Out! Out! Out!
Forgive me for using Margaret Thatcher's famous (or
infamous) quote regarding uniting our country, but that
is the way a lot of Irish football fans feel after the
events of the last week - and particularly National
League fans, in regards to one Sammy Hammam.
Wimbledon Chairman Sam Hammam was in Ireland to promote
his `Dublin Dons' project. And the worst thing about it
was that he and his Cork partner, a builder, met with
some League of Ireland clubs. It is reported that
£330,000 and a school of excellence is the price for
Irish clubs to sell out to foreign businessmen.
Athlone Town, Limerick, Cobh and Drogheda were
reportedly visited. In Limerick's case the club's
management committee met before Christmas and voted
against the Wimbledon proposals by a margin of ten to
one. Bohemians reportedly refused to meet them and
turned down flatly their offer, with St Patrick's
Athletic taking their campaign directly to the
26-County government. Athlone Town's secretary has
threatened to resign over the whole affair. Anger was a
word I would use to sum up the feelings of soccer fans
I've met since it all blew up. Cathal
Derwin[spelling??], writing in Sunday's Title, sums up
the mood:
``Those provincial clubs who reportedly spoke to Sam
Hammam this week have open palms and short memories...
They have forgotten who put the money into their game
for the last 75 years... Forgotten who paid for
floodlights... Forgotten who paid for their grounds
when more than their backs were to the walls in recent
years... [The proposed move] will be bad for Irish
soccer, Irish sport and Irish life... ``
They seem to think having an English football side
playing in Dublin, in the English Premiership, with
corporate sponsorship, TV rights, complete with the
scum of Combat 18/National Front etc visiting every
second week will benefit Irish soccer. Has Hammam given
any consideration to Wimbledon fans left behind in
London? Do their views not count for anything?
Tempers became more frayed with reports that Scottish
Second Division club Clydebank sent an application to
Fingal Council to use Santry Stadium for their home
games next season. It was described as a non-starter by
the Scottish Football Association.
To top it all Hammam has threatened to take the
Football Association of Ireland to the European Courts.
Hammam has secured the services of lawyer Jean Louis
Dupont, the man who represented Marc Bosman in his
(successful) case over transfer fees within the EU. The
FAI have the backing, however, of the Dublin government
(when has that ever meant anything), FIFA and UEFA. The
FAI has also threatened legal action if Hammam also
dosen't stop spreading rumours of support from Merrion
Square for the project. Watch this space.
Railway Cup
d so to GAA and the poor beleaguered Railway Cup
competitons, played between the four provinces. For
years this competiton has been neglected with
alarmingly small attendances at games. It's a far cry
from its heyday in the `40s and `50s when big crowds
were the norm. They were eventually shifted from their
St Patrick's Day slot, with the much more popular Club
championship finals taking their place. Hopefully the
GAA can come up with a formula to attract the crowds
back to the provincial deciders as it would be a shame
to see them die. With no international competition it
is the highest level any inter-county player can play
at.
In the games themselves Connacht and Ulster played out
a draw, while Leinster defeated the Kerry-laden Munster
side.
BY CIARAN HEAPHEY
![[An Phoblacht]](http://republican-news.org/graphics/title_gifs/aprn.gif)