Leinster House hasn’t been the happiest of venues for the Football Association of Ireland the last few years, their grillings by the Oireachtas Committee on Sport more often than not leaving members of their board ashen-faced come full-time.
The place did, though, give them a much-needed fillip on Tuesday with Minister for Sport Patrick O’Donovan’s announcement that they will receive “multi-annual” funding of €3 million towards League of Ireland academies.
It wasn’t quite the €4.45 million the FAI had requested in its pre-budget submission, but it wasn’t far off – and considering the strained relationship the association has had with its political masters, there are unlikely to be too many complaints in Abbotstown.
Indeed, they issued effusive thanks later in the day, CEO David Courell offering his sincere gratitude for “a significant moment for the FAI, our clubs, and the future of Irish football”.
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League of Ireland director Mark Scanlon described it as “a landmark day” for the game at home, while LOI academy development manager Will Clarke said the investment would “create full-time roles across our clubs and support the development of modern academies to help young Irish boys and girls reach their full potential on and off the pitch”.
Crucially, the Minister said this would be “a multi-annual commitment” from the Government, rather than a one-off investment, and significantly too, Sport Ireland, rather than the FAI, will administer the funding.
Speaking later at Government Buildings, O’Donovan suggested he and the FAI would be on a “collision course” if there was a repeat of their evasiveness at their most recent Oireachtas Committee showing. There’s a fair amount of trust to be rebuilt yet.
But the funding will help 26 clubs across the country run academies and hire full-time staff, only a tiny percentage of them so far being able to afford anything other than part-time recruits, largely depending on volunteers instead.
While the finer details of the funding allocation are still to be decided, the clubs are likely to receive around €90,000 each. They are: Athlone Town, Bohemians, Bray Wanderers, CK United, Cork City, Cobh Ramblers, Derry City, Drogheda United, Dundalk, Finn Harps, Galway United, Kerry FC, Limerick, Longford Town, Shelbourne, Shamrock Rovers, Sligo Rovers, St Patrick’s Athletic, Treaty United, UCD AFC, Waterford, Wexford, Klub Kildare, Mayo FC, DLR Waves (women) and Peamount United (women).
The hope is that this will kick-start the effort to catch up with the academy systems of other nations, Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers acknowledging that “our youth development structures have not kept pace with other countries”.
“In addition,” he said, “rule changes following Brexit mean more young Irish players are staying in our domestic system for longer. This presents us with a responsibility to nurture our brightest young talents here at home and provide them with the best environment to fulfil their potential.”
Much like the FAI, the Gaelic Players Association’s funding fell short of what they had requested. They had sought an increase that would have seen grants for intercounty players rise from just over €1,400 to €2,500, but they’ve had to settle for €1,800. Still, they welcomed the increase. “Today is an important step forward”, they said, while insisting that “our campaign does not stop here”.
“The GPA will continue to push until intercounty players are fully recognised and supported on par with other elite and high-performance athletes in Ireland, whether that is achieved through the total funding outlined in our campaign or through a combination of direct investment and/or a fair tax-relief scheme for players.”
Similarly, the GAA had looked for funding around the €5 million mark for a range of projects, among them the growing of hurling in “non-traditional areas”, but they were awarded just under a fifth of that sum.
Rugby saw its funding increased by three quarters of a million Euros, a chunk of that allotted to “the building of high-performance pathways for women rugby players”. Sport Ireland’s funding was topped up by €10.8 million, which will be spread across multiple national governing bodies, while €1.5 million will go towards high-performance athletes in the build-up to LA 2028.
Having already committed €58 million in support of the 2027 Ryder Cup at Adare Manor, along with major transport infrastructure to be completed in time for the event, a further investment of €500,000 was announced on Tuesday “in a grassroots golf participation programme as part of the legacy programme of major golf events like the Ryder Cup 2027”.
The Government also projects that €9 million will be provided next year towards hosting the Ryder Cup in Ireland.
The FAI, GPA and GAA can but look at those figures and purr.
