Galway Football Club

civis_liberalis

Sad as it is, Galway United is no more. It was time to bite the bullet and leave the old thread behind!

“Now is our time, stand with us on the march, and let us make Galway great again.” – Galway FC Chairman Bernie O’Connell.

Monday December 2, 2013 was an important night in the history of the game Corribside as Galway FC was formally launched.

In this video Rory Walsh captures the sense of western pride that hopefully can drive this new club.
Featuring interviews with the legendary Tommy Lally, Declan McDonnell, Ronan Coleman, Michael Geary, chairman Bernie O’Connell, and manager Tommy Dunne this production will interest Galway FC followers.

Source - GalwayFC.ie

Lovely Bloke

So, you're behind this now?

/confused

Gavin "shels"

Any idea what wage budget yous will be operating off, etc...?

uch

Good Luck to Yiz for the coming season

civis_liberalis

Baldy Conscience wrote: »

So, you're behind this now?

/confused

The board have decided that continuing to ignore the fans is the way they are going to go about their business. Me moaning on an internet forum isn't going to change that.

civis_liberalis

Gavin shels wrote: »

Any idea what wage budget yous will be operating off, etc...?

Very small. The majority of lads will be locals that wouldn't go anywhere else anyway.

Saint_Mel

Nice video ... I seem to remember Galway United producing a video before ...

Not an ideal situation for those hoping for a co-op structure, but it this stage it was either go along with the GFC idea or face another season without a team.

civis_liberalis

Saint_Mel wrote: »

but it this stage it was either go along with the GFC idea or face another season without a team.

Whether GUST were for or against it makes no difference, they would go ahead with it anyway, just like the whole SD Galway farce. I'm not equating Galway FC to SD Galway though, I'm just making a point.

Imo, there should be no official GUST representation on the board of Galway FC, the same way Mervue and Salthill have no place on it. Cronyism and politics are still alive and well in Galway LOI football.

It should be a co-operative. What Cork have been able to put together has been applauded by the FAI as a model to be emulated, but simultaneously obstructed football people in Galway from doing the same at every turn.

I want to believe that the board will work, but Mervue and Salthill are doing on the board other than to keep fans in check, is anyone's guess. It will be interesting to see if they bring anything to the table.

Antifa161

Could you summarise what the actual problem people have with the new club is? Not making a point here, genuinely curious.

civis_liberalis

Antifa161 wrote: »

Could you summarise what the actual problem people have with the new club is? Not making a point here, genuinely curious.

Bit worse for the wear, but here goes.

Many fans wanted to avoid a situation like Galway United happening again. By that I mean, the private company that was Galway United being run into the ground and nothing the fans could do about it. If what you hear conflicts with my explanation, I would hazard a guess that people misunderstand what happened, which could easily happen.

Many fans, myself included wanted a co-operative society to own and run a club to represent the city and county. This would mean a one man, one vote organisation, completely answerable to the members.

This is what happened at Cork City and the FAI on many many occasions applauded their work and lauded them as an example to follow.

Attempts by the Galway United Supporters Trust to follow their example was blocked at every turn by the FAI.

In 2011, GUST's realisation that Galway United was a lost cause came too late for them to apply to the league. In 2012, the FAI refused to allow GUST to be even considered for a League of Ireland licence.

Salthill are the worst team to have competed in the League of Ireland's history.

Mervue did very well this season, but could only do so when better players had no better opportunity locally. It was also in my opinion, the worst quality First Division since its creation.

Both clubs arguable gained entry to the league on merit, but neither club could attract any kind of support.

In my opinion, in Galway FC, officials of both clubs have found an out that saves face. It makes them look like they were forced out the of LOI, when in reality, it was unsustainable for both.

Galway FC has a board with 9 seats.

Chairman
2 Mervue
2 Salthill
2 Galway FA
2 GUST

The league chairman who engineered the 3 LOI club in Galway situation, allegedly to cement his position, elected by league clubs every 2 years, has bent over backwards to look after the interests of those 2 clubs, at the expense of fixing the mess he created.

For being good little boys, the two clubs along with the Galway FA, who will do what the FAI tell them if they know what's good for them, control Galway FA.

The fact that GUST might as well not have any votes on the board.

Ideally GUST wouldn't even exist. A co-operative would own and the run the club and the need for a separate fan organisation would be gone.

