The Sports Direct FAI Cup Final will take the attention on the pitch this weekend following on from the Promotion Playoff between Waterford and Cork City but there has also been no shortage of action off the pitch this week in the SSE Airtricity Premier League.
On Monday night Drogheda United confirmed the takeover of the club by the Trivela Group from the US. The move was hailed as a strong positive for the club, as we had heard on the Sport for Business Podcast from former Chair Conor Hoey last week.
“We’re not changing things overnight,” said new Executive Director Wes Hill. “We’re building incrementally and we hope the community considers us the appropriate party to collaboratively build this together with them.”
“We’re very prudent in both our due diligence and also our engagement with people. Fundamentally we trust folks here and we’re excited to build it with them.”
“Our hope is to continue to build, keep the heart and soul of Drogheda United intact, but obviously compete on the playing field as well.”
To quote Lanigan’s Ball though, as one overseas investor stepped in another stepped out.
Acun Illicali bought a 60 per cent share in Shelbourne during the summer, hosting a packed media conference at the Aviva Stadium to talk about his investment and his hopes for the club.
But uncertainty over whether the new owner was willing to invest in keeping Damien Duff as manager has apparently been a tipping point in what was clearly becoming a less than rosy relationship with the manager.
It now appears that Illicali has walked away, returning his shareholding to Mickey O’Rourke of Premier Sports for no apparent recouping of his original investment. There is supposed to be no ill feeling and the full amount of the reported investment had yet to be made, so it seems that things are just returning to the way they were.
Keeping Duff is a positive but funding his desire to maintain and progress Shels is now going to come under the microscope as will the future of Tolka Park which was taken out of a deal with Bohemians and Dublin City Council but whose future is now back in uncertainty.
If Bohs lose the Sports Direct FAI Cup Final on Sunday it will mean European action for the club next season with the promise of success yielding a financial windfall but also with the added costs of travel across the continent, moving games to Tallaght stadium to meet UEFA requirements and more.
Still, after a good year for the League in general terms and the announcement yesterday that SSE Airtricity is extending their long-term sponsorship, it has on balance been a good 2023, Turkish ‘Bizarre’s’ if you’ll pardon the pun, aside.
