FAI aim to double gates

National League: FAI chief executive John Delaney believes attendances at Eircom League games can be doubled over the next few years as the benefits of the association's takeover of Ireland's senior club game kick in during the coming seasons.

Delaney also insists the finances of the clubs can be dramatically improved, facilities will continue to get better and the new league will shed the administrative problems that have dogged top-flight football in this country.

Speaking in Cyprus yesterday, Delaney said his hope was to see weekly attendances at games rise from around 12,000 at present to 20,000 in the medium term.

"Our task now is to persuade more people to go to our own clubs' grounds and we are putting things in place we believe will enable us to achieve that target."

The FAI are recruiting a new manager to oversee the running of the league. They hope to hire a promotions manager and may use outside agencies to help improve the image of the league.

"Bord na gCon is probably the model for us here," he said. "Ten years ago, greyhound racing wouldn't have been something all that many people were interested in but through careful investment and marketing it is thriving now, it has become a very significant sporting activity again."

Greatly improved corporate governance will also help the league to make major steps forward, according to Delaney, who feels the clubs themselves have ultimately suffered for their insistence on retaining complete control of the structures within which they play.

"In terms of discipline it's hard to expect one club to sanction another when it feels it might itself be in exactly the same position three months down the line.

"We're going to change that by handing those sort of matters over to third parties who will deal with them impartially. They will have considerable powers. Clubs will be liable to fines, the loss of points or even relegation."

He insisted improvements had already been made, particularly on the financial front with clubs, he claimed, more than halving their debts to the Revenue Commissioners over the past 18 months. Matters should further improve with substantially increased prize-money and commercial revenues.

The hope is the dramatic improvement in television coverage can be maintained and Delaney said the association were in talks with their "television partners" to have one game broadcast every week.

At grassroots level, the association will be hoping to learn from the experience of Richard Collins, the former chairman of Charlton Athletic, a club with an outstanding record of working in their local area.

"Richard (on the Independent Assessment Group, the body deciding which clubs will achieve Premier Division status next season) will be on the league's next board," revealed Delaney. "He's from Cork and has vast experience of the issues involved. When he took over at Charlton they had about 3,000 season ticket holders and were threatened with liquidation. Now they've got close to 22,000 season ticket holders and are a major Premiership club.

"We've been over there to see how they do things and we intend to use their experience to get our clubs out into their communities."

Asked about the continuation of summer soccer, Delaney said the present season would be maintained at least for the moment. "We'll make a decision for the long term when we're in a proper position to do so."