RORY GAFFNEY’S NEW one-year contract at Shamrock Rovers is set to be signed later this week.
A deal that was verbally agreed by the player yesterday should be formalised in the coming days as the Hoops take their first steps towards retaining the Premier Division title and becoming the first League of Ireland side ever to win five-in-a-row.
The 42 can also confirm that Rovers made star midfielder Jack Byrne a new contract offer on Sunday, although it is understood that no decision from the 27-year-old is imminent.
These important bits of housekeeping would suggest that head coach Stephen Bradley’s future is now clearer after a stormy period in which he opened up on tensions with club figures behind the scenes, citing how “people were coming at you from within.”
With the league secured and a revised budget as a result now in place for 2024, Bradley has had to start playing catch up, although as the majority of his squad are already under contract, he only has to focus on some key personnel.
Gaffney’s decision to spurn contract offers elsewhere – most notably Derry City – and commit for one more season is a huge boost.
Byrne is wanted by St Patrick’s Athletic, who have expressed their interest in a player whose current deal at Tallaght Stadium runs out this month, while Shelbourne are also in the mix for his signature.
However, with Damien Duff’s future at Tolka Park now uncertain, that is an unlikely option until matters in Drumcondra become clearer.
Inchicore remains a viable destination for Byrne, who was the subject of three bids from Charlotte FC in Major League Soccer back in April.
That interest materialised at a time when the domestic season was only a couple of months old and Rovers still had their European campaign ahead of them.
It was one that would end prematurely, meaning the bounty in the region of €4 million that was earned through qualification to the group stages of the Europa Conference League in 2022 plummeted to a little over €800,000 this time around.
For Byrne, he now has something concrete from Rovers to consider while he recovers from knee surgery. The Manchester City academy graduate underwent an operation that was carried out by renowned surgeon Andy Williams in London last month.
Gaffney, meanwhile, turned 34 before the end of this season and only began actively looking to extend his League of Ireland career beyond this term once his good form and fitness remained after being named PFA Ireland player of the year for 2022.
Rovers, because of growing doubts about their budget for next year, were unable to commit to a final contract offer until after they had won the league.
This allowed league rivals to make their move for the Galway native, with Derry putting forward the strongest case.
His hometown club, backed by the billionaire Comer brothers, are also returning to the Premier Division but the striker has opted to remain in Dublin and work under a manager who has helped transform his game.
Tying up these important loose ends with two key figures in the squad has been just some of what has fed into the growing sense of frustration and unease for Bradley.
The issues run deeper and longer, as far back as 15 to 16 months.
Yet Rovers still lifted the Premier Division trophy for the fourth successive season last week, emulating the side of the 1980s, and while the 38-year-old boss has become the first in League of Ireland history to lead a club to such success (Jim McLaughlin and Dermot Keely shared the spoils between 84-87) he has done so against a backdrop of strife.
Rovers put on a united front earlier in the season when Charlotte made their move for Byrne. Their final bid was worth close to €500,000 and the club stood firm to reject it.
The view from Bradley, and the board, was that Byrne’s value would be far greater if he could help them progress. That they didn’t only highlighted the precarious nature of their financial position even after success on the pitch and in the transfer market.
The Rovers ownership model is quite straightforward – even if the dynamics involving some of those in the mix are not.
The arrival of Dermot Desmond in 2019 was crucial in more ways than one. One of his companies, International Investment & Underwriting (IIU), took a 25 per cent stake for the initial €2 million injection.
As one source explained, that cash was needed to keep the show on the road. It wasn’t just to help develop the academy, it was required to pay bills, wages and keep their heads above water.
“I don’t think people realise how bad it actually was at that time, we needed that deal with Dermot Desmond,” the source added.
Desmond’s arrival was welcomed, and encouraged, by lifelong fan and fellow benefactor Ray Wilson.
The Dublin-born businessman made his fortune in Australia and, like Desmond, holds a quarter stake with the remaining 50 per cent belonging to the Members’ Club – those nearly-700 paid up fans who contribute €600 each per year.
They are represented by four elected members on the board, and it was agreed at their AGM in September to direct a significant portion of the €880,000 in their membership fund account towards the first-team budget.
A significant loss is expected for 2023, suggested to be in the region of €2m, meaning success in Europe is of even greater importance next season to avoid more members’ funds being required as a stop gap, or further financial support from Wilson and Desmond which some fear may come with the condition of diluting the per centage of members’ ownership.
Bradley, though, has already highlighted that budget issues were not the point of most concern for him over the last year, as relationships began to sour.
He has stated that he will speak about those issues in more depth when the time is right and after title number four was confirmed he also stressed that he wanted to maintain Rovers’ domination.
“I want to go for five, it’s down to the board now. The board have to make it happen,” he said.
“I just want to see us strive to get better every year. That’s my job to drive the club on.”
Gaffney is on board and Byrne has a decision to make.
Bradley, it seems, is now able to make some of the moves he feels necessary.