National League: Galway board resign

A new board of directors will be unveiled at Galway United this morning following the announcement yesterday by the key figures of the previous administration that they were severing all links with the Terryland Park outfit.

Chairman Gerry Gray and secretary Eamon Naughton both confirmed in a statement to local radio they would depart immediately. The outgoing board's three other members - Mickey McLoughlin, Dave Hogan and Catherine Tiernan - have also resigned but indicated their willingness to remain involved in the fund-raising side of the club.

Among the five directors lined up to take over are Salthill Devon's chair and vice-chair, Ollie Daniels and Kieran O'Mahony, as well as another prominent member of the junior outfit, Mike Murphy. But Daniels insisted their involvement did not signal a takeover of United by Salthill.

"Originally we agreed to become involved and to put a couple of directors on the board," he said, "but things have escalated much faster than I would have expected and we have simply had to step in order to keep things going.

"People have said that we would change the name and all of that," he added, "but I can categorically state that that will not happen and while we are trying to help out I believe that everybody in the area has a role to play in supporting Galway's team in the national league."

Daniels said that in addition to former chairman Niall O'Reilly and Brendan Griffin, who have also joined the new board, the club hoped to recruit at least two more directors. He said talks aimed at achieving this are advanced and that he is confident financial support will be forthcoming.

League commissioner Roy Dooney echoed that confidence last night when he said he believed the handover at Terryland would be "orderly" and that there were no concerns regarding the club's survival.

Daniels, meanwhile, paid tribute to the contribution of Gray and Naughton who it is reported had become disillusioned after having being subjected to abuse by supporters.

Their departure will place a question mark over the future of manager Dave Connell whose side has taken just six points from 13 league games in the Premier Division. The new board has given no indication regarding their intentions for the manager or his playing staff but Daniels remarked last night he hoped they would bring a tighter structure to the club and that the team would become more competitive as they attempt to avoid the drop.