Colm Cooper's 'corporate-sponsored dinner'

Dyr

BrianBoru00 wrote: »

I'm hugely disappointed with this.
Cooper has gone down in my estimation here. Why didn't McNamee from Offaly get one? Nicholas Murphy from Cork? etc. etc. Cooper was one of the greats but this piggy backing on the name of charities is quite frankly cringeworthy at best.

I suspect the charity thing will be tied into the bould Colm not paying tax on the proceeds

They should change his nickname to The Mooch

liam7831

Bambi wrote: »

I suspect the charity thing will be tied into the bould Colm not paying tax on the proceeds

They should change his nickname to The Mooch

Seems like a lot of personal anger here towards colm, you must be from mayo or cork.

qwerty ui op

BrianBoru00 wrote: »

And Colm Cooper has been well looked after as a bank official and has done an awful lot of travelling around the country as bank ambassador so hes not tied to the desk job exactly.
Their respective careers are not at issue here.

A BANK OFFICIAL :eek:, My God he has made! he need never worry about mortgages, creche fees and all the rest of it again.

Their respective careers have everything to do it, because in the real world money matters.

It's unbelievable, given everything that has gone on with former inter county greats that people want to keep the status quo.
I'll bet it makes Brolly feel good every time he reminds himself how much better he is than the others for saying away from the drink. I'll bet he wants Cooper given a good test to see how he fairs out in that area.

Audioslaven

liam7831 wrote: »

It's just typical Irish begrudgery, it's not compulsory for anyone to attend, if you can't afford a ticket just head in to the AIB in Killarney some day and have a chat with him in there.I hope more players do it, they deserve recognition for stellar inter county careers.

I think you view these negative comments as begrudgery but I don't think it is like that. Players in counties are getting looked after so to say they have had a hard slog over their intercounty career and now this type of event gives them the chance to make handy cash for their inter county careers is wrong. Granted they put in the training and their lives are impacted but their are a lot of positives from being an intercounty footballer in the commercial world besides doing these testimonials.

There are only a handful of inter county footballers that could do these events so it's not like they can all do it after their career is over. It really is as simple that the Gooch wants handy cash and this event is to provide him the means. He will be successful as this is the first but I can't see this taking off as a norm in the current GAA world.

This also puts the club world miles apart from the top of the inter county world which does not sit well with a lot of GAA people

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

nice_guy80

whats the difference between Bertie Ahern's whip around back in the day amongst a few businessman friends when he needed cash?

and this 'corporate' fundraiser

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

Fr Tod Umptious

Water John wrote: »

Have no problem with Cooper or anyone else holding any event and making money out of it. Not a problem.
Tying charities into it, moves it very much to a different place. Their % or return on lending their name, needs to be very transparent, at least. Not good enough to say, they'll get a few bob.
The goodwill of people to charity is then being milked.

Adding the charity element is essential, if this was Cooper getting all the proceeds then the s**t storm would be 100 times bigger.

Corporates like charity, it gives them a warm and fuzzy feeling and is always a PR winner, and to be fair a lot do like to support good causes as it is.

Dyr

liam7831 wrote: »

you must be from mayo or cork.

So what if I am biy? :mad:

Testosterscone

partyguinness wrote: »

It's like athletics- strictly speaking Usain Bolt is an amateur. He does not get paid to run as such and is not under a contract for service like professional footballers but he lives of sponsorship money.

That's not true. Bolt does have sponsorship but Bolt was also contracted to the Diamond League like many other athletes to make minimum amount of appearances per season along with the media obligations that go with that. Prize money is also awarded for Olympic and World Championship medals as well as direct funding from their National Governing body.

I hate the fact that the GAA hide behind "amateurism". Managers are paid, S and C coaches are paid, Team doctors are paid, physio's are paid, development officers are paid, even Mary Bloggs in Croke Park shop is paid by the GAA FFS.

For those who fear that this would create a greater divide in clubs why not operate a salary cap. Do you think smaller counties like Leitrim and Roscommon would have more or less of a chance of keeping up coming talent if they had enough to live off as opposed to having to travel to Dublin to get work and making attending training a couple of nights a week a logistical nightmare. Yes plenty do it and fair play to them but how many young players were lost to the sport due to emigration.

It's no coincidence that the rise of Dublin GAA team coincided with mass emigration during the recession (and I say that as a Dublin supporter)

Safehands

Testosterscone wrote: »

I hate the fact that the GAA hide behind "amateurism". Managers are paid, S and C coaches are paid, Team doctors are paid, physio's are paid, development officers are paid, even Mary Bloggs in Croke Park shop is paid by the GAA FFS.

For those who fear that this would create a greater divide in clubs why not operate a salary cap. Do you think smaller counties like Leitrim and Roscommon would have more or less of a chance of keeping up coming talent if they had enough to live off as opposed to having to travel to Dublin to get work and making attending training a couple of nights a week a logistical nightmare. Yes plenty do it and fair play to them but how many young players were lost to the sport due to emigration.

