Lilies face financial shackles as debt hits €710k

Didn't see this earlier in the week. Doesn't make for great reading.

Kildare County Board is facing complete loss of financial independence for the foreseeable future as their running deficit rises to over €700,000.

The GAA's Central Council has proposed that a new committee should be given exclusive powers to make financial decisions without needing the consent of clubs until fiscal order is restored.

http://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-football/lilies-face-financial-shackles-as-debt-hits-710k-3227239.html

That's very worrying Sam.

How do we make any money when we can't even hold any home games with a decent capacity at our own stadium?

It's a sorry mess.

The county badly, badly lacks leadership if you ask me.

Grand so we'll expect every County to get the same treatment. Mayo who are millions in debt and the likes. Until that happens Croke Park and it's mouth piece the Independent can piss off.

spartacus wrote:

Grand so we'll expect every County to get the same treatment. Mayo who are millions in debt and the likes. Until that happens Croke Park and it's mouth piece the Independent can piss off.

It's the redevelopment of McHale Park that has Mayo in debt, a major capital project. We have nothing to show for all our spending and no-one seems to be on top of this debt issue. Geezer apparently wanted the figures issued to show it's not the senior footballers causing the deficit, as many had previously claimed. So what is causing it?

The mess we are in is of our own making, a county of our size population and support for the GAA should not be in this situation. While things like club Kildare and the thousandaire are all good ideas they don't fall within the range of your average Kildare supporter.. there must be at least 30,000 people in Kildare with a genuine interest in the welfare of Kildare GAA and this is the market that has to be reached out to. A lot of rumors and urban myths doing the rounds about Club Kildare and finances in general within the county, these need to be cleared up and we need to move forward with a clear plan of where we are going and how to get there.

SamMaguire wrote:

spartacus wrote:

Grand so we'll expect every County to get the same treatment. Mayo who are millions in debt and the likes. Until that happens Croke Park and it's mouth piece the Independent can piss off.

It's the redevelopment of McHale Park that has Mayo in debt, a major capital project. We have nothing to show for all our spending and no-one seems to be on top of this debt issue. Geezer apparently wanted the figures issued to show it's not the senior footballers causing the deficit, as many had previously claimed. So what is causing it?

What about Hawkfield, you unsurprisingly forgot about that. That is major capital project and thus should be treated the same as a Stadium that is used once in a bluemoon.
As I said if they want to go down this route with Kildare so be it, but they'll have to do the same with every other County in debt or else be told where to go.

What has club Kildare got to do with the debt, if it was not for people digging even deeper into their pockets then we would really be in the crapper.
Those 30,000 people you say , well there are only 220 members of Club Kildare with another 40 corporate. Hardly a big % take up rate.

that was my point Sparacus, for whatever reason your average gaa supporter is not engaging with club Kildare. I've support them in the past and wasn't having a dig at them.

Hawkfield doesn't seem to be the problem its the day to day costs running higher than the income. Hawkfield is an enormous asset for the county is well worth the cost.

WE need to find some famous person from kildare ( like limerick have jp) and ask them to help us out.

There is absolutely no incentive for clubs to promote Club Kildare.

I would suggest that from 2013 onward people who join club Kildare declare what club they are from or a member of. That club then gets €50 from the €300 it costs for the adult membership.

That way clubs can promote joining club Kildare to their members.

The club should also have its name on the membership card and the card holder gets into ALL matches free for that club.

very good idea fionn.

i wonder have any of the stud farms ever been approached for sponsorship? a lot of money there i know they mainly sponsor events that are linked to horse racing but would def be worth a try, if you were approaching say the hewlett packards, studfarms etc you would want somebody who knows what they are at i.e somebody with a sales/ marketing background and able to lay out the benefits of sponsoring kildare etc.

Lilyboy

30,000 with a genuine interest in Kildare football. You must be absolutely joking. Along with the Dubs , we have so many sunshine supporters that it is frightening. There are people from my area who were in Cavan , Portlaoise etc. this year draped in white who would not even know where our pitch is. Each club in Kildare has a hardcore of about 20 to 30 people keeping it going.

Go to Celtic Park in Derry on a wet Saturday evening and I will tell you who the genuine Kildare supporters are. And I will name them for you if you want. And the players know them too. And it is these people who will be the first to stump up when money is required.

We have to look at a big sponsorship deal.That will not be easy in the current climate.

It is a horrible situation for the County Board and it will not be easy solved.

