Disappearing Act

When Saturday Comes - December 2008

In August, Irish champions Drogheda United came within inches of eliminating Dynamo Kiev from the Champions League. Midfielder Shane Robinson saw his injury-time cross-shot diverted on to a post by Kiev keeper Taras Lutsenko, before the ball agonisingly rolled across the goalline with no Drogheda player on hand to tap home. Minutes earlier Adam Hughes had somehow fired over an open goal from six yards.

The rattled Ukrainians held out to squeeze through 4-3, then hammer Spartak Moscow 8-2 on aggregate to seal their place in the group stages. Drogheda were left ruing what might have been. The Drogheda players’ recent thoughts are likely to have been more prosaic, as they dwelled on issues such as how to pay their mortgages or put food on their family's table.

On October 9th they were told by club chairman Vincent Hoey that they would not be paid for the rest of the season. A week later the club went into receivership with reported debts of over €732,000 and were docked ten points. This deduction could be moot, as they may well disappear completely before the new season starts next spring. Things were much different just 12 months ago.

A (relatively) expensively assembled team, managed by Eircom league legend Paul Doolin, cruised to Drogheda's first ever national league title. This came after two Setanta Sports Cups and an FAI Cup in the preceding two years. The glory times had arrived for a previously yo-yo, small-town club. This season saw them ease past Estonian champions FC Levadia Tallinn 3-1 on aggregate, before running Kiev so close.

Such achievements were possible because of the estimated €8 million that had been poured into the club since 2004, when Hoey and fellow directors Christopher Byrne and Eugene O'Connor rolled out their masterplan. They aimed to sell current ground United Park, which holds only 2,000 fans, and use the proceeds to fund a new €35m 10,000-seat stadium outside the town, while also developing residential units, offices and leisure facilities on the old site. The idea was initially hailed as visionary, and the board does appear to have the best interests of the club at heart, but planning issues have bedevilled the project and it remains on the drawing board. Meanwhile, their financial over-reach means that Drogheda's 27 players and 12 staff could well be out of a job by Christmas.

As this issue of WSC is still on sale, I'm not putting the whole article up on the site. Click here to purchase a copy of the magazine, or here to visit the WSC website.