Let us hope Dundalk FC can be saved

When news emerged last week that Dundalk were in financial difficulty, it came as no surprise to me. The club accounts issued last November showed that Dundalk FC were facing serious difficulties as they were.

That would happen unless they got back into Europe this season and if there were cutbacks in spending from the previous season. It soon emerged that there were interested parties willing to make a move to take over after the current owner Brian Ainscough publicly indicated that he was considering his future at the club.

The final accounts for 2023 are expected to show that the club is expected to show a deficit of close to 2 million euro. That figure is not a surprise to me. In fact, I thought it could have been considerably more, given how much it takes to run a League of Ireland club and the accounts from last year.

When I heard of a number of interested parties who might be interested in a takeover I took some solace. In 2012 when the club were last in financial difficulty, I was sure it was the end of Dundalk Football Club. I remember speaking to the then owner Gerry Matthews on the situation.

I was seriously concerned. I was asked to speak on RTE Radio One Sport on Dundalk's troubles. I said then that it looked like the end of the road for the second most successful club in Irish soccer. Nobody believed me. They did not seem to realise the club was in dire straits.

I was aware that Paul Brown and Andy Connolly were potential people who could save the club. To cut to the chase they did of course exactly that. When the move was confirmed, businessman Ciaran Bond came on board and was the man who persuaded his colleagues to make a move for Stephen Kenny to take over as manager. It was probably the best bit of business ever done by a Dundalk board.

Ciaran Bond was not a financial investor. But he had a great football brain and knew exactly what was needed to get Dundalk back on track as a force in Irish soccer. Andy and Paul deserve great credit in taking the financial risk.

To me, Ciaran deserves massive credit as it was his persistence to his colleagues that landed Kenny. Ciaran's involvement at Oriel. Ciaran lasted just a season.

It was a big loss to Dundalk. But he had done enough to ensure that Dundalk would have unbelievable success in the years going forward. The club was sold to an American company Peake 6 in January 2018.

The club won the double that season as the Kenny success train looked unstoppable. Within 7 days Kenny departed Dundalk for the Republic Of Ireland under 21 job with a guarantee of becoming Irish Senior manager within a short period. Vinny Perth took over as Dundalk boss and won the League and League Cup in 2019.

They came close to winning the elusive treble, losing on penalties to Shamrock Rovers in the FAI Cup final. Things began to go off the rails in 2020 with the club now being run by Bill Hullsizer.

But Dundalk did win the cup that year and qualified for the group stages of the Europa League after losing their Champions League Qualifier. That was the year Covid hit the country badly and sport also.

Dundalk went on to win the cup under Filipo Giovangoli after Vinny Perth was let go that season. It was a crazy decision. But Filippo was successful. He was sacked before the start of season 2021.

It was a turbulent year with the successful Stephen Kenny team scattered to the four winds in pre-season by Bill Hullsizer and Filippo the team of 2021 saw huge money spent on it.

Players were paid crazy money. The team was going nowhere. Vinny Perth was brought back as manager as Dundalk hovered close to the relegation zone. Perth managed to guide Dundalk to safety.

Opposition among fans grew towards Bill Hullsizer who was a father to one of the Peak 8 owners. Peak 6 pulled out at the end of the season. They paid off a significant debt that had been run up and left 1.2 million euro to incoming new owners Andy Connolly and Statsports.

The decline in finances was shown clearly in year one under the new owners. A loss of around half a million euro was reported down from a profit of close to a million euro, the year before Statsports and Andy Connolly took over.

The decline in finances was reflected by the cash in bank figure. It fell from 1,454,703 euro by the end of November 2021 to 424,844 at the end of December 2022. This was a drop of 1,029,859 euro as of 31st December 2022.

This was dramatically down on the 3,131,300 the club had in the accounts in 2020. It was clear to be seen that sustained investment was needed to halt the club's finances from dropping into deficit. Dundalk failed to bring in any new investors in 2023.

Hull City were linked to the club but that fell apart. Then at the end of November 2023, Dundalk FC was handed over to Brian Ainscough. Andy Connolly and Statsports had not achieved their goal for glory. And with the finances declining steadily the owners wanted out.

Thus Dundalk now had five different owners in the space of 11 years counting Gerry Matthews. Brian Ainscough was very clear in his initial press conference at the beginning of December 2023 of the plans he had for the club.

