Global heavyweights feel pinch

Sunday Business Post - Executive Search and Selection Report - Dec 14 2008

As demand slows down, some of the world's biggest executive search and selection firms have already shed 40 per cent of their workforce. But the full impact of the downturn won't hit home until next year, writes Dermot Corrigan.

Demand for the services of executive search and selection firms has slowed significantly this year, leading to job losses internationally, but worse is to come.

"We have seen two of the biggest executive search firms (in) the world - Heidrick & Struggles and Korn / Ferry - already let go about 40 per cent of their own staff," said Karl Croke, managing director of Amrop Strategis in Ireland. "The number of senior management searches coming into organisations, in Ireland or abroad, has slowed significantly."

Croke said the early effects of the downturn had begun to take their toll on the executive search and selection market in September. The full impact would, he added, hit home next year.

"We expect to come back down to the figures we had in 2006. That is just reflective of the economy, and what is going on."

Employers are taking more time to fill executive roles, meaning longer processes and ultimately less business for executive search firms, according to Maurice Carr, managing partner, BDO Recruitment.

“The latter half of 2008 has been difficult,” said Carr. “The main outcome has been a slow down in demand and also a lengthening of the time that it takes to complete a processes due to fear and negative sentiment on both the sides of the employer and the perspective employee.”

By contrast, 2007 was a peak year for executive search and selection in Ireland, said Barry O'Connor, partner, Merc Partners.

"Our revenues this year would be well down on 2007, which was probably the best in our history,” said O’Connor. “We do not expect a massive increase in 2009 either, we expect things to be quiet again, in comparison to 2007.”

Sectoral trends
"Construction has taken a hammering, particularly house-building and development,” said Croke. “Financial services is also finding it tough, but most sectors are feeling the brunt right now."

"Everything is connected, and there is a flow through, and with confidence the way it is people are holding on to the few quid they have. There is a big degree of fear out there. Until we get to the bottom of the cycle, that is not going to change."

O’Connor said some sectors were holding up better than in others.

"Some elements of the financial services sector are still functioning - insurance, for instance,” he said. “We are also doing business at senior level for quite a few back-office type operations for financial services companies. Food, pharmaceuticals, retail, consumer goods and outsourcing are all still quite active."



Carr said that the healthcare and green sectors had strong growth potential.

“The multinational healthcare companies continue to be strong performers,” he said. “They are still recruiting at senior level, the environment is also an area that is showing increasing demand, but that probably has a year or two left before it is a major employer.”

Croke said that the global slowdown was forcing multinational companies with operations in Ireland to rethink plans to relocate elsewhere.

"The Intels and other similar multinationals which were moving operations to Poland or China seem to have consolidated here a lot,” he said. “That sector has strengthened in Ireland in the last year, which is (not what you would) have expected."

New opportunities
Croke said the response to the downturn, among search and selection firms, had been to diversify, to broaden the range of services on offer to clients.

"Executive search, for people to run organisations day to day, has slowed significantly,” he said. “However, that has been replaced by leadership products looking at board structure, management review and board review."

"Organisations are saying 'given all the change that is out there, that our strategy might no longer be relevant and we should review everything'. If the required strategy has changed, companies may need new people on the board, or in the management team, with different competencies and skills."

Carr said that BDO had refocused its own offering in response to the downturn.

"We have focused on new areas, including doubling our interim turnover, and also increasing our consulting fees, particularly in the area of performance management systems," he said.

John C Harty, managing director John C Harty Associates, said clients facing a more difficult marketplace were keen to work more closely with their executive search partners to help manage recruitment and HR processes.

“Over the final quarter of 2008, and into the first quarter of 2009, our clients are looking more than ever before for a partnership relationship,” he said. “Our clients’ key decision makers are relying on the executive search firm to guide them wholly through the recruitment process and also looking for some guidance on existing staffing structures.”

