Cobh Ramblers to leave LoI?

OhNoYouDidn't

Any Cawk based posters have any idea whats really going on? They are building a tidy little stadium down there, are well run and have no financial problems, they have a clubhouse and decent set of local players and are hanging on in with the big boys in the Premier. Why would some in the club want to go back to amateurism, especially as the finances are fine? Is this about being in a comfort zone or is it strictly politics?


Indo - 04.07.08

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Cobh staring into abyss

This weekend could be one of the most important in the 86-year history of Cobh Ramblers Football Club.

On Sunday night, at least 20 members of the club are expected to propose a vote of 'no confidence' in current chairman Barry Walsh and three of his colleagues at an emergency general meeting.

But there is a lot more at stake than just a possible shift in the board of management at the club. The result of the meeting could decide whether Ramblers remain in the Eircom League of Ireland or return to the amateur Munster Senior League.

"That's it," said the Cobh chairman at the centre of the storm. "That's basically what it's about - the divide between Eircom League football and Munster Senior League."

Walsh has been at the helm during the most successful period in the club's history - they finished top of the Eircom League First Division last year for the first time since they were elected to the League of Ireland in 1985.

Walsh has also overseen a huge redevelopment of St Colman's Park.

He is strongly in favour of the club's continued development within the Eircom League; his opponents, he claims, have always believed the club should have never moved from its previous amateur status.

It is a divide, Walsh explained, which has been bubbling under the surface of the club for as long as he has been a member.

"There are people (within the club) who say that it's not viable for Cobh to survive in the League of Ireland. People want to go back to what they had pre-1985. They are a small minority but they have been there all the time.

"They want to go back to the good old days when they didn't have to pay players and the club was theirs and they did what they liked with it.

"These people reckon they own the club. They can't understand why we should be paying players and can't comprehend the fact that we're in the Premier Division.

"They're back in the old days in the Munster Senior League when people were stood around a rail looking at a match."

There has been much talk in the Rebel County of Cobh being afflicted by financial troubles, and these have boosted the argument of Walsh's opponents that League of Ireland football is not sustainable for the part-time club. Walsh rejects those claims.

"I would love to know where these rumours are coming from. Whoever is putting that sort of stuff out is trying to pull the club down, it's as simple as that."

The EGM is scheduled for Sunday, with a follow-up meeting due to be held a week later.

"It's the people that are trying to pull down the club who have called an EGM. It's groundless, and the people that count know it's groundless," said Walsh.

Liam Amphlett, a former chairman of Cobh and one of the signatures to the motion, yesterday declined to comment on the matter but said the group would make a statement after Sunday's meeting.

Until recently, Cobh Ramblers were a model of how a small Eircom League club could begin to compete in the big league on a tight budget, an inspiration for the little guy in a growing league.

That league, however, could not only soon be a team short, but also devoid of an inspiration to the many remaining clubs currently in crisis.

Neil Ahern

applehunter

They love their EGM's down there

OhNoYouDidn't

applehunter wrote: »

They love their EGM's down there

So what is it? There is no need for them to step back like Kilkenny.

Is the chairman right, a load of their members want a drinking club without the hassle of organising a team? If thats the case why don't they join the Gah?

Roar

OhNoYouDidn't wrote: »

Any Cawk based posters have any idea whats really going on? They are building a tidy little stadium down there, are well run and have no financial problems, they have a clubhouse and decent set of local players and are hanging on in with the big boys in the Premier. Why would some in the club want to go back to amateurism, especially as the finances are fine? Is this about being in a comfort zone or is it strictly politics?

LOL at all the points in bold.

cobh ramblers are up sh!t creek financially. on promotion they doubled all their players wages, and made their financial projections based on average attendances of 1,200

their friendly with sunderland will (just) keep them afloat, their was panic there for a while when it looked like it might not happen.

as for them returning to the Munster Senior League, while there is some merit in it (some committee members there are unbelievably small time, hence the opposition to the forward thinking and progressive Barry Walsh), but i cant see it happening.

i feel sorry for manager steven henderson and the players who have to try and play football while all this crap is going on.

ramblers have always reminded me of a GAA club, with it's narrow minded outlook, their "we've always done it this way so this is the way we're going to do it, no arguments" mentality.

there are a lot of decent people working very hard at that club, people i know personally who volunteer at the club, who run the under age teams etc..

it's a shame all this crap off the field in the "committee room" is destroying the soul of the club

OhNoYouDidn't

Fair enough Roar, but the Chairman was unambigious that the cabal within the club are exaggerating the financial issues with a smear campaign. My understanding is that finances are actually fine down there. They could be better, but whose couldnt.

