THERE’S A GREAT old cliché that ‘paper teams win paper cups’ that we use when we want to express that something written down isn’t action and never will be.
Two weeks ago I wrote about the Premier Clubs’ Alliance [PCA] and the strides made prior to unnecessary FAI interference at the 2014 Clubs’ Convention. At that convention John Delaney informed all clubs of plans for a ‘League of Ireland consultation process’ which was subsequently announced on 1 March.
The feeling among many involved with our clubs following the announcement was that the consultation process was simply a ‘tick-box’ exercise to make the PCA redundant since the Association would speak to them individually to listen to their concerns.
Following the appointment of Declan Conroy to lead the process, it gained some credibility. Conroy is well respected within Irish football. He led the successful bids to bring both the 2011 Europa League Final and the 2020 European Championships to Ireland; he’s also worked as a consultant within Uefa and Fifa on strategic plans with member nations. His interaction with the league has been minimal but a fresh viewpoint was welcome.
Conroy has travelled the country speaking to every club and numerous stakeholders. He will interview FAI staff and officials last. The media were among the first on his list, not to raise profile for the process, but to understand their thoughts, issues and potential solutions.
I spoke to him last month as a stakeholder in the consultation process and he explained that the reason for leaving the FAI representatives until last was to prevent potential bias when speaking to clubs.
I’ve spoken with many individuals who have met Conroy since the process started and the feedback has been unanimous. There’s trust in Conroy as an individual; no one doubts his integrity or desire to produce a consultation report that will improve the lot of everyone associated with the game here. Even among supporters who haven’t met him personally, the online survey put in place seeking feedback was received positively and clubs rightly encouraged their supporters to engage.
However, there was also a unanimous concern. What will the FAI do with the consultation process report? What can they do, given their financial restraints? Will it simply gather dust on a desk?
I mentioned above that Conroy’s interaction with the league had been minimal. One area of brief overlap was in development of the Genesis report looking into the ills of Irish football following the 2002 World Cup. That report saw improvements in administration of the national sides, but in commissioning that report the League of Ireland kept popping up. Subsequently a separate Genesis II project was commissioned, looking into the league.
It was a document that ultimately led to a furious Dundalk fan pouring petrol over himself in the FAI offices in Merrion Square after his team were denied a promotion they won on the pitch at the expense of a Galway United project that quickly proved unsustainable.
If you take the time to read the Genesis II report here, you will see that it generally captured the state of the league accurately — “most of the clubs are financially unstable” — though it’s hard to take seriously when it includes a measure of success of “League players [from full-time professional squads] regularly in International Squad”.
You cannot ignore the divergence between the ‘vision of success’ and our league today. Simply, this is a document that was never realistic.
Therein lies the issue for those of us who follow the league. It feels that we’ve been here before. No-one doubts Declan Conroy’s ability, enthusiasm or integrity. He will produce a quality report and strategic plan for the league. I’ve no doubt it will contain intelligent suggestions and proposals. The question is will we see publicly announced targets that can be tracked and challenged — will the FAI learn from the mistakes of Genesis II?
An outline of the initial findings should be available over the next month or so. It’s important that the media, clubs and supporters don’t forget that this process is ongoing.
The process was announced with much fanfare. People were asked to give their feedback. If you did give feedback — if you cared enough to engage — it’s just about time to start asking what is going to be done.
