St Pats FC Chairman Andy O'Callaghan's address to the Independent Saints AGM
After the conclusion of our AGM last night Andy O'Callaghan was invited to speak about recent developments at the Club. Andy spoke for about ten minutes and then there was an open forum for about an hour and a half which incorporated a 'Questions & Answers' session intermingled with many present expressing their views on aspects of the Club's running and how it might be improved. This, as accurately as I can recall, is a synopsis of what was said. My apologies if I've misrepresented anybody.
Andy began by confirming that he is now officially our Chairman. Tim O' Flaherty had initially approached Andy earlier in the season about him becoming Chairman. Having weighed up many factors, not least the fact that he works full-time, Andy agreed to take up the position, with the intention that he would gradually replace Tim. As Tim's health was not great, it was then decided that Andy would step in whenever the current arbitration saga was completed. Events took a twist three weeks ago, when Tim was advised on medical grounds to take a complete break from Club activities. At this point Andy was offered the position of Chairman with immediate effect, which he accepted the following day. This was announced recently at a public function in the Mansion House. Andy is now the Club Representative on the League Management Committee and attended his first meeting last week. Tim is currently taking a break, but remains Club President and it is hoped he can continue to contribute to the Club's development.
It emerged in the course of the night that Andy is now a major shareholder at the Club. Tim remains our majority shareholder, with Andy the second largest shareholder, between them accounting for approximately 80% of the Club's shares. (This is significant from the point of view of the ability of Andy to implement the changes out lined below - there can no doubt that he holds sufficient authority within the Club now to exercise real influence).
Andy outlined 5 key areas that he feels are currently the priority for him as Chairman of Saint Patrick's Athletic FC to address. These are:
1 - Greater Involvement & Communication with supporters
2 - Return of the 15 points deducted in the Mbabazi Affair
3 - The re-establishment of a Management Committee with Executive Powers at the Club.
4 - To give the Club a sound commercial base to meet the challenges ahead
5 - The redevelopment of Richmond Park into a modern all-seater stadium
Each point was then addressed in more detail:
1 - Greater Involvement & Communication with supporters
Andy said he felt a communication void had developed between those running the Club and those supporting it. He acknowledged that the 'atmosphere' around the club (by which he wasn't referring to the songs or flares, but the general feeling of fans towards the Club) had generally deteriorated in recent years and stressed that this must be restored. He was under no illusions that this would be an overnight process.
Andy said he was open to any suggestions as to how to best involve supporters in the running of the Club again. His own idea was for a monthly forum with supporters in which any problems/suggestions/whatever could be put to the Club. He envisaged a mechanism whereby interested groupings, for example Independent Saints, the Saints Supporters' Club (Alan Cully/Trish Smith's group), the Shed End Invincibles group, Season Ticket Holders and Gold Club members would each put forth representatives to make contributions. This was not an attempt to exclude anybody, but a realisation of the fact that a forum with hundreds of people attending wasn't likely to actually achieve much. This was debated at length, and it was agreed that a compromise would have to be reached between the forum giving the perception of being a 'clique', and having the stereotypical 'human bar-stool' who wouldn't set foot inside the ground from one end of the year to the other being given an equal platform to genuine supporters. One suggestion was that alongside the above 'interested parties', anybody else was free to contribute by simply asking prior to the meeting for a invite from the Club - these would be granted to ALL, and this would discourage the 'bar room brigade' from attending.
IS pointed out that the previous 2 forums the Club had held were seen by some as having been stage-managed and their credibility had suffered as a result. It was acknowledged that to work, any forum must be much more open in approach than what has gone before.
2 - Return of the 15 points deducted in the Mbabazi Affair
Due to the ongoing legal situation Andy was limited in what he could say on this matter. He totally believes that we should have our 15 points restored and is fully committed to achieving this. The current state of play is that Pat's have formally asked the FAI to arbitrate on the dispute between themselves and the eircom League. The FAI have yet to acknowledge receipt of this request. Upon acknowledgement of receipt of the Arbitration request, each party will propose 3 prospective arbitrators and one will be selected with the consent of both parties. If the two parties cannot agree upon an arbitrator, the President of the Law Society will do so. Andy is confident that Pat's have a strong case to bring before the Arbitrator.
Much of the talk surrounding possible arbitrators and objections to them is therefore baseless, and it appears that various interested parties are making these suggestions for spurious reasons.
3 - The re-establishment of a Management Committee with Executive Powers at the Club.
Andy's father, Pat O'Callaghan, was an influential member of the original Management Committee in the late-eighties and Andy is keen to see this revised. The idea for the committee is primarily made up of supporters and basically that it is somewhat akin to the Cabinet in the Dail, whereby there would be 'Ministers' for various departments of the Club. The actual mechanics of how this would operate are not yet decided but it would involve those involved having power to make decisions in some areas of running the Club.
