Harping On V Galway United
June 25, 2006
The big story since our last home game has of course been the publication of the FAI proposals for the future of the league. The first thing most will be wondering is how it affects this season and our promotion prospects- so here's a look at the marking system for entry to next year's premier division with my take on what the consequences are likely to be:
200 marks for performance this season. This all operates on a sliding scale- the top team gets 200 and each step down the ranking earns less points. This scale is based on league performance and cup competitions as well (so our wee league cup run could be important- especially if we can get past Shels, and the FAI cup is very important too). Interestingly our cup performance this year already, combined with tonight's visitors exit from both competitions, means that as things stand we'll be ranked ahead of Galway even if we finish one league place behind them. Trust me, things are likely to get quite strange before this season is finished!
300 marks for performance over the last 4 years. Same criteria as above, only over 4 years. This means that Shamrock Rovers are in a very good position to be in next year's premier having spent all that period in the premier. Harps are 12 th ranking. Big-time losers might well be Sligo- their recent history could be a big disadvantage at the end of this season. Also Limerick have a very low ranking and on the face of it have little or no chance of promotion.
100 marks for infrastructure- we're not nearly as badly off here as people may assume basically your ground needs to hold 3000 safely as well as meeting licensing rules- and it does. There are also marks going here for development plans, which I'd imagine we'll score very highly indeed on.
150 marks for licensing. You have to get an A license to play league football, simple as that. What will be in the manual for next year is not yet known, but we achieved our A license at the first attempt last year and hopefully will be able to do so again.
150 marks for Sustainability/Benchmarking/Strategic planning- based on previous license compliance and future plans. This is all about catchment area (I think), and as we have a large area to ourselves I think we'll be ok, and again the clubs plans and their concrete nature should stand us in good stead.
100 marks- Target Markets / population densities / attendance figures this goes over 3 seasons- includes trends in attendance and target market etc. We can point to very big crowds for big games throughout our history here, but our current figures are probably going to hurt us. Our population density wouldn't be that high, but with a large catchment area including Letterkenny and Strabane we can argue a good case.
So- the big question is- can we get up this year? The answer is yes- we certainly can, but on the field performances need to improve dramatically. After all the jigs and the reels it probably boils down to needing to finish in the top 2 this year- but it's important to remember that cup performance counts too, so progress in both cups could actually get us promoted!
Other big changes-
The 12-team premier is kept for 2 years, then the league reverts to a ten team premier. A bad idea as far as I'm concerned- if 12 teams is good enough for the next 2 years why change it then?
The prize fund for the Premiership is to jump from E233,500 in 2006 to E450,000 next season with the First Division pot rising from E81,000 to E100,000, half of which will go directly to the winners.
The second and third placed teams in Division One will play off with the 11th placed. The teams which finish in the bottom three places in the Premiership will receive no prize-money.
By 2009 the FAI also envisage an A Championship operating on a regional basis, which will contain reserve teams plus non-league sides and from which promotion to the First Division would be possible. This league would be compulsory for premier teams and optional for first division.
From 2007 clubs must sign participation agreement and will operate a cap on players' wages and costs that will be 65 per cent of turnover. Clubs are due to vote on the merger in July and the FAI have planned a series of information meetings with them over the coming weeks. I think this is a great idea and should benefit us, but could be hard to enforce. As I see it the first team found paying under the table should be drop kicked out of the league.
U21 league to be replaced by a strictly U20 league. I'd like to see an U18 league as well, and think that the issue of dual registration should have been tackled. This would allow young players to be registered with Harps and their local club, meaning that young lads who happen not to be getting games with Harps can still play for their home club.
Next year the winners of the first division will receive €50,000 and play-off for a Setanta Cup place against the league cup winners, which will be a nice carrot if we fail to make it this year. Interesting times lie ahead.
