Farewell to Fingal
Credit:
I guess League of Ireland fans are fed up of listening and reading about the demise of Sporting Fingal but I thought you might like to hear about the sequence of events from a player’s point of view. I remember meeting up (in my role as Community Development Manager) with the club’s new Commercial Manager, with the News Editor of the local paper in the Fingal area, the Fingal Independent, in a hotel in Swords on Wednesday the 2nd February. The meeting had been arranged at the club’s behest to talk about our initiatives for the 2011 season. After the meeting, the Commercial Manager received a phone call saying the club could be in trouble. This was the first indication I had that there was a problem. We found out later that day that a UK investor had pulled out of a deal to invest in the club. At this stage, we had not been paid for the month of January but honestly, the players were not too concerned as the reason for the delay had been explained to us. Besides which, our wages had always been paid on time up to this date.
That same evening, we were scheduled to play a friendly against Parkvilla FC in Navan. Around mid-day all the players were informed that the match had been called off and to report for training as usual the following morning. I rang one of the players who had heard a rumour that the match was called off by our club and that management were attending a meeting with the FAI that evening. This wasn’t good news. However, I still believe we should have played the match as Parkvilla put a lot of time and effort into hosting League of Ireland opposition and I also thought it brought unnecessary attention to the club at the time.
After hearing that we were in financial difficulty, the wages issue arose again and the club decided to issue a statement on the Thursday saying that “regretfully, for the first time since its inception in 2007, they had not been in a position to pay players’ wages at this point and are urgently attempting to resolve the issue”. It made no sense to me or the players why this statement was released at this time as it brought media attention to the club and fuelled speculation about the club’s future which caused a lot of anger in the dressing room. Less than 48 hours later, the delayed wages issue was resolved and we were all paid in full.
As Community Development Manager of the club, I was told to continue working as normal. We were planning the forthcoming season by visiting Dalymount Park where we had agreed a 3 year deal with Bohemians to use the ground for our home fixtures, designing posters and leaflets for our upcoming Setanta Cup home game against Lisburn Distillery (scheduled for 14th February) and undertaking a Transition Year course in a local school in the Fingal area. I was also planning the Sporting Fingal 2nd Zambian Aid Mission with the schools that had participated in the 2009 mission. On the playing side, we trained every day and also played a match on the Sunday (6th Feb) against Phoenix FC.
On the following Wednesday, we were busy on the training ground when we were summoned to the dressing room at approximately 11:00am to be told that things were not looking good and if no investor could be found in the next few hours, the club would not only withdraw from the Setanta Cup but would have to cancel the contracts of all the playing squad. As a result, we were not allowed to leave the complex. Around 4:30pm we were told that no replacement investor could be found and consequently termination letters were handed out to the complete playing squad to take immediate effect. I was hit twice as hard after losing not only my playing contract but also my position as the club's Community Development Manager. Yes – I got 2 letters terminating my employment. Just like that. We were all stunned and we left the dressing room in complete shock with some players and staff in tears.
We subsequently read in the media that Sporting Fingal had withdrawn their application for a licence to participate in the upcoming 2011 Airtricity League season and consequently ceased trading after 3 successful seasons in the League of Ireland. We had gained promotion to the Premier Division and won the FAI Cup in 2009, played in the Europa Cup in 2010 losing to Maritimo of Portugal 6-4 on aggregate, finished 4th in the Premier Division in our first season in 2010 losing fewer games than anyone in the division, and qualified for both the Setanta and Europa Cups. Everyone closely associated with the club – players, staff, fans, volunteers etc were all devastated by the club’s premature end.
I had given my all to the club both on and off the field of play. I played in every competitive game for the Club since its inception in 2008 and had worked tirelessly in the community fostering links with schools (both 1st and 2nd level), schoolboy clubs, etc. It’s just so sad to see all that work go literally down the drain.
The club had so much potential and it is very unfortunate that it will never get the chance to realise it. The timing of the demise was particularly unfortunate for the players and staff who had achieved so much over the past 3 years and who found themselves in a race against time to find new clubs for the upcoming season. I am pleased to say that most of them have found new employers and I would like to wish my former team mates the very best of luck in the coming season. I can honestly say that all of these players will be an asset to the clubs they have now joined.
Where did it all go wrong? I don’t know is the simple answer. As Fingal County Council were there for the inception of the club, where were they when things started to go wrong? We can all speculate but I am sure the full truth will come out someday.
