Limerick FC 2018 season

osarusan

As it's 2018, I thought it was time for a new thread on everybody's favourite local LOI club.

Last season was our first in the Premier division after being promoted, and it was a rollercoaster of a season. A 5-1 win on the opening day, a cup semi-final for the first time in donkey's years, but also some woeful performances.

Martin Russell only lasted a handful of matches into the season, and Willie Boland took over until the arrival of Neil McDonald. We ended up finishing in a reasonable 7th place, although we flirted with the relegation zone a few times during the season.

This season, we have lost some of our better players and, for the most part, failed to replace them, and our squad is pretty threadbare at the moment. To make matters worse, McDonald has quit to return to England for a job at Scunthorpe. So we are in serious disarray at the moment.

Here is our squad at the time of posting:

Goalkeeper:
Brendan Clarke
Freddy Hall

Defenders:
Tony Whithead
Barry Cotter
Killian Brouder
Shane Tracy

Midfielders:
Shane Duggan
Cian Coleman
Henry Cameron
William Fitzgerald
Daniel Kearns

Strikers:
Chedozie Ogbene
Danny Morrissey

(I'll edit this as things change, of if anybody else points anything out to me)


For the rest, I'll just paste and update what I wrote in the opening post of last season's thread:

Fixtures
The season starts away to Sligo on Saturday February 17th, and we are at home to Bohemians the following Saturday 24th. You can see a full list of fixtures here.

Tickets
You can get information on tickets (matchday tickets or season tickets) here: http://www.limerickfc.ie/club-shop/match-prices

Tickets can be bought outside the ground on matchday. The club have adopted a new (and in my opinion, misguided) system of pricing, with Category A and Category B matches. So if you are buying on the day, the price might be different to what you expected.

Support
You can follow the club and developments through their website, and also through the facebook page, and on twitter.

As a supporter, you can also get involved with the Official Supporters' Club, the Blue Army, or the Limerick Independent Football Trust (LIFT)

For away games, both the Official Supporters' Club and the Blue Army try to organise buses as much as possible, and being a member of those groups increases your chances of getting a seat.

Sponsorship
For those of you who have money to burn, the club would love if you sent it their way, and there are a range of ways to sponsor the club, which you can find here: http://www.limerickfc.ie/commercial/sponsorship

johnnyryan89

Conor Ellis was in training with the club yesterday and today. Any know where the teams training seeing as they're not welcome in UL at the moment?

Edit; Turns out they are still using UL, hope they ask for cash up front 😂😂

diusmr8a504cvk

Bray announced a combined ten re-signings and new signings today. They'll be one of our main competition this season in what you'd have to assume would be a relegation dogfight at this stage.

https://twitter.com/braywanderers/status/949359246856130560

With the season being six weeks away I just don't know how we'll get a decent manager. As well as that, not many players will be attracted to a club that doesn't have a manager and can't even re-sign their own players.

Copper_pipe

Ogbene could be on his way to Scunthorpe too..

johnnyryan89

Copper_pipe wrote: »

Ogbene could be on his way to Scunthorpe too..

Probably just lazy journalism linking the former manager to his former clubs best player whose been in England on trials.

Harpy

johnnyryan89 wrote: »

Conor Ellis was in training with the club yesterday and today. Any know where the teams training seeing as they're not welcome in UL at the moment?

Edit; Turns out they are still using UL, hope they ask for cash up front 😂😂

What happened with U.L that they wouldn't be welcome??

kilburn

Copper_pipe wrote:

Ogbene could be on his way to Scunthorpe too..

Aston Villa are looking for him also

brendanwalsh

johnnyryan89 wrote: »

Conor Ellis was in training with the club yesterday and today. Any know where the teams training seeing as they're not welcome in UL at the moment?

Edit; Turns out they are still using UL, hope they ask for cash up front 😂😂

Why aren't they welcome in UL?

Has lee Jay been training with anyone? Heard he was going to sligo.

Shame the limerick forum on foot dot ie was shut down, found it was a great source of inside itk info.

Copper_pipe

brendanwalsh wrote: »

Why aren't they welcome in UL?

Has lee Jay been training with anyone? Heard he was going to sligo.

Shame the limerick forum on foot dot ie was shut down, found it was a great source of inside itk info.

Owe UL money for training facilities.. probably still trying to pay off Thomond Park as well

diusmr8a504cvk

Somewhat relevant

https://twitter.com/muafc_/status/950681367142191104

Paddico

Copper_pipe wrote: »

Ogbene could be on his way to Scunthorpe too..

