Where to next for League of Ireland plans for Mayo?

From the Margins Edwin McGreal Covering the Mayo soccer beat over two decades ago, I well recall what I felt was going to be a hugely historic moment in the history of the game in the county.

A Mayo team were taking part in the eircom Under 21 league against Galway United, the first time a team from this county had competed in the League of Ireland at any grade.

As a naïve young reporter, I thought this was a big deal. A seminal moment for the game, a pathway for the best young footballers in the county.

I wasn’t driving at the time so I cadged a lift with Joe Butler and the late Pat Quigley. Pat was not long out of his role as President of the FAI.

The fact that the game was not in Terryland Park but on a pitch in the middle of an industrial estate in Ballybrit fairly dampened things.

But even still I was shocked when I saw that aside from players and management, there were less than ten Mayo people there. That included Mayo League officials, myself and two other reporters, and less than a handful of parents.

It summed up for me the huge indifference that exists when it comes to representative games in Mayo, that even parents of those playing were not bothered about attending such a significant moment in local soccer.

It has always been the case with the Oscar Traynor Cup. Family and friends of players appear far more likely to watch their loved ones playing for their club than their county and the same is true of the soccer community at large. It is the inverse of the GAA in Mayo and quite akin to Galway hurling of old where intense club rivalries hindered the county team.

Mayo won 3-1 in Ballybrit and had any amount of players who belonged at that level but it never received widespread support and withered on the vine.

Castlebar Celtic stepped into the National A League in 2009 and received solid support for home games but larger crowds tended to attend their Super League games.

Those League of Ireland games, for both the Mayo League and then Celtic, never really captured the imagination of the public to the extent you might have thought or was required to make them viable both financially and in terms of the prestige to attract players.

So the noble intentions behind Mayo FC, an underage boys and girls and now adult league of Ireland club in Mayo, were always going to be somewhat difficult in an environment where tribal club allegiances often trump county and that is a deeply engrained culture that will not be easy to shake.

But very few could have foreseen the explosion that happened in recent weeks with the Mayo League pressing the nuclear button and saying talks with Mayo FC had fallen down and that Milebush (Umbro Park), the home of the Mayo League and where Mayo FC have been using as their base and intended to do so for their adult League of Ireland team, was off limits to them.

From the outside looking in, it appeared to be a harmonious relationship. Perhaps too much so. Many members of the Mayo League were also members of Mayo FC and that was problematic. Another factor is the Stadium Management Committee, a separate body in charge of Milebush but with many of the same personalities involved. There were too many conflicts of interest.

Some of the Mayo League members left Mayo FC last year but the structures of both need to be adjusted considerably so that they are separate entities but able to work together.

Because, ultimately, Mayo FC is providing an outlet for the county’s best players to play at a higher level. Up to now, save for the Mayo League and Castlebar Celtic efforts, anyone living in Mayo had to go to Galway or Sligo in order to play at a higher level. I’ve seen plenty of players at junior level in Mayo certainly good enough for a higher standard but the logistics simply have not worked.

I recall players like Johnny Jordan and Andy Neary going from Straide & Foxford United to Sligo Rovers’ first team and acquitting themselves very well. But it was a big commitment while based at home.

So providing that opportunity, in the county, for the best young players is a very worthy effort. It can be a stepping stone to an even higher level for those who excel and therefore represents a coherent pathway for talented young footballers.

Whether players thrive, survive or go back to their clubs, they should be better players because of it. And, when managed properly, such elite involvement can greatly aid the personal development of young people.

But it will only work with the proper structures and while we all thought the Mayo League was foursquare behind it – and they certainly were – they have now conducted a very strange u-turn.

Deciding to go public and release financial arrangements offered seemed unnecessary. Stating that Mayo FC had paid no rent for Milebush when there appeared to have been a moratorium arrangement regarding rent until relatively recently was an incendiary move.

If they thought the terms they offered and were quick to share with the clubs were reasonable ones, then they were massively misguided.

The terms included not allowing Mayo FC to use the clubhouse in Milebush for storage of jerseys and gear, instead they would have to use a container outside. Mayo FC would be unable to use Milebush for meetings nor would kits and training gear be allowed to be washed in Mayo League facilities – so, one might say, they decided washing dirty linen in public was more appropriate.

The Mayo League might have felt their email to the clubs was a ‘gotcha’ on Mayo FC but it was only themselves they harmed by sharing a proposal hugely lacking in any good faith with a sister organsation, a group they should be trying to work together with for the betterment of the game in the county. You can well imagine why Mayo FC would find those terms a problem.

The quick and decisive action by the Connacht FA in taking over the running of the league until an extraordinary general meeting speaks volumes about the magnitude of what has occurred and how much the Mayo League erred in their judgement on this.

For the entire League Management Committee to stand down like that tells you plenty about how they have mis-stepped.

One thinks it would not be a leap of faith to conclude that the Connacht FA gave the Mayo League officers an ultimatum – either agree to leave or we will stand you down.

The Mayo League thought they were holding the trump cards when they emailed details of the breakdown in relations with Mayo FC. It turns out they were not in near the position of strength that they thought.

Perhaps Mayo FC could have acