Fran Gavin, the League of Ireland’s competitions director, insisted the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) has yet to rubberstamp any of the recommendations presented in a branding report unveiled yesterday.
Jonathan Gabay, a leading marketing consultant, was commissioned by the FAI to undertake a three-month review on a sector which that has been beset by an image problem.
“It’s not pigeon post that the goal is scored on Friday and you get to hear about it on the MondayJonathan Gabay
For all the kudos Dundalk’s remarkable run in Europe this year has generated, the majority of the other 19 clubs are struggling to survive, let alone thrive.
Investment in the league by the FAI has plummeted during the past decade, leaving clubs suffocated of funds.
Attracting crowds and sponsorship remains the biggest difficulty and unless the league as a whole tidies up its image, Gabay suggested, then the problem will persist.
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He outlined a number of measures geared at rectifying the various issues, some more realistic than others, adding that the FAI should appoint a liasion director, a dedicated employee tasked with interacting between the association and supporters’ groups. He also called for a network of club promotions officers to be re-established after such positions were cut in recent years.
Whereas their salaries were subsidised in the past by an annual €15,000 grant from the FAI, Gabay floated the idea that these personnel could be sourced through third-level institutions, giving students the prospects of encompassing the role into their qualification.
On the here and now, the consultant furnished a new logo, replete with mock-ups of Damien Duff, the former Ireland and Shamrock Rovers winger, adorning the design on his jersey.
The sign-off on this and every other aspect of the 18,000 word report, however, has yet to be formalised by the FAI board and its “stakeholders.”
“It’s an independent report,” Gavin said. “These are Jonathan’s views. He’s come in and being open and frank about it. From our point of view, there’s nothing agreed or anything like that. We’ll have a look at it, see what we think and see if there is anything we can adapt and work on but it’s independent. It’s his opinion.
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“The league has set up an internal marketing group, including club representatives, and it will be discussed at that level. We’ll discuss that early in the new year and see if there’s any of this we can adapt and we can use. It’s very interesting.”
For Gabay’s part, the exercise certainly proved to be just that. Having broached the notion of two managers publicly squabbling to create a frenzy to promote a fixture, he was soon informed by the media that the sparring factions could end up incurring fines.
He was also of the view, justifiably, that clubs should receive the television money created from their teams being screened live only to learn that is the not the case in Irish football.
“The clubs should aim for that money that does come in from whatever it might be. Why not?” Gabay said.
“They are hosting the games. I’ve been watching a lot of television coverage of matches and it doesn’t come across as being exciting enough. That’s a simple thing to change because some of the camera angles need to be changed.”
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A dampener was soon put on his idea of showing goals from matches online straight after the match. That possibility is debarred because of a clause preventing clubs from doing so until a Monday night, up to three days after a game.
“That’s something they should definitely be speaking about,” he noted. “We’re living in 2017 soon. It’s not pigeon post that the goal is scored on Friday and you get to hear about it on the Monday. No, I think we’ve gone on from carrier pigeon.
“Around 82 per cent of internet coverage is going to be video, so that has to be looked at.”
Meanwhile, Gavin confirmed the FAI would decide before Christmas the format of the divisions for the 2017 seasons. In last year’s Conroy Report, a move towards conducting a mid-season split was mooted but the final picture has yet to be publicised.
“There’s a meeting of the FAI board next Tuesday where the structure of the league is being discussed,” he said. “We’ll have decisions on fixtures and that before the Christmas break.”