Interim management was particularly popular in the current climate," said Carr, "particularly with senior finance people across all sectors who have been recruited to deal with liquidity issues, but also the full spectrum of businesses in dealing with the decisions and actions that they need to take to deal with the changes in the economy. I believe this will be a very active area in our business.”

O’Connor said that there was still some demand from Irish companies with operations abroad.

"We have seen more international activity in 2008 than before, particularly assignments in association with our affiliates abroad,” he said. “We have had clients looking for Irish people to work abroad, and likewise Irish clients looking to recruit people abroad for their operations abroad. The latter is something that has been busier than in previous years."

Salary markers
O’Connor said the remuneration packages on offer at executive level had taken a hit in recent months.

"Anecdotally, I would feel that there is downward pressure on compensation, which is particularly coming from lack of bonuses, which seems to be happening in all sectors,” he said. “Bonuses are still being offered as part of packages, but expectations are much lower."

In some cases, however, Harty said, many companies were still willing to offer increased salaries to attract the right candidates.

“When a top executive is being head-hunted for a new role in a different organisation the overall package generally rises by between 12 per cent and 16 per cent to that of their previous role,” he said. “This trend is holding steady in those sectors not directly exposed to the downturn.”

Croke said media coverage concerning executive salaries and bonuses carried its own risks.

"It is reasonable to question some of the bonuses and salaries, but we need to be careful not to shoot ourselves in the foot, in financial services or anywhere else,” he said. “Really good executives can move internationally. Ireland cannot nail these people to the floor. You can liken it to liverpool football club. If you cut the players wages in half, they will head for Chelsea or Inter Milan. We still really need leadership at the moment."

Future trends
O’Connor said he expected the market to pick up slowly next year.

“We are not planning any expansion or anything like that, but our business is chief executives and function heads, and the demand for leadership talent grows as organisations come under pressure," he said. "The demand for the best talent out there may increase in the coming year, and we would hope that we can play a part in that."

Harty said his firm was looking outside the Irish market to grow its business in the new year.

“In 2009, we open offices in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Doha,” he said. “Our aim is to search on a more global basis for all our assignments whether the role is based in Dublin or Doha”

Carr said that, as companies were forced to fight their way through a difficult economy, the services of executive search and selection agencies would be required.

“Although in the short term companies will be hesitant about making senior appointments, I see this improving in the first quarter of 2009,” he said. “Over the next number of years there will be a requirement for a higher performance from executives that this will create a demand in executive recruitment."

"The bar will also be raised in terms of the ability of people in the executive search market to deliver the quality of executive required.”

Panel: Advice for candidates
Executive-level candidates are increasingly insecure about the long term viability of their current roles, according to Karl Croke, managing director, Amrop Strategis in Ireland.

"The number of people who would like to have a cup of coffee with me is getting larger every day,” Croke said. “These are people at executive level who are concerned about their future and the role that they currently in. A number have been let go from various organisations. Some are in organisations where the writing is on the wall, and they are very concerned. Others who are in organisations where they can see a future, are thinking that maybe this is not a good time to take a risk and move."

Barry O'Connor, partner, Merc Partners, advised candidates to review all of their options.

"People need to look at how they will develop their career, and continue with that, regardless of the pressures in the general economy,” he said. “People have to look at whether they could do better, or be more effective or advance quicker in another firm. These are questions that executives should be asking themselves.”

Croke said that experienced candidates were finding more favour with employers.

"The law says that you cannot discriminate by age, but right now people with some grey hair, who have been through economic downturn before, are more valuable to organisations,” he said. “During the dotcom boom it was the 30-year-old gung-ho risk taker with huge energy seemed to be the flavour of the month. People who know how to manage through a difficult environment are now more interesting to companies."

O’Connor said the downturn had not affected which skills and talent employers typically sought from top-level executives.

