derry city are to go part time from next season. thats what the chairman said. he said they are averaging less than 2000 at the gates.

F*cking hell. Didn't expect this. They won't be the only ones.....Only 4 full-time teams next season?

ya its a real shame like. big fan of derry. i thought they would be one of the clubs that would be able to survive as a part time clubs.

When did the chairman say this?

They have some useful players; Stephen Grey, McGlynn, Deery, Farren etc.

http://www.derrycityfc.net/season/08/news/...php?storyid=340

Statement from Club Chairman
Pat McDaid looks forward
Friday 01 August 2008

He was interviewed on RTE, but didn't say this at all.

He said they'll have to review their budget if attendances don't increase. Not quite the same as saying they're going part-time!

Statement from Club Chairman

Pat McDaid looks forward

Friday 01 August 2008

Chairman Pat McDaid looks back at his first few months in charge and addresses some of the challenges ahead for the club

It's now just coming on 8 months since I became chairman of this great club and it's been a very interesting and challenging time off the field of play, with a lot of changes in personnel and gradual developments within the club itself. Recently Eamon Lynch has been added to the board of directors as financial controller, which now takes our numbers back to 6 following the resignation earlier in the year of Michael Burns. Michael was a fantastic servant to the club and is badly missed and we all wish him well and he'll no doubt be involved again at some stage when he's feeling better. This now means Stephen Mc Carron, Joe W Doherty, Franky Houston, Peter Leonard, Eamon Lynch and myself make up the current board of Derry City.


In total this now means we have 5 new directors, including myself, along with a new General Manager in Noel Martin who was formerly the CPO within the club, so it's been a steep learning curve for us all as we deal with the increasing difficulties and demands being placed on League of Ireland clubs. Peter Leonard is now the only remaining director from last years board so it's been quite a sea change off the field in much the same way as it has been on the field with a new manager, back room team and players being brought in. So overall it's very much fresh faces involved at the club this year.

It's very evident to me, more so than it ever was prior to becoming chairman, that we are a very strong community based club with so many volunteers giving up their own time and energy to work on behalf of Derry City. At the risk of sounding patronising and that's certainly not my intention, one thing is for sure - without the volunteers within our club it simply wouldn't be here. It's as simple as that and the countless hours of work that's put into this club by these volunteers is absolutely invaluable and certainly very much appreciated by us all

This is where a huge question of our club must however now be asked, given the current economic climate, because being a community based club is without doubt our biggest strength, but it is also our greatest challenge!

We are now competing in a league which has multi millionaire investors providing significant funds for clubs in the South, which is making it increasingly difficult for us to attract certain calibre of players to come and play here. I think the real danger for clubs like ours, which feel we should be competing with these clubs, is to try and compete with them off the field, as this is something we simply can't do without similar investment.


However, and this is the big question, even if we had the opportunity to avail of similar investment the question is would we want it?

The dangerous road some of these clubs are going down is one which I feel can lead to drastic outcomes and is certainly not a road I'm prepared to take our club down. How long will these investors be prepared to invest huge sums of money into clubs? The people investing the huge sums of money obviously have affection for the clubs concerned or feel a sense of 'putting something back' but at the same time they didn't accrue their great wealth by being sentimental and at some stage they must surely be faced with the question of when to stop putting millions into these clubs. Where then will these clubs be left, because they certainly will not have the income streams to support their budgets?






At Derry City we have a club which is embedded into the community it serves and this is something we must develop even further. However, we must also start developing other aspects within the club and not be totally dependant upon the work of our volunteers, which as stated already is one of the main reasons our club is currently in existence and whilst we absolutely need the continued support of our volunteers we also need to start helping ourselves a little more and taking some of the pressure off these club workers, who have for years ensured the club had the finances required to sustain itself.

It's a startling fact that less than 5% of our turnover last year was spent on employees who are responsible for the actual day to day running and management of the club - this would not happen in any other business anywhere in the world!

Now we must accept that football is a unique business compared to most others but this is a ratio we can't allow to continue if we are to develop into a sustainable full time club over the long term. This isn't a criticism of previous administrations but sadly a reflection of how the game in Ireland is being run, where club workers are simply there to generate wages and basically little else!

This can't continue within the game here in Ireland and certainly won't continue at our club whilst I'm chairman and the current board of directors are in place.


