Seagulls are drowning in a sea of uncertainty
O’Connor says problems need to be ironed out quickly
BRAY Wanderers will have to walk before they can run but Denis O’Connor does fear that they’ll be limping into 2018.
The former chairman is the club licensing officer and is in charge of securing a Premier Division license for the club and in light of some of the events in 2017, it may not be a straightforward process.
The Tipperary native did not completely cut ties with the Seagulls when he resigned as chairman.
As well as the licensing officer, he is still a 20 per cent shareholder of Millway Dawn Ltd and he is heading the match-fixing probe on the club’s behalf.
Rumours circulated recently that current chairman Gerry Mulvey had bought out O’Connor’s shares but this is something that O’Connor strongly denies.
O’Connor does not miss the “24-7” lifestyle associated with being chairman but the club’s application for a Premier Division license is underfoot and O’Connor does expect the FAI to inspect Bray’s bid with a fine-tooth comb this year following the financial hiccup in 2017.
“There’s always work to be done. The licensing process starts around now for every club and there are different deadlines to be met.
“We’ve 161 different forms filed and they’re all waiting for different types of movements within the FAI.
“The big issue comes around though when you have to have the audited accounts filed by mid-January with them, you have to have financial budgets for the next 18 months filed by the beginning of January so now that focus is next.
“If you want to apply common sense to it, after all the controversy that went on, you would think that the FAI will not just scrutinise us but other clubs as well.
“We may have made the headlines but other clubs had difficulties too and they were kept quiet. Everyone got to the end of the season though and there were no major dilemmas in any club. I do think they will look closely at Bray Wanderers this season and every club in the Premier Division.
“I see there are mountains to be crossed before getting the license and that includes investment. No matter what way you go at it next year, there’ll be investment needed.
“Out of your expenses for the year, most clubs like to get about 65% of that covered by gate receipts. Then more will come from advertising and sponsorship and that’s been one of most disappointing things at Bray - you could not rely on gate receipts.”
Poor attendance figures is something that really grates O’Connor.
At the beginning of 2017, the club invested heavily in players, hoping the upturn in fortunes on the pitch would result in an upturn in attendance. It didn’t. And O’Connor can see the plan was flawed in hindsight.
“The big plank for 2017 was to have a whack at Europe. It wasn’t written in stone but we wanted to do better than last year and we were sixth last year.
“We wanted fifth or better and that would put us within a stroke of it (Europe). The second plank was that if we were up there fighting at the top that the support would crystalise at the gates - never happened.
“What the club needs to do in reality is to ask itself was the strategy the right strategy for the year just ended. There was a huge investment but clubs finished above us with less than 40% of our budget. You have to ask what went wrong. Maybe the strategy is wrong.”
An area where O’Connor thinks is beyond investment is the club’s infrastructure.
He believes that the Carlisle Grounds is more trouble than its worth and perhaps a fresh start elsewhere is what is required for Co. Wicklow’s premier soccer club.
“Will the club ever succeed in the negativity that exists? Would Bray Wanderers be better situated in Sallynoggin? Where is the support in Bray and was it ever there? People don’t seem to get the message. Take Sligo, not alone do they have a massive following but a lot of those followers get involved in fundraising. That’s what’s lacking in Bray.
“Like with a lot of other clubs, I genuinely don’t think that the grounds are fit for attracting a family type environment. It’s a great pitch but it’s not proper because it’s not all-weather and it can’t take much poundage. It’s a cold place. There’s no cover for the away side, there’s no toilets on the away side - that’s no environment to encourage families and kids to come to.”
With a match-fixing probe still ongoing and no manager appointed yet, Bray are the only top-flight side yet to announce any squad news whatsoever.
No new players have come through the door and as of yet, none have been re-signed but Ryan Brennan, Anto Flood and Lee Steacy have all thus far found new homes.
This, twinned with the inevitable reputation-tarnishing season that the club had, mean that Bray could be starting 2018 a few paces behind their competitors before a ball is even kicked.
“That is a worry, a big worry. The last thing you want to happen is, having fought through all this season, to end up trailing at the bottom of the table at the start of next season.
“There certainly is complete uncertainty at the moment and I think we have a short time to sort that uncertainty out.
“To my mind, either this is sorted out soon or we have major problems. If it can be sorted out soon, it can be fixed. I can see how we could have seven or eight of a panel straight away. It’s still short but it’s a start.”
Had the financial issues never arisen in July, who is to know how the remainder of the season might have panned out?
Bray could be plotting for Europe right now with Harry Kenny at the helm.
But instead they sit in a rudderless ship and the tide looks to be against them and makes O’Connor wish things had been handled better at the time.
He does think the players have to account for some of their own performances too.
“What happened was unfortunate. As chairman, I can’t sit there and let it carry on if there was a chance people may not be paid. In hindsight, it needn’t have happened. I think it could have been handled better and I regret that the statement was issued but I felt I had no choice.
“I’m very disappointed in a lot of things that happened in that time. First of all, despite what was said in the newspapers, every player was paid on time in Bray in 2017.
“They’re meant to be professionals - okay, they might have got distracted for two weeks but they were paid. Shoulder up. People forget that the statement didn’t affect their performance the night of the Dundalk match and they were bad that night.
“That was one of the worst displays I’ve seen and they knew nothing that night so there was a problem surfacing.”
According to the much-maligned five-year plan, by December 2017 the club will “identify site and apply for planning permission for site and for Carlisle Grounds development.”
O’Connor admits it is safe to disregard the plan now.
“The five-year plan - I probably get blamed for that too. The FAI decided in their wisdom that they wanted a national strategy for the 20 clubs in the League of Ireland. They asked the clubs to do the plan so we did a good, professional plan and we were the first in.
“As a result of that, we were asked to one meet-and-greet meeting at the beginning of this year even though the plans were meant to start in July or August of last year. We were then supposed to have a second meet-and-greet but it didn’t happen. So, nothing has happened. The five-year plan sits on a ditch because we aren’t getting the support.”
As recent protests from fans will prove, Denis and his brother Martin (general manager) have not always proven popular figures.
Denis claims this to be water off a duck’s back but he hopes people will look at the bigger picture for the sake of the club as he dismisses - for the umpteenth time - allegations that he became involved with the club for his own personal financial gain.
“There’s always conflict. Not everyone will agree. But if you genuinely consider yourself a fan of Bray Wanderers then everyone needs to sit down and discuss how to help. I’m not sure that it can be done with the antagonism I see in Bray but people need to stand back.
“The current board need to sit down and talk to the likes of Joey’s because that’s where the future of the squad could come from. They need to look at getting a new investment in and get everyone working together. This isn’t a one-year job.
“Everyone says that I’m in this for the development. If I came in here for that reason, with my background, that would be easy. You run the club into the First Division, then into the Wicklow League, you bring it to its knees and then start working on development. We did the opposite so that doesn’t stand to logic.”