"The fundamentals still apply,” said O’Connor. “Organisations still look for the competencies they have always sought, but they are looking for the best in those particular areas. Leadership is still a major requirement, as is commercial analysis and the ability to communicate and get people to buy into whatever agendas are required to rejuvenate organisations. Strategy also remains very important.”

John C. Harty, managing director, John Harty Associates, said international markets offered opportunities to Irish executives whose careers might have stalled at home.

“You have a greater pool of executive candidates in the market place who fear that their current position could be under threat,” said Harty. “My advice to senior executives would be to be as open as they can be to opportunities outside of Ireland. The more international experienced gained the better. The corporate world is changing and is about to change more dramatically. The era of outsourcing is about to (hit) the Western economies rapidly and those who do not follow or adjust to the global changing market place will be left behind.”

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Career breaks can keep everyone happy

Sunday Business Post - Recruitment Feature - Dec 7 2008

Career breaks are an increasingly popular way to cut payroll costs while keeping ties with valuable employees, writes Dermot Corrigan.

Career breaks are on the table for many companies looking to move staff off the payroll until the economy rights itself.

Permanent TSB (PTSB) recently announced a scheme to incentivise staff to take a two or three-year career break or voluntary sabbatical. Employee reactions to the scheme have been broadly positive, according to a spokesperson for the company.

The financial services company offered employees up to €20,000 to take a two-year break and up to €35,000 to take three years off. The total sum was offered as an upfront payment to a maximum level of half the employee's annual salary.

"It has been received extremely positively," said the spokesperson. "Staff see it as innovative, and its voluntary nature is attractive. We have received feedback over the last couple of years that staff would appreciate more flexible work arrangements; they see this as an option which meets this need."

While not releasing any figures on the take-up to date of the scheme, the spokeswoman said the company was happy with the number of applications thus far.

"We have received plenty of applications from all across the organisation," she said. "There is a mix of all employees applying ranging from three to over 20 years service, male and female, both Irish and non-nationals – reflecting our employee base."

"There is also a good balance between the two and three year option, depending on what people are planning to do during the career break."

Innovative approach
Janet Wallace, HR solutions consultant with Russell Brennan Keane, said that the PTSB offer provided an innovative way to managing staff costs in a downturn.

"It is a good way for companies to reduce their payroll costs over a certain period, while ensuring you can get your skills back for when you need them in two or three years time," said Wallace.

"You are not losing the investment you put into them from a recruitment and training point of view, and you keep the knowledge they have built up about your company. It is a lovely option to be able to give if you are an employer."

While those who take up the PTSB scheme are guaranteed a role in the company, similar to their current job, upon their return, Wallace said not all companies could offer similar promises in the present economic climate.

"That is a risk that individuals considering a career break have to take,” she said. “However, in the current climate there are other people who are not sure if their job is going to be there in two months time, never mind two years. It depends on the employee and the situation they are in. Some people might have a partner who would be able to keep them financially secure."

Wallace said candidates who did decide to take a career break, did so for a variety of reasons depending on their own circumstances.

"Over the past few years traveling has been a massive one for people, and especially younger staff might pick up on this,” she said. “Other people might want to go back and do further studies. Some other people might have family commitments, they might have young children and would like to take a couple of years out, knowing they had the security of a permanent job to go back to."

Volunteering Derek Bambrick, business manager with recruitment firm Abrivia, said employers generally looked more favourably on staff who use their time out of the company to develop new skills or experiences.

"Employers often give career breaks to people who they value, but if they offer a career break they like to see the individuals putting something else on the table when they return,” said Bambrick. “If it is well planned and constructive, a career break can be advantageous to any employer."

Bambrick said Abrivia had recently placed a candidate in a senior financial services position on his return from a two-year career break.

"This gentleman was an accountant and had six years experience post qualification,” said Bambrick. “He and his wife, who is a pharmacist, were just married. He decided he wanted to do some voluntary work, so he joined up with VSO (an international development charity) and worked in an international development role in Africa. He went away with numbers in his head, but he came back with very strong project management skills. He had the skills of a sales manager, and had the life experience to go into a country management type role."

