SHELBOURNE’S NEW MAJORITY owner Acun Ilicali has promised that Shels won’t become a feeder club for Hull City, whom he also owns.
Ilicali has an estimated personal fortune of $100 million, primarily amassing that wealth in the media and television industry in his native Turkey, where he has been described as a Turkish equivalent of Simon Cowell.
Ilicali was presented to the media at the Aviva Stadium today, where he revealed he has been searching for a second club in which to invest for some time, exploring options in Belgium and Portugal before settling on Shelbourne.
“We discovered hidden treasure in Dublin and it is called Shelbourne”, he said.
Though Shels have now been brought into his multi-club orbit with Hull, the new owner said Shels would not become a feeder club, and would be treated as an individual project.
“I want everyone to understand we are not thinking of getting some players here and bringing them to Hull City”, he said. “This is not the project. The project is to make Shelbourne in a better position with a better squad. I believe everything will be better for both teams. Whenever we talk about Shelbourne, we talk individually.
“Of course there will be a relationship between Shelbourne and Hull City which will be a big advantage for both clubs but this is not like there is a team in Ireland that will just feed Hull City. No. We want to take this team with our coach [Damien Duff], who we believe in, to high positions, especially European cups first of all. If you ask me what the potential is, it is to go to the European cups and make European success. Our vision is based on having victories in Shelbourne. After we have this success, I hope, then both teams can enjoy this success. There can be some players [moving] from Shelbourne to Hull City and from Hull City to Shelbourne, yes, but I want all of you to understand this is an individual project for us. The aim is to bring Shelbourne to higher levels, after that co-operation is okay. This project for us is an individual project that will bring Hull City a big advantage, but Hull City’s presence will be a big advantage to Shelbourne too.”
Asked as to why he invested Shels rather than a club in Belgium or Portugal, Ilıcalı made reference to the new points-based immigration system for footballers that was applied in Britain after Brexit.
“The operation cost in Portugal and Belgium, in order to be successful, is high. You know about this points system in football. In order to bring players to Britain they have to play in Belgium or Portugal, almost full season. This operation, in order to have a club to cooperate with Hull City, it needs too much power [investment] to make the team stay in the league. If we will buy a team we will want it to be the champion, or at top level.
“This effort, again, will just give them to our Hull operation this time. It’s not easy to make two teams with big budgets, always operation will not be easy. One team has to be more calm about the budget so you can cooperate with the other team. Otherwise, having two strong teams I don’t think that it’s an easy operation. From my point of view, we see this potential going higher and higher but don’t forget we’re always pushing Hull City for the Premier League and we had very good second season and we’re hoping for the play-offs next year.
“So the operations should not be the same together, one team should be like a small brother. I think it works better.”
The new owner said his immediate ambition for Shels is to qualify for Europe, and longer-term it is to play in front of crowds of up to 15,000 people, adding that 20,000 may not beyond reach. That would necessitate an enormous overhaul of Tolka Park, with chairman Andrew Doyle confirming the club remain committed to purchasing the ground from Dublin City Council, with negotiations ongoing.
“The stadium is something very sacred to the club”, said Tan Kesler, Shels’ new Head of Operations and currently the vice-chair of Hull City. “We were speaking with the board members and our coach, he mentioned he played there when he was young. A lot of exciting things will happen, as far as the technicality and how it will be done, it is too early to commit to an answer. Tolka Park is special for our club and there will be some improvements in the future. We are still working on it.”