Dundalk FC 1903 Supporters Club AGM

The 1903 Dundalk FC Supporters Club will host its Annual General Meeting (AGM) inside the Lilywhite Lounge this Saturday at 1pm, with doors opening from 12.30pm. 

All members are encouraged to attend the meeting, with respective changes at The 1903 and Dundalk FC, as well as the election of new committee members topping the agenda.

Orla Crilly succeeded founder Brendan Ogle as The 1903 chairperson at last year’s AGM, and has enjoyed what she admitted has been a demanding first 12 months in the role. 

“It’s been an amazing year,” Orla told The Democrat. “I think we have really achieved a lot. One of the big things we worked on over the past year was really linking in with the business community in Dundalk. 

“We have, I think it’s like 63 now or 64 maybe, businesses that are joined up to The 1903, so someone comes along and pays their €24 for the year, they have thousands of euro worth of deals and discounts at their disposal across a really wide range of businesses in Dundalk.

“Ruairí Ó Murchú sponsored us getting the cards and we got a very professional look to it. We’ve the booklets as well advertising the businesses, so it wasn’t just about what we could get for our members, it was also giving a platform to local businesses as well to promote themselves. 

“I just think as the club is a big part of the community, linking in with the businesses is an important part of that as well, so we were very happy with that.”

With instabilities surrounding the ownership of Dundalk prevalent throughout 2023, collaborative opportunities were somewhat limited last season for The 1903 committee, but Orla is excited regarding the future direction under new owner Brian Ainscough.

“I’m delighted for Brian to come in,” she enthused. “He gets stuck into the middle of things and pushes stuff forward and I think he is the perfect person to be the owner of the club at this time.

“He sees all the issues, he’s very down to earth and I really love his approach. He’s open and honest and that’s where we need to be at this moment. 

“We got the disability area, he really wanted to have that done. He absolutely harassed everyone at the club apparently, went on and on and on to make sure it was done because he put his name to it and goes, I want this done. How is the club going to move forward if you’re not that type of person?

“You just need someone that’s going to push on. I’m really excited about doing more stuff. We’re starting the season now, we’re just trying to get some of the basics done, but I feel really positive about what he can bring to the club and how we can move forward together because it’s all about open communication.”

Those who wish to join the approximate 300 members currently signed up to The 1903 in advance of Saturday afternoon’s AGM can easily do so by visiting the1903.ie online. 

“We’ll just be running through everything that we’ve done over the year and giving members a chance to give any opinions or things that they feel we could do better or anything extra we’d like to see. 

“We’ve had loads of ideas, but just things we couldn’t really execute up to this point. We’re on a clean slate again, and working with Brian, we’ll hope to do even more than we did last year.”