He hoped for a close link-up with supporters and a good relationship with the media. A new pitch and floodlighting system would be installed before the start of season 2025. The funding would be obtained from government funding.

The club did apply for the Sports Capital fund during the summer. They would be entitled to this. However given the current financial situation at the club and if it goes into examinership who knows what will happen?

Thursday night was a huge game against the Pats. However as the reality of how bad things were financially at Oriel hit me, my mind was much more focussed on that. It soon emerged that players and all staff had not been paid their weekly wage.

The word insolvent came across my mind. A business is insolvent if it can not meet its debts. I am not saying Dundalk are insolvent. but if they can't pay players and other employees' wages they are in financial difficulty.

I remember in season 1998-99 the club hit the buffers and had to put all of its players on the transfer list. It was a terrible night. Like last Thursday Dundalk were playing a key game. The then chairman Philip Flynn and other directors were there to speak to the media on the situation.

On Thursday night there was nobody from the club available to speak on the issue. Club CEO Peter Halpin seemed shell-shocked and was not in a position to say anything. Brian Ainscough should have been there.

If he is pulling the plug on his involvement or if he has no more money to invest, he should say so. But he should have been in Oriel on Thursday or at the very least issued a statement through the club to the fans and explain clearly what was happening.

As the situation remains unclear, the player's group the PFAI will be in Oriel this week to ensure the players are paid. But if money is not forthcoming then the club going out of business is a stark reality.

There has been speculation that manager Jon Daly had not been paid in three weeks. That was denied emphatically to me by the club. I was also told that the owner had been in contact to say that the players' money would be paid.

The impression I was given was that it would be the next day Friday. I can not confirm if this happened. But the dire financial difficulties the club is in should have been highlighted much earlier in the season. Fans would have rallied around the club to do their best to raise vital money.

There should have been rigid spending cuts introduced. Now nobody even knows if the club will even be able to play in Waterford next Friday night. This is the stark reality. There may be no Dundalk FC after all of this. The club could go out of business.

At the very least Dundalk look destined for Division One next season as they seem all but certain to have points deducted by the FAI given the financial mess the club is now in. How could they be given a premier Division licence either given the financial mess.

Indeed Dundalk's future in the League of Ireland is likely to take months rather than days to be secured. .The club looks like it could be heading into examination before a possible takeover is allowed.

An examiner is usually an outside accountant who takes full control of a business for a certain period. All debts to creditors are also frozen usually for a specified period. The aim of the examiner is to try and help the business to survive as a going concern.

If that ends in failure then it is liquidated which means it ceases to exist. On Wednesday last I had heard of a number of viable businesses interested in taking over the club. But this will not happen as quickly as takeovers used to happen in the past.

Dundalk can also go into the Small Companies Rescue Process This system is used by companies who have a turnover of 5 million euro a year or less. The company must have fewer than 50 employees. It is a cheaper process.

But it will not give the club as much protection from a creditor as an Examiner. Both processes would allow Dundalk to negotiate to write-downs on liabilities which are in excess of one million euro, to continue as a going concern for a new ownership to be brought in.

Both procedures present difficulties. The FAI rules do not state that any club that has financial problems must face a points deduction. Using either procedure will result in relegation. Dundalk must also upgrade its floodlights and its pitch with the aid of state funding for the 2025 season.

Clarity will be needed on this if the ownership changes. The good news is that Oriel Park is held in trust by the family of the late Dessie Casey. The home of football is not under any threat by any of the club's current financial issues.

It's amazing that about a month ago I was wondering how Dundalk could keep meeting the costs of running the club. I continually thought of 1997-98 when the club went bust. A co-op was set up by Aiden Gaughran and others. Des Denning was a major force behind the co-op also.

Dundalk won back promotion for one season in 2001. In 2002 they won the cup But Martin Murray's side were relegated as for that season the FAI decided to push three out of the Premier Division. Dundalk were not to return to the Premier Division until 2008 under John Gill.

They have been in the top flight ever since. The co-op experiment saved Dundalk in 1998. But it did not work in the long term. Trevor Anderson was Dundalk's worst-ever manager. He had a three-year contract. Under Trevor's guidance, Dundalk finished 10th in Division One, the lowest position in their history.

The co-op were in dire financial straits as average crowd attendances were just 300. The club's training ground Hiney Park was sold to Gerry Matthews. He took over the club itself within a short period after that also in 2005.

