Doing things the right way
Credit:
It is always sad to hear about a club in serious financial trouble especially at a time when our clubs are producing real quality on both the domestic and European stages.
Galway United Management Committee’s decision to publicly undermine and embarrass their manager clearly was an emotive action rather than that of an administration that has been entrusted to make cool, calm and constructive decisions that will benefit the club and not drag its name through the mud in such a public way.
There are clubs who are doing their business correctly by providing teams for all ages and sexes, but the ones who don’t must start to realize that it is the club’s responsibility to ground itself into the community not the other way around.
They must first create an environment that not only identifies with the people of the area but involves them. Providing pathways from academy level to the senior team should be a license requirement. This would force clubs to provide for the community and build real tangible ties with the people of the area the clubs are located in.
I have found that administrators who use the term “it will cost too much” actually mean “there is too much work involved” and these people piss me off no end.
Local businesses are more likely to provide funds for LOI clubs if they see that the money is been used to provide a service that will benefit the youth of the vicinity. It is possible to have sub committees that are self sufficient under the umbrella of the LOI franchise that can run the youth section and now with the introduction of the national ladies league the opportunity for LOI clubs to become the focal point of their community has never been greater.
While I was still in charge of Waterford United we had just been beaten 1-0 by Limerick FC, and as I stood in the dressing room a small well dressed man appeared out of nowhere to proclaim how unlucky we were to lose and wish us well in the future. Before I could decide whether to punch him for coming into my dressing room or meekly thank him, he was gone leaving me standing there asking the question who was the man.
As it turns out the said gentleman was the Limerick Chairman who, along with Pat Scully and everyone connected with the club, came together with a vision, a plan, and a work ethic to make Limerick a force on and off the pitch.
While what Pat and his team are doing on the pitch is impressive, it is the gradual galvanizing of a community off the pitch through a number of football initiatives that will prove to be what restore and sustain Limerick to its former greatness just in time for their return to their spiritual home at the Markets Field.
Galway United Management Committee’s decision to publicly undermine and embarrass their manager clearly was an emotive action rather than that of an administration that has been entrusted to make cool, calm and constructive decisions that will benefit the club and not drag its name through the mud in such a public way.
There are clubs who are doing their business correctly by providing teams for all ages and sexes, but the ones who don’t must start to realize that it is the club’s responsibility to ground itself into the community not the other way around.
They must first create an environment that not only identifies with the people of the area but involves them. Providing pathways from academy level to the senior team should be a license requirement. This would force clubs to provide for the community and build real tangible ties with the people of the area the clubs are located in.
I have found that administrators who use the term “it will cost too much” actually mean “there is too much work involved” and these people piss me off no end.
Local businesses are more likely to provide funds for LOI clubs if they see that the money is been used to provide a service that will benefit the youth of the vicinity. It is possible to have sub committees that are self sufficient under the umbrella of the LOI franchise that can run the youth section and now with the introduction of the national ladies league the opportunity for LOI clubs to become the focal point of their community has never been greater.
While I was still in charge of Waterford United we had just been beaten 1-0 by Limerick FC, and as I stood in the dressing room a small well dressed man appeared out of nowhere to proclaim how unlucky we were to lose and wish us well in the future. Before I could decide whether to punch him for coming into my dressing room or meekly thank him, he was gone leaving me standing there asking the question who was the man.
As it turns out the said gentleman was the Limerick Chairman who, along with Pat Scully and everyone connected with the club, came together with a vision, a plan, and a work ethic to make Limerick a force on and off the pitch.
While what Pat and his team are doing on the pitch is impressive, it is the gradual galvanizing of a community off the pitch through a number of football initiatives that will prove to be what restore and sustain Limerick to its former greatness just in time for their return to their spiritual home at the Markets Field.
