FAI 'on course' for Lansdowne Road funding

FAI chief executive John Delaney will tell delegates at the organisation's agm in Kerry this morning that it remains on course to have generated half of its €60 million contribution to the Lansdowne Road redevelopment project by the end of this year.

Figures contained in the association's annual report reveal that the association had €14.86 million in cash reserves at the end of last year while its net assets were valued at slightly less, just over €12 million.

The operating profit for 2006 was down significantly on the year before - from around €4.3 million to fractionally short of €1.6 million - primarily due to the fact that there was one less senior international game staged in Dublin and none of those played at home brought in the sort of television revenue that the visit of France had in late 2005.

Overall, though, the numbers are positive with the association successfully growing its operation in a range of areas. Though the level of detail revealed is limited, the improved sponsorship deals signed over the past year or so are reflected as are the steadily rising levels of grant income.

Staff costs at the association rose last year. The total amount paid out came to €6.18 million as compared with €4.24 million in 2005. The bulk of the increase is due to the fact that the average number of employees increased from 83 to 121 over the course of the year.

Separately, it is stated that 150 people are now permanent employees of the association. A significant percentage of the increase is accounted for by the dramatic expansion of the organisation's coaching department and the recruitment, in part funded by local authorities, of Regional and Community Development Officers.

The figures do not reflect the additional revenue generated from Ireland's two European qualifiers earlier this year at Croke Park where, it had been estimated, each game would generate up to €2 million in additional funds for the association. Nor does it include the better than expected price achieved for its headquarters in Merrion Square which was sold recently for some €9 million. The association is due to vacate the building during the coming months and relocate to Abbotstown.

The organisation's chief executive hails the progress made on a number of fronts, notably the continuing implementation of its technical development, the ongoing growth in the number of games undertaken by the various representative national teams and the merger with the League of Ireland.

The problems encountered in relation to the development by South Dublin County Council of a municipal football stadium in Tallaght are described as "disappointing".

Looking to the future, he says that major reviews of the schoolboy and amateur games will be undertaken during the coming year with a view to modernising and improving the structures in each sector.

It is, perhaps, another sign of the influence that Delaney exerts over the association these days that his speech to 130 delegates representing leagues and other affiliates from around the country will, aside from the election of the new council, effectively be the only business on the order of business for today's agm.

In previous years, debates on motions put down by clubs, leagues and associations have been known to be quite eventful but not a single issue will go to the floor for a vote this morning.