Dundalk's return to the Premier Division in 2008 has seen them staying there until now. It included the great Kenny era from 2012 to 2018. Dundalk won four League titles and two FAI Cups. But there never was a long-term owner or owners of the club in the 21st century.

The club changed hands every few years. While it brought success it also brought its tensions. Millions of euros was won by the club in the Kenny era and beyond. But little or nothing was put into the ground or its facilities. The decision to turn to a plastic pitch has been a disaster.

It contributed to many injuries to players over the years. The shelf life for the pitch was about six years. The current pitch was installed in January 2017. The floodlight bulbs go back to 1966/67. They must now be upgraded to a much cheaper but higher quality system.

A return to Division One will be a disaster for Dundalk if it happens. But to be honest all fans would jump at the chance of being in Division One next season rather than see the club fold.

Jon Daly spoke of the crisis at the club. ''It's the uncertainty for me of not knowing what's going on. If you know where you are at and you know what's happening then it's easier to deal with. When you do not know what is going on and you are in the dark it's very difficult to deal with.

Myself and the players do not know the ins and outs of what is going on. I am trying to keep the player's heads focused as much as I can. But with all this going on it's very difficult. No wages is the least you would think would happen in any job.

We were told we would get paid, but that it would be late. We must take people at their word. I do not see a Waterford game not going ahead. If it were to happen that it does not go ahead then we are into a very extreme situation.''

''I have never been in such a situation such as this at any club I have been at either as a coach or as a player. It becomes difficult when you are living away from your family and when you are on your own. I have spoken to the owner.

But to be fair our CEO Peter Halpin has been very supportive. He has been very clear and has kept us fully informed. Whatever information he gets, he gives us.

I have to give Peter full credit. He has been trying to resolve the situation. Peter has not held anything from us. But I think he is in the same situation as the rest of us. He is not really sure what is going on.''

''The owner has told us that we will be paid a bit late. But we just have to take him at his word.''. Reacting to Dundalk's position at the bottom of the Pat's manager Stephen Kenny says there are always cycles in clubs.

''It's hard to say that Dundalk will be relegated or not. Tonight they were beaten by a very tight margin. The same happened last week against Shelbourne who are top of the league.

I would not write Dundalk off. No way would I write them off. It's not for me to comment on what is happening off the pitch. There are four players in that team who played for me. I wish Dundalk every success''.

Dundalk captain John Mountney says club owner Brian Ainscough should return from America to clarify the situation to both staff and supporters. He asked that the players and staff need clarity as to what exactly is going on.

He said he would like to think Ainscough would be back in Ireland in days to address the players. The skipper added that there needs to be clarity as to what direction the club is taking.

The founder of the Dundalk FC 1903 supporters club Brendan Ogle in a posting on social media says that it is not Brian Ainscough's decision whether the club has a future. Mr Ogle says that it is Ainscough's decision whether it has a future under him, but that is the extent of it.

Brendan rightly says it is up to the people of Dundalk to decide if the club has a future. Brendan says he simply can not imagine what the town of Dundalk would be like without the football club.''More than any other town in Ireland the club is its heartbeat''.

''But, yet again and in yet another crisis is both the club's greatest strength and its weakness. I say that because as yet no owner has as yet failed to properly harness the potential of the support of the wider community.

That failure, allied to the complete lack of any real support from the FAI means that the town without a club is now a very real possibility. There is no escaping the crisis. Players and management are not paid. There are reported debts of up to 2 million euro including tax.

The ground is now in a worse condition than when I first went to it in the 1970's. We have a plastic pitch that needs to be replaced hopefully with grass. We also have ailing floodlighting too. It's appalling.''

''Many will, with very reasonable justification ask where the money is gone. It's a fair question. It may ultimately require a forensic accountant looking back a decade or more to provide all the answers.

But for now, that is just a diversion. For now, just finishing the season and even putting a team on the pitch of the RSC in Waterford is the immediate priority.''

Dundalk were narrowly beaten by Pat's by two goals to one on Thursday night. Eoin Kenny's goal on 4 minutes was cancelled out by two Pats goals in the second half.

Once again the goalkeeping of Felix Goddard raised a lot of eyebrows. Jon Daly may consider bringing in Ross Munro, He should bring back Peter Cherrie.

The future looks very bleak for Dundalk at the moment. We have seen many dark periods off the pitch in the club's history before. Let us hope Dundalk FC can be saved. Have a great week. Look after each other and please be careful out there.