Cork City’s extinction as a League of Ireland club represents, quite paradoxically, both a new low for the game in this country and also a new opportunity to show how a football club can be successfully ran. The central problem appears to be the advent of professionalism and, in turn, club’s incapacity to sustain such an approach. But this perceived orthodoxy may not be the total of the story. Professionalism is not the problem but rather the approach to professionalism which has been, for quite some time, markedly amateur in Ireland’s second city.
League of Ireland football can, most certainly, sustain a professional structure but what it cannot sustain is a reckless and unrealistic approach to such. Equally the problems of numerous semi-professional clubs, including Athlone, in recent years points to the fact that this full-time football is not the problem. A cursory glance at Cork’s affairs since Brian Lennox departed the club points to a serious culture of mis-management that encompasses more than just money matters. When the Arkaga group took charge of Cork City they, like many others, fell into a trap of chasing money before it materialised. By their exit in late 2008 it appeared that they had not, in any way, left a club with any chance of being self-sustainable behind them.
No one would argue that football is a sustainable business; people who invest in clubs usually get little in return but Arkaga’s role in this business stinks to high heaven. Tom Coughlan, a well meaning but ultimately incapable supremo, has found to his cost that the wage structure left behind by the group’s time in charge represents the most damning indictment on Cork’s fortunes and future, or lack thereof. Wages at the club were well known to be in the high four figure region. This is unsustainable not because of the money being paid but the amount. If Shamrock Rovers can have Gary Twigg on a wage of 1,000 euro per week as their highest earner then how can Cork, a club with a similar weekly attendance, pay any more? The reality is that professional football is sustainable but, on the basis of the crowds coming through the gates, no player can be considered worth more than 1,000 euro a week.
Cork’s players had every right to seek their owed wages; they had a contract and it should have been fulfilled. The irresponsibility lies, then, on the side of those who give such wages and construct no viable plan to base it off the basic income of the club. Cynical as one might be about the FAI, their 65% rule on wages is necessary to stop another Cork City, Cobh Ramblers, or Dublin City happening. Neither is it responsible to base future earnings off European qualification; that puts the entire life of a club on the line in a situation that could be decided on penalty shoot-out. The risk is not worth it. Equally a more rewarding route to European qualification could come through a club that is able to take care of its own affairs on a weekly basis. Though that may take longer it, nonetheless, means European football is something to be enjoyed rather than a game of Russian roulette.
As we bid goodbye to Cork City, in its current guise, we are left once again with a salutary lesson. But how long will it take for that lesson to sink in. Derry City may play a new Cork outfit this season and both could visit us in Lissywollen. Let’s hope that if and when a new Cork club arrive in Athlone this year that it is the start of a club that does great things both on and off the pitch.
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Cork City’s extinction as a League of Ireland club represents, quite paradoxically, both a new low for the game in this country and also a new opportunity to show how a football club can be successfully ran. The central problem appears to be the advent of professionalism and, in turn, club’s incapacity to sustain such an approach. But this perceived orthodoxy may not be the total of the story. Professionalism is not the problem but rather the approach to professionalism which has been, for quite some time, markedly amateur in Ireland’s second city.
League of Ireland football can, most certainly, sustain a professional structure but what it cannot sustain is a reckless and unrealistic approach to such. Equally the problems of numerous semi-professional clubs, including Athlone, in recent years points to the fact that this full-time football is not the problem. A cursory glance at Cork’s affairs since Brian Lennox departed the club points to a serious culture of mis-management that encompasses more than just money matters. When the Arkaga group took charge of Cork City they, like many others, fell into a trap of chasing money before it materialised. By their exit in late 2008 it appeared that they had not, in any way, left a club with any chance of being self-sustainable behind them.
No one would argue that football is a sustainable business; people who invest in clubs usually get little in return but Arkaga’s role in this business stinks to high heaven. Tom Coughlan, a well meaning but ultimately incapable supremo, has found to his cost that the wage structure left behind by the group’s time in charge represents the most damning indictment on Cork’s fortunes and future, or lack thereof. Wages at the club were well known to be in the high four figure region. This is unsustainable not because of the money being paid but the amount. If Shamrock Rovers can have Gary Twigg on a wage of 1,000 euro per week as their highest earner then how can Cork, a club with a similar weekly attendance, pay any more? The reality is that professional football is sustainable but, on the basis of the crowds coming through the gates, no player can be considered worth more than 1,000 euro a week.
Cork’s players had every right to seek their owed wages; they had a contract and it should have been fulfilled. The irresponsibility lies, then, on the side of those who give such wages and construct no viable plan to base it off the basic income of the club. Cynical as one might be about the FAI, their 65% rule on wages is necessary to stop another Cork City, Cobh Ramblers, or Dublin City happening. Neither is it responsible to base future earnings off European qualification; that puts the entire life of a club on the line in a situation that could be decided on penalty shoot-out. The risk is not worth it. Equally a more rewarding route to European qualification could come through a club that is able to take care of its own affairs on a weekly basis. Though that may take longer it, nonetheless, means European football is something to be enjoyed rather than a game of Russian roulette.
As we bid goodbye to Cork City, in its current guise, we are left once again with a salutary lesson. But how long will it take for that lesson to sink in. Derry City may play a new Cork outfit this season and both could visit us in Lissywollen. Let’s hope that if and when a new Cork club arrive in Athlone this year that it is the start of a club that does great things both on and off the pitch.
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