Upon his return, Abrivia was able to place the candidate with his old company - and in a more senior role.

"When he came back he had to renegotiate another contract,” he said. “He was so well thought of that they nearly created a job for him. As he had a whole new list of talents, and a new skillset, his career was given a boost."

In general, however, it is not typical for employers to keep positions open for staff who leave the company for a year or more, Bambrick said.

"It depends on the relationship you have with your employer,” he said. “If you come back and reapply for a job, you will be in a good position with the new skills and experiences that you have picked up."

Secure new role
Bambrick said those who take a career break, without any guarantee from their current employer, could find that new employers are interested.

"Somebody might want to do voluntary work, and another person might want to go to university or something like that,” he said. “But as long as they can show value to the job market, and attain new skills and keep up with the existing skills they have, they will do very well."

Bambrick said more companies were introducing career breaks as part of outplacement programmes and redundancy packages.

"Some people choose to take a career break and do something else for a while,” he said. “We can do psychometric testing and give general advice on their options."

Case study: Tina Kelly - a 'better employee' after her one-year career break

Tina Kelly, a consultant with recruitment firm Sigmar, recently returned to Ireland following a six month career break in Australia and New Zealand.

"I had spent a number of years in recruitment and had seen some very busy times in the market, and I felt that I needed a bit of a break,” said Kelly. “Some personal changes had also happened in my life at the time. I sat down and talked with my manager, she was very receptive to it, and I decided that I could take a year out and then come back after the year. I was told my job would be here when I came back."

"I took a year out from Sigmar, and I went travelling to Australia and New Zealand, and then I spent some time at home here," Kelly said. "I had a great six months away, and then I was back in Dublin for six months."

Kelly said her experience differed significantly from the typical post-university gap-year trip.

"I was a little bit older than most people who take a gap year," she said. "I was in my early 30s so I had some money behind me. I was able to do all the backpacking things, but I was also able to go for meals, get my hair done, and still maintain a good lifestyle."

"I really enjoyed it, I met all kinds of different people, saw things I would not normally see, and I came back much more interested in my work and refreshed in how I looked at things. I was very motivated and I was happier in myself, and therefore a better employee."

A growing number of candidates in Ireland have career breaks on their CVs, said Kelly.

"Quite, often I would come across candidates who have taken a career break," she said. “It seems to be becoming a more common choice for people of all age groups, and all types of professions and careers."

"You get a real mix of people taking career breaks for all kinds of different reasons. Sometimes it is for family reasons such as someone being sick, other times they want to travel. People often study while they were off, and voluntary work would also certainly come into it."

"It depends on the individual. Some people come back and have decided that they do not want to return to their old job, and decide to try something different," Kelly said. "Sometimes a change has occurred while they were away, and they now want to try something new. But a lot of people would look to get back into the same kind of role as before."

Kelly said that employers were not generally worried about gaps in a candidates work history on a CV, once the candidate could explain how they used the time beneficially.

"I do not think career breaks harm people professionally,” she said. “I have never come across an employer who would have a problem with a candidate who has taken a career break.”

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Redeployment is now a key issue

Sunday Business Post - Recruitment Page - Nov 30 2008

A creative approach to managing staff is needed to avoid job losses in an unsteady economy, writes Dermot Corrigan.

Companies under pressure are finding more creative ways to manage employees in order to stave off staff cuts and balance the books. Staff redeployment is top of the agenda for HR managers tasked with finding ways to boost revenues, according to a new report.

The SHL Ireland survey, released last week, found that redefining how staff operate was of “critical importance” to 59 per cent of the respondents it questioned.

HR practitioners in 100 organisations in Ireland responded to the SHL survey. 48 per cent identified the redeployment of existing staff between offices, divisions or roles as "an important strategy" in the current business climate.

