Ramblers’ Game Over? Not By A Long Shot

I am writing this in response to the article which appeared in the issue of inside Cobh on the 17th April last. I feel compelled to clarify the situation in the race of inaccuracies, ambiguity and ultimately untruths. I am addressing this to the people of Cobh who are genuinely interested in the fortunes of Cobh Ramblers.

It gives me no pleasure in saying that this club has struggled financially for many years, broke even during the so-called Celtic Tiger years. The pressure was alleviated briefly in 2004 when the Committee of the time sold the Ballyleary Training Pitch in order to settle a dept with the Revenue, while the rest of the Country was enjoying an economic boom.The sad fact is that the club has been under-supported for decades and simply cant compete as a result. A reality clearly seen in 2007 when after winning the first division title in front of an estimated 1000 fans, a mere 240 supporters turned out for our first Premier League game, at a time when our team was one of the ten best in the Country.

The aforementioned article states that questions asked about the status of the handover were met with “silly sob stories”, well here are the facts:

1.The first stumbling block came when the F.A.I. received a letter from the Dept. of Sport stating that no handover could occur until a full audit of the grants received by the club was carried out. this delayed the process for a number of months. Fair enough you might say, but this audit was called for by Club members, some of whom are still involved in the club today. The audit was successfully completed.

2. The next problem was a bit more difficult to negotiate. When the map of the grounds arrived at the clubs Solicitors from the Land Registry Office, it was discovered that the clubhouse and original dressing rooms , had been built on Council ground back in 1975 without planning permission.Now anyone with even a cursory knowledge of the planning system knows that an issue like this takes time to sort out. The F.A.I. could not take over grounds that did not belong to Cobh Ramblers. However after a lot of hard work by many people, this issue has also been resolved: the ground has been signed over to the F.A.I. in the last ten days.

The reasons the Club was not granted a First Division Licence this year were that both Revenue and ex-players were owed monies. Next season there will be First Division football in St Colman’s Park. This again has happened as a result of much effort ,and at this stage I want to pay tribute to my fellow Trustee-Officers, Ernest  O’Keeffe and Kevin Hastings who, unlike others, remained committed to helping the Club move forward over the last very difficult three years, during which time many tough decisions had to be made

Those of us still involved in the Club have been accused of abandoning its current crop of fine young players; Again misinformation. At no time have I been asked a direct question about the future of the under 19s.Let me set the record straight here and now:

The under 19s will be playing in and for Cobh Ramblers this coming season. their league win has gained them promotion to the Elite Section, while they also have the option of remaining in the Southern Section. This decision has yet to be made although i can confirm that they will be managed by Dave Hill who remains with the Club for the next two years. It was disappointing to read in the last issue of Inside Cobh that the people in the Club should be ashamed of themselves as regards their perceived inaction towards the under 19 team. It cost close to €10,000 to run the team last year,including,transport and food costs,to away games but sadly the Club didn’t make enough at the gates of home games to cover the referees and physio fees. On some occasions we, the officers, had a stark choice to make between covering the expenses of the U19s or stocking the bar — the bar went without stock. I would encourage anyone with a valid question to ask.

The F.A.I. has been castigated on many occasions, most recently in the last issue of Inside Cobh. This has often been fuelled by misinformation, let me inform the readers that without the efforts of John Delaney and Michael Cody ,this Club would have folded three years ago. People seem to be under the impression that the F.A.I. are coming in to run the Club for the next twenty years. This is not the case:

A) The F.A.I. have bought the grounds. B) They will delegate someone from the FAI to look after the day to day business for the next 18 months.

C) The Club will then be handed back to the members, to run as they see fit. D) The FAI will than have no more involvement in the running of the Club.

E) The members can buy back the ground at anytime over the next twenty years ( 400 members at €1000 each could buy it back tomorrow).

To conclude, every rumour , every piece of misinformation, every lie is damaging the reputation of the Club. This flies in the face of all the hard work that has been done, indeed that is ongoing, by people at many levels doing their best to move Cobh Ramblers forward. I would ask readers with genuine interest in supporting and promoting the game of football especially among our young people to vote with their feet once the new season begins, and support your team your Club.

 So its not game over, its very much GAME ON

Barry Walsh