Crisis looms as title glory beckons

SOCCER: Even as they prepared for a game tonight in Cork where they could secure the Eircom League title, Shelbourne players were seeking confirmation from their union yesterday that they will be entitled to have their contracts with the club invalidated at the end of the season because of the repeated difficulties they have had this year with the payment of wages.

Shelbourne chief executive Ollie Byrne conceded yesterday there were more problems at the club with regard to salaries but said that "less than €10,000" is currently due to players in overdue wages. More than €30,000 more is due today for this week, however, and players were uncertain as they made the journey south yesterday what, if any, portion of this money they are likely to receive before the weekend.

The problems come towards the end of a season when the club have been dogged by difficulties with the payment of wages, something that now threatens to seriously undermine their ability to prevent the break up of a team on the verge of regaining the league crown. When previous arrears were cleared up in July the players - with the support of manager Pat Fenlon - secured a written guarantee that they would be allowed to depart as free agents at the end of the season if further problems were encountered with the payment of their wages.

There is a widespread belief within the squad that the terms of this commitment have been breached by events since the October Bank Holiday weekend when problems resurfaced and while all bar "a few hundred euro" and bonuses still due for the Inter-Toto campaign have been paid since, there is considerable frustration that the irregularity of the payment received is causing problems with the players' various mortgages and other commitments.

"I know that Ollie breaks his heart for the club," said one of the club's players yesterday, "and the players have been great with him but at the end of the day if your mortgage is not being paid then you've got to seriously think about your other options."

Though they believe the commitment they received in July to be binding, the players expect Byrne to challenge any attempt to claim free agent status by players whose contracts extend beyond the close season.

Up to 10 players, however, will be out of contract at the end of the season and few are expected to stay. Many of the rest are expected to look to leave as well with Bohemians, who are set to confirm Seán Connor as their new manager in the middle of next week, prominent amongst the potential suitors.

"Ideally, I think a lot of the lads would like to stay," said one team member, "but if there have been these sort of problems when there's money from games coming in then what's going to happen in the off season, this is their full-time job and you can't just go from week hoping that you get your money. There's a lot of talk, too, that Pat's going to walk because of everything that has gone on and where would that leave the club? Everyone has stayed really focused this year despite everything that has gone on but basically nobody wants to go through the same thing all over again".

The club's current problems are simply the latest manifestation of a longer term struggle to bring in enough money at Tolka Park to meet outgoings. In each of the last three seasons there have been substantial shortfalls and this year's situation has been made worse by the arrival of two substantial tax bills.

Byrne has managed the situation by drawing down significant advances on the sale price of Tolka Park from Coneforth Trading, a company owned by businessmen Ivano Cafolla, Jerry O'Reilly and Irish Sports Council chairman Ossie Kilkenny. Between €2.5 million and €3 million is believed to have been obtained against a gross purchase price estimated at around €25 million. This figure, however, is contingent on the number of housing units for which planning permission is obtained and a significant portion of it will have to be paid to clear the interests of other parties in the land leaving Shelbourne with a figure that was believed to be around €16 million or €17 million prior to the borrowing.

There have been suggestions within the game that the money advanced was to count double against the eventual purchase price but Cafolla last night denied this, stating that, "at one point, a long way back, we did discuss disincentives to the club seeking money in advance of the deal being concluded but that is a historical matter. As time has gone on there have not been penalties".

Fenlon declined to talk about the situation last night insisting that he preferred to concentrate on a game for which Joseph Ndo and club captain Owen Heary are the major doubts. "It's a great credit to the players that they're in this position," he said, "but nothing's guaranteed and personally I think there'll still be twists and turns in the top four. What we have to do now is just keep going till it's over."