Colm Cooper was a great player, but he never won anything on his own. He had and needed a team around him to win trophies. There were other great players on those teams. Singling out one player for a huge financial payday is wrong in an amateur sport.
Cooper works in the bank, he is now a pundit, he writes for a newspaper and he has just written a book, about his playing career. He will not be short of a few bob, all out of his participation on great Kerry teams. I'm sure he would be just fine without this windfall. If he were injured palying the game and couldn't work, then this may have merit. But that is not the case.
Think of all the players who were struck down by injury, whose lives have suffered for their love of the game. Do they get a payday? Are they even looked after in many cases?
This is a very bad idea!

Beechwoodspark

If cooper wanted to make a gesture at this late stage he should announce that all the money raised will go to charity.

He would salvage some goodwill if he did this.

Audioslaven

Beechwoodspark wrote: »

If cooper wanted to make a gesture at this late stage he should announce that all the money raised will go to charity.

He would salvage some goodwill if he did this.

Too late now and he would look a bigger fool ... he is not doing this for charity but he is paddling that line as it takes the hard edge of it and he can reuse that line when his back is to the wall. I had to laugh at his late show appearance that he attacked Brolly (with him being a top footballer) so as to deflect.

Mantis Toboggan

How much will the Gooch make from this?

Bonniedog

Tyson Fury wrote: »

How much will the Gooch make from this?

Over a 150k if they sell it. Obviously his agent will take a cut.

If he was doing it off own bat then fair enough. This dragging charities into it is bad. I used to work for people who raised money for various groups and the trivial amounts that went to the alleged beneficiaries would stop anyone ever buying a card or signing a direct debit!

CRC in Dublin was making something like 3% out of money raised in their name! Total scam.

partyguinness

Bonniedog wrote: »

Over a 150k if they sell it. Obviously his agent will take a cut.

If he was doing it off own bat then fair enough. This dragging charities into it is bad. I used to work for people who raised money for various groups and the trivial amounts that went to the alleged beneficiaries would stop anyone ever buying a card or signing a direct debit!

CRC in Dublin was making something like 3% out of money raised in their name! Total scam.

An earlier poster made a very valid point...it is a team sport and Cooper did not win on his own and he is also lucky enough to end on his terms rather than because of a terrible injury.

What about all his teammates over the years?

Beechwoodspark

Audioslaven wrote: »

Too late now and he would look a bigger fool ... he is not doing this for charity but he is paddling that line as it takes the hard edge of it and he can reuse that line when his back is to the wall. I had to laugh at his late show appearance that he attacked Brolly (with him being a top footballer) so as to deflect.

From what I gather, Brolly denies that he ever apologised to gooch over this. Gooch said something to that effect when cornered on the LLS.

So basically he is calling gooch a liar

Bonniedog

partyguinness wrote: »

An earlier poster made a very valid point...it is a team sport and Cooper did not win on his own and he is also lucky enough to end on his terms rather than because of a terrible injury.

What about all his teammates over the years?

Can see that, but if Cooper is cute enough to make a few bob when finished as county player then that's his business. It is the linking of it to charities that pis£es me off.

liam7831

partyguinness wrote: »

An earlier poster made a very valid point...it is a team sport and Cooper did not win on his own and he is also lucky enough to end on his terms rather than because of a terrible injury.

What about all his teammates over the years?

What about his teammates?

Safehands

liam7831 wrote: »

What about his teammates?

There were many, who put in just as much effort in training and on the pitch. Many were very solid, less high profile, playing in the backs. Just as important as Cooper, but maybe not quite so flashy. We all remember the ones who get the scores, but don't tend to remember the important players in less glamorous positions. How do you think they feel about seeing one of their teammates getting a massive payout, while effectively holding down three jobs and also making money from book sales? It is an amateur sport. No problem if they secure a job after they have finished, I think that is great actually. But to be effectively handed a hundred grand as a "thank you" payment, goes against the amateur ethos of the sport.
He could easily have put in the same effort, but could have been unlucky to have been part of a poor team who won nothing because they did not have enough top class players. Would anyone want to lash out thousands for a place at an obscenely extravagant, dinner if that had happened?
He should count himself as one of the very lucky players to have done as well as he did. That type of money grabbing attitude has destroyed soccer, it could do the same to Gaelic if we are not careful.

Stoner

Bonniedog wrote:

Can see that, but if Cooper is cute enough to make a few bob when finished as county player then that's his business. It is the linking of it to charities that pis£es me off.

He can achieve both, for good reasons too. I thought he said it was a 50 50 arrangement, if so it's a good chunk

Beechwoodspark

Stoner wrote: »

He can achieve both, for good reasons too. I thought he said it was a 50 50 arrangement, if so it's a good chunk

I don't understand why he feels he should get financial rewards from his gaa career on top of all the sponsorship and media income he already gets

Mantis Toboggan

Bonniedog wrote: »

Over a 150k if they sell it. Obviously his agent will take a cut.

