Quick to speak up or sing, why silence now JD?
NOBODY could ever accuse John Delaney of being a shrinking violet. He has managed to become the most high-profile official in the history of Irish sport at a time when Irish soccer was back in the doldrums, at home and abroad.
While Jack Charlton’s success for us at the Euro 88 finals led to appearances in successive World Cup tournaments, that triumph wasn’t destined to last.
By the time Delaney took over as FAI chief in 2005, the glory days were long gone. Yet he became a fixture in the social columns and his relationship with glamorous PR woman Emma English is frequently a talking point, especially given their tendency for very public displays of affection.
So considering he appears to be a man who simply loves the attention, here, in no particular order, are some of the more memorable moments from Delaney’s extraordinary reign...
DELANEY ON FIFA
Last year, John Delaney was quick to respond to the arrest of several FIFa officials in switzerland on corruption charges. separate criminal proceedings were launched over the awarding of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. ‘It seems like something out of a Mafia movie,’ he told RtÉ’s seán O’Rourke. ‘Nothing would surprise me with FIFa, that is the sad thing about FIFa... When you wake up in the morning and hear those events, it’s shocking and very saddening.’ He added: ‘the awards of World Cups are always covert and then there are independent reports that we don’t get to see. We’re told we’d get redacted versions and we don’t get those. there is always controversy around FIFa and its governance and the one person who has always been at the head of that is sepp Blatter.’ He also said: ‘Cultural change has to come from the top and sepp Blatter has presided over this for a number of years.’
ON THE FIFA LOAN
Just over a week after making those remarks, Delaney revealed the FaI had accepted a €5m loan from FIFa. the deal was agreed after the FaI threatened legal action over the thierry Henry handball incident that scuppered Ireland’s chances of making it to the 2010 World Cup finals. ultimately, the loan was written off. amid the controversy caused by news of the payment, Delaney is said to have insisted he should have asked for €10m.
ON FAI DEBTS
When Delaney took over as chief executive, the FaI’s finances were in the black. since 2010, however, it has paid €22m in interest on stadium loans and €5m interest on other loans. another €4million was paid in fees to banking giant Goldman sachs in 2008. Earlier this year, he said: ‘We used to have a debt of €70-odd million. It is now, with our banking partner, €35million. It is well within our compass to be debt-free in 2020, if we wish to do so.’
ON THE AVIVA
IN september 2008, the Vantage Club scheme was launched to raise funds to cover the FaI’s €74m bill for the redevelopment of Lansdowne Road. the plan involved selling 10,400 premium ten-year tickets, ranging in price from €12,000 to €32,000. Delaney insisted the FaI could ‘write a cheque in the morning’ to cover its stadium costs. He also said: ‘there are 33,000 millionaires in this country and we have a database of 80,000 we’re chasing – we only need 3,000 to say yes because the average sale is three to four seats. We’ll do it. We’ll be fine.’ Within two years, the plan had stalled amid claims that only 3,000 tickets were sold at full price. By the summer of 2014, the top-ofthe-range option was available for €5,000.
ON THE TOWN
DELaNEy bought booze for Irish fans travelling by train from Bratislava to Zilina for a European Championship qualifying match in October 2010. the following september, he ran around the Luzhniki stadium in Moscow after a goalless draw and threw his tie into the crowd of Irish fans. two months after that, he raffled free tickets for Ireland’s play-off against Estonia amid raucous scenes in a tallinn bar. a clip posted on youtube shows him telling fans: ‘you want a free drink? Get to that f ****** bar!’
at the Euro 2012 finals, an animated Delaney was carried aloft around the Polish resort of sopot. He later said everyone is ‘entitled to a night out’.
ON SONG
IN November 2014, a video of Delaney singing a ballad about IRa prisoner Joe McDonnell, who died on the 1981 hunger strike, was posted online. It was filmed in a pub close to the aviva hours after Ireland’s 4-1 victory over the usa. after initial denials and legal threats by the FaI, Delaney admitted it was him in the video. He apologised, but criticised the ‘sly’ recording.
ON THE DOMESTIC GAME
sINCE 2006, five former League of Ireland clubs have folded and only one new side joined. and the prize money for the Premier Division champions dropped from €250,000 in 2008 to €110,000 today. Despite success in Europe by Dundalk and shamrock Rovers, Delaney has angered fans by dismissing the League as ‘a difficult child’.
****** FOR such a voluble man, Delaney’s silence has been deafening in recent times. Eleven days have passed since his friend Pat Hickey was arrested in the biggest scandal to ever hit Irish sport. But not a word so far from the FaI boss. It is a week since it emerged that the Brazilian authorities are also looking for his own passport. the lack of response would be surprising in any circumstances, but it is even more so when we’re talking about a man who usually finds it hard to keep his mouth shut. For most of his life, John Delaney hasn’t been backward in coming forward. What a remarkable turnaround in recent weeks.