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Finn Harps Thread

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    #62
    Mr_A
    Registered Users Posts: 500 ✭✭✭Mr_A


    It begins.


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    #63
    Mr_A
    Registered Users Posts: 500 ✭✭✭Mr_A


    Shay%20backs%20revive%20and%20thrive.JPG

    SHAY GIVEN BACKS HARPS “REVIVE AND THRIVE CAMPAIGN”

    Fair play to Shay for getting behind this, top man!


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    #64
    ootbitb
    Closed Accounts Posts: 631 ✭✭✭ootbitb


    bad pic of Shay. He looks like Ernest Borgnine as the Amish in High Noon there.:eek


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    #65
    Mr_A
    Registered Users Posts: 500 ✭✭✭Mr_A


    That's more like it.

    And the site looks well also.

    Decent crowd at the game- the Revive and Thrive Campaign seems to have made an impact. The team were tentaive and nervous in the first half but upped things in the second and plugged away until the two great goals sealed the win. Great to see McHugh back on the scoresheet at Finn Park as well.


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    #66
    Mr_A
    Registered Users Posts: 500 ✭✭✭Mr_A


    Harps looking to make it three in a row- be there!

    Great result in Monaghan- they finished last season like an express train, beat us in all three fixtures and strengthened in the close season so that result certainly indicates progress.

    With things starting to click, there's a bit of a buzz about Finn Park again.


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    #67
    ootbitb
    Closed Accounts Posts: 631 ✭✭✭ootbitb


    should be a decent crowd on Friday for Limerick game. Beat them and Shelbourne the week after and we might be in contention. About time we had a good season.:)


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    #68
    Mr_A
    Registered Users Posts: 500 ✭✭✭Mr_A


    Well, Limerick certainly burst that bubble!

    There's a schools international at Finn Park tomorrow night if anyone is interested.

    Harps away to Shels and Ciaran Gallagher out.. twill be tough.


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    #69
    muffler
    Registered Users Posts: 45,821 ✭✭✭✭muffler


    Just in case someone accuse me of being offside in relation to sports I will sticky this thread also and just like the GAA thread I'll review it again later in the year :)


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    #70
    Mr_A
    Registered Users Posts: 500 ✭✭✭Mr_A


    Thanks Muffler!

    Thought this might be of interest to some on here: Harps launch coach service from Donegal Town and Letterkenny.

    Need win on Friday night to get back on track. It's going to be a topsy turvy kind of season and if we can just hang in there we have the quality to do ok.


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    #71
    Mr_A
    Registered Users Posts: 500 ✭✭✭Mr_A


    Planning extension granted and process on getting first grant drawdown progressing well: LINKY.


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    #72
    Harps
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,548 ✭✭✭Harps


    Link doesnt seem to work..

    Probably being a bit optimistic with the way this project has progressed so far but does this mean everythings finally been cleared for building to start if the grant comes through?

    And on the subject of that, why has it taken so long to get the grant considering the ground was originally supposed to be open this year?


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    #73
    Mr_A
    Registered Users Posts: 500 ✭✭✭Mr_A


    Harps wrote: »
    Link doesnt seem to work..

    Probably being a bit optimistic with the way this project has progressed so far but does this mean everythings finally been cleared for building to start if the grant comes through?

    And on the subject of that, why has it taken so long to get the grant considering the ground was originally supposed to be open this year?

    Link works when I click it? Democrat site can be a bit temperamental at times.

    Basically the delays seem to have been because of red tape/ bureaucracy. It's a very complicated project with a load of different parties and their solicitors involved. Every time its seemed like everything was in place some other detail came up and seemed to take forever to get taken care of.

    But yes, once the grant comes through we should be home free.


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    #74
    Carrickman
    Registered Users Posts: 1,282 ✭✭✭Carrickman


    Harps won 3-1 tonight in Castlebar in the League cup away to the dog track in the next round!


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    #75
    muffler
    Registered Users Posts: 45,821 ✭✭✭✭muffler


    Carrickman wrote: »
    away to the dog track in the next round!
    :D


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    #76
    ootbitb
    Closed Accounts Posts: 631 ✭✭✭ootbitb


    looks like three away games at the Brandy(isn't that dog food?)well and their 'kin pounds now.