What has pissed my off in the last few days is the Galway FC chairman coming out and saying that they are committed to a co-operative, but what he actually said was that they would have a co-operative functioning as a sub-committee, probably replacing the GUST votes on the board, which is an incredibly underhand was of trying to dupe fans into thinking their views are represented.

Mars Bar

Galway FC have signed Jason Molloy and Stephen Walsh from Mervue United

civis_liberalis

Fans still being fobbed off. No explanation why proposed co-op is going to be a sub-committee.

No word from GUST about meeting to vote or even discuss why they are still involved with Galway FC without a mandate from fans to be.

Gavin "shels"

civis_liberalis wrote: »

Fans still being fobbed off. No explanation why proposed co-op is going to be a sub-committee.

My guess would be it lies with something to do with the Sugar Daddy!

civis_liberalis

Paul Sinnott signs.

Sinnott made captain.

Signings so far:

Paul Sinnott
Marc Ludden
Martin Conneely
Noel Varley
Stephen Walsh
Jason Molloy.

Col200sx

Thanks civis_liberalis for sticking up a thread.

2 years too long without football up in Eamonn Deacy Park. I'm an ex season-ticket holder for GUFC, and soon to be season-ticket holder for Galway FC.

Football fans in Galway need to put their differences behind them and put their full support behind the club, either this works out or there might not be any club in Galway to support.

Looking forward to cheering on the team on March 7th.

nice_guy80

the stadium is in a terrible location in Galway

not close enough to the city centre
nothing else around it - pubs, shops, food outlets
very exposed to the elements
bad access by car with very little car parking

shanec1928

nice_guy80 wrote: »

the stadium is in a terrible location in Galway

not close enough to the city centre
nothing else around it - pubs, shops, food outlets
very exposed to the elements
bad access by car with very little car parking

bad access on one side.
never had an issue getting parked either in the car park or on the road outside of the ground

LoonyLovegood

The stadium's within walking distance of the Headford Road and Galway Shopping Centre, and another ten minutes or so from Eyre Square.

Have ticket prices been announced?

Mars Bar

The only problem I have with Terryland is that walking to it in the dark is lethal.

http://galwayfc.ie/index.php/tickets/

Haven't seen prices for game-by-game though.

Antifa161

Everything in Galway is walking distance. You're probably 10 minutes from the Woodquay area which has about 5 pubs alone - although the less said about some of them the better!

franglan

Really hope the new jersey isin't that thing some of the new signings were wearing. Looks like a silky pyjamas top- great to have the option of buying a new Galway jersey I suppose.

civis_liberalis

franglan wrote: »

Really hope the new jersey isin't that thing some of the new signings were wearing. Looks like a silky pyjamas top- great to have the option of buying a new Galway jersey I suppose.

I was told that those jerseys were just printed so that something with the crest and sponsors could be shown at the launch and for signing photo-ops.

I think they are spares from the GUST u19 team.

They 100% are not the jerseys that will be used. The turnaround on jerseys from kit manufacturers can be quite long, especially if they are not just a template.

Col200sx wrote: »

Football fans in Galway need to put their differences behind them and put their full support behind the club, either this works out or there might not be any club in Galway to support.

The fans aren't the problem, it's the people who hijacked football in Galway.

If Galway FC works out, well and good. I'm sceptical. I might go to the odd game, I might not. It seems like the fans are being ignored just like Galway United did.

There are some excellent people involved in Galway FC, but the same could be said about GUFC.

We'll see.

nice_guy80 wrote: »

the stadium is in a terrible location in Galway, not close enough to the city centre

If it was in the city centre, people would complain about that.

nice_guy80 wrote: »

very exposed to the elements

It's an outdoor sporting event, held in a stadium with a roofed stand. Wear a coat.

nice_guy80 wrote: »

bad access by car with very little car parking

I can't remember not being able to get parking.

CTYIgirl wrote: »

The stadium's within walking distance of the Headford Road and Galway Shopping Centre, and another ten minutes or so from Eyre Square.

Yes, and it's the same distance from Eyre Square as the Eye Cinema. Nobody says that's out in the sticks. I used to live beside it and as lazy as I am, I never got a bus into town from there. It's too close to town.

Vision of Disorder

civis_liberalis wrote: »

Both clubs arguable gained entry to the league on merit, but neither club could attract any kind of support.