We can surely do better on sponsorship, sad as it would be to end the Tegral association. Apart from Dublin, Cork, Kerry and whoever makes the All-Ireland final, we get more media coverage than anyone.

TC there might not be 30000 people going to kildare matches in derry or anywhere else but there are that many that have some sort of an interest in kildare football of course there is. just because you dont travel to derry or mow the pitch for your local club doesnt mean your not interested in kildare gaa.

Ohtoohtobe wrote:

We can surely do better on sponsorship, sad as it would be to end the Tegral association. Apart from Dublin, Cork, Kerry and whoever makes the All-Ireland final, we get more media coverage than anyone.

Intel would be an obvious company to hit up for a few quid. They don't seem to be big on sporting sponsorship though.

@ Tom, all the more reason to find a way to get the summer fans to contribute . A lot attending these matched have plenty of money in their pockets for socializing so it should be tapped into .

Not everyone has the same passion where they want to cut back on their socialising so they can put money into a team that'll be there anyway. Not agreeing or disagreeing with it, but just saying in this climate you can't keep going to people who weren't contributing when things were good, it's a waste of time as you won't get anything out of it. We've a horrible budget two months away, water charges coming online, electricity prices going through the roof, no jobs and an economy that is finished - you can't look to supporters in that time.

Has to be the wealthy or successful businesses but I can guarantee you Intel or any other multinational won't give a penny until it's explained to them why finances are so bad, until they find out exactly what'll be done about it, until they are given years worth of budget forecasts so they can see where every penny they give is going and they'll want short, medium and long-term breakdowns of how they'll get their money back. That's what Dublin did with Vodafone, but given we are in this position and we don't even know how that is, it doesn't strike me that there's anyone in the county board right now who could walk into a multinational asking for serious cash and would be taken seriously.

thought i heard they are going a kildare gaa lotto

Getting into the world of raising money, but this thread started with a post and a link stating we would hand over full control of our finances to croke park. Yet There are many counties in the same position or worse than us, yet not a word about them from the independent. Another day Another negative Kildare story. Getting boring now colm.

I don't think there are any counties worse than us outside of Mayo, and we know that's because of McHale Park. What other county has greater debt that is going in the wrong direction still, having been forwarded their money for this season already. Maybe we are picked on or not, I'm not privy to that, but what I do know is we've given the ammunition so must take the primary blame.

Thats it tom , and that's what maybe is adding to the views outside the county in regards kildare gaa's finanical woes in the future , (original debt + sub in advance for 2012) , but from what i have heard from our club delegate , in fairness there has been some efforts into reducing cost this year , and unfortunetly its going to take time in the current climate , and from what i can see mayo have made some progress into alleviating their debt , to the satisfaction of the NGB.

On another topic , I think if anywhere derserves funding for improvement on there grounds , Kildare should have been given serious consideration on the basis of money generated by there travelling support to HQ for a number of recent years , but maybe the KCB haven't made good enough case.

Yes this has been brought up before , I myself have mentioned it here before, there is a case for duel main sponsors , But thats another nut to crack , as stated here its getting 2 or more sponsor's,
this was mentioned in a county's 5yrs strategic plan this year.

Look like the clubs around kildare are going to be hit for more funding , now thats when the issue of debt will hit closer to home

That two sponsors is fine for top counties but will only increase gap between sides. Dublin could have a second sponsor of 3 million added to the 5 million. What do Leitrim do, add 30,000 to the 50,000? Granted that's getting away from the main issue.

Reports today that the senior hurlers are still awaiting their expenses despite being knocked out of the Christy Ring Cup way back in May.

spartacus wrote:

Getting into the world of raising money, but this thread started with a post and a link stating we would hand over full control of our finances to croke park. Yet There are many counties in the same position or worse than us, yet not a word about them from the independent. Another day Another negative Kildare story. Getting boring now colm.

I don't think it says that and it's certainly not the case. There is a finance committee in place - separate to the fundraising committee - comprising people involved in Kildare GAA over the years that are from professional accountancy/financial backgrounds. They are, at the moment, reporting to the board on financial affairs on a weekly basis. Croke Park has proposed that the committee be empowered to make decisions without having to go back to the board/delegates every time one has to be made. The clubs will vote on that. I would presume they will reject it, as they surely want a say on what's happening, but even if they don't, it's not Croke Park that will be running it, it's Kildare GAA people.

The standing still on sponsorship is a big cause of the problem I would say and that needs to be addressed. The problem as Tommy says is that the brand is now becoming toxic and people that might have been interested two or three years ago, wouldn't be now.