There were no fresh revelations out of the Marc Canham briefing in Abbotstown on Monday as the FAI’s chief football officer emphasised the importance of building relationships with his harshest critics in the League of Ireland.
Shamrock Rovers manager Stephen Bradley and Shelbourne manager Damien Duff have consistently questioned the FAI’s ability to secure annual Government funding of €8 million to create international standard club academies.
“We need each other,” said Canham. “The FAI can’t do it on its own, clubs can’t do it on their own, we have to work together. That is critical.
“Those people you referred to [Duff and Bradley] are doing a great job for Irish football, raising the profile of the league, doing great things both domestically and in Europe.
Sergio Garcia knocked back again but still has opportunity to reach Open
Conor McManus: ‘The pain was so bad I knew I wouldn’t be able to make it back to the house’
When Muhammad Ali came to Ireland: how a ‘splendid spoofer’ from Kerry planned to lure the boxer to Dublin
George Foreman: A life in pictures
“That’s positive, I respect what they’ve done in the past, what they are doing now, and I think that’s a good thing. And people listen to their views. We just need to make sure we’re working together to achieve the success that we need to achieve.”
FAI chief executive David Courell and chairman of the board Tony Keohane are due to meet with Government officials next week to seek funding for facilities and club academies. But Canham was unwilling to reveal if this would include time with Taoiseach Micheál Martin or Minister of State for Sport Charlie McConalogue.
Martin and McConalogue were guests of the FAI at the Aviva Stadium for Sunday’s 2-1 defeat of Bulgaria.
Canham did reveal that discussions are ongoing with League of Ireland clubs for FAI staff to work with their 14- to 17-year-olds during school holidays. A plan to triple the coaching hours of the most talented teenagers in the country was recently blocked by Premier Division academies after they described a presentation by Canham and his number two Shane Robinson as “poorly conceived.”
Consequently, the FAI sessions in Abbotstown that were due to start over the Easter holidays had to be postponed.
“We won’t launch the programme until clubs are comfortable with it. We are now working more intimately with the national league committee to help them work through the issues they have.”
The FAI sessions for male and female teenagers will never replace the club academy plan, said Canham.
“In a period of time [in which] we don’t have the [Government] funding we need yet, and the clubs don’t have the level of investment they need yet, we have to take some action,” he said.
“It’s not developing a national academy like you may have seen in England years ago, with Lilleshall – Michael Owen went to that – or Clairefontaine in France. This is a partnership, a hybrid model, where players stay registered with clubs, where they train and play, but come to us in midterm breaks to increase that contact time.
“Ultimately our aim is to have a club-led player development programme. I would say that even if the funding came tomorrow, it will take time for academies to get set up properly. I lived in a world in England where it took 18 months for clubs to be ready.
“Well done to the clubs for all the work they are doing already,” he continued. “The quality of players we are producing without that level of funding and infrastructure is a positive and admirable to everyone involved in Irish football.”
Canham added that a State-funded audit by the association of all 24 academies will be completed “in the next few months”.
“We hope that [funding] comes this year. But I would stress that it’s not a magic wand that will work. It will take some time to put that infrastructure in place for it to start to work.”
Meanwhile, the 42-year-old former Colchester United midfielder was non-committal about his future within the association.
“In terms of our plan and our vision, it’s 12 years and there are loads of things to do but in terms of my own self. I don’t look too far in the future in terms of that respect.”
