Maxi had black and white blood flowing through his veins

It was a very sad night at Oriel Park on Friday night when word came through that Maxi Mark Kavanagh had passed away at the Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda. Maxi lived for his family and for Dundalk Football Club.

Before the game fans had unfurled a banner saying “Maxi we love you more than you will ever know”. By the end of the game, Maxi had passed. It's just so sad that a good-natured and well-loved person has gone from us.

The last time I saw Maxi was when fans gathered outside Oriel Park waiting to hear about the very future of the club. That is still up in the air as the consortium that owns the club have only guaranteed their support for the Dundalk FC until the end of the season.

They will decide then whether or not if they will continue their support. It was ironic that Maxi died on a night when the once Kings of Irish football The Black and Whites were all but relegated to Division One when they were beaten by Bohemians by two goals to nil in a very disappointing performance.

But who cares about relegation when the club loses yet another icon that will go down in history with other famous supporters? But Maxi had something unique about him. I have never met anybody who had so much passion for the club.

Maxi had black and white blood flowing through his veins. It broke his heart to see his club on the verge of going out of football. Less than two weeks later Maxi himself passed. Another light has gone out over Oriel Park.

Ni bheidh a leithead aris ann. This means ''His likes will never be seen again.''. And it will not. Maxi was a unique human being. He was kind, thoughtful and would do anything for anybody. He knew the history of Dundalk Football Club.

He always spoke to me often of the late Jimmy Hasty. Jimmy died when he was shot dead by the loyalist UVF on his way to work. The anniversary of his death will be 50 years ago on 11th October.

It was ironic that Richard Milway who won an Emmy award for his documentary on Jimmy was at Oriel on Friday night. Perhaps sometime into the future, a documentary will be made about Maxi. There should be.

I asked Jon Daly for a comment on the news that Maxi had passed. He said that this was the first he had heard of it. Jon had a very good relationship with Maxi and had nothing but the highest of respect for him.

'I feel very sad at that news. I have to say when I first came in he made me and my assistant Graham feel very welcome. He also was the same with any of the new players who came in. He was a fantastic person who will be sadly missed. He was missed tonight as he always was there with us, standing behind the dugout. It's sad, sad news.''

On his time since he came into the club following the 2-0 defeat by Bohs, Jon said that he has found it very tough since he came in as manager.

''It's not what I expected it to be in terms of everything off the pitch. It's a fantastic club with good people. There are also a good group of players there. The team just lacks a little bit of depth.

When I first came in and I probably was not aware of the turnover of players that was going to happen. That obviously something that was preempted or was not something I expected.

I was quite happy with the squad when I arrived. There were quite a lot of loan players going back and other players wanting to leave. It obviously made my job a little bit more difficult to try and recruit and bring in so many.

''It's certainly learning for my part. When speaking to owners and to people about potential jobs, I think what I have learned from the job at Dundalk is that I should have asked certain questions before jumping into the job. But I have loved my time here.

I am just very disappointed that we have not managed to secure our safety. It's obviously now a very difficult job to do so. Last week Jon Daly told me that he did not think he would be remaining on as manager after the end of the season.

But it's very hard to understand how Jon Daly did not know he was walking into a club that was going from one crisis to another. He must have known that he would be losing Zak Johnson and Zak Bradshaw in the June window as they were always going to be returning to their clubs.

Archie Davies, regarded as the best fullback in the league, wanted to leave. The manager did not stand in his way. But losing these three players and having a serious goalkeeping crisis it was clear to most that Daly was heading to a full-blown crisis. And that's what happened and also what has relegated Dundalk.

The goings on and off the pitch were not a help either. It's emerged that former owner Brian Ainscough had some difficulties in America with his now former club the Boston Bolts. This must have taken up much of his time and diverted his attention away from Dundalk.

But Dundalk were in a dire financial state before Mr Ainscough walked in the door. How the club continued to trade this season is a mystery to me. But the owner did so hoping Dundalk would hit the jackpot and qualify for Europe.

Even I could see the club was in a serious crisis even before it was sold off to Mr Aincough. The last game of last season showed me that Dundalk were heading for a major crash on the field this season. That's what happened.

The Pat Hoban statement that he was leaving the club and the departure of quite a number of talented players left me in no doubt that the relegation storm clouds were gathering.

