Dundalk FC must never again be allowed to get itself into the situation it found itself in August

Club licences were issued to all of the League of Ireland clubs last Tuesday. The one exception of course was Dundalk, who came so close to liquidation in September as a result of mounting debt.

In a statement, the FAI say Dundalk are still engaged in the club licensing process and that there will be a further update on the situation this week.

On the same day the licences were issued, Dundalk confirmed that significant progress had been made for Club Licencing 2025 with the FAI. Dundalk went on to say that it was widely understood that the process this time around would be difficult.

The club say player contracts, financials and other legacy issues this time all exist from prior ownership and must be audited so that accurate compliance reporting can be issued to the FAI.

The club and the current directors of Dundalk FC and the FAI are pursuing a full rigorous application which will take a few days resulting in licence approval.

It was a comforting statement from the club and the end part of the FAI statement also gave a lot of solace to the club.

It now looks inevitable that the club will get its licence and from that manager Ciaran Kilduff can continue his preparations for the coming season. Manager Ciaran Kilduff is working hard on putting his new squad together.

The club made their first player signing early last week. Enda Minogue arrives from Athlone Town to Oriel. Enda made 26 appearances with Athlone last season. He had 6 clean sheets and conceded 33 goals.

Enda made 72 percent of starting appearances for Athlone Town last season. Enda is 23 years of age But will be 24 by the start of the season. It's not known if he will be the starting keeper for Dundalk.

It is still not known whether Ross Munro is staying at Dundalk. He made 20 appearances for the first team last season. He conceded 29 goals.

It may well be that Munro will stay at Oriel and there will be keen competition between him and new signing Fanning for the first-team goalkeeping position.

Kilduff says that he will be doing a full week of training this month. He says he will be looking at all his players and that his eyes will not lie to him. He said that for all positions on his team that if a player is the best, they will get the jersey. 

The new manager is giving everybody a clean slate. The reality Ciaran says is that he will give all of his players a fair chance. And the boss says that he will always pick the team that will give him the best chance of winning.

Kilduff is hopeful of landing Wexford striker Aaron Dobbs and Shelbourne's Dean Williams. Dobbs is aged 26. Last season he made 30 appearances for the South Eastern Club.

Aaron scored 8 goals for his team. Aaron picked up his first Division Team of the Year medal at the PFAI awards last Saturday week. Aaron reminds me of Franz Pierrot.

Franz was a stand-out striker with Athlone Town in the 2023 season. His name was jumping off the pages for a Premier Division club to sign. .

Dundalk were the club many thought would go for him. But it was neighbours Drogheda United who won the chase for his signature.

Dundalk's recruitment policy was so poor last season that they had to go to Scotland to pick up a striker. They signed Jamie Gullan who made 24 appearances for the first team. He only managed to score 5 goals.

Gullan remains with the club. But he will be departing to a new club. Bohemians have a keen interest in the young Scot. Galway also are interested in signing Gullan.

The Scot started last season with a stunning free in Tallaght against Shamrock Rovers. The game ended in a draw. But Gullan and Dundalk's season took a nosedive from there.

To be fair to Jamie, his natural position is on the wing. It's amazing none of the 4 managers in charge of Dundalk last season never gave him a chance on the wing.

Dean Williams made 15 appearances for Shelbourne last season. He failed to score a single goal. He was with Bohemians in 2023 and in 2022 he played for Drogheda.

He scored six goals for Drogheda in 2022. He made his League of Ireland debut with Shamrock Rovers at the end of the 2018 campaign. He also had spells at Athlone Town, Bray Wanderers and Longford Town.

Dean is aged 24. Meanwhile, Jad Hakiki who signed for Dundalk in the window in July always looked to be a potentially good striker. He is only 20 years of age.

He was used more as an attacking midfielder by Dundalk rather than an out-and-out striker. He played 12 games for Dundalk. He scored one goal and had one assist.

He is a player I would guess Dundalk would want to keep. But Jad has an excellent underage international career ahead of him.