I'm hoping its back to City for him though I think JC has explored that option. Looks like Ellis is heading to ye anyway

osarusan

Paddico wrote: »

I'm hoping its back to City for him though I think JC has explored that option.

Anyhthing can happen in football, but the way Ogbene and the Cork team and fans were with each other in the final two matches of last season, it would surprise me.

johnnyryan89

Jane Screeching Queen wrote: »

Somewhat relevant

https://twitter.com/muafc_/status/950681367142191104

Probably a good move for him, did well at UCD. I liked Martin Russell as a coach, his out look on football was positive especially when it came to youth football but as a manager he was too stuck in his ways. Either he didn't have a plan B or was just too stubborn to change his style up, always struck me as someone whose best off as an assistant manager.

Still no official news or rumours from reliable sources on the manager front but one name I've heard is Trevor Croly the Bohs assistant manager, which might explain why Eoin Wearen is down training with Limerick.

Also Galway have signed ex Limerick academy player Tadgh Ryan, who was with Huddersfields u23s on a permanent deal after he left by mutual consent. Good move for him and hopefully see him back at Limerick again in the future.

Copper_pipe

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PiBmIIrxG0

johnnyryan89

Copper_pipe wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PiBmIIrxG0

Fair play to the man, he's spent a lot of his money that he worked for on the club knowing he'll never see a penny of it back or would only see a tiny percentage of it back if he sold the club. But think he's doing the right thing in looking to sell majority of his shares or even all of his shares, with all the good he has done I also think he's spent a lot needless money.

Think he thought he could throw money at Limerick and transform the club overnight which was gonna be next to impossible, Bruff was an excellent idea in theory but could turn into a massive white elephant given Pat has sank a lot of money into the place while also still spending a ton of money on using the UL for training and hotel accommodation for players. But at the end of the day without him there would be no Limerick fc, so while there's things to criticise about his ownership of the club there wouldn't be a club without him.

Maybe now is the time for talks about a trust and fan ownership, clubs like Wexford and Galway have done it just recently and Cork plus Sligo have been doing it awhile as well. Pats always said he wants the fans to come out in numbers and maybe no better way to do it than a fan owned club.

lionel ritchie

yay I found a Limerick FC discussion!

osarusan

What are the odds that we will find another owner willing to spend millions without any material reward?

Copper_pipe

JP would hardly step in?

johnnyryan89

Copper_pipe wrote: »

JP would hardly step in?

If he hasn't done it now I doubt he'll come in and himself and Pat are good mates.

osarusan wrote: »

What are the odds that we will find another owner willing to spend millions without any material reward?

Slim to none imo, you'd want to be absolutely off your game to invest your own money into a league of Ireland club. Think it could be time for LIFT to strongly think about a fan ownership.

Jofspring

Usually the type of people that buy into football clubs are rich people looking for ways to spend their money and do it for the love of sport or just to keep themselves entertained. If we are lucky we find someone with a genuine interest in football and deep pockets. That wil be extremely hard to come by.

Team have been training away with a few new faces, and old, so hopefully we see some signings in the coming weeks.

Jofspring

johnnyryan89 wrote: »

If he hasn't done it now I doubt he'll come in and himself and Pat are good mates.




Slim to none imo, you'd want to be absolutely off your game to invest your own money into a league of Ireland club. Think it could be time for LIFT to strongly think about a fan ownership.

In ideal world you would have a combined ownership, fans/trust and a backer/businesses to back it financially.

brendanwalsh

Heard O sullivan owes thousands to UL and hotels across the city for accommodation and training.

osarusan

johnnyryan89 wrote: »

Think it could be time for LIFT to strongly think about a fan ownership.

Without meaning to disrespect LIFT (I know jofspring on here is involved and they do good work) I don't think they, or even an unlikely combination of all the supporters' clubs, would be in a position to take over.


We are talking the guts of €200,000 each season (if not more) just to field a team of amateurs. There aren't enough fans and there isn't enough money.

mastershake

I admire Pat O'Sullivan for taking on Limerick FC when he did and turning the fortunes of the club around. He has done it all for the right reasons and has invested a lot of he's own personal money into the running of the club. He has also orchestrated the move back to the Markets Field which has reinvigorated the club and has given it a good base to push on from.

Having said all that you have to wonder why he purchased the Bruff secondary school. He has said that it was needed as a training and youth academy facility for the underage sides but a location such as St. Endas would have been a ready made facility for that purpose. The location and the pitches there would have been ideal for both the first team and the youth teams and would have meant not having to fork out payment to UL and other facilities to train on. It could have saved the club considerably. 

