Clubs nationwide are crying out for long overdue investment in the domestic game and Connacht’s top top clubs are eager to be part of the required transformation
In June 2023 those two have shaken hands, and about time. What happens next is what matters and as Galway manager John Caulfield says: “It’s action that’s required”.
“I’ve seen a lot before, like Limerick showing plans for a new stadium that never happened, clubs saying they’ll go full-time professional, then going bust. That’s what I’ve seen before. What I’ve not seen is crowds. That’s the difference.” “So, hand on heart, do I believe there’ll be a massive change in the next five years? It’s hard for me to say that.”
When he did take over at Cork in 2013, he repeated his playing success, but much of the game looked the same to him as it did in 1983. Ten years on, Caulfield is Galway United’s one full-time employee, although some players are on 52-week contracts. “The potential is here. The fact the Comers have come in and they want to invest gives us a massive opportunity. We’ve had crowds this year of 4,500; it’s getting them to come every week. There’s lots of positive stuff, I don’t want to be negative, but as a club we’ve to drive it ourselves.”
“We have a few players at school, some part-time, a few full-time on contracts going from about €22K to €38K. They’re young lads, I say to them they’d earn more in a factory, but this can give you ten years of your life and you can go to the factory after. Russell is 38. He is, like Caulfield, cautiously optimistic that 2023 could be a turning point. It needs to be, because Russell can remember this: “There were times in my career, when I was at Galway, where I’d have to sign on the dole after the contract ended.
“The league does feel different from then,” Russell says. “But it’s mad, like, in terms of facilities and infrastructure, it hasn’t changed, which is hugely disappointing. The optics . . . There is on-the-pitch and there is off-the-pitch. Russell acknowledges increased community work from clubs such as Bohemians and his own, then returns to the optics.
“Within the FAI there’s been change. Obviously there’s been controversy in the past but I think the FAI are now knocking on the right doors.” Galway United do not own their ground; Sligo do. It was purchased via public subscription in 1968, an illustration of Sligo’s ‘soccer town’ status. The land means they run an academy – “We have a full-time academy head – Conor O’Grady – former player, doing a great job,” Higgins says.
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