Connolly joins Dundalk as Bray feel the pinch
WHEN Dundalk first expressed their interest in Dylan Connolly last year, they felt the deal would be pretty straightforward.
The buying club were informed that the player would be out of contract and available in November, with just a compensation package needed to be agreed as he is under 23.
Then things got complicated. Dundalk’s information was incorrect as Bray Wanderers actually had the Dubliner tied down for another season. Unperturbed, Stephen Kenny was keen to try and get the player he pinpointed as an ideal replacement for Daryl Horgan.
Last night he eventually got his man when the €40,000 transfer was completed. Connolly has agreed a two-and-a-half year contract in time to be registered for the first leg of Dundalk’s first round Champions League qualifier with Rosenborg on July 12. It would have been done much sooner had Bray not been in a position to put up a fight. After finishing last season so strongly under Harry Kenny, they backed their man with the finances required to build a squad capable of qualifying for Europe.
Aaron Greene arrived from Limerick, Gary McCabe chose the Carlisle Grounds when Shamrock Rovers let him go and Keith Buckley was lured away from Bohemians. It wasn’t just the sea view on the DART journeys to home matches which attracted them
Bray’s spending allowed them play hard ball in the Connolly negotiations. They stood firm on the figure of €100,000 which would be needed to prise their star asset away.
Dundalk baulked and when Bray refused to budge, Connolly signed an improved deal. ‘We’ve got new Chinese owners so we’re sorted,’ he said jokingly when he put pen to paper at Christmas.
As tends to be the case in football, Bray just so happen to host the champions at the Carlisle Grounds this evening and Connolly will be wearing a Dundalk tracksuit in the stands as he prepares for the next chapter in his career.
The transfer fee may be the largest between League of Ireland clubs in a decade but it begs the question, why have Bray ceded their position for a figure not even half of what they so steadfastly refused previously?
Milway Dawn Ltd own the club, Denis O’Connor is a director of that company and is chairman of Bray, along with his brother Martin who is the general manager.
Gerry Mulvey, the former majority shareholder in St Patrick’s Athletic, owns 80 per cent of Milway and is a key figure in Wicklow.
Despite their considerable investment in the team and Kenny guiding them on course for Europa League qualification, crowds have been poor.
The largest home gate so far is 2,225, the lowest was 477 while just 799 turned out for the first game back with Derry City after the mid-season break.
Clubs cannot survive without supporters coming through the turnstiles and with a talent like Connolly departing, there will be even less reason for some to make an effort now.