"Companies are refocusing and looking to see what positions have the greatest possibility for revenue generation or for cutting costs," said Joe Ungemah, regional manager for Ireland, SHL. "They are looking across all the positions they have and saying which ones do we need to focus on if we have limited resources; which are the positions that have the greatest chance of bringing in money, sales people for example, and also research and development?"

In many cases, staff earmarked for redeployment are willing and qualified to move into more productive roles, Ungemah said.

“You have to think about what job families are closely related to each other,” he said. “When you are, for example, thinking of moving someone from an operations role into R&D, it comes down to whether someone has the right technical skills and experience. It may not be something they are using now, but they have learned it in the past."

52 per cent of the respondents surveyed by SHL said they had no plans to cut training budgets despite the downturn. Ungemah said that slower trading conditions were allowing some companies the space to train staff to fill different roles.

"The speed of economic growth over the last couple of years has meant that a lot of companies have not paid attention to keeping their internal HR processes up to date," he said. “Organisations realise that they just can not move people around without giving them the necessary support."

The SHL report found that 68 per cent of the companies surveyed were focusing on succession planning. Ungemah said that redeployment often had long-term career benefits for individual career progression, helping the succession planning process.

“A lot of specialists and managers may not have had the opportunity in recent years to gain experience outside their current job,” he said. “A mid-level manager who has always been pigeon-holed into a specific area might see a terrific opportunity to learn something new. It can be great for them in building their own CVs and getting to understand other parts of the business."

Internal restructuring is now a reality for a growing number of Irish employers, more than half of whom are operating with hiring freezes in place, said Janet Wallace, HR solutions consultant with Russell Brennan Keane.

"When people resign, retire or come to the end of their contract, they are just not being replaced,” Wallace said. “It is one of the easier options for companies to take when they see that things have to be tightened up. This is a way of reducing costs without having to make people redundant."


Pay cuts

Temporary and permanent pay cuts are now common practice in many Irish companies, according to Wallace.

"Davy Stockbrockers has announced that they were reducing their salaries across the board by ten per cent,” she said. “I know that many other companies in Ireland are doing that at the moment."

Wallace advised employers to apply pay-freezes or pay equally to all employees, or as part of a top-down initiative.

"Some companies introduce salary cuts on a phased basis," she said. "For example senior management are the first to take salary cuts. If the situation does not improve the fact that management took the pain first signals that they are leading the way. That can make it easier to implement cuts across all roles at a later stage."

Paula McGrath, managing director of Achievers Group, said that a bad reaction was not a given among staff facing a pay cut or pay freeze.

"Staff know a lot more about what is going on than most employers acknowledge, and they may be imagining the worst,” McGrath said. "It is more worrying to see a company not making commercial decisions. It is important to protect as many jobs as possible rather than burying heads in sand as this jeopardises the company and more jobs eventually.

Individuals who refuse to go along with suggested changes in their pay or conditions can cause problems for employers, McGrath said.

"By law, you have to honour somebody's contract of employment," she said. "If you are going to change any conditions, both parties have to agree. However, you can look to see if the person is delivering what is set down very clearly in their contract of employment and job specification. I know of organisations that start down that route if the person is not willing to play ball."

Creative solutions

McGrath said that organisations in financial difficulty were focusing on creative ways to reduce their payroll costs.

"Many companies are offering job share and modifying benefits such as reduced pay for increased holidays," she said. "Other individuals are being bought out of their trainee employment contracts. Bonuses are being acknowledged but deferred and overtime reduced by introducing flexible work practices.”

McGrath said that some roles were more suited to these steps than others.

"In sales related roles, in some organizations, we are seeing a reduction in basic salaries for existing staff and an increase in the potential to earn performance related pay and sales related commission," she said. “An employee who may relish the opportunity to establish himself independently and have more control over his work life balance can becomes self-employed with a contract arrangement.”

