Bray’s saviour looking for younger converts

THE turmoil at Bray Wanderers seems to have come to an end after a businessman with a bona fide football background took a controlling stake in the League of Ireland club.

Niall O’Driscoll (right) is a partner in insurance firm O’Driscoll O’Neill (an official partner of the FAI), and also chairman of renowned schoolboy club St Joseph’s Boys, which has an underage link with The Seagulls.

Those ties are the reason O’Driscoll felt compelled to get involved and he won’t have gone into this with his eyes closed. How could he when Bray, under a previous administration, owed Joey’s a significant five figure sum but were unable to pay due to financial problems?

O’Driscoll has declared that no child under the age of 14 will have to pay in at The Carlisle Grounds under his stewardship and handed out business cards with his mobile number at Friday’s defeat to Cork City to help foster a spirit of inclusiveness. It will be a long road but Bray may have struck lucky with someone with the football knowledge to drive positive change.