The Football Association of Ireland (FAI) will receive an additional €3 million as part of Budget 2026 to help professionalise 26 League of Ireland (LOI) academies.
The FAI already receives €6 million per year from the Government as part of a memorandum of understanding which runs until 2027.
The LOI department within the FAI will now meet Sport Ireland to decide how to allocate the funding. However, league director Mark Scanlon previously revealed 81 per cent of the €3 million will go directly to the clubs.
“Academy systems across Europe are getting much younger,” Scanlon told The Irish Times’ Inside Business podcast. “That means they are playing first-team football much younger and that increases their value, which gives us an opportunity to create a long-term sustainable industry here.”
READ MORE
That process has already begun, with St Patrick’s Athletic teenager Mason Melia moving to Tottenham Hotspur in January for an initial fee of €1.9 million, while Shamrock Rovers have sold 16-year-old winger Victor Ozhianvuna to Arsenal for a figure believed to be €2 million.
The league’s original request of €10 million to create 81 full-time jobs in academies across the country came in response to post-Brexit rules which stop Irish players joining UK clubs before they turn 18.
Following detailed discussions with Minister for Sport Patrick O’Donovan, and his predecessor, the €10 million request was reduced to €8 million before a final appeal of €4.45 million was asked of the department last month following a Government-funded audit of all 26 LOI academies.
There are currently just 10 full-time employees working across in the academy system, with St Patrick’s Athletic, for example, employing coaches in other roles within the club to ensure full-time status.
The league hoped to create three full-time roles – a director of football, lead-coach and an administrator – in each of the 26 academies, but this will be reduced to one or possibly two full-time positions per club under the €3 million allocation.
Under the €4.45 million request, the FAI planned to give each academy €140,000, but that figure will now drop to around €93,000 in light of the reduced overall sum.
The 26 academies are Athlone Town, Bohemians, Bray Wanderers, CK United, Cork City, Cobh Ramblers, Derry City, Drogheda United, Dundalk, Finn Harps, Galway United, Kerry FC, Limerick, Longford Town, Shelbourne, Shamrock Rovers, Sligo Rovers, St Patrick’s Athletic, Treaty United, UCD AFC, Waterford, Wexford, Klub Kildare, Mayo FC, DLR Waves (women), Peamount United (women).
Following the announcement of the budget, the FAI and LOI thanked Government ministers “for their continued support and belief in Irish football”.
“This vital multi-annual investment marks a crucial step in building the modern, professional academy system Irish football needs to compete internationally and benefit communities nationwide,” a statement from the FAI added.
Negotiations with an aim to increasing academy funding year-on-year will continue, with the best-performing academies (based on annual audits) to receive additional funding.
Under the FAI’s initial plan, led by the league’s academy manager Will Clarke, it was envisaged that clubs would not require any government funding after 2037.
Future funding of all FAI projects was brought into question by the minister last week after FAI chief executive David Courell declined an invitation to appear before the Oireachtas sports committee to discuss safeguarding issues.
However, following a meeting of the FAI board, the decision was reversed and Courell appeared before the committee alongside his senior leadership team on September 24th.
Budget 2026 also allocated €10.8 million in additional funding to Sport Ireland, of which €2 million will go towards increasing core funding for national governing bodies and local sports partnerships, while €500,000 will support legacy programmes and events.
The GAA will receive €250,000 in additional core funding and €733,000 which will go towards the association’s aims to grow hurling in non-traditional areas.
The Gaelic Players Association (GPA) will also receive €1.6 million to support intercounty players, bringing its total player fund to €7.2 million.
The GPA welcomed the 28 per cent bump, stating the additional funds will increase the average grant per player to €1,800. The association added this represents “phase one” in their plan to reach €10 million in annual player funding.
“The GPA will continue to push until intercounty players are fully recognised and supported on par with other elite and high-performance athletes in Ireland, whether that is achieved through the total funding outlined in our campaign or through a combination of direct investment and/or a fair tax-relief scheme for players,” a statement from the GPA said.
The IRFU will also receive an extra €250,000 in core funding, along with €477,000 to support the building of high-performance pathways in the women’s game, while golf will benefit from €500,000 to promote grassroots participation.
High-performance funding will receive a €1.5 million boost, bringing it to a total of €28.5 million for 2026 in line with aims to increase its annual allocation to €30 million before the 2028 Olympics.
The Large Scale Sport Infrastructure Fund will also be increased to €18.7 million, with the opening of another round of funding under the Community Sport Facilities Fund set to be announced for next year.