I'm not from Galway and not affiliated with any of the clubs involved but there's nothing at all arguable about how Mervue and Salthill got promoted to the First Division. It was entirely on merit (and unlike GUFC's promotion to the top tier, it was wholly on-field merit too).

I would agree with most of the rest of what you said (not that you should care much one way or the other ).

Mars Bar

Were Salthill not promoted coz Kildare couldn't?

Vision of Disorder

Kildare possibly didn't fulfil their relegation playoff actually, I might have been thinking of Mervue beating them? Even in that case though Salthill would have qualified through their league position in the 'A' Championship.

10green bottles

Sorry Niceguy but Galway was/is the best away day trip in LOI (imo)
Decent stadium,excellent home supporters,& a brilliant city to boot.

From a Dundalk fan that holds no grudges.

civis_liberalis

Vision of Disorder wrote: »

I'm not from Galway and not affiliated with any of the clubs involved but there's nothing at all arguable about how Mervue and Salthill got promoted to the First Division.

Mars Bar wrote: »

Were Salthill not promoted coz Kildare couldn't?

Neither club satisfied the licencing requirements.

Salthill never played a play-off to gain promotion as Kildare folded, but they can't be blamed for that.

civis_liberalis

10green bottles wrote: »

From a Dundalk fan that holds no grudges.

You're no craic at all

Vision of Disorder

civis_liberalis wrote: »

Neither club satisfied the licencing requirements.

Salthill never played a play-off to gain promotion as Kildare folded, but they can't be blamed for that.

So you're saying that Mervue and Salthill (or were you talking about Salthill and Kildare) got promoted on the field but didn't meet off-field criteria but that GUFC didn't get promoted on the field yet did meet off-field criteria?

The whole of licensing is a great big exercise in fudge by the way.

civis_liberalis

Vision of Disorder wrote: »

So you're saying that Mervue and Salthill (or were you talking about Salthill and Kildare) got promoted on the field but didn't meet off-field criteria but that GUFC didn't get promoted on the field yet did meet off-field criteria?

The whole of licensing is a great big exercise in fudge by the way.

Licencing is a joke.

Galway United shouldn't have been promoted that time and Mervue and Salthill never met the requirements.

It certainly is a fudge, yes. The league chairman was happy to fudge the licencing as he was the one who wanted them in, to ensure 2 banker votes for his re-elections.

Vision of Disorder

civis_liberalis wrote: »

Licencing is a joke.

Galway United shouldn't have been promoted that time and Mervue and Salthill never met the requirements.

It certainly is a fudge, yes. The league chairman was happy to fudge the licencing as he was the one who wanted them in, to ensure 2 banker votes for his re-elections.

I would say pretty much every club in the league fails to meet the requirements completely. As we've both said, it's a complete joke, built on sand and wishy washy promises. Monaghan (for example) were allowed to budget for a sponsorship deal that hadn't been completed the year they pulled out mid-season.

On infrastructure alone Mervue and Salthill (amongst others) got by on 'planned' improvements which were always pie in the sky. I was at an U-19s game in Mervue Sunday and the place looked marginally worse than when I was first there a few years back when they came into senior football.

Col200sx

civis_liberalis wrote: »

The fans aren't the problem, it's the people who hijacked football in Galway.

If Galway FC works out, well and good. I'm sceptical. I might go to the odd game, I might not. It seems like the fans are being ignored just like Galway United did.

There are some excellent people involved in Galway FC, but the same could be said about GUFC.

We'll see.

Wasn't having a go at the fans at all

Just saying that there was enough squabbling going on with the announcement that Mervue and Devon were leaving the 1st division, and a Galway side coming back in '14.

I know a few previous ex-season ticket holders that said they won't be going back as they think it's just a joint Mervue/Devon club that won't represent the city.

Pity really, as they need as much support as they can get to get stability both on and off the pitch.

10green bottles

civis_liberalis wrote: »

You're no craic at all

I know.Maybe its a case of out of sight out of mind.If yee come back to haunt us soon i could turn again :pac: Good luck

civis_liberalis

Colm Horgan signs.

