The midseason talent drain to England has prompted Bohemians to call on other League of Ireland clubs to enter a “collective agreement” that establishes a base level on transfer fees.
The united front aims to strike a blow against football agents’ control of the market.
“A collective agreement will be better for players, clubs, and the league as a whole and will only impact upon short-term agent gains,” said Daniel Lambert, chief operating officer at Dalymount Park.
Following the departure of Bohs’ best young players, Dawson Devoy (20) to MK Dons and Promise Omochere (21) to Fleetwood Town, after both activated ‘get out’ clauses in their contracts, Lambert took to Twitter in an effort to compel rivals to make the exodus work for Irish clubs in the short-term.
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“A huge amount of young players are now moving from League of Ireland to League One in particular,” Lambert wrote. “This is an obvious result of Brexit, previously scores went annually at younger ages from junior clubs before they were on the public or fans’ radar.
“The balance has shifted from large numbers of unknown talent to a smaller number of older proven talents but [it is] still a huge drain on our league.
“Clubs are getting better ‘add-ons’ but we need to collectively improve the up front fees being achieved. This is essential for academy investment to continue to develop players at all levels.
“The biggest impediment to up front fees are agent ‘get out’ clauses and these can be counteracted by clubs having a collective agreement to set a certain level where no club breaks it and delivers higher fees for all.
“This will require trust and co-operation not yet seen by League of Ireland clubs,” Lambert added. “Until then agents can/will play clubs against each other with high potential young players.”
Executives at two other Premier Division clubs, when contacted by The Irish Times, disagreed with Bohs’ stance.
“We just have to dig in and be smarter when it comes to negotiating transfer fees,” said one club director. “Tell the agents to go f*** themselves.”
Comment was sought from the agent representing both Devoy and Omochere.
“It’s down to individual club’s negotiating power,” said another senior club official, “and if Bohemians can’t get their players to sign contracts without ‘get out’ clauses, the problem is with Bohemians, not the league as a whole.”
The League of Ireland has undergone a revival this season with an increase in fans attending matches – for example, Shamrock Rovers have experienced an increase in average attendances from 4,000 in 2019 to 7,000 for Friday night matches – but star attractions are being lured away in global transfer windows.
Taking Bohs in isolation, six players that started last year’s Europa qualifier win over PAOK – Andy Lyons, Anto Breslin, Keith Buckley, Ross Tierney, Georgie Kelly and Devoy – have left the club. Omochere makes the tally four who have joined UK clubs.
Lyons, having moved across town to Rovers, is currently being pursued by Championship side Blackpool.
Financially, the switch to the third tier of English football is life changing as weekly wages treble overnight, from around €1,000 to €3,000, with one executive noting that players have “no incentive” to generate a higher transfer fees for the selling club.
“League One is just a different beast, it really is,” said Eoin Doyle, the St Patrick’s Athletic striker, who returned home after 11 seasons in the UK. “You just have to look at the stature of the clubs. I played in front of 46,000 people in League One. You go up to Sunderland, you go down to Portsmouth and Ipswich, Sheffield Wednesday, Bolton – all big, massive clubs.
“You can’t compare the two countries. The same applies when comparing to France or Germany because they don’t have second, third or fourth tiers as strong as England.
“It’s a unique place where football is their religion. Going to a match on a Saturday is their Mass. Because we’re so close to England, people try to compare all the time but you can’t. It’s a completely different beast.
“What you’d like to see stopped are the buy-out clauses,” Doyle continued. “Players have power and to get these things in. If that was to stop and real money was coming into the league, instead of the little flimsy deals, you’d then be happier.”
Irish clubs can turn future player transfers into enormous profit via incentivised contracts. Recent windfalls include Bohs profiting from Matt Doherty’s £15 million (€17.7 million) move from Wolves to Spurs in 2020 and Rovers banked a seven figure sum when Gavin Bazunu was sold by Manchester City to Southampton earlier this summer.
The ‘sell-on’ clause is a vital part of negotiations before James Abankwah went from St Pat’s to Udinese or Devoy’s switch to MK Dons. If these young players hit certain markers, like a number of games per season, promotion or international caps, the Irish club gets paid.
“Financially the gap is massive,” Doyle added. “If you get promoted to the Championship from League One it is three times the amount St Pat’s would get for getting into the Europa Conference League. That’s the benefit without selling a ticket, television money getting lashed at you.
“People look at Promise and wonder why is he going to Fleetwood in League One, but the scope he has for moving on, just by playing in League One, is huge, it really is.”
With the player drain at this pivotal moment in the season set to continue unchecked, the focus switches to club academy structures, which cost €300,000 a year. The FAI currently assist to the tune of €10,000. Back in May 2021 Taoiseach Micheál Martin said the Government could give each club €80,000 to help operate their academies.
Hard cash?
“Yeah,” replied Martin.
League of Ireland to League One (in current transfer window):
Darragh Burns (St Patrick’s Athletic to MK Dons)
Dawson Devoy (Bohemians to MK Dons)
Promise Omochere (Bohemians to Fleetwood Town)
Danny Mandroiu (Shamrock Rovers to Lincoln City)
Eric Yoro (UCD to Bolton Wanderers)
Eoin Toal (Derry City to Bolton Wanderers)