We need to start investing significant monies into areas throughout the club such as commercial and merchandising but these investments will not reap immediate benefits, as like everything else it's important to get them right and develop them over a reasonable time frame to get the maximum benefit from them. This is why our fundraising arms and attendances at the games are so vital to help ensure we maintain the exciting team we currently have and make gradual improvements to it

No one wants to see another Shelbourne, who lets face it couldn't really have been more successful on the pitch: 3 league titles out of 4, cup successes, regular victories in Europe and indeed a run in Europe which took them to within half an hour of the group stages of the Champions League. It simply doesn't get much better from a playing point of view within the League of Ireland, but sadly due to crippling wage bills, the club almost folded completely and were relegated as league champions into the first division where they currently remain.

This is why we as a club need to be prudent with club finances and whilst everyone, myself included, would love nothing more than to see our team being all conquering on the pitch winning league championships and cups and competing regularly in Europe, we can only do this if we are financially capable of such achievements. We can not allow ourselves to be drawn into the trap that a lot of clubs have done and spend money in the pursuit of glory unless we can financially cope with the consequences of not succeeding


People keep telling me Derry City are a 'big club' and should be winning trophies on a regular basis but what is this based on? We have won 3 league titles in 80 years of trying. That's not results that a 'big club' would have. Now in my own heart there isn't a bigger club in Ireland than Derry City but the facts are that we are not a 'big club' - not yet - but we can be - we can become the biggest and most successful club on this Island, north or south, if we plan for it and have the patience to see that plan implemented and delivered.






We need to avoid the boom and bust tactics which are being employed at several clubs at the minute and concentrate on ourselves in the sure knowledge that what we are doing will deliver the club we know we can become and let the other clubs do whatever they feel they should be doing with these investors and sit back and watch to see what develops, without putting the very future of our own club at stake - which is more important than anything to me and I'm sure to the vast majority of our supporters as well.


My own family now has 4 generations who have supported this club, as I'm sure many other families can testify to as well and it's more important to everyone associated with Derry City that this club is viable and still here in 10 years time, rather than pursue glory over the next couple of years and put that at risk!


We have an awful long way to go, in my opinion, if we are to have a full time sustainable club for the long term. The challenges facing our club in the current economic climate are huge and the only way we can become a club which regularly competes for honours at the top level of the game here is to have a plan - a vision for the clubs future - one which is sensible and realistic

This is what we as a club must do and me as a chairman with my fellow directors must implement and ensure is carried out. We need everyone within the club pulling in the same direction, believing in the plan and being proud to be part of it, in the sure knowledge and confidence that we are doing what's best for the club and its future.

Implementing this plan will not be easy, it may mean reductions in playing budgets, it may mean smaller squads, less high profile signings and it may possibly mean we aren't challenging for the league championship over the next few years, but if that's what it means then unfortunately it's a consequence of the long term benefits which this plan will bring. I'm not saying competing for a league title is impossible, but we certainly can't compete for it by trying to buy it, which is what several other clubs are now doing. We have to do it by working harder than any other club and developing the structures around the club which will support us in the long term and gradually enable more monies to be spent on the first team.

It's very straight forward - we simply must live within our means and terms like ‘speculate to accumulate' are very dangerous words when it comes to football clubs and in particular a club with as long a history and tradition like our own. Our current first team budget is the highest the club has ever had - yet it's dwarfed with the other clubs in the South who are attempting to buy the league title and we won't be dragged further into the spiralling increases witnessed across the league over the last few years.

There needs to be a reality check within the league and more importantly from my view point within our own club. Our manager Stephen Kenny can only work with what he's provided with - he can't work miracles and nor can we as a board. We are working very hard to provide a team this city can be proud of and can compete for honours but we need everyone on board - supporters, sponsors and the business community throughout the city must support us if we are to be successful.

We certainly have the support of a lot of loyal and generous business people already but we need more and I would appeal to the business community to get on board and help us provide a team the city can be proud of. Advertising with Derry City is a proven method to promote your business and we only have to look at our main sponsor Meteor to testify to this. Meteor are a firm based in Tyrone whose owner isn't even a soccer man but he sees the benefit of association with a large community based club and is proud to be connected with the club from a marketing point of view and I see no reason why many other local businesses in the town can't benefit themselves from the

same association. We have numerous packages available to suit every budget and would be delighted to welcome new businesses on board or previous sponsors back


Despite opinions throughout the town that we can boast average attendances of between 3,000 - 4,000 at home games the reality is our average attendance this year is just slightly over 2,000 which although is a high figure compared to a lot of other clubs isn't high enough to support the team and the manager financially on its own. Our attendance throughout the season only counts for between 25% - 30% of our required income, which leaves an awful big gap to be filled between fundraising, commercial activities and prize monies. So for those attending keep coming and 'bring a friend' if you can. Every bum on a seat is a huge help to club finances


This is where the volunteers of our club contribute significantly to the income streams and why we must all support the projects they undertake and for those who have done - a big thank you and for those not yet supporting the projects I would ask you if your in a position to do so then please sign up to the dream draw, monthly draw, lotto, buy a program or half time draw ticket - every contribution helps and is absolutely vital to us as a club.

