Lengthy championship run has a cost
MEATH senior footballers’ extended stay in the championship proved costly, according to the accounts for the year which have been released ahead of convention next Monday night.
Team expenses for the year, which includes all county teams, came to a whopping €877,574, compared to €687,649 the previous year.
Travelling and catering expenses was up considerably, to €531,561, compared to €393,444 in 2018. Medical and physiotherapy was the other big spend, coming in at €154,260, up over
€53,000 on the previous year.
Overall the accounts don’t appear to be in a healthy state, with the county recording a small deficit of €1,475. It is much less than 12 months previous when the deficit was €105,402, but in 2018 €453,051 was spent on the planning/feasibility study concerning Pairc Tailteann.
Gate receipts improved to €476,782, up €18,000 on the previous year, but they are still not back up to the 2017 figures.
The share from National League games came in at €108,568, which was a big increase from the €63,681 in 2018.
Commercial income, fund-raising activities and income from associated bodies also increased.
The cost of staging games came to €169,137, up €39,000 on the previous year. Upkeep and maintenance of grounds also rose to €271,697, compared to €223,902 in 2018.
Sponsorship of county teams was €260,000, the same as the previous year, while the sponsorship of club competitions was €46,150, up slightly on 2018.
Fund-raising brought in €89,753, up by €6,000 on the previous year despite a lower return from the Golf Classic, the Race Day and the Supporters Club. This was because of a loss of €14,472 from fund-raising events during 2018.
A healthy profit of €19,700 was made from the collection of fines, up considerably on the 2018 figure of €6,050.
A total of €171,922 was spent on planning/feasibility of Pairc Tailteann and overall administration expenses of €432,981 was down on the previous year. However there were bad debts of €39,650.
The accounts are likely to provoke plenty of debate among club delegates, and with the redevelopment of Pairc Tailteann in the pipeline challenging times lay ahead for those in charge of county board affairs.