While Dundalk in Division One, offers him a good chance to establish himself as a regular League of Ireland player, it's felt that he may opt for a Premier Division team which would possibly give him a better chance to progress his career. 

Meanwhile, John Mountney has officially left Dundalk. The former Dundalk captain was introduced to the media last Tuesday. Bohemians say that they signed John on a multi-year contract.

He will be a great asset to the Dalymount Park club if he can keep injury-free. He joins his old teammate and manager at Dundalk and Pats  Stephen O'Donnell. Stephen is assistant manager at Bohemians.

Meanwhile, Ryan O'Kane was officially unveiled by Shelnourne at a press briefing last week. This column has been linking this move since well before the end of last season.

On signing, Ryan said it was great to be in Tolka and that he could not wait to get started.''I think there was interest halfway through last season.

'Obviously, I have played a good few games against Shelbourne in the past few years. Every time I played here there was a great atmosphere.

Tolka also has a great surface to play on. When I heard there was interest I could not wait to get started. When I walked in the door of Tolka tonight, I had the feeling of just looking forward to training straight away.

I just want the season to come as soon as possible. I am a person who just wants to keep buzzing. I just can't wait to get started. I always found it hard playing up here in Tolka when I was with Dundalk.

The abuse I got on the touchline as a winger was tough. But yet, I always felt in most games, I always performed in the best way I could.

I did have a few decent games against Shelbourne. It was always great playing up here..Next season it will be great playing in front of the home crowd here at Tolka.

''I would describe myself in football terms as a dribbler. I try to be sharp. I also love to get my crosses into the box and set up goal-scoring chances. I expect to see a number of one v ones.

I also expect to see a lot of attacking play. I can't wait to get started. In the off-season, I always just look forward to getting involved for the start of the new season.

I do my own bit of training in the off-season on my own, but I just can't wait to meet up with the lads. I know a lot of the players here.

I have nothing but good things to say about this club and everybody up here. I am really looking forward to learning from Damian Duff.

He was a great winger in his day. He knows how to get down the line and get the crosses in/ He also knows how to beat players and also score goals.''

Details on the final accounts for Dundalk FC for the tax year 2023 have been submitted to Revenue. At the end of 2021 the tax year,  Dundalk FC had net assets of 1.3 million euro.

This was just before Peak 6 succeeded in the ownership of the club by Andy Connolly and StatSports. By the end of the tax year 2023, there was a debt or liability of 0.4 million.

This was a massive turnaround in the club's financial position. In 2021 Dundalk had cash in the bank to the amount of 1,454,703. In 2023 cash in the bank stood at 72,002 euros.

An accountant answered a question asked by a supporter on social media about where all the money went between 2021 and 2023.

He was referring to the huge fall in the cash in the bank figure. The accountant who has nothing to do with Dundalk FC said a lot of money was lost chasing the dream as most clubs do. Problems start, he said when the owner's money dries up.

The submitted accounts show that Dundalk made a loss of almost 1.5 million in the year ending 2023. In 2022 the loss was nearly 500,000 euros.

This was the first year that StatSports and Andy Connolly had taken over after Peak 5 had handed the club over to the owners.

The loss of 1.5 million euro in 2023 shows just how close Dundalk went out of business under Brian Ainscough who took the club over from Andy Connolly and StatSports at the end of that year.

Dundalk were in the black to the tune of close to one million euros when StatSports and Andy Connolly were handed the club. This figure shows that the then-new owners lost over two million euros between the end of the tax years 2021 and 2023.

The profit of close to one million euros was due to a loan write-off of nearly 1.8 million euros by Peak 6. The new owners at the time were lucky that the loan was wiped out by Peak 6.

The news that Dundalk looks set to get its licence would suggest that an agreement must have been made with all or most of its main creditors.

When the FAI is satisfied all of the requirements are satisfied. I would be confident that this will come this week along with a licence.

The club must never again be allowed to get itself into the situation it found itself in August. The club could easily be extinct today but for the hard work of new owner John Temple and his fellow investors who have taken on a massive project.

