening half of the season, they appear to have fallen on deaf ears and the end of Premier Division football in Connacht's capital, one way or another, could well be nigh.
As it stands, manager Sean Connor will now probably see his first team torn to shreds as the undoubted talent that lies within it is plucked from his grasp by those with an eye for a bargain. Karl Sheppard, Anto Flood, Stephen O'Donnell, and Seamus Conneely are some of those who could be on the way out the door once the window opens.
On a separate issue, questions too must be asked of the administrators who organise the fixture lists at the beginning of the season. With only two clubs competing from outside the Leinster area, surely it would have taken not a lot of common sense to realise that, after a mid-season break where a club which is known to have financial difficulties and has had no home fixture (or income) for four weeks, a more attractive proposition than Bray Wanderers (no disrespect intended but they are no crowd pullers on a Monday night) could have been scheduled.
Knowing the likelihood of a meagre turnout, Galway United have announced that they are halving the admission fee to only €10 for this game in the hope of an increased turnout. For the loyal band of supporters and volunteers who have diligently been fundraising for many years to try and keep the club afloat, hopefully this move will not be seen as "too little too late" in years to come.
About Alan Dooley
is one of Extratime's longest serving contributors. Based in County Galway, Alan has been following the League of Ireland since the mid-1980s. His first memory of the drama of domestic football was Vinny Arkins, then … View Full Profile