FAI turnover falls for second year

For the second year in a row, turnover at the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) declined.

Annual accounts for 2013, distributed to delegates yesterday ahead of the association’s annual general meeting in Athlone on July 26th, showed a drop of overall income to €36.7 million, representing a 19 per cent reduction over a two-year cycle.

For the first time, specific details are revealed on the refinancing deal struck late last year. Arising from a change of lenders from Danske Bank to US investment house, Corporate Capital Trust, a one-off write-down of €11.7 million was achieved. Consequently, compared to last year’s debt figure of €63 million, the FAI have finance liabilities of €50.3 million.

Debt-free prediction

John Delaney, the FAI's chief executive, claimed in February that his long-held debt-free prediction of 2020 could be pushed out on foot of the refinancing deal.

This is evident in the accounts as, according to a new section from last year in the analysis of net debt, entitled “amount due after five years”, the FAI will still owe €25.5 million heading into 2019.

In the meantime, charges related to the borrowings on their portion of the Lansdowne Road stadium redevelopment project continue to pour out of Irish football. The €5 million forked out last year on interest and other charges sent the overall payments since the loans were taken out in 2010 north of €17 million.

Such a challenging financial scenario makes it no surprise that the association is pushing hard their season-ticket sale pitch. Presentations by FAI officials to club volunteers at various league agms around the country in the past two months and the emphasis placed on the role of Regional Development Officers (RDO’s) in boosting the uptake have formed part of the offensive.Still, with tickets for the six-match package starting at only €132, it would require most of the 50,000 seats at Lansdowne Road to be booked for a serious impact on turnover to be realised.

Confirmation of Delaney's 10 per cent per cut in 2012 was demonstrated by the chief executive earning €360,000 over the 12 months. In total, salary costs for the association fell from €10.64 million to €9.55 million, including €1.13 million for redundancy and payroll restructuring costs which may encompass a severance outlay to Giovanni Trapattoni arising from his sacking in October.

Just like last year, the FAI reported a surplus, this time €8.9 million but grants to affiliates were cut to €1.12 million from €1.36 million. The association have attempted to offset talk of their financial struggles in recent years with news of the guaranteed €10 million-per-annum income from UEFA's centralised television deal from 2014. However, finance director Tony Dignam – who will step down after the agm – outlined during last year's summit that an advance on that windfall had been secured.

List of creditors

Also on the FAI’s list of creditors are the players of the senior international team. It was recently reported the group are collectively awaiting payment of bonuses and fees up to €900,000. International Sports Group , the agents for the failed Vantage Club premium scheme, and the FAI are set to do battle in the High Court battle next February in a dispute over a €1 million severance deal.

* This article was amended on July 9th, 2014 for reasons of clarity.