The Commentary Box: Santa Claus came early for Dundalk supporters

Santa Claus came early for Dundalk supporters on Friday morning, when it was confirmed that the club had been granted a Premier Division Licence for next season. The news broke just before ten am.

It came as a massive relief to all at the club. Dundalk clinched the First Division title in early October. But right up until the FAI confirmed Dundalk were being given a Premier Licence, there was a lot of concern that the club would not get one.

The main obstacle was the fact that the astro-turf pitch, which had been there since January 2017, would have to be replaced. There were genuine concerns among supporters that this might not happen.

Dundalk had to provide a deposit of around 80,000 euro to draw down the sports capital grant of over 350,000 to replace the pitch.

The news that the Dundalk FC Trust would provide the money required for the grant ensured that work was able to start on the new pitch last Monday.

Great credit must go to all involved on all the preparatory work that was needed to get the club into a situation that they were able to draw down the grant.

New owner Chris Clinton brought the Trust on board not long after taking control. Talks with the fans organisation yielded immediate fruit, and the club got the necessary deposit funding to draw down the grant.

What matters is that work on the pitch started in whirlwind fashion yesterday week. The old carpet was completely lifted by midweek, with the new one due to be laid shortly.

It was the fact that Dundalk had managed to draw down the Capital Grant and start work on the pitch that got them the licence.

The news now means that the club can continue their plans for their return to the Premier Division, which will begin in about six weeks' time.

Manager Ciaran Kilduff, in a quick comment to me, says that everything is beginning to come together big time for the club.

He told me on Friday that hopefully 2026 is going to be a big year for everybody. It's amazing how quickly things can change in football.

There were genuine concerns that the outlook was bleak for Dundalk next season when the national media reported that Ciaran Kilduff had decided to leave amid doubts of what was happening at the club, just over a month ago.

However, that story has been denied by the manager, who is adamant that he never tendered his resignation.

During this time, outgoing owner John Temple would have been working away with his staff to do all that was necessary to ensure that Dundalk got the funding to draw down the sports capital grant.

The takeover by minority shareholder Chris Clinton saw Mr Temple's and Clinton's work bear fruit. Chris Clinton spoke to Ciaran Kilduff on the morning he had flown in from America.

Any public worry or confusion that Kilduff was leaving was quickly dispelled. On the same day, a deal was done between Chris Clinton and John Temple that the Dundalk-born American would acquire 65 per cent of the shareholding of the club.

Earlier last week, there were worries that this deal had hit difficulty. John Temple remains the legal owner of the club. That situation remains until the deal worked out goes fully through. Hopefully, any difficulties there are can be cleared up quickly.

Chris Clinton was able to get 80,000 euro from the Dundalk FC Trust. This was the deposit that unlocked the difficulties there might have been to drawing down the full Sports Grant.

Eight days ago, the company was given the job to install the new astro turf pitch was at Oriel to begin their work. By Tuesday three three-quarters of the old pitch had been lifted.

I visited Oriel on the Tuesday and could not believe how quickly and efficiently the work was being done. It gave me so much comfort to see the old pitch disappearing.

I have been critical of this pitch in the past, and the amount of injuries I believed it could be causing. Older astro pitches have been linked to causing injuries to players in the past.

However, no medical proof has been provided that the astro causes higher injury rates than the grass pitches. I believe they do it's a personal opinion.

John Temple, in a post on LinkedIn, says he is delighted to have played his role in securing a licence for Dundalk for a second time.

Mr Temple paid credit to Karen Travers for her hard work and diligence, which ensured all criteria were met in line with the FAI licensing department.

"When I began my journey with Dundalk FC, the club had been relegated to the First Division. I am proud to say that hard work and an excellent team effort has paid off.

"Following the club's success in winning the League of Ireland First Division, Dundalk FC have been promoted and were today awarded a licence to the Premier Division in the League of Ireland".

Last season, John Temple and his team ensured Dundalk got a First Division licence. His hard work ensured the club would not have to go through Scarp or face a points deduction going into the First Division last season.

His work ensured that Dundalk would be able to compete equally with the other clubs in the First Division for the points in the chase for promotion.

Dundalk started with a clean sheet and took full advantage by making a successful charge for promotion from the beginning.

New owner Chris Clinton has played a stormer as Dundalk chased towards the finishing line for the licence. He quickly saw the advantage of the Trust, which was not used by Mr Temple for funding.