That was in November 2023. I wrote then that I believed that as things stood, Dundalk would finish bottom of the table and be relegated to Division One.

Stephen O'Donnell's failure to land a good replacement for Nathan Shepperd is what ripped through the confidence of this team this season. O'Donnell also had Brian Gartland in a recruitment position at Oriel.

But it's been claimed that his role was to discuss the terms of a contract of a new player when it was decided that they were coming to Oriel. The new St Pats assistant manager was not involved in actually recruiting players.

Goalkeeper George Shelvey departed Oriel after only a short time after he was suspended by the FAI for remarks he made to a referee in Drogheda. Ross Munro came back into goals but failed to solve the problem.

Dundalk seemed to solve their defensive problems when they did not concede a goal for two months at Oriel. But the departure of the two Zak's and Archie Davies reopened all the old defensive uncertainties. Jon Daly knew that Nathan Shepperd was available in the June market.

For whatever reason he opted for Felix Goddard who was an apprentice keeper from Blackburn. No disrespect to Felix but the decision to recruit him failed to solve Dundalk's defensive problems completely. The defence just had no confidence in him at all.

Ross Munro returned. But that did not solve the goalkeeping problems either. On Friday night Munro just failed to dominate his penalty area. Again the defence seemed to have no confidence in him. .

This was to lead to Bohemians scoring inevitably Daly got his team selection wrong on Friday night. He was right to bring Mayowa back to the centre of the defence. Sean Keogh has a great future. But this was too big a game to bring him in now.

Why Jamie Gullan was brought in as a striker at the start of the season I will never know. The dropping of Ryan O'Kane and Eoin Kenny was a surprise. Dundalk always look like they can open defences when Ryan plays. Eoin is a striker. Gullan is not. He is a winger.

Yet all of Dundalk's managers this season have used them as a striker. He has only scored 5 goals. It's just a plain fact that the team has not been good enough all over the park.

It has not just been in the goalkeeping area. With a weak team and the instability of so many managers leaving and coming, Dundalk would be wounded mortally.

But the players have also had to play weeks without getting paid as a result of the team not being paid. The team was a mess. But not being paid made things much worse. The club is not yet out of the woods yet as to whether it will survive.

Many supporters were in tears leaving Oriel with the news that Dundalk were relegated. But many of the tears were for Maxi himself. The supporters stressed they were in tears also because of the state the club is in. And they will now face the First Division next season.

Or there is also of course the fact there may be no club at all. Over three thousand people attended the game. That's a huge message to the new owners that the support is there. But these new owners should always remember that the club does not belong to them.

It belongs to the men, women and children of Dundalk and surrounding areas. John Temple was at the game on Friday. Of course, people are grateful that his consortium saved the club. 80 per cent is owned by John Temple's consortium.

20 per cent remains in the hands of the shareholders who invested in the club under Brian Ainscough. The sooner we know the decision of the new owners the better as to whether they are staying on in Oriel.

Daniel McDonnell in the Sunday Independent quoted some interesting figures on the demise of Dundalk from 2016 to 2023. The figures were compiled by John O'Connor, a former President of Bohemians and a qualified accountant.

Over the period 2016 to 2023, Dundalk had losses of just short of five million euro. There was a profit in 2021 of 306,991 euro. That was the year Dundalk qualified for the group stages of the Europa League. But they had to play all games behind closed doors.

They also played Arsenal at the Emirates. In 2016 they made profits of 3.3 million Euro. In 2019, 2022 and 2023 they were in debt to the amount of over a million Euro.

Player bonuses and management awards did cut into their UEFA money in 2016. It's been reported that the players received bonuses of 40,000 euros each for beating Bate Borisov in a Champions League qualifier in 2016.

Peak 6 bought the club for around two million euro in 2017. By 2020 Dundalk's wage bill was double that of their opponents in the League Of Ireland. In 2021 the club went on a massive spending spree again.

They saw managers come and managers go. They spent high on players from abroad. The policy never worked as the club just avoided relegation.

Peak 6 handed the club over to StatsSports and Andy Connolly in 2022. The American company cleared all outstanding debt and left around 1.2 million euro in the bank for the new owners. What happened over the next two years is a matter for debate.

The then owners may say that legacy issues from Peak 6 increased their costs. Brian Ainscough could say the same of the people he took over from.

