The 1903 highlights community efforts and ground plans at AGM

The 1903 Dundalk FC Supporters Club convened its fourth Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Thursday evening, welcoming members to the Lilywhite Lounge at Oriel Park.

Chaired by Orla Crilly, re-elected for a third consecutive year, the half-hour meeting placed heavy emphasis on community initiatives and ongoing ground developments.

Orla opened the meeting by welcoming those in attendance, reflecting on the eventful 12 months that had passed, before reviewing the minutes from the previous year’s AGM.

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“We can all be extremely grateful that we’re having an AGM at all and that we still have a club, thanks to John Temple for getting involved,” she stated in her opening address.

“He told me that it was the passionate support of all the fans that pushed him over the line to take the plunge with the club, so never underestimate the power of the fans at this club.

“Needless to say, it has been quite the year with challenges we never expected, and while there’s still a mountain of work to do, it’s safe to say we are heading in the right direction. While steps may seem quite small, they are definitely happening.

“The club seeks to cut overheads and is starting to increase revenue, which seems like the most sensible approach to me. With the grant approval obtained, we’ll be on track to have our new lights, a new pitch, and a new disability area, which I’m led to believe will all happen at the end of the season when the football has finished.”

With Dundalk facing the imminent threat of liquidation last September, local barrister John Temple stepped in to take majority control of the club from Brian Ainscough.

Through a GoFundMe campaign and other fundraising efforts initiated by The 1903, nearly €27,000 was raised, helping Dundalk and its academy teams to successfully complete the 2024 season and apply for the required licence for the current campaign.

The remaining funds have been earmarked for ground improvements, though any final decision on their allocation will be subject to a vote by The 1903’s 254 members.

“We do have roughly €10,000 left from our GoFundMe,” confirmed Orla. “Our plan would be to use that money to support projects in Oriel that are voted on by members.

“We have talked to the club about a few different things. One was a new changing room. On the weekends, with the academy teams, there’s a lot of to and fro. There are boys and girls coming in, and sometimes there’s crossover to use the dressing rooms.

“The club feels that they need another dressing room down on the toilet block here, just outside to the left of the turnstiles. It’s been used as a store room up to this point, but with not much money, that could be turned into another changing area for the academy teams to use at the weekend. The club has actually applied for grants for that, so that’s something they’re working on at the moment.

“We talked about the disability area, a proper disability area, and they are making plans to do that at the end of the season. They haven’t asked for any help on that just yet.

“If there are any ideas, or something else that might crop up around the club and they say, ‘Okay, here’s something we could do,’ as long as it’s related to improvements, anything around the academy or for the fans, that’s something we would consider and put to a vote before any money would be handed across.

“I’m looking after the ‘Lily the Bin’ campaign at the moment, taking care of all the plastic recycling, bringing the money back to the club to support community initiatives.

“I’m also part of the audio descriptive commentary team, which is for the visually impaired. If you can’t visually see the game but would really like to attend and be part of the matchday experience, you can come up to Oriel.

“We’ve all done sighted guide training, so we know how to escort somebody that has a visual impairment safely into the grounds.

“There is equipment there; they have an earpiece, and the commentary team will be sitting up in the stand and will do a commentary specifically just for those people.”

Those who wish to become members of The 1903 can do so by visiting the1903.ie online.