He had his own reasons for this. But the trust, which is made up of just ordinary supporters and businessmen, proved a Godsend for the new regime. Karen Travers continued her hard work for the licence.

Local accountant Alan Farrelly of Farrelly Dawe White has been a beacon of leadership as Dundalk went for the licence. Alan has been a great supporter of the club going back over so many years.

He helped the club get the First Division licence last year as well. Alan and his company played a really key role in ensuring everything was in order before Dundalk's application for the licence went in.

I am told by the Oriel pigeon that lives at the back of the main stand near the press box that Alan will be staying on as a director. I think this would be an excellent move.

His brother David is being linked to a media role at Oriel. The word from the back of the stand says that David will take charge of the club website and all social media channels. David has an outstanding background in media.

He has been a director of Communications for FIFA since 2018. He was the UEFA head of Euro 2020 Communications. From 2005 to 2018, David was head of UEFA editorial.

It's understood that if David takes on the suggested media role, he will be able to do it from Switzerland, where he is based. I do not see any difficulty with David taking on a media role at Oriel and being based in Switzerland.

Orla Crilly of the Dundalk FC Supporters Club, the 1903, has been linked to becoming a director at Oriel. This is no surprise to me. Orla has done trojan work for the club through 1903.

It was her work at the end of the season 2024 that kept the academy teams going. The 1903 funded much of the expenses to keep the academy teams on the road at the time when the club just escaped bankruptcy.

Had the academy teams not been able to continue running, the club could have folded altogether. It is a prerequisite that a senior team can only function in the league as long as it has an academy set up.

Chris Clinton is also believed to be close to appointing a club CEO. It's believed he is from Dundalk and has good experience in administration, which he got with working with the FAI. He is believed to be in his early thirties.

Having said this, the owner could go for a completely different candidate. I am only linking this local person to the job as he is being tipped as favourite for the CEO job in local soccer circles. One person who will not be CEIO is local man Peter Halpin.

Peter worked very hard for a good part of last season to guide Dundalk out of the abyss that it was in. Peter is one of these unsung heroes who does not get enough credit for keeping the show on the road while the club looked set for a crash.

Peter has his own business to look after, which is more than enough. He dropped the role of acting CEO last season after the club reached some stability.

He took things as far as he could. I have no doubt that Chris Clinton would appoint Peter as CEO on the spot if he was available to take up the role. But he is not.

Local businessman Donal Greene is being mentioned as a possible candidate to get a place on the board as well. Donal was linked to being a candidate involved in a takeover of the club in September 2024.

But whatever his interest was, he was not involved in the takeover, which of course was made by outgoing owner John Temple. He has a controlling share of 65 percent of Dundalk FC.

There are at least two other senior business people who are believed to be interested in joining any new board. Former Director and local teacher Colm Murphy is also being linked to a return to the board.

The club issued a statement after they were notified they had got the licence.

They said that the granting of the licence reflects the significant work undertaken across all areas of the club over recent weeks to ensure Dundalk FC meets the standards required at Premier Division level.

It was, they say, an outcome that involved the support of many stakeholders. Executive Director Chris Clinton says securing the Premier division licence confirms the positive direction the club is moving towards.

Chris Clinton says it is a significant milestone and a huge endorsement of the massive amount of work that has gone on behind the scenes in Oriel in recent weeks.

He also thanked the FAI for their continuous engagement and cooperation during the process.

He says it has been a great help and that the club looks forward to working closely with the FAI and other stakeholders as preparations continue for the 2026 season.

The club also issued a statement on the new pitch. It said that the transformation of Oriel has taken a major step forward with work now well on progress. The old carpet has been lifted completely. The statement went on to say that.

Weather permitting, it was hoped the new playing surface will be installed by Christmas. Dundalk say that the pitch is a long-term investment in the club's future and a key part in the modernisation of facilities.

I just wonder about the new lights which the club is due to install. There is no mention of them since the news came through that the pitch was going ahead. I would like the club to address this in a statement as soon as possible.

There is a Sports Capital Grant to be drawn down by the club for these, also. I know there is supposed to be a technical difficulty as to whether the old pylons that have been there since 1967 can be used.

I have mentioned this before. Dundalk FC, please clarify when you expect the new lights to go in.

