The FAI’s new Strategic Plan for 2022-2025 is a document that lays out, in varying degrees of detail, the way in which the sport of football in the Republic of Ireland will be developed over the next four years.
Speaking at the online launch last night CEO Jonathan Hill spoke of it as being not only for these four years but important in setting the mark for the next 100.
You have to start somewhere and elsewhere this morning we have looked in detail at the six key strategic pillars; at what has been identified as a priority and how success will be delivered.
Here are some of the quotes from this involved in creating and publishing the document and the reaction of some to its publication.
FAI CEO Jonathan Hill
“Football is the biggest sport in Ireland and over the next four years and the lifespan of this FAI Strategy 2022-2025, we have the opportunity and the responsibility to develop, transform and inspire an Association that can unite and deliver across all our pillars for all our members.”
“It is up to all of us now to deliver a new and progressive Association, to capitalise on the governance reforms, the transparency and the clarity of thought and vision that have followed the events of recent years. We are now an Association for the future. And to deliver this Strategy, the game needs to come together like never before.”
“We must seek to work together, without division or rancour or historical prejudice, to deliver to our full potential in every club, every community, every village, town and city in Ireland. We must give the Irish people a game to be proud of. As we continue our Centenary celebrations of the past 100 years so we should look to the next four years, the next decade and beyond with optimism and determination.”
FAI President Gerry McAnaney
“The publication of our strategy is the beginning of a new era for the development of football in Ireland, on and off the pitch. Much progress has been made in the past two years to put the Association on a sound footing and create the platform for all of us to begin to think about how football can be developed to achieve its full potential in Ireland.”
“As President, I can promise that this strategy will be a living document that will provide a blueprint for the development of the game. The strategy includes key performance indicators and targets which we will use to track our progress. We will report to Members regularly on progress and encourage Members to hold the Board and Executive to account for the achievement of targets.”
“While the Board must lead on the implementation of the strategy, the ambitious goals that we have set will only be achieved if all parts of the game recognise the opportunity that the strategy presents and work together for the betterment of the game overall. I look forward to engaging with our members in the coming months as we roll out this strategy together.”
FAI Chair Roy Barrett
“In recent months those charged with producing this Strategy have reached out to all strands of the game and engaged with the stakeholders who will now help us to mould the future of the FAI. That work, we can assure you, has the full backing of the FAI Board.”
“This is a progressive document and we are now very much a progressive Board, shaped by the recent Governance changes and embracing independent directors alongside traditional football representatives like never before. Thanks to the make-up of this new look Board we believe, we will deliver the change on and off the pitch that is demanded by all our members across every facet of Irish football to bring this plan to life. We are certainly totally committed to this transformation and we will deliver it in a transparent, productive and engaging manner.”
“Success on the field is something we all aspire to for all our teams but the success of this FAI Strategy 2022-2025 will be measured in so many other ways. It will demand focus to deliver on the pillars and enablers contained within and we must all be held accountable in that delivery, for the lifetime of this Strategy and beyond. We all owe that much to Irish football.”
Aidan Fitzmaurice in the Irish Independent
“This FAI Strategy paper tries to offer everything to everyone but falls short, in how its admirable aims can be achieved and what fallout there will be for the FAI as a body, or for the board as a unit if their aims are not implemented.”
“The essence of football is that there are consequences for what happens – relegation, Cup final defeats, non-qualification. Strategy 2022-25 promises everything but offers no realistic path to getting there, and no consequences in the event of non-compliance.”
Gavin Cummiskey in the Irish Times
“The strategy holds ambitious plans to revamp the domestic league with a third division for men’s football in 2023, but how all this can be achieved won’t be clear until an “Infrastructure Plan” is developed by the end of 2023.”
“The FAI is putting a huge emphasis on the development of the women’s game with playing numbers to be increased by 50,000, with an increase of 28,500 male players in the same four year period. They even intend to have 300 Uefa licenced female coaches come 2025.”
“The strategy also aims to have 40 per cent female representation across the board, general assembly and committees by the end of 2023. Currently, there are two women, Catherine Guy and Liz Joyce, on the 12-person FAI board.”
John Fallon in the Irish Examiner
“Although the most publicly amenable target set was for Stephen Kenny to deliver Euro 2024 qualification, the majority of longer and broader objectives are dependent on cash injections.”
“It is particularly pertinent when Hill’s vision entails: “funding the development of the academy and training ground infrastructure of our national league clubs to further develop young Irish talent”. That presents difficulties for an organisation burdened by €65m of debt, without a major sponsor for 13 months and counting, and paying the cost of legacy liabilities to Sports Direct and Robbie Keane, among other creditors.”
“Still, former Goodbody Stockbrokers MD Roy Barrett is predicting an overhaul of their finances during the lifespan of this blueprint.”
Owen Cowzer in the Irish Sun
“The confirmation yesterday morning that the FAI was teaming up with England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to bid for Euro 2028 perhaps overshadowed it.”
“But, still, just over 300 people logged on (to the YouTube launch) to see a plan that was ambitious in parts and ambiguous in others, yet detailed at times, while some aims were on the low side.”
