LEAGUE OF IRELAND: THE FAI announced significant increases to the prize fund for this season's Eircom League of Ireland, which gets under way next weekend, with the total amount of cash on offer up by almost one fifth and the winners set to claim €250,000, just over 10 per cent more than Drogheda United banked back in November.
Overall, the association says it will contribute more than €2 million to the 22 clubs of the Premier and First Divisions. The money is heavily targeted at the leading sides, though, with this year's champions in line to land around €550,000 in prize money, grants to assist with their participation in European competitions and various other subventions.
In contrast to last season, all 22 clubs will pick up a share, no matter how modest, of the pot. While the runners up will get €100,000, the bottom side in the top flight will get €7,000 and last placed club in the First Division will receive a cheque for €3,000.
Speaking at yesterday's launch of this year's league, the chairman, Eamonn Naughton, hailed the progress made during the first year of the merger with the FAI and appeared to endorse John Delaney's position regarding Platinum One's proposals for an All-Ireland league by stating the present arrangements will endure for at least the agreed five-year period.
The deal between league and association, he said, had been that the merger would be for five seasons and the latter "remains totally committed to seeing out the agreement it made with clubs to run the league on their behalf".
Naughton said the tighter regulation of the way in which clubs are run, which includes the new salary cap, would help to attract further investment from a business community which has started to take an interest in the league over the past few years. He also expressed high hopes that the league can continue to attract increased attendances - 100,000 more are said to have gone to games last season - and further improve its image through wider television coverage.
There was a major focus at yesterday's launch on RTÉ's new Monday night highlights programme, Monday Night Soccer (MNS), which will be screened for the first time on Monday week at 8pm on RTÉ 2. The programme will contain highlights of all top-flight games.
Drogheda United kick off the defence of their first league title at home to Shamrock Rovers next Friday night, while Sporting Fingal head to Longford Town for a league debut after having been bumped up from the A League in the wake of Kilkenny City's withdrawal.
On the face of it, Liam Buckley would appear to be attempting to succeed where Ronan Seery and Dublin City failed a couple of years back but the former Shamrock Rovers boss is confident a somewhat different approach will yield dividends. "There's a quarter of a million of people living in Fingal and 50 football clubs," he says. "It won't happen overnight but our aim, particularly when all of facilities are in place, is to engage with all of the football people who live in the area."
The aim, he says, is to be competitive in the first year, although having signed a string of players with impressive Premier Division credentials including Steve Williams, Peter Hynes, Jim Crawford and, this week, Dave Rogers, there appears to be the basis for somewhat higher levels of ambition.
Having seen his side win the First Division last year, though, Cobh Ramblers boss Stephen Henderson could hardly be accused of setting the bar too low with the former Ramblers and Cork City goalkeeper insisting he aims to see his side "surviving comfortably", rather than setting out to "merely" avoid the drop.
Henderson brings a young but exciting squad to the top flight with several of his leading players having turned down moves to better established Premier League outfits in order to stay at St Colman's Park for the coming campaign. Particular attention will focus on Davin O'Neill and Graham Cummins who, after scoring 25 league goals between them last year both had close-season trials at Sunderland. The English side will continue to monitor the pair and will play a friendly against Ramblers in July as a result of the links established between the two clubs.
Henderson, though, is adamant his side has talented players in every area of the pitch and, having gone unbeaten at home from the opening weekend of last year's campaign, he reckons Ramblers can prove a handful for everyone during the months ahead.
"We have a lot of respect for the other teams and their managers but the fact is that we have a lot of confidence in ourselves and won't be going into this fearing absolutely anyone," he said.
