The latest weekly feature from The Deck’s League of Ireland coverage focuses on the recent history and current predicament of Dundalk with the club in a dire financial situation and seeking urgent investment so that the 2019 Premier Division champions can see out the remainder of the 2024 season.
Padraig Amond’s new deal and his impact on the present and future of Waterford was the most recent feature and the forward celebrated his new deal by scoring what turned out to be the winner in Friday’s 2-1 win over Dundalk.
League of Ireland Champions and Europa League Qualification
Dundalk have had a successful recent history in terms of silverware, being crowned League of Ireland champions five times in six seasons between 2014 and 2019. Stephen Kenny was the manager until the end of the 2018 season and his attractive style of play caught the attention of the FAI and he was eventually appointed as the Republic of Ireland manager due to his success.
Vinny Perth and Filippo Giovagnoli brought Dundalk forward and they qualified for the Europa League group stages at the end of the 2020 season. The side featured League of Ireland greats such as Michael Duffy, Patrick Hoban and Dan Cleary and came agonisingly close to picking up results in group-stage clashes with Rapid Vienna and Molde.
Arsenal travelled to the Aviva Stadium that campaign and picked up a 4-2 victory. Despite losing all six group stage clashes, Dundalk proved that they could compete at that level and despite competing domestically over the next three campaigns, it has gone wrong in 2024 for a club with 14 league titles, second only to Shamrock Rovers’ 21 championships.
There are no visible signs of investment in infrastructure at the club despite the coffers being filled with money from their European exploits and the sale of the likes of Archie Davies to Carlisle United and Patrick Hoban to Derry City in recent seasons. It has led to one of the biggest clubs in Ireland being on the brink of liquidation.
€1 Million in Debts and Time Running Out For Dundalk
This weekend’s trip to Sligo Rovers is in doubt as the club have accumulated a crippling debt of a reported €1 million and Dundalk will likely have to go through the Small Company Administrative Rescue Process (SCARP) to ensure the club’s survival. This will include relegation to the First Division and this is the result of some serious mismanagement of finances by the ownership.
They may be unable to play out the remainder of the campaign and subsequently, this will lead to an adjustment to the league table where all matches in the 2024 season involving the Lilywhites will be wiped from the record, leading to a shake-up in the current League of Ireland table.
Former Republic of Ireland international Méabh de Búrca highlighted this issue, saying that it must have been in the works for a sustained period and would likely have had a knock-on effect on the players:
“It must be extremely hard to turn up to training and know this is going on in the background.
“My day job is an accountant… this isn’t something that happens overnight. There has to be serious questions over who is making the financial decisions there. It has to have been going down a slippery slope for months.
“They have to have projections, they have to have budgets, they have to have a cash flow. If they know €20,000 is going out a week on players’ wages, that’s not going to change.
“It’s a sad situation. You would feel for the players in particular.”
Dundalk are bottom of the League of Ireland Premier Division table, having picked up just five wins from 30 matches. They were on course to be relegated from the top flight before the club’s financial problems became public knowledge and have still managed to secure the permanent arrivals of Jad Hakiki from Shelbourne and the likes of Dan Pike, Hayden Cann and Scott McGill in 2024.
It is mind-boggling that they have been able to bring in players despite the dire financial status of the club and they extended Daryl Horgan’s contract just last month, another piece of business that has likely led to the the current situation at the club.
Somebody has a lot to answer for and hopefully, Dundalk can find the funding to continue its existence as the club is one of the top clubs in the League of Ireland and it would be a major blow to the league and the local community to lose one of the big names at a time when attendances are improving and the standard in quality has come on leaps and bounds for the Premier Division as a whole.