In a statement on the latest financial figures released by Dundalk FC on their accounts for 2024 and lodged with the Company's Registration Office, the club says that the newly constituted management board are already addressing Dundalk's financial situation, including the 2024 loss.

They say the clear objective is to move Dundalk FC towards a more sustainable footing with a realistic path to improving results in 2026 and targeting the club to a breakeven point in 2026.

The work is ongoing and will form the basis for conversations for partners and sponsors over the coming months.

Dundalk filed their accounts last Tuesday for the tax year 2024. They show the club lost just under one million euro for that year. The loss as of 31st December 2023 was one million four hundred and sixty seven thousand euro.

The loss for the tax year 31st December 2024 was 958,000 euro. This shows a good improvement on the 2023 figures. But the latest figures show that the club must continue to cut it's cloth in the years ahead.

It's infuriating to see how much money went to waste during it's successful era. Money that should have been put into upgrading the stadium and on other infrastructural projects.

The away supporters' end of the ground is in dire condition. The club must do something to improve it before the start of the season. With the huge swelling of support for the game in Dublin, many away supporters will want to travel to Oriel.

If for health and safety reasons and comfort, away supporters can not be asked to put up with these conditions. They are terrible. They have been like this for the past 25 years, and nothing has been done.

Successive owners have failed dismally to do anything about this problem. It portrays the club in an awful image. It has to be sorted. I brought this problem up with owners in the past, and my pleas were just ignored.

Chris Clinton must hold a public meeting with Dundalk supporters as quickly as possible after Christmas. He must not become the owner in name, but not in appearance.

The Peak6 people had minimal contact with supporters, as had local owners before and after that as well. Chris must talk to the fans. The club needs good leadership.

One of the good skills of a leader is good communication. Outgoing owner John Temple did communicate well with fans through podcasts and on the club website.

I see that four Dundalk FC Academy players were in action at the weekend for the FAI Schools Interprovincial under-18 competition. It was held in Abbotstown.

Shaun Platt and Finlay McCaul lined out for Ulster while Jack Martin and Shay Casey represented Leinster. Hopefully, all four Dundalk lads had a great weekend.

A footnote as the clouds clear over Oriel, one issue that is badly lacking at Oriel. Why does the club not have a senior women's team in Dundalk? I remember asking about this when Dave Mackey was here as assistant to Stephen O'Donnell.

Dave was a league winner with Dundalk in 1991. He coached senior women's teams in County Wicklow for a number of years. He was very anxious to set up a senior women's team in Dundalk.

But he was told by the then owners that although there were plans for such a team, it was some years off. It just did not make sense. No senior women's team was ever brought in.

Hopefully, the new regime at Oriel will do something about this. Talented young female soccer players are heading to Dublin to link up with clubs there. The town is losing out big time in hopes of having a senior women's team. Mr Clinton, please note.

Players were out of contract at all clubs from yesterday. Thus, the transfer window is now open. Dundalk officially have only five players in contract. But there is more than that.

The numbers will grow as time goes on. I see Sunderland centre-half Zak Johnston has gone out on a short-term loan to York City until January.

The young centre half was terrific when he was with Dundalk in the first half of season 2024. Fans were heartbroken when he was recalled by Sunderland. What a coup it would be great for Dundalk if they could get Zak for next season.

Treaty United have seen their CEO Ciara McCormack, stepping down from her role. She has been linked to Dundalk at becoming an investor in the club. These reports are speculation. But they did gather pace as last week went on.

There was very sad news for the League of Ireland at the weekend with the news that retired referee Paddy Daly had passed away. Paddy refereed regularly in the league and the FAI Cup from the late 1970s to the early 1990s.

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He officiated at two men's FAI cup finals. He was also an assistant referee in the 1982 UEFA Cup Final. He was an assistant ref too in the 1979 European Cup Winners' Cup semi-final between Barcelona and Beveren at the Nou Camp.

Paddy also refereed schoolboy games as well. He took charge of a Leinster under-14  cup semi-final final game between Colaiste Ris and a northside Dublin school.

The game was played in the Home Farm grounds in Whitehall. Colaiste Ria won the game but lost in the final. Paddy was great with the young players. Afterwards, the players from both sides thanked Paddy for the way he took charge of the game.

Have a great week. Be careful out there. Especially on the roads. Please look after each other. We are approaching Christmas. It's a happy time, but it's also a very lonely and difficult time for others.