Personally, I am delighted to have joined Shelbourne FC. I used to go to watch Shelbourne as a child with my Father and idolised players such as Stephen Geoghegan, Greg Costello and Mick Neville. Putting on the red shirt will mean a lot to me and hopefully we can make our own bit of history at Shelbourne and bring the club back to where it belongs to the top tier of Irish soccer. I cannot wait for the season to begin this Saturday away to Longford Town.
That same evening, we were scheduled to play a friendly against Parkvilla FC in Navan. Around mid-day all the players were informed that the match had been called off and to report for training as usual the following morning. I rang one of the players who had heard a rumour that the match was called off by our club and that management were attending a meeting with the FAI that evening. This wasn’t good news. However, I still believe we should have played the match as Parkvilla put a lot of time and effort into hosting League of Ireland opposition and I also thought it brought unnecessary attention to the club at the time.
After hearing that we were in financial difficulty, the wages issue arose again and the club decided to issue a statement on the Thursday saying that “regretfully, for the first time since its inception in 2007, they had not been in a position to pay players’ wages at this point and are urgently attempting to resolve the issue”. It made no sense to me or the players why this statement was released at this time as it brought media attention to the club and fuelled speculation about the club’s future which caused a lot of anger in the dressing room. Less than 48 hours later, the delayed wages issue was resolved and we were all paid in full.
As Community Development Manager of the club, I was told to continue working as normal. We were planning the forthcoming season by visiting Dalymount Park where we had agreed a 3 year deal with Bohemians to use the ground for our home fixtures, designing posters and leaflets for our upcoming Setanta Cup home game against Lisburn Distillery (scheduled for 14th February) and undertaking a Transition Year course in a local school in the Fingal area. I was also planning the Sporting Fingal 2nd Zambian Aid Mission with the schools that had participated in the 2009 mission. On the playing side, we trained every day and also played a match on the Sunday (6th Feb) against Phoenix FC.
On the following Wednesday, we were busy on the training ground when we were summoned to the dressing room at approximately 11:00am to be told that things were not looking good and if no investor could be found in the next few hours, the club would not only withdraw from the Setanta Cup but would have to cancel the contracts of all the playing squad. As a result, we were not allowed to leave the complex. Around 4:30pm we were told that no replacement investor could be found and consequently termination letters were handed out to the complete playing squad to take immediate effect. I was hit twice as hard after losing not only my playing contract but also my position as the club's Community Development Manager. Yes – I got 2 letters terminating my employment. Just like that. We were all stunned and we left the dressing room in complete shock with some players and staff in tears.
We subsequently read in the media that Sporting Fingal had withdrawn their application for a licence to participate in the upcoming 2011 Airtricity League season and consequently ceased trading after 3 successful seasons in the League of Ireland. We had gained promotion to the Premier Division and won the FAI Cup in 2009, played in the Europa Cup in 2010 losing to Maritimo of Portugal 6-4 on aggregate, finished 4th in the Premier Division in our first season in 2010 losing fewer games than anyone in the division, and qualified for both the Setanta and Europa Cups. Everyone closely associated with the club – players, staff, fans, volunteers etc were all devastated by the club’s premature end.
I had given my all to the club both on and off the field of play. I played in every competitive game for the Club since its inception in 2008 and had worked tirelessly in the community fostering links with schools (both 1st and 2nd level), schoolboy clubs, etc. It’s just so sad to see all that work go literally down the drain.
The club had so much potential and it is very unfortunate that it will never get the chance to realise it. The timing of the demise was particularly unfortunate for the players and staff who had achieved so much over the past 3 years and who found themselves in a race against time to find new clubs for the upcoming season. I am pleased to say that most of them have found new employers and I would like to wish my former team mates the very best of luck in the coming season. I can honestly say that all of these players will be an asset to the clubs they have now joined.
Where did it all go wrong? I don’t know is the simple answer. As Fingal County Council were there for the inception of the club, where were they when things started to go wrong? We can all speculate but I am sure the full truth will come out someday.
Personally, I am delighted to have joined Shelbourne FC. I used to go to watch Shelbourne as a child with my Father and idolised players such as Stephen Geoghegan, Greg Costello and Mick Neville. Putting on the red shirt will mean a lot to me and hopefully we can make our own bit of history at Shelbourne and bring the club back to where it belongs to the top tier of Irish soccer. I cannot wait for the season to begin this Saturday away to Longford Town.