Managing change

Wallace said that it was important for organisations considering these steps to bear in mind their legal responsibilities.

"A change in the terms of employment needs to be put in writing and agreed with the employee before action is taken,” she said.

McGrath said that managers might be surprised at how open employees were to possible changes to their working arrangements.

"Small business owners are so engrossed in surviving that they might not realise that two staff have been talking and would be happy to job-share," she said. "I recently spoke with an individual in a large accountancy firm, who is willing to go down to four days a week, which will necessitate a drop in salary. She wants her job, and she wants to continue working for that company."

Wallace advised employers to ensure that very valuable and indispensable staff did not disengage from the company as a result of any changes introduced during the downturn.

"High performers will always find new roles and companies need to be working to identify the key roles that are critical for the future and the key staff they want to retain in those roles," she said. "While you may not be in a position to protect your key talent from some short term measures like bonus freeze or reduced working hours, you can provide reassurance to them that they are valued and viewed as critical to the future plans of the business and ask them to weather the storm with you."

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Eircom League looks to the future

Sunday Business Post - Business of Sport page - Nov 23 2008

See this article on the Sunday Business Post's website by clicking here.

Despite the downturn, the director of the League of Ireland believes that clubs are in a good position for the future, writes Dermot Corrigan.

Bohemians and Derry City take to the field at the RDS in Dublin today for the showpiece event of the Eircom League of Ireland calendar, the FAI Ford Cup final.

Bohemians enter the game as favourites, having easily secured the league title in an eventful season. In sporting terms, 2008 will be remembered as the year that Drogheda United almost toppled Dynamo Kiev in the Champions League, while Dundalk returned to the top division after securing promotion with the very last kick of the season. However, this year will also be remembered for less positive reasons.

Two clubs - last season’s champions Drogheda United and 2005 title winners Cork City - have gone into examinership in recent months, each with debts of about €750,000. More than half of the league’s clubs have been unable to pay their players in full or on time.

According to Fran Gavin, director of the League of Ireland, the problems faced by the clubs are not due to bad management, but are a very public example of how the downturn is affecting everyone in Irish society.

‘‘On the pitch, this has been a very good season,” said Gavin. ‘‘It has been one of the best ever years in Europe. Bohemians won the league in a record-breaking manner and the standard of play has been very high. ‘‘Off the pitch, it was not a good year for the league, but wage difficulties are not unique to the League of Ireland. Everybody running a business in Ireland today is seeing financial difficulties. Ours get highlighted on the back pages of newspapers, and the issues around Drogheda and Cork City have been well-documented.”

The ‘‘issues’’ have included Drogheda players threatening strike action after the club’s plan to sell its ground and move to a new €35 million, 10,000-seater stadium ran into planning difficulties. Cork’s problems arose after the club’s former owner - venture capital group Arkaga - withdrew its backing midway through the season.

Galway United was forced to sell key players in mid-season and imposed pay reductions on the players who remained.

Bohemians’ league win has also been overshadowed by a High Court case between the club and property developers over its relocation plans. Bohemian’s Dalymount Park site, in Phibsboro in Dublin, was valued at €60 million at the height of the property boom, but is now worth a lot less.

Gavin said that some clubs, like many other parts of Irish society, were over-reliant on the property and construction sectors. ‘‘The difficulties span not only the deals that were done with developers, but there were also sponsorship deals with developers and property companies,” he said.

‘‘Some clubs have then had difficulty receiving the sponsorship that was agreed. That was clearly due to the downturn in the economy, particularly in the building trade.”

However, many clubs faced difficulties even before the property bubble burst or the credit crunch hit. The 2005 Genesis Report stated that the league was ‘‘near to being economically bankrupt’’ and ‘‘unsustainable in its current format’’.

Gavin said that a lot had changed in the three years since that report. Two years ago, the FAI took over the running of the league from the member clubs. It has since imposed a licensing process, which includes a wage cap at 65 per cent of a club’s total income.