If he was doing it off own bat then fair enough. This dragging charities into it is bad. I used to work for people who raised money for various groups and the trivial amounts that went to the alleged beneficiaries would stop anyone ever buying a card or signing a direct debit!

CRC in Dublin was making something like 3% out of money raised in their name! Total scam.

Not bad money if you can get it. Fair play to him.

Only issue i'd have with it is other great players won't get a penny.

MarcusP12

I'm a dub who's a Kerry fan also by default through strong family connections and I've always been an admirer of the Gooch so there's no anti-Kerry bias in my assessment.

I'm not sure how I feel about this one to be honest. I've always been of the view that GAA is not really an amature sport is the pure sense of the word when you dig a little deeper. The higher profile players do well with sponsorship and I know from my own line of work that inter county players are held up on a pedestal and do very well in work if they are any way competent. I've no doubt that even the lesser inter county lights get looked after with jobs and even players for their local club get looked after and are heroes in their local communities. And that's fair enough, they work hard at their sport but no one is doing it who doesn't want to.

Getting back to gooch, i'm conflicted. In spite of my view on gaa players reaping indirect benefits, part of me thinks, fair play gooch, get all you can from it after all you've put into the game. He owes us nothing but maybe he deserves something (more) back given how special a player he was.

However, the flip side of that is that he must have some ego to have a night in his honour where he stands to make big money when it is not something that has been done before, or at least on this kind of scale and so publicly. I think things like it being a "celebration of sport" and the link with charity are convenient. The night will be about him and any tax from profits will be offset by the charitable contribution. I think you need a big ego and opinion of yourself to host such a thing when its not standard.

Its a shame that this is the main story about him. I think he's been badly advised. I don't think it was his idea in the first place but in my opinion, he's misjudged public opinion. But when you've got any number of fan boys who probably stand to make a small cut out of it, its hard to say no, if you have the ego I think he does.....

Shelflife

Cooper cant claim tax relief on the donations , only the charity can claim the tax back.

Id say that its not Coopers idea but that he was happy to run with it at the time.

The problem now is that it has been exposed as a money making scheme for Cooper and being coy about how much the charities get has backfired badly.

It needs to be clear where the money will end up, is he guaranteed a set fee and then the charities split the remainder or is the surplus split between them all equally or is it 10% 10% and 80% for Cooper.

The charities involved need to step in and clarify whats happening, otherwise we will get more of these types of events where a "donation" is made and the main profits end up in private individuals pockets, with the majority of people thinking that the bulk of the money is going to the charity.

For me there seems to have been too much backtracking and explaining going on and yet its still not clear on where and how much of the profits will go to all involved.

Bonniedog

This chap Mulane is setting himself up to be agent for big name players. Can't blame Cooper for doing what he is doing.

Cooper, Brogan, Shefflin and others are making a few bob. I don't think that is reflection on people they played with. It's life.

Charities, as was evidenced in CRC, are run by people given handy numbers. Very little of what is collected goes to the people it is supposed to. Not Cooper's fault, but not sure he should have given his name to it. You can be certain that person who organised this will get more than the charities.

Safehands

Bonniedog wrote: »

This chap Mulane is setting himself up to be agent for big name players. Can't blame Cooper for doing what he is doing.

Cooper, Brogan, Shefflin and others are making a few bob. I don't think that is reflection on people they played with. It's life.

Charities, as was evidenced in CRC, are run by people given handy numbers. Very little of what is collected goes to the people it is supposed to. Not Cooper's fault, but not sure he should have given his name to it. You can be certain that person who organised this will get more than the charities.

Any GAA player who makes some money out of advertising, or public speaking or punditry, or writing opinion pieces is absolutely fair. They are working for it and yes, using their fame to assist them. Being handed money is different.

Saint Sonner

I just watched the LLS - Not one to agree with Brolly but Coopers stuttering and stammering sounds like someone whose been caught out.
Whole thing doesn't sit well with me. Seems to be ill advised - this issue looks like it could now define him instead of the serious footballer he was - what a shame!

Bonniedog

Saint Sonner wrote: »

I just watched the LLS - Not one to agree with Brolly but Coopers stuttering and stammering sounds like someone whose been caught out.
Whole thing doesn't sit well with me. Seems to be ill advised - this issue looks like it could now define him instead of the serious footballer he was - what a shame!

And now. He showed on Saturday that he is one of greatest forwards ever. this money thing should not define him.

Poor_old_gill

Theres a lot of paid employees of the GAA who make a tidy wedge off the back of the players- so I really dont have a problem with this as if people are willing to pay it then let them.

Would I pay €100 (or whatever it is) to go? Nope, so I wont go but if others want to then fair enough