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    #77
    Carrickman
    Registered Users Posts: 1,282 ✭✭✭Carrickman


    Tough game tomorrow night away to Waterford.


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    #78
    Mr_A
    Registered Users Posts: 500 ✭✭✭Mr_A


    Master of understatement Carrickman! Waterford have a superb squad for D1 and an excellent manager.

    That said, I still think we might get a result, presumably because I'm mental.


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    #79
    Carrickman
    Registered Users Posts: 1,282 ✭✭✭Carrickman


    Things are looking bleak at the club help needed badly to save the future of FHFC http://www.finnharps.com/site/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=208:harps-chairman-appeals-for-support&catid=39:news-from-finn-park&Itemid=101


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    #80
    Mr_A
    Registered Users Posts: 500 ✭✭✭Mr_A


    Things are bleak indeed. The 2008 season was an absolute disaster and last year it felt like the club was sleep-walking.

    At least now we have a that seem board determined to tackle the issues, but they have a hell of a mountain to climb.

    On the plus side the stadium project is inching forward and in general I think the club is looking to move in the right direction. But the debts are a millstone around the club's neck and could easily see us go under.


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    #81
    Mr_A
    Registered Users Posts: 500 ✭✭✭Mr_A


    So I'm sure there's a lot of people that see Harps in financial strife once again and don't see any reason they would care.

    But I think Donegal takes senior football and FHFC for granted, probably because the club has generated too many negative headlines over the years. Yet there are many places all over the country that would take your hand off to have a football club like Harps in their midst. Harps bring employment (mostly part-time at the club itself admittedly) and various other economic benefits (bus hire, getting fans into pubs to drown sorrows, and occasionally even celebrate, etc.). Regardless of what you think of the club, the demise of another business with a turnover of around half a million euro is another blow to Donegal. If we can pull together and get the money together to save Harps- pretty much all that money flows straight back into the Donegal economy, often to other small/medium businesses that are also feeling the pinch.

    And that's before you even start on the benefits of the sense of community and identity that the club gives. Or the outlet for young Donegal footballers to prove themselves in senior football. Or the various community work projects in schools. Or giving those of us who had to leave the area to get work another live connection to home. Or even just the fact that Harps do their little bit to keep Donegal on the map.

    The club is in a unique position- teetering on the edge of oblivion yet at the same time probably closer to fulfilling its great potential than ever before. As I see it, one big push this year to ease the debt burden and get things on an even keel and the sky really is the limit. In a few years we could be playing at one of the best stadia on the island and playing our part in a vibrant, revived and confident Donegal.

    So even if you don't like Harps, or football, or whatever- keeping this club going is important. Hopefully it won't be a case of the people in the Northwest only realising how important after it's gone.

    That's why I'll be doing my bit to help FHFC out of this mess, and why I believe you should too.


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    #82
    muffler
    Registered Users Posts: 45,821 ✭✭✭✭muffler


    One big hang up I have with this debt situation is the previous apparent failure to disclose this fact. Even in recent weeks we had a statement about how advanced and how well financed the new stadium development was or would be yet it is now being said that its in jeopardy.

    I recall a situation at a public meeting about 5 or 6 years ago where a question was put to the board of directors by a member of the local press regarding the debt and they (board) more or less said "what debt" yet withing 2 months they were announcing that they owed something like over a quarter of a million Euro.

    Why hide these issues and then only bring them into the public domain when all else fails?


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    #83
    Mr_A
    Registered Users Posts: 500 ✭✭✭Mr_A


    I agree that the club should be open about these things.

    The club's financial results have been available at the end of each year though, I don't think the debt has been hidden. Certainly press releases around the adoption of the review etc. acknowledged that the club's financial situation was poor.

    Indeed this was one of the things that lead to the review being proposed- it was clear that if we didn't sort ourselves out as a club we were going to go under. Perhaps the review was actually too late to prevent that, time will tell.

    In any case the board this year is very different to those of 5-6 years ago.

    The only way the stadium project is in jeopardy is if the club go under as far as I know.


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    #84
    ootbitb
    Closed Accounts Posts: 631 ✭✭✭ootbitb


    This is the worst Finn Harps team I have seen or the worst managed.. possibly both.

