Dundalk have severe financial problems, but have been given more time to sort themselves out.
League of Ireland giants Dundalk will fight another day - as the threat of liquidation has been lifted for now.This was after weekend talks with prospective buyer, US-based businessman Jeff Saunders, ended without a deal.
Owner Brian Ainscough had set a deadline of 5pm today to either strike a deal with a buyer or liquidate the club. Players have expressed a willingness to write off next week’s wages , and potentially the following week’s too, in order to keep the club going.Some of that also went on paying creditors, including Revenue, while an insurance payment also had to be made.
Another European-based group is also keen on taking over the 14-time League of Ireland champions and bringing them into SCARP . The financial situation at the club was dire enough to put off previous prospective buyers, such as Saunders. The Lilywhites' plight reached an international audience on Monday, with Sky Sports News reporting on the club's potential demise.We should all be very angry today. Every single man, woman and child with an interest in Irish football should be trembling with rage today. It’s not the time for tribal rivalries. It’s not the day for sneering at the breaking hearts of thousands of Dundalk FC supporters.
We should be angry for John Murphy, a Lilywhites playing legend who, just 35 years younger than his beloved club, still climbs the steps of the crumbling old Oriel Park Main Stand to sit in his regular seat and commentate on games for Dundalk FM. We should be angry for Stephen Kenny, whose four league titles arrived in only the last decade, and whose European heroics should have set the club on the pathway to financial stability for decades to come.
We should be angry that there was a loophole in the FAI's licencing regulations that, given the timing of the takeover, meant it wasn't subjected to the type of rigorous oversight that is meant to protect clubs from themselves. We should be angry for so many reasons today, because most of us know how it feels to fear for the future of our beloved club.
But there is something different about today, as a community waits to hear whether its heart will be ripped from its chest. “I went to the AGM and said what I said because I keep hearing people say they think someone is going to step in,” McGuinness said last night.“This isn’t one of those instances where the fans will get together and get the club back up and running next year. We are too far down the road in terms of licencing.
“I spoke to the players tonight and they are worried for their futures, but they are willing to help out and do what is needed to keep the club alive.
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