Gavin Cooney

THE FAI REMAIN confident they will be allocated one additional group game at Euro 2028 following confirmation that Casement Park will not host games as initially envisaged. 

With the UK government reneging on the funding of Casement in time for the Euros, Northern Ireland have been removed as a host FA and the games will be distributed among the other four co-hosts. The FAI initially thought they may get another two games, but the likely outcome is one extra group game is staged at the Aviva Stadium.

The final decision on the distribution of games is subject to approval by Uefa. 

“I am very confident we will secure one additional game in Dublin,” FAI CEO David Courell told journalists this week. 

Elsewhere, Courell was asked whether he was unhappy with the optics of a recent article published by the Irish Examiner, in which his predecessor John Delaney was photographed at Mounthawk Park, the home of Kerry FC, to mark the naming of the John O’Regan Stand, christened so after Kerry District League Secretary and former Munster Football Association Chairman John O’Regan.

Delaney told the Irish Examiner, “I gave €5,000 to Castlegregory last summer and I gave €10,000 to Castleisland, and I am giving €5,000 today, out of my own pocket.”

“I think Mounthawk FC [sic]. . . Credit to the club for the work they are doing on the ground, who they chose to invite is their decision but that’s a matter for the past and I’ll leave it there,” said Courell in response to the question. 

Courell was then asked to elaborate on leadership style.

“Leadership can come in many different forms, and it doesn’t mean you have to rule with an iron fist,” said Courell.

“It can be setting direction, taking on board opinions and viewpoints, building consensus and delivering action, and that’s the kind of leader I am. I pride myself on my desire and ability to collaborate and communicate.

“We’ve had different types of leaders. We are in a more modern day where we have a community that will respond better to collaboration than the other, alternative methods.” 

Courell was speaking following the announcement that Marc Canham is quitting as the FAI’s chief football officer. Canham will leave his post in three months time, and the FAI are planning on an interim appointment to the post until the permanent successor is recruited. Canham oversees the senior men’s and women’s head coaches, but with Heimir Hallgrimsson’s contract expiring in November this year should Ireland not qualify for at least the World Cup play-offs, Courell says he will lead the review and subsequent contract renewal decision should Canham’s full-time replacement not yet be in the building. 

“The world will keep spinning even when Marc departs,” said Courell.

“Heimir and Carla will report into me in the intervening period. A review is something we are committed to, it’s not just a Marc Canham thing, it’s something we see value in having consistency at the end of each and every campaign. I hope we’ll have someone in post to conclude that review. If not I will lean on the support of the expertise in-house to support me in carrying out that review, simple as.” 

Reflecting on Canham’s time in charge, Courell agreed with an assertion that Canham took a risk in announcing in March last year that the FAI would appoint Stephen Kenny’s full-time successor the following month, once that coach had completed their “existing contractual obligations.”

Ultimately Hallgrimsson was not announced in April, but in July. Courell repeated the FAI’s insistence that Hallgrimsson was their first-choice candidate all along, even if, as Courell has previously admitted, Hallgrimsson was still on the open market in July, shortly before he was unveiled by the FAI. 

“It was a calculated risk from Marc, one I believe will pay off,” said Courell. 

Courell rejected the notion Canham regrets the whole drawn-out process.

“I don’t think so, I think all of us involved in that decision can see benefits of what Heimir has brought to the team, there’s optimism around our forthcoming qualification campaign. We are confident and comfortable with our decision. Time will tell but early indications are that we were right to hold our nerve and we stand by that.” 

Meanwhile, Hallgrimsson’s hopes of adding more games to the forthcoming June friendly schedule so as to be able to run the rule over a wider pool of players look set to be disappointed.

Though the FAI had worked on adding more games to the confirmed double-header of Senegal and Luxembourg, it’s understood they were unable to find appropriate opponents at relatively short notice.