Charlie from the Stands: Dundalk's downfall should be a warning to others

It was just a few years ago that Dundalk were stepping out on to the turf of the Emirates Stadium to face Arsenal in the Europa League.

They had reached the group stages of the tournament after becoming the most successful club in the country. They were spearheaded by a group of players with experience of lifting titles, with high standards. Michael Duffy, Pat Hoban, Patrick McEleney, Andy Boyle, Dan Cleary to name a few.

Fast-forward to October 2024, and it is not Europe’s elite who Dundalk are planning on facing next season – no offence, Finn Harps. It makes you wonder, how a club founded in 1903, that won 11 trophies in eight years from 2014 until 2021 and generated over €6m during one season, could possibly go out of business in the next couple of months. Dundalk’s demise is staggering, going from League of Ireland Champions in 2019 to being relegated without a whimper just five seasons later.

You have to wonder where it all went wrong.

Now when I say ‘wrong’, I don’t mean getting relegated to the First Division, because let’s be honest, the First Division for some teams is closer than winning the league due to the competitive nature of the League of Ireland. It is sad to see Dundalk now managerless, broke, fighting with each other in the stands, with only nine players under contract for the 2025 season – all of whom I’m sure will be offered an exit route. Add to this the debts of over €250k and a wage bill of €30k a week, and it really is a perilous position to be in. There are players at the club that have been the lifeblood of it during the golden days – Boyle, John Mountney, Robbie Benson, Daryl Horgan – all players with trophy cabinets most would envy, but more importantly all players that care about the football club.

The new owner, John Temple this week came out and said that he will fight ‘tooth and nail’ to keep the club going, but warned it would be a very different business model that will be sustainable. You would think that is a positive step, but you’d also worry that there are no guarantees of him sticking to his word. He currently owns 80% of the club, with 20% still belonging to investors from the questionable Brian Ainscough deal. Temple’s shareholding in the club begs the question - why should one person have so much control over something that means so much, to so many? It raises the question around the ownership model.

In my view, the 51% ownership model is the one that needs to be considered by all League of Ireland clubs. It helps remove the risk of what is happening and has happened to Dundalk. It also allows multiple revenue streams to flow into the heart of the club through social projects, merchandise, matchday revenue and private investors. But most critical of all in a league where community is so important, it gives the club and it’s fans control over major decisions.

From the information I have gathered, Brian Ainscough was given an opportunity to take a big gamble on a League of Ireland club without any questions being asked, a gamble that could ultimately result in the demise of that football club or set the football club back at least a decade. He gambled with Dundalk FC’s money and ended up with a bigger budget than Shelbourne this season, which is hard to believe considering the position Shels find themselves in going into the final two games of the season.

Is there a way back for Dundalk? You would hope so. It is the heartbeat of the community. It has been a staple of Irish football since 1903. There are good people involved in that football club that deserve better, and if nothing else, some transparency about the club’s downfall. How has it got to where it is today?

Exciting

We were expecting drama. We were expecting twists and turns. The graphics team at LOITV had the ‘as it stands’ table appearing every now and again across four matches, as the title race heated up. And what did we see? A weekend where nobody blinked.

You would think that over the last couple of months, none of the title-challengers wanted to win the league with how their results were going. But alas, Derry, Shelbourne, Shamrock Rovers and St Pat’s all won their ties and have tightened up a league that will surely go to the wire now.

For me, the biggest result of the weekend was Shamrock Rovers’ win in Drogheda. It was a tricky fixture with Drogheda looking stubborn throughout and nothing seeming to go Rovers’ way, before a wonder goal from Dylan Watts secured a valuable three points for Stephen Bradley’s side, and a result which neither Derry nor Shelbourne wanted.

Both had done professional jobs against Dundalk and Waterford respectively, and would have been hoping to open up some breathing space between themselves and Rovers. Instead they are looking over their shoulder to a steam train driven by Stephen Kenny, and a Scalextric car driven by Bradley.

It’s do or die this weekend, with all eyes on Inchicore, where St Pat’s entertain Derry City. Like a movie script, it is the master against one of his prodigies. Kenny versus Higgins.

I keep changing my mind on how I feel this game will pan out, particularly with news emerging that St Pat’s will supposedly be without the injured Jake Mulraney and Zach Elbouzedi, who came off against Galway last week.

It will be a huge boost if those names are absent from the teamsheet on Friday night. But then when you look at Derry’s injury list with Ben Doherty, Ciaran Coll, Patrick McEleney, Patrick Hoban, Daniel Kelly and Cameron Dummigan all absent, and Mark Connolly suspended, it leaves Derry very light going into what will be a defining fixture in their title push. The exciting part is that both teams must win to keep up any hope of winning the League this year, so you can be sure of this being an end-to-end affair.

You can forgive me for thinking of a situation where it is 1-1 with 20 minutes to go, and both managers taking off two defenders for two attackers and all hell breaking loose. It is matches like this you want your big name players stepping up, and both have them in abundance. Aidan Keena, Chris Forrester, Romal Palmer, Brandon Kavanagh against the likes of Will Patching, Danny Mullen, Colm Whelan, and surely the October Player of the Month, Michael Duffy. It promises to be one of the games of the season.

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At Tolka Park, Damien Duff arguably has it in his grasp. That’s not to say he hasn’t had it for weeks now, but with two games to go, the end is in sight. His side take on Drogheda United, who will definitely have one eye on the FAI Cup Final in a couple of weeks and the other on the Playoffs. For Duff, it is crunch time. His players stepped up after going a goal down against Waterford, and he will hoping for the same character this week.

Shamrock Rovers travel to Oriel Park in a tie that was once mouth-watering. Still, this is not as straightforward as it may seem, with Dundalk’s old guard I’m sure hoping to have something to say in the title race against their old nemesis, and land one final punch on Shamrock Rovers before leaving the Premier Division - they would love nothing more than that.

Let’s see where we are next week…