    As neither of the management team have any history of success does anyone have any suggestions for a new manager.

    Obviously with money scarce he will have to be from the area and looking more for a challenge and the kudos success would bring rather than an immediate financial reward. If he failed ...well things can't get much worse anyway.


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    #85
    harps1954
    Registered Users Posts: 33 ✭harps1954


    HELP THE HARPS . . . AND KEEP THE WORLD CUP INTERESTING AT THE SAME TIME.

    Do you think you know who will win the World Cup this summer?

    Or what teams will be in the semi-finals?

    Do you know who will win the game between Portugal and Brazil on 25th June? What about Honduras and Chile on 16th June?

    Well, if you think you know the answer to any of the above questions, why not enter the World Cup Prediction Competition? Just predict the results of all matches and also who will finish as the tournaments top scorer in this year's World Cup Finals which begin on Friday 11th June and you could be in line to win some excellent cash prizes.

    Entry fee is €10 and half of your entry fee will go towards the prize fund and half will go to Finn Harps. The more entries we receive, the bigger the prize fund will be. 75% of the prize fund will go to the winners, 15% of the prize fund will go to the person finishing in second place and 10% will go to the person finishing in third place. Therefore, if for example there was 200 entries, €1000 would go to Finn Harps and €1000 would go into the Prize Fund and be distributed as above.

    So, get predicting and get your entry in as soon as possible.

    HOW TO ENTER
    1. Log onto HERE then download and complete the Prediction spreadsheet. Make sure you complete all scores and predict who will be the top goalscorer from the drop-down-menu.
    2. Email completed spreadsheet to finnharpsworldcup@gmail.com
    3. Send payment either by Credit Card or Paypal by clicking on link on spreadsheet or at by clicking on the link on the website page as in Step 1 above. Payment can also be forwarded by post to World Cup Compeition, Finn Harps FC, Finn Park, Ballybofey, Co. Donegal.
    4. Once payment has been received, your will receive a confirmation email confirming your entry. Please note, an entry will not be complete until payment is received.

    P.S. – Please email details of this competition onto as many of your family and friends as possible. The more entries into the competition, the bigger the prize fund.


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    #86
    Mr_A
    Registered Users Posts: 500 ✭✭✭Mr_A


    Note that there are pairs of tickets to next week's Ireland games to be won by anyone who enters the above before Sunday Evening :)

    Interesting cup draw by the way- here's hoping that Bonagee can get by Crumlin and set up a Donegal derby in the FAI cup!


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    #87
    Mr_A
    Registered Users Posts: 500 ✭✭✭Mr_A


    Stadium project inching forward: http://www.donegaldemocrat.ie/donegalsport/Work-on-Harps39-new-stadium.6305702.jp :)

    The bearucracy involved is incredible, every little thing seems to take months :(


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    #88
    Harps
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,548 ✭✭✭Harps


    Wasnt the work nearing commencement 2 years ago? Its a complete joke.

    In another 8-10 weeks we'll here of some other form that takes 3 months for someone to sign their name on.


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    #89
    muffler
    Registered Users Posts: 45,821 ✭✭✭✭muffler


    Harps wrote: »
    Wasnt the work nearing commencement 2 years ago? Its a complete joke.

    In another 8-10 weeks we'll here of some other form that takes 3 months for someone to sign their name on.
    Sadly I have to agree.

    Mr_A mentioned "bearucracy" but on who's part? Looking for an exemption from stamp duty should have been done 2 years ago.


    And I find it a bit rich at a time when Harps are appealing for help from the public that the chairman would come out with a statement like this:
    People have asked me how the club plan to build a stadium when the club is struggling financially, but the simple answer is that the day-to-day running of the club and the stadium development are two different things
    Does he really think that people are complete fools.


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    #90
    Mr_A
    Registered Users Posts: 500 ✭✭✭Mr_A


    But they are two different things. The stadium should cost Harps very very little, the money coming from grants and the sale of the current ground.


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    #91
    ootbitb
    Closed Accounts Posts: 631 ✭✭✭ootbitb


    I believe the debt will need to be paid before a block is laid.


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