‘‘It was best practice last year, it is regulation this year,” said Gavin.

‘‘Clubs were paying 95 per cent of their income on players’ wages, which was the highest [percentage] in Europe. Now clubs that do not come under 65 per cent by the end of the season can be sanctioned. The sanctions can go as far as not receiving a licence for next year.”

Gavin said he was optimistic that all clubs would qualify for their 2009 league licences, despite the events of this year. ‘‘Everybody has learned a lot of lessons this year,” he said.

‘‘All 22 clubs have to go through the licensing procedure, and only when that is decided will we know the structure of the league. We will take it that the ten teams that qualified for the league next year will be there, unless we are told otherwise, and the fixtures will be set out accordingly.”

According to Gavin, the FAI is two years into a five-year plan to get the league onto a solid footing.

‘‘We are trying to make clubs more sustainable and community-based,” he said. ‘‘We will then have more credibility and attract more sponsors. It is a marathon, not a sprint, but we have changed the ethos of the league.”

Eliminating club debts had been a priority for the FAI, according to Gavin.

‘‘Last year, the total [debt] was €7 million. This year, that is projected for €3.5 million. Next year, the clubs will be debt-free. At the moment, money is being used by many clubs to service their old debt. If that is no longer needed, clubs can then invest in youth policies, facilities and in staff to make sure the club is run better.”

While Arkaga invested in Cork City as a business opportunity, Gavin did not think that Eircom league clubs were suited to being run for profit. ‘‘It is a difficult situation running a football club,” he said.

‘‘It is not something that you are going to get involved in to make a fortune. A break-even position for most clubs would be a successful season.”

Gavin cited links between Shamrock Rovers and South Dublin County Council as a more sustainable club ownership model. Rovers are due to take up residency in a new, local authority-funded stadium in Tallaght for the start of next season.

‘‘These relationships are like a public private partnership, where the county council recognises the social role played by the football club in communities,” he said.

‘‘There are similar partnerships in many Scandinavian countries.

‘‘There are several different setups within the league. St Patrick’s Athletic have a wealthy backer [property developer Garrett Kelleher] who sees a social responsibility to build up the club. Bohemians is a members-owned club. The most interesting one for us is the link between the club and the local authority.”

Gavin said that the FAI had shown its commitment to the domestic league by raising the prize money for winning the league to €250,000,up from€17,000 five years ago. The FAI Cup is worth another €100,000 to the victorious club.

‘‘Besides the prize money, we have also been working on issues like TV money, sponsorship and other commercial issues to try to help the clubs increase their revenue,” he said.

Another goal is to attract more people to games. Gavin said that attendances in 2007 were up 100,000 on the previous year, although the numbers going to games had levelled off in 2008.

‘‘For the last two years, premier league clubs have [had] a promotion officer working in schools and different parts of the local community, which we co-finance with the club,” he said.

‘‘Clubs that have these officers have seen their attendances increase, whereas clubs without them have not. Sligo Rovers are a fantastic example; their attendances are up 20 per cent this year.”

While Gavin said that it was inevitable that the best players would be attracted to play abroad, he said the priority was to ensure that Irish players were developed to the stage where they could be sold for a decent price.

In the past, players have been sold for small transfer fees - current Irish international Kevin Doyle was sold by Cork to Reading for €120,000 and three years later, is valued at more than €8 million. Cork last week sold their rights to 10 per cent of Doyle’s next transfer fee, to Reading for a sum thought to be in the region of €250,000.

‘‘We have invested heavily in getting our managers to have the UEFA pro licence, which is the top licence for managers in the world,” said Gavin. ‘‘That is reflected in their coaching abilities, and the players in the league have improved.

‘‘Players that are being looked at by English clubs are now a much better product, fitter and technically better, so you can command a higher fee for them."

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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.

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