Andy Connolly insisted that the outgoing owners put in 250,000 as they left the club. But according to Daniel McDonnell, it's still clear that there are massive questions lingering as to how the club operated in 2022 and 2023.

Brian Ainscough would use legacy issues as the other owners before him. The size of player contracts in the first team that carried in from one regime to another has been a factor both separate owners had to face.

When Brian Ainscough arrived, he spoke about a level of investment that never materialised. Brian Ainscough was hoping to get a place in Europe at the end of 2024.

This is why the wage bill of 350,000 euro was used for the current season. It was the same wage bill as 2023. In June players were offered a bonus of 1000 euro a head if they avoided relegation. Sadly that will not have to be paid.

Bohemians recorded their first league win at Oriel since 2017 last Friday. They came to Oriel on the back of a poor winning streak. Paul Doyle was playing his first game in a while. He created a good chance for Dundalk early on.

Bohs were forced to clear the ball off the line three times in a row with good efforts from Dundalk. It looked to me as if the ball had crossed the line with one of the efforts. But without a VAR system, it would be impossible to say.

Dayle Rooney should have scored for Bohs just after the break. They did take the lead in spectacular fashion just before the hour mark when Dawson Devoy smashed home a superb volley from the edge of the box.

Daryl Horgan had a great chance to level. But he blasted over from close range. Jamie Gullan missed the chance of the night when he shot over from 10 yards. Bohs sealed the game with six minutes remaining. Rooney's set piece caused havoc in the Dundalk box.

James Clarke attacked it in the six-yard area. The ball then came off a combination of John Mountney and Jamie Gullan for an own goal that gave Bohs the points.

With Drogheda winning, they just need four more points to ensure the play-off place and send Dundalk into the dark cauldrons of Division One. These are dark days for Dundalk. The last time they were relegated, it took the club 7 years to get out of the First Division.

Cork have come straight back up this season. But it will be much more difficult to do so next season. The new owners must put the proper structures in place at the club to ensure promotion is a reality.

That will take some time, I asked Jon Daly if the wages were paid last week. He told me that he had not yet checked himself and as such he was not going to comment on something he did not know the answer to.

Meanwhile, as Dundalk prepare to say goodbye to the Premier Division, they must say goodbye to Maxi this week. Maxi is survived by his heartbroken daughters, grandchildren, mother, sisters and other family members as well as his many friends.

He will be reposing in the Eternity Room of Quinn's Funeral home both today Wednesday from 3 pm to 8 pm. Removal on Thursday at 12.15 pm, proceeding on foot to the Church of the Holy Redeemer on Thursday, October 3rd for funeral mass at 1 pm. After mass, the cortege will drive to Oriel Park enroute to Saint Patrick's Cemetery for burial.

Maxi shot to national fame when he recorded David Keenan singing in his Taxi on Facebook a number of years ago. David was also and is a great Dundalk supporter.

Maxi asked David if he would do a number for his own Facebook followers. David was just returning from a local gig where he had been playing. He sang the song El Paso which I think he wrote himself. It was fantastic. The recording went viral.

Both Maxi and David were invited onto RTE TV for interviews. Maxi's taxi recordings became famous. David became a very well-known national and international singer and music artist.

Richard Millway who directed the documentary on Jimmy Hasty, Dundalk's one-armed player who was assassinated in Belfast on 11th October 1974 by Loyalist gunmen on his way to work, was back in Oriel at the Bohemians game.

He had his Emmy award with him that he won for making the programme. I find now among people a certain apathy towards the troubles in the north that saw nearly 4,000 people dead.

This is because they never lived through the troubles or were young when the Good Friday Agreement brought peace more than 25 years ago. I would advise these people never to take this peace for granted. To live through the troubles was a terrible experience for all Irish people.

This is especially so for people who lived through it every day in the north. It was also a harrowing experience to people who lived along the border. It destroyed many lives and also social life.

It also destroyed the economic lives of border areas and in the North. The documentary was shown in the Town Hall on Saturday as part of a local film festival.

If the new owners decide to stay they will be on the lookout for a new manager. I think Daryl Horgan would be an excellent candidate with Andy Boyle as his assistant.

Daryl is a leader. He has the respect of players, supporters and staff. He is also getting his coaching badges. Daryl also knows the league and players inside out. His recruitment would be from within the league and not just based on loan deals from the UK.

Have a safe week. Please look after each other and remember to take care of each other.