‘JUNE MAY BE OPTIMISTIC’
DROGHEDA United chairman Conor Hoey says he doesn’t believe a ball will be kicked in the League of Ireland for at least another four months because of the devastating coronavirus pandemic.
Last week the FAI met with the National League Executive Committee, of which Hoey is a member, to draft a roadmap for the return of the league at the earliest opportunity, while adhering to Uefa, Government and HSE guidelines.
Even the most optimistic of the proposals - a return to action on the date previously set out for fixtures to resume, June 19th - includes the proviso that games would take place either behind closed doors for as long as is deemed necessary under the guidelines - or with stadia operating at 25 or 50% capacity.
Other options that were discussed include a further delay until
July or August before resuming competitive football, or a September start with either a reduced programme ending in December, or a full programme of fixtures which would run until February.
Another factor on the table is the All-Island League proposal, which Hoey strongly supports. It gathered momentum at the weekend as it was revealed that Dutch company Hypercube had dispersed their findings to clubs about the viability of the idea.
The format for such a league, said to be easily the most popular option among clubs, is a split season which would see the League of Ireland and Irish League domestic champions crowned, followed by a knockout competition to work out the winners of the All-Island competition. This system addresses one of the big arguments against an All-Island League as the number of European places in both jurisdictions would remain unaltered under this proposal.
If its supporters get their way, such a league could be ready to proceed by next April, although there are still a number of barriers in the way as it would need financial support from the Government to get off the ground and also the approval of Uefa. Projections of strong support from sponsors, which were made before the coronavirus pandemic took hold, will also have to be revisited.
Putting the All-Island League to one side, Hoey is concerned that a resumption of the League of Ireland this summer - either behind closed doors or with small crowds permitted - would have financial implications for clubs and, more importantly, might lead to a second wave of Covid-19 infections.
Speaking this week the Drogheda chairman told the Drogheda Independent: ‘Every club has had to submit financial information on how much it costs when you have a game at home. Things like lost gate receipts and reduced sponsorship over the season. That’s to help them consider, if the league went to a streaming situation or something behind closed doors, what sort of compensation we need. We also have stuff like reduced revenues from the car park because we’ve given it over to the hospital, and there are things like the golden goal sellers who bring in money from selling tickets.
‘You are into a five-figure sum for one match because wages still have to be paid the following week and the funds have to keep you going until the next home game, so we would need to be receiving five-figure compensation.
‘My own view is that I would be very surprised if the league returned before September, and certainly not with crowds.’
Even if a agreement was reached on a compensation package for clubs, perhaps provided through Fifa, Hoey has serious concerns about how games could proceed safely as long as social distancing is a requirement.
‘Let’s say you can have 300 people at a home match, so how do you choose? Do you only let in the season ticket holders.
‘Don’t get me wrong, I want to see football as much as anyone else, but I don’t want to jeopardise the health and safety of any player, fan or anyone working for the club. That includes people like Bridie, who makes the tea, Matt at 70 who does the pitch and [photographer] Larry McQuillan. We have lots of long-serving people in the club and we can’t do anything to jeopardise their health.
‘We have one of our players whose grandmother lives with them at home. Let’s say he has physical contact in a match situation and then goes home to his grandmother. What happens if she ends up getting something?
‘You’re risking a second wave [of infection], so we won’t be doing anything until the Government tells us it’s safe.’
Hoey has already stated that Drogheda would be able to survive even if the entire season was wiped out and there was no football until the 2021 campaign, but he acknowledged that there was more at stake for other clubs.
‘The difference in the [English]
Premier is that they have this urgency to finish the league, but there’s no urgency to finish our league because it’s barely started. What’s really pushing this need [in the League of Ireland] is the fact there’s four teams in the Premier who are going to be playing European football this year and they need games to help them prepare.
‘If I was running Dundalk that would be a significant consideration and I understand where they’re coming from, but we are all in this together and whatever is decided has to work for everyone.’
The NLEC and the FAI say they will continue discussions with clubs and examine financial support options, before making a recommendation ahead of a Government update regarding any extension to the current lockdown which is due to expire on May 5th.
The PPFAI are studying protocols sent by their parent body FIFPRO which detail recommendations around a return to training, which would begin with non-contact training.