Just to give one example of how powerful a community supported project can be: Several people have said to me they could join the monthly draw but they felt £10 per month would have little if any impact upon the club. Now as stated we're averaging just over 2,000 supporters at our games this season which if everyone was signed up to this £10 per month draw it would provide us with £240,000 per year - significant monies which we could build into our budget and with the power of numbers it also means we aren't dependent on a single big investor but rather have thousands of small contributors which makes the club much more stable - so if your not in the monthly draw already please sign up to it. Not only are you making a contribution to the club to help us provide an exciting team but you also in with the chance to win significant money!

We must, as stated previously, also start restructuring certain things within the club, focusing on our commercial activities, making the merchandising arm of our club much stronger in order to reduce the reliance on these projects and prize monies, as nothing is guaranteed especially in the current economic climate we're facing up to. However, this isn't an overnight fix and we obviously have costs to meet whilst they are being improved which is why we need community support

We will be investing club funds into these areas which, in the lack of major increases to income streams may initially lead to lower budgets being available for the first team squad and the result of that may well be a team which possibly can't make a serious challenge for a league title in the coming seasons, but if that's what it means then that's what it means, because if we don't implement this plan then our club will be overly dependant upon success to sustain itself and that is simply too high risk of a strategy to continue with. As I said already competing for a league title is certainly not beyond us but we simply can't do it by trying to buy it

Our plan will see gradual increases into the playing budget as the club can afford it but not to the detriment of other aspects within the club, which are essential to sustaining any increases. This is the key to everything - being able to sustain the increases. In recent years our team has been competing favourably and moved from part time to full time. The financial rewards were such that the team budget was increased considerably over that period of time. Last year we had a disappointing season and as a result income streams this year are seriously down on those available from the previous couple of seasons, making it difficult to sustain a full time team, especially given the current recession we are now in.



This is the difficulty we are attempting to address with our plan which would see serious improvements off the field of play that would potentially be capable of overcoming reduced income streams from on the field results, or at least helping to bridge the gap. Obviously what happens on the field will always have a big effect on the balance sheet but this plan is set up to reduce the reliance on having to be successful on the field every season, as no club can achieve that. We need to increase our income streams from off field activities substantially to reduce the current over reliance on success

Owning our own stadium is an absolute priority for our club to develop and this is being pursued vigorously by Brandywell Properties at the moment with real potential of finally resolving this issue. Having our own stadium will provide us with an asset we can use to benefit the club 7 days per week every week of the year, whereas currently the stadium only produces income for the club on match nights. It will also provide us with a stadium to be proud of and help attract more people through the gates which will offcourse help the club finances long term as well


The club could also potentially be competing in some form of an All Ireland League within the next 3-5 years and certainly if that's to be the case then we need to be financially sustainable and be capable of producing a full time team on the field to compete for honours within it on a regular basis. The current proposals for an All Ireland League have generated much debate and whilst I think an All Ireland League is an inevitability I don't feel it will be achieved with the current plans, certainly not within the time frame proposed, but I do feel it will come within the next 3-5 years and we must be ready to take our place in it and be capable of competing favourably - hopefully in our new stadium!

So overall there have been a lot of changes within the club in a short period of time and we're facing up to huge challenges both on and off the field. It's certainly not 'doom and gloom' like certain people have been claiming and anyone who knows me will know that I'm always very positive about everything, especially Derry City which I feel passionately about. However, we do need to take stock and apply a little reality to where we as a club are going, which if we all pull together could see us achieve success never witnessed at this club before. Now more than ever we need the entire community - both general public and the business community to stand up and back us, as we attempt to make Derry City the biggest and best football club in this country!



Regards

Pat Mc Daid

Chairman

Derry City

derrycityfc.net

hopefully attendances and sponsorship improves so they don't have to go part-time

sorry i just got that from fool.ie but im sure i heard that they were considering for this season last year.

How incredibly refreshing is the above paragraph to hear, a chairman clamining they're NOT a big club. To be honest the whole statement, as long as it is, is well worth reading and is about as honest a view on the league's state as i've heard. It would be a huge blow to this league if Derry were to become part-time.

There is a lesson there. A WUM is a WUM no matter what forum they are on.

A massive step back for the league and Derry City if they have to go part time!

wtf is a WUM??

wind up merchant i think