A Load Of Balls: Have Cork City FC learned their lesson?

As the “typical Irish summer” went by, I was almost beginning to think that maybe, just maybe, we might have one League Of Ireland (LOI) season where there was no “off the field trouble” - players going unpaid or shady figures lurking around clubs with big money and malicious intent.

Then, just like buses, they all came along at once.

For a long time, I, along with many other LOI fans, have wondered aloud as to how Cork City could afford to pay out wages way above what they can afford. Corkonians will point to the added income their attendances bring in and say that this brings in the money, but I have always had my doubts. Last year, Cork City had the “venture capital firm” Arkaga causing trouble around Turner’s Cross. Then Tom Coughlan, a true City fan we were told, took over and the usual cries of “never again” were heard as the club implemented “cost cutting measures” and were docked 10 points.

Did Cork learn their lesson?

Well, the club hired Paul Doolin and signed several new players in the last transfer window, still paying out wages most clubs can barely dream of. On top of this, the High Court were getting all moany (a feeling that will, no doubt, be familiar to our Cork readers) because Tom “true City fan” Coughlan couldn’t stump up the money to pay outstanding debt receipts. Debt receipts that the club had when he took over.

So no, Cork did not learn their lesson at all.

The sad thing is, this isn’t a new occurrence. Only last season we had Drogheda United’s struggle for survival after the Drogs spent way beyond their means in their quest for a league title and European football. The players that had won leagues and cups with the Drogs, players like Brian Shelley, Eamonn Zayed and Graham Gartland, were left without an income thanks to the naivety of the Drogs management.

So there’s another lesson that Cork eluded.

If we go back a few years to 2007, we have the exact same situation, this time at my own club, Shelbourne. Shels won league titles in 2003, 2004 and 2006, playing in front of nearly 25000 people at Lansdowne Road against Deportivo La Coruna in 2004. Behind the success however was a flawed business strategy. Shels, like Drogheda and Cork, spent too much money they didn’t have in the hope of recouping some of it when they reached the Champion’s League group stages (which never happened - hence the debt).

As if the lessons that Cork City could have learned in Dublin and Louth weren’t enough, City could well have looked closer to home to see an example of what happens to reckless football clubs. Since 1924 there have been 14 LOI clubs in Cork city, with none lasting for more than 28 years. Cork Celtic and Cork United, amongst others, collapsed partly because of the extravagant wages they offered to players like George Best.

I might be sympathetic to the plight of Cork City supporters if the FAI treated them as other clubs were treated. Shels were demoted in 2007 and last year Cobh Ramblers were denied a licence for the LOI because they failed to fill out receipts correctly. Apart from last season’s meaningless 10 point deduction, Cork City have got away scot-free. Drogheda, although they lost all of their best players, weren’t demoted either.

Without screaming “culchie bias” here, I would love a response as to why the FAI cannot treat clubs equally. Answers on a postcard please.