Squad so far

Name|Pos|Age
Martin Conneely|DF|23
Marc Ludden|DF|23
Paul Sinnott (C)|DF|27
Colm Horgan|DF|19
Stephen Walsh|DF|23
||
Noel Varley|MF|22
||
Jason Molloy|FW|25

Even the youngest of that bunch has 4 First Division seasons under his belt and 3 of them have played north of 150 Premier Division games between them.

civis_liberalis

civis_liberalis

Gary Shanahan joins Galway FC.

That's 8 players signed.

Squad so far

Name|Pos|Age
Martin Conneely|DF|23
Marc Ludden|DF|23
Paul Sinnott (C)|DF|27
Colm Horgan|DF|19
Stephen Walsh|DF|23
Noel Varley|MF|22
Jason Molloy|FW|25
Gary Shanahan|FW|20

civis_liberalis

civis_liberalis

Ryan Connolly signs for Galway FC.



That's 9 players signed now.

Squad so far

Name|Pos|Age
Martin Conneely|DF|23
Marc Ludden|DF|23
Paul Sinnott (C)|DF|27
Colm Horgan|DF|19
Stephen Walsh|DF|23
Ryan Connolly|MF|22
Noel Varley|MF|22
Jason Molloy|FW|25
Gary Shanahan|FW|20

Pre-season is commencing on Monday.

Zico

LOL DFX What I don't understand in Galway is how there doesn't seem to be any co-operation among struggling sports. It's understood that there are limited resources etc. However if they combined a training centre for Soccer, Rugby, Football and Hurling they'd produce at least one seriously competitive team... you'd think.

civis_liberalis

Zico wrote: »

LOL DFX What I don't understand in Galway is how there doesn't seem to be any co-operation among struggling sports. It's understood that there are limited resources etc. However if they combined a training centre for Soccer, Rugby, Football and Hurling they'd produce at least one seriously competitive team... you'd think.

The GAA are happy with their training arrangments, as are Connacht Rugby. Galway FC have no need for a different training base as they have the use of Mervue or Drom for a nominal fee.

These sports are in competition with each other. It would be unusual to see cooperation like that.

civis_liberalis

- We want best young talent in the west - Dunne

- Pre-season update from Tommy Dunne.

civis_liberalis

Potential in Galway - Connolly

Ryan Connolly insists that there is significant potential in the west and that Galway FC can make an instant impact in the Airtricity League.

The First Division fixtures are also out tomorrow at noon.

I would expect news on a number of signings before the end of the week, as pre-season was meant to start today.

civis_liberalis

Tough game at home v Longford Town for the season opener.

List of Galway FC fixtures.

CrowdedHouse

civis_liberalis wrote: »

Tough game at home v Longford Town for the season opener.

ah they might still be in choke mode

civis_liberalis

CrowdedHouse wrote: »

ah they might still be in choke mode

I doubt that. They are going to be considerably stronger this season.

6781

Has the date and venue been set for the friendly with Sligo Rovers?

WallyGUFC

Zico wrote: »

LOL DFX What I don't understand in Galway is how there doesn't seem to be any co-operation among struggling sports. It's understood that there are limited resources etc. However if they combined a training centre for Soccer, Rugby, Football and Hurling they'd produce at least one seriously competitive team... you'd think.

Maybe with Rugby it'd be acceptable, but not GAA. Doubt they'd let a "foreign sport" joined use of training facilities!

Mars Bar

And the only struggling sorry in Galway is soccer. Rugby and GAA have no need for ground sharing.

Galway football have fantastic facilities in Loughgeorge and as far as i know, only reluctantly let the hurlers in. Not a chance would they share facilities with soccer.

Didn't Galway United use the sportsgrounds when Terryland was being revamped?

civis_liberalis

6781 wrote: »

Has the date and venue been set for the friendly with Sligo Rovers?

No announcements have been made about friendlies.

civis_liberalis

Mars Bar wrote: »

Didn't Galway United use the sportsgrounds when Terryland was being revamped?

Yes and Crowley Park (Galwegians).

Re: the Galway FC training arrangements, they have the use of Mervue and Drom for a nominal fee.

Drom have great facilities, but it is a pain to get to and they don't have a full-size all-weather pitch, which Mervue now do.

I hear it's an excellent surface.

oldyouth

civis_liberalis wrote: »

Drom have great facilities, but it is a pain to get to and they don't have a full-size pitch, which Mervue now do.

I hear it's an excellent surface.

Fixed that there for you