4 - To give the Club a sound commercial base to meet the challenges ahead
Andy stated that the Club has fallen well behind both Shelbourne and Bohemians in commercial terms off the field in recent years. All future progression must be based on a sound commercial and financial footing, something that is presently lacking. This has resulted in the Club slipping into debt - there is currently a hefty overdraft at the Club. This seriously curtails our ability to sign the best players. Whilst it was acknowledged that Pat has worked wonders to win the League with this team, Andy also feels it would be folly to believe we can continue on being successful in the long term if our playing resources are less than those of our rivals. The aim is to have a fully professional outfit, though it was stressed that the Club must have the commercial stature to achieve this without compromising long-term development.
5 - The redevelopment of Richmond Park into a modern all-seater stadium
Richmond Park is to be redeveloped into an all-seated stadium. There's is no question of moving anywhere else. A €1M Euro grant was received in recent weeks and Pat's were invited to apply for a second round of funding before September on a phased basis.
What this means in real terms is that it is now more likely that, as was originally the plan, the Inchicore (Turnstile) End stand will be built before the Shed End Stand. The Inchicore End development is likely to cost approx €3M and it was felt when the €1M grant was originally received that this would be insufficient to do significant work on the Inchicore End Stand and the Club would be better off putting the money into the more modest Stand at the Shed End, which is costed in the region of €1M. However, the invitation to apply for funding that would be granted on a phased basis means that the Inchicore End Stand can be built in phases without there being years between the completion of each phase.
Whilst this is currently the plan, Andy pointed out that the decision of whether to build the Inchicore or Shed End Stand first is exactly the kind of input he envisages supporters making utilising the forum.
On other issues, Alan Cully, from the Saints Supporters Club, spoke passionately of the loss of goodwill towards the Club from other Clubs in the League, and of the loss of unity within the Club. He stated his belief that the employment of so many people who had previously had no interest in the Club in preference to long standing supporters was the major cause. He asked what had changed that Pat's seemed to have acquired so many enemies, both within and without the Club. Others present took up the debate, Alan's sentiments were echoed by many, Andy acknowledged that mistakes had been made and resolved to do things differently from day one. The structures he intends setting up are the first sign of this change in direction.
Perhaps the most interesting revelation of the night was the news that the contentious merger saga with Saints Francis finally ended yesterday (May 7th). This resulted in the dissolution of the merger. A deal has been agreed under which Pat's will have use of Baldonnell as a training complex. (Nobody thought of asking where the U21 matches would be played - our apologies, we were all getting tired at this stage!)
The site will remain the property of Saint Francis, who will resume playing the Leinster Senior League and are now linked in some manner to Shamrock Rovers.
The most important points from our point of view are:
- Dropping of the 'incorporating Saint Francis' appendage. The Club is once more officially known as Saint Patrick's Athletic Football Club.
- The name 'Dublin Saints' will no longer be utilised.
- The Saint Francis crest will no longer feature on our jerseys.
None of the staff who came to the Club under the merger will remain working here. In fact, this isn't much of a change as they haven't been working here for some time.
The merger collapsed because of central differences over what exactly had been agreed at the time of the merger. Saint Francis claimed they believed the name of the Club would be changing to 'Dublin Saints' at some stage, whilst Saint Pat's insist no such offer was ever made or would have been considered. The 'Dublin Saints' moniker was agreed as the nickname of the merged Club and it was agreed that 'incorporating Saint Francis' would be added to our name. As time went by and it became clear that many supporters were opposed to any name change, some at Saint's Pat's began to play down the Francis aspect of the Club. This caused problems with those that had previously been Saint Francis and things began to unravel. It should be noted that Alan Duncan is now employed by Shamrock Rovers FC (in fact, he's a shareholder there now), has no role at Saint Francis and that he wasn't involved in the recent negotiations which concluded the saga.
On other matters, Andy was asked to comment on rumours that we wouldn't take part in the Inter Toto Cup if the Arbitrator doesn't restore our 15 points. Andy stated that no decision had been taken on this yet.
This is to some extent a consequence of the fact that the FAI have pledged not to decide the final league placings and therefore the entrants for each European competition until the arbitration and appeal process has concluded, which must be by the UEFA deadline of May 31st.
Andy was asked, with the changes at the Club, what it will mean for the public profile of the Club, and in particular Pat Dolan's future role in it. Andy likened the future relationship and division of responsibilities between himself and Pat to that previously seen at Shamrock Rovers with Joe Colwell and Damian Richardson. Andy will be a hands-on Chairman, taking responsibility for the off field running of the Club, with Pat continuing as the major on-field influence at the Club. In the course of this discussion Andy stated that there would be changes off the pitch, that two people were being sought for the office and that Michael Glynn has left the Club.
Good news is that Charles Mbabazi Livingstone has signed a new long-term contract.
By this time it was approaching 12 O'Clock, so I concluded the meeting to a round of applause for Andy. Many thanks to him for taking the time to address our meeting. The overall impression was one of a new beginning for our Club and the prospect of a Saint Patrick's Athletic more accountable to, and representative of, its supporters.
Gary Waters,
Chairman,
Independent Saints.
Full story and Pics from Oriel of how the Saints won the league are available on this website
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