PIECES ARE IN PLACE TO BE DEFINING WEEK FOR FAI AND QUINN
“The culture of football was in a terrible place”
ON the day that John Hume passed away, Niall Quinn’s call for a unity of purpose in Irish football was timely.
Perhaps taking a cue from the dignified Derry diplomat, the interim deputy CEO of the FAI wants an end to the ‘splintering and fracturing’ of the sport which is threatening to rip itself apart.
Should FAI Council members slap on the woad and reach for their Claymores at Friday’s exceptional summit, the blood on the carpets of the Red Cow Hotel could out-spatter the Westbury after the infamous ‘Night of the Long Knives’ in 1996.
‘It’s not a game to be batting to and fro, the time has come for unity. Let’s see can we deliver,’ was Quinn’s rallying battlecry in Ballymount yesterday. His message was akin to a politician on the stump yet Quinn is not seeking votes, nor is he seeking re-election to his FAI position.
In contrast, his influence on the front bench of the Association appears set to wane.
His six-month contract ran out on July 21 and his observation yesterday that he ‘will be around for the near future’ was a pointer towards a new role away from the frontline.
The FAI media briefing tomorrow will shed light on Quinn’s position, as well as possible UEFA and
FIFA support for the controversial terms and conditions of the Memorandum of Understanding.
Quinn’s position that the make-up of the FAI board needs to change from an eight-four split to six-six is steadfast, even as the rebels gather by the bonfires at Newlands Cross.
‘Based on the trouble the Association got itself into, things needed to change and we needed to look at best practice elsewhere,’ he said. Where the narrative slipped in the last few months has been an “Us and Them.” That’s not the case.
‘When the word “independents” comes out it is not on the basis that these people were never at a football match in their lives.
‘Their needs to be skillsets in every good modern organisation. Allowing a bigger pool with greater skillsets with less conflict, is always the correct pathway to aim for. I don’t think there’s been enough discussed on that with people of different views. It’s been third party in the media. It might have led to where we are now but that can change.’
‘Hopefully, we can see something more positive from our side on Wednesday about what the future may look like.
‘Hopefully, we’ll come out of this with the right structure going forward.’
Overall, it’s been a bruising experience for Quinn, who was used to taking hits from centreback cloggers in his playing career.
Some of the jabs aimed at him since January have been sly and personal, especially a reference to him not being a football man, when he has given over 35 of his 53 years to the sport.
Has any other Premier League player become the chairman of a Premier League club? The barb from St Patrick’s Athletic that Quinn, along with CEO Gary Owens ‘have failed and failed badly’ hurt Quinn and his fellow keepers of the FAI castle who inherited a financial mess and, soon after, a pandemic.
Six and a half months on since their arrival, a financial deal to save the FAI is in place, Stephen Kenny has been given the tools to revolutionise the sport, football has restarted and the streaming of League of Ireland games has been a snap hit.
While the small print in the MoU sticks in the craw of many, along with the manner of senior promotions and relegations within the Abbotstown hierarchy, Quinn defended his record since he arrived in a Red Adair suit.
‘It’s been helter-skelter,’ he acknowledged. ‘The culture of football was in a terrible place, the brand was in a terrible place, and
“We’ve tried to put in good foundations”
lots of people have lots of thoughts on that.
‘We’ve had no football so you guys (press) have had nothing else to write about except the mood and the fragmentation that exists around the Association.
‘Believe it or not, behind the scenes we were trying to do some good stuff, and set the Association up for a better future. It was always going to be a difficult period.
‘I could have pointed out some of the stuff that’s come out that’s wrong; I’ve just tried to put in place the foundations for a better future for Irish football regardless of how votes go.
‘I think it’s important the narrative returns to what has been done and what is being done for Irish football over the last six or eight months and where we can go as an Association.
‘I go back to that word, unity. We’re going to find it hard if there’s a splintering and a fracturing that’s even worse than it was in the past. That’s a key element.’
Whether his message appeases the natives who have Quinn, among others in the FAI hierarchy, in their sights, remains to be seen. Either way, Quinn will continue in his role as an analyst for Virgin Media Sport, alongside Brian Kerr.
During a long and distinguished international career, Quinn was never managed by Kerr.
Nor have they worked together during Quinn’s FAI stint, even though the former Irish manager was available and willing to help out the troubled Association.
Just exactly why Kerr wasn’t pressed into FAI service remains a mystery which Quinn, as a senior FAI staffer, should perhaps explain.
For the moment, it appears the Dublin 12 duo will continue in harness on the couch for Virgin Media Sport as analysts for the station’s Champions League and Europa League coverage. And that will be that.
Kerr’s reservoir of knowledge will be confined to Lyon’s blanket defence and why Inter Milan are motivated to win the Europa League.
As for Quinn, he may have more time to trumpet the Champions League prospects of his old club Manchester City.
In his quiet moments, Quinn might think back to his time at City, when they lost more than won and had sand kicked in their faces twice a year by Manchester United.
In a twist of irony, during that period from March 1990 until the summer of 1996 as Irish football surfed the waves, Hume was working feverishly behind the scenes to broker peace on the island.
While Hume’s legacy will never blur, Quinn’s efforts to bring stability and sanity to the Bedlam of Abbotstown, have been thwarted by rival factions, self-interests, and a sense of distrust among certain League of Ireland clubs.
Potentially, this is a defining week for a decent football man.