Fire brigade policy over as Sligo plan for future

A REPORTER disembarks from a train in Sligo for his first visit there. He asks for directions to the best pizza restaurant in Ireland, Truffles, and on leaving there thinks about asking for directions to the Showgrounds. Manchester United may be on the box, but no need. Just follow the crowd.

Sligo is a real football town, with good football people, and the Showgrounds, jaded and tired looking though it is, retains that feel to it. When crowds of 5,000-plus frequently attended the venue two and three seasons ago, there was no more passionate or intimidating ground in the country.

But Saturday's visit of Shelbourne seemed a long way from those nights. The official attendance was 800, though it looked more like 1,200 to 1,500. In fairness, you wouldn't have put a cat out.

The rain and wind slanted toward Ben Bulben, and two Nicky Brujos first-half kick-outs boomeranged back to the edge of his own area.

"I've never played in conditions like that," said a slightly bewildered Jimmy Mullen. "I've never known anything like it." His mood hadn't been helped by the sight of his team being roundly beaten 3-0. Rovers were jeered off the pitch. Remarkably, Shelbourne were applauded off it. Strange times indeed in Sligo, grim times, and with only three home games to go (against Home Farm, Bray and Shamrock Rovers) not much sign of an immediate respite.

But there could be a shaft of light. At long last, Sligo Rovers are starting to think of the long-term and not just the short-term on the pitch. Architects' plans and budgets have been put in place for phase one of an ambitious and overdue redevelopment of the Showgrounds.

This entails knocking down the existing main stand and replacing it with an all-seater one the length of the pitch, incorporating dressing-rooms and a tunnel. The original costing of £460,000 has been modified to £360,000 by reducing the length of the stand to accommodate 2,000 seats.

Now employing a commercial manager - the aforementioned Brujos - they are already in the second year of a three-year project to improve their once notorious pitch (already much improved) at a cost of £70,000 to £80,000 - met by their own, separate fund-raising.

Meanwhile, the second phase would see the building of a new clubhouse where the existing dressing-rooms lie.

Crucially, they have kept their capital development separate from their operational costs.

With regard to the first phase, according to the club's chairman, Ray Gallagher, Sligo Rovers have "£30,000 dry cash in place", while the FAI have approved a grant of £50,000. The key to the whole development is a hoped-for grant of £200,000 in lottery funds from the Government. With that, the Sligo committee reckon they could raise the remaining £80,000.

The FAI have underwritten the project and lobbied the Minister for Sport, Bernard Allen, on the club's behalf. Another feature of the first phase of the ground's development is to refurbish the decrepit terraced stand, with a new roof and new terracing which could accommodate seating in future, at a cost of £56,000.

If ever there was a case for lottery funding to be ploughed into a relatively neglected National League (compare the British Government's funding of Irish League grounds) this must surely be it. Sligo Rovers are more than just a football club; they are a part of, and a service to, the community at large.

A total of 46 games were played there during the close-season, and the club's facilities are frequently used by junior clubs, local underage coaching and such like. Nor, apart from lighting costs, do they charge for the ground's use.

Aside from being 56 miles away from their nearest National League neighbours Finn Harps (with Galway 90 miles away), they are a co-operative club, and the Showgrounds is owned by a foundation which ensures that it can only be used for sporting activity.

Sligo Rovers have a 99-year lease, and pay a nominal rent. In other words, the ground cannot be developed and then sold at a later date for housing developments or such like.

"Sligo Rovers are a huge part of the community and offer vital leisure time activities," maintains Gallagher, who estimates that were the Government to approve the grant within the next month, they could start work on the Showgrounds after their last home game on April 12th against Shamrock Rovers, with a view to completing phase one by Christmas. Alternatively, were the go-ahead not given within the next month (and this is an election year) then Gallagher concedes that the project "would be dead for another season".

Tradition decrees that summer football is not a credible option, according to Gallagher (and the club's vote for the mooted 16-team Premier Division could be a classic case of shooting their own feet) so Saturday night's example showed that Sligo Rovers desperately need this injection.

Their upbeat manager Jimmy Mullen maintains that "if we give the people here a good team and good facilities, the support will come out, I've no doubt about that."

Gallagher points out that the appointment of Mullen on a three-year contract, as opposed to younger predecessors on stepping stone missions, is indicative of the club's new long-term strategy. "The fire brigade policy worked to an extent but only in S. Jimmy is here for the long haul."

For the league's sake, Sligo Rovers have to be as well. Over to you Minister.