It will be interesting to know what will happen with Bruff if this take over happens as it was always Pat's idea to locate the club there. Hopefully the deal happens soon as a new management team and additional players need to be found quickly before the start of the season.

johnnyryan89

mastershake wrote: »

Having said all that you have to wonder why he purchased the Bruff secondary school. He has said that it was needed as a training and youth academy facility for the underage sides but a location such as St. Endas would have been a ready made facility for that purpose. The location and the pitches there would have been ideal for both the first team and the youth teams and would have meant not having to fork out payment to UL and other facilities to train on. It could have saved the club considerably. 

It will be interesting to know what will happen with Bruff if this take over happens as it was always Pat's idea to locate the club there. Hopefully the deal happens soon as a new management team and additional players need to be found quickly before the start of the season.

Was cheaper to buy Bruff compared to the price the Clare County Council wanted for the land out in Knockalisheen plus was double the size but imo while it was more value for money I don't think Bruff will work as it's too far out imo. No player will want to live in a converted convent in Bruff if they come to Limerick they'll want to be living near the city centre and quite a few parents will say is it worth driving their son out to Bruff 2 or 3 nights a week plus matches when they could go to Aisling Annacotty and receive possibly better training for half the price.

What facilities are in Endas though exactly? Did a course there last year and FAS own the school building and the old swimming pool is knocked now but hasn't that building been condemned for awhile? You also could have bought Seanchoill about 2 yrs ago or a year and a half ago for less than €100,000. Comes with a ready made all weather pitch, club house and gym.

johnnyryan89

osarusan wrote: »

Without meaning to disrespect LIFT (I know jofspring on here is involved and they do good work) I don't think they, or even an unlikely combination of all the supporters' clubs, would be in a position to take over.


We are talking the guts of €200,000 each season (if not more) just to field a team of amateurs. There aren't enough fans and there isn't enough money.

As jof pointed out in an ideal world you'd have an owner, fans and businesses combined funding a club. I don't know the situation with Galway but if they can be fan owned then I'm sure Limerick could. Both clubs would be the same size and have roughly the same size support base with Limerick possibly having the potential bigger fan base with the likes of Ennis, Shannon, Nenagh and Charleville only out the road which the club's should be tapping into.

If it's that Limerick are over spending compared to clubs the same size as them then maybe it's time for the club to cut back and live within its means.

johnnyryan89

Limerick are playing Galway Saturday week the 20th in a friendly, time and venue to be confirmed but doubt it will be the markets field as there's a rugby match the night before.

diusmr8a504cvk

johnnyryan89 wrote: »

Limerick are playing Galway Saturday week the 20th in a friendly, time and venue to be confirmed but doubt it will be the markets field as there's a rugby match the night before.

Jackman?

johnnyryan89

Jane Screeching Queen wrote: »

Jackman?

UL would be my guess

mastershake

What facilities are in Endas though exactly? Did a course there last year and FAS own the school building and the old swimming pool is knocked now but hasn't that building been condemned for awhile? You also could have bought Seanchoill about 2 yrs ago or a year and a half ago for less than €100,000. Comes with a ready made all weather pitch, club house and gym.[/QUOTE]

I haven't been in there since the school closed but there were a number of pitches including an all-weather pitch there. It would probably have needed a good deal of investment but I always thought that it would have been a good location for Limerick FC to base itself. Its close to South Hill and O'Malley Park and a youth centre with links to these communities would have being fantastic.The latest I heard was that Limerick GAA were looking at planning permission at St.Endas for a number of pitches for their own development teams. Football's loss is the GAA's gain I guess.

Anyone hear of any transfer rumours? What are the Dennehy bros up to? Any chance of attracting them down for the year.

mastershake

What facilities are in Endas though exactly? Did a course there last year and FAS own the school building and the old swimming pool is knocked now but hasn't that building been condemned for awhile? You also could have bought Seanchoill about 2 yrs ago or a year and a half ago for less than €100,000. Comes with a ready made all weather pitch, club house and gym./QUOTE]

I haven't been in there since the school closed but there were a number of pitches including an all-weather pitch there. It would probably have needed a good deal of investment but I always thought that it would have been a good location for Limerick FC to base itself. Its close to South Hill and O'Malley Park and a youth centre with links to these communities would have being fantastic. The latest I heard was that Limerick GAA were looking at planning permission for a number of pitches there for their own development teams. Football's loss is the GAA's gain I guess.

Anyone hear of any transfer rumours? What are the Dennehy bros up to? Any chance of attracting them down for the year.