Clubs can earn a lot of money if they can qualify for Europe. But they can also lose a lot as well. Travel bills can be massive. The amount of bonus money offered to players at times can often be beyond ridiculous.

Dundalk did make a lot of money in the Kenny era. But that quickly disappeared as a result of the massive costs involved in running a League of Ireland Club.

There is no way of avoiding many of these costs. However, a club must have a budget where it spends within its means.

The club did make massive losses under the  Peak 6 ownership of over one million euros in 2019. But Peak 6 paid off all the debts by the time Andy Connolly and Stats Sports took over.

And as mentioned they insured the club was in the black to the tune of around a million euro when they left the club at the end of 2021.

Bohemians and Shamrock Rovers will commemorate the 110th anniversary of games between Bohemians and Shamrock Rovers by the game being held in the Aviva on Sunday 16th February.

This will be the opening game of the new season for both clubs. It's a fantastic idea. Bohemians have given up home advantage to play in the Aviva.

The expense of holding the game there will also have to be met by the clubs. But expect a sell-out. The FAI are confident of this, going on the huge crowds now attending League of Ireland games.

The evidence that the game is guaranteed to be a success can be seen from the huge crowds that have attended FAI Cup final games at the Aviva.

The idea of floating league games at the Aviva was mentioned as far back as the 2021 season by then chairman of Dundalk Bill Hulsizer. He suggested that Dundalk should play some of their home games at the Aviva.

He was also interested in buying out the FAI's interest in the ground. He wanted Dundalk to be playing in the best of stadiums. But the idea never went anywhere. Dundalk supporters were right to shoot the idea down.

No way would the club ever have gone anywhere near filling the stadium. Supporters were totally against the idea of having to travel to Dublin for home games. But still fair play to Bill. He has to be given him full credit.

He was ahead of his time suggesting the idea that some League games should be played at the Aviva. Now this is happening. By the way, the new fixture list for the new season 2025 will be released on 17th December two weeks from today.

Dundalk FC, in collaboration with the Shedside Army, are holding a charity sleepout in support of the Dundalk Simon Community. This will take place on the Shed side of Oriel Park next Saturday from 8 pm to 8 am on Sunday morning.

This is an excellent cause. There are nearly 15,000 homeless people in this country at the moment. The Simon Community plays its own special role to help battle this.

I would like to wish all involved every success. The Dundalk Simon Community is a non-profit registered charitable organisation in the town itself.

But it also serves the northeast of the country, providing safe, supportive shelter and services to people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.

All funds raised by the sleepout will go directly to the Dundalk Simon Community. Ross McNally, a member of the Shed Side Army said his organisation firmly believes that the plight of homelessness is a tragedy at any time.

But it is especially so at this time of the year. He also said that they also believe in the community spirit of Dundalk. If you would like a sponsorship card, please contact aoife.burns@dundalkfc.com. You can also donate via the following link sleep out for the Simon: DundalkFC & SSA.

The death took place last week of Declan Temple, father of the owner of Dundalk FC owner and chairman John Temple. I would like to extend my deepest sympathies to John and his family and friends at the passing of his dad.

It's always a very tough blow to lose a parent. The pain can be very difficult for all of us when this happens to our own parents. I am sure that John and his family will be in the thoughts and prayers of all Dundalk FC supporters at this difficult time.

The Republic of Ireland senior women's team drew 1-1 away to Wales last Friday night, in the first leg of a two-legged affair, that will take the winners to the European finals in the summer.

The 2nd leg takes place at the Aviva tonight Tuesday. I think Ireland will qualify.

Finally, Shamrock Rovers have smashed the glass ceiling in Europe, by qualifying for the knockout stages of the Europa Conference League knockout stages, after their one-all draw in the group stages of the competition against Rapid Vienna last Thursday.

It's a magnificent achievement by Rovers who have now done something that no other League of Ireland side has done in Europe.

How this affects their preparations for the new league season remains to be seen. But what Rovers achieved last Thursday is a magnificent move.

Have a safe week everybody. Please remember to look after each other and to be careful out there.