Benedict XVI

If they do leave they will most likley be replced by another Dublin club (or at least on within the pale) Hurray..................that's all the LOI needs

OhNoYouDidn't

Benedict XVI wrote: »

If they do leave they will most likley be replced by another Dublin club (or at least on within the pale) Hurray..................that's all the LOI needs

the counter argument to that is that no culchie sides are stepping up.

the quicker the winners of the M & L senior leagues are forced into promotion the better.

DmanDmythDledge

Benedict XVI wrote: »

If they do leave they will most likley be replced by another Dublin club (or at least on within the pale) Hurray..................that's all the LOI needs

What makes you say that? Salthill, Mervue and Tullamore are the next clubs in line. Where are you getting this phantom Dublin club from?

Benedict XVI

DmanDmythDledge wrote: »

What makes you say that? Salthill, Mervue and Tullamore are the next clubs in line. Where are you getting this phantom Dublin club from?

It's just my perception that the LOI is dominated by clubs from Dublin\the Pale\the East, this perception may or may not be true.

was it a smart move to add Sporting Fingal when a club based a few miles down the road went bust a few seasons ago, in the long run I think not ?

invincibleirish

Ive been an infrequent visitor to St. Colmans, its a great little ground to visit but i seriously doubt they get near 1200 paying customers at every home game and i never knew the players wages were doubled on promotion.

It'll be a shame if Cobh resign from the league, Its a great little place for football to be played and Ramblers are well supported given their location. Maybe promotion is a step too far but surely its a bit much to go all the way back to the Munster league?

Roar

chairman barry walsh survives vote of no confidence, 4-1 in favour of him

Big Ears

invincibleirish wrote: »

Ive been an infrequent visitor to St. Colmans, its a great little ground to visit but i seriously doubt they get near 1200 paying customers at every home game and i never knew the players wages were doubled on promotion.

It'll be a shame if Cobh resign from the league, Its a great little place for football to be played and Ramblers are well supported given their location. Maybe promotion is a step too far but surely its a bit much to go all the way back to the Munster league?

Promotion a step too far , they're going to have to get relegated before they can try and get promoted again . Although it looks like they're going to oblige .

Saint_Mel

DmanDmythDledge wrote: »

What makes you say that? Salthill, Mervue and Tullamore are the next clubs in line. Where are you getting this phantom Dublin club from?

Galway are struggling to support 1 team on the League as it is, hard to know how Salthill and Mervue would fair out financially.

SantryRed

Saint_Mel wrote: »

Galway are struggling to support 1 team on the League as it is, hard to know how Salthill and Mervue would fair out financially.

Don't Galway charge big prices into the games though?

DmanDmythDledge

Saint_Mel wrote: »

Galway are struggling to support 1 team on the League as it is, hard to know how Salthill and Mervue would fair out financially.

Agree with that, but I was just showing that a Dublin team isn't next in line for a place in the league.

SantryRed wrote: »

Don't Galway charge big prices into the games though?

They're shedding players left right and centre at the moment. All their players are free to leave the club. They budgeted for crowds of 2,000 but are only getting 1,313. They are over the 65% wage cap and have a transfer embargo on signing players until they go under it (as do Sligo). They are going back to part time next season even if they stay in the Premier.

Big Ears

DmanDmythDledge wrote: »

Agree with that, but I was just showing that a Dublin team isn't next in line for a place in the league.


They're shedding players left right and centre at the moment. All their players are free to leave the club. They budgeted for crowds of 2,000 but are only getting 1,313. They are over the 65% wage cap and have a transfer embargo on signing players until they go under it (as do Sligo). They are going back to part time next season even if they stay in the Premier.

Galway seriously overestimated how much people are willing to pay to go to games . €20 and €25 is a ridiculous price for a relegation struggling Eircom League club to charge . If they had left prices at last seasons charge they could very well be getting that 2,000 people every week, possibly more . Now that still wouldn't be enough to reach their financial targets but their financial were far too ambitious in the first place .

It was like they were putting a financial structure together to equal the top teams in the division, despite very ordinary players a more than ordinary amount . They could have gone full-time on a smaller budget and possibly maintained it but instead they're going to get relegated and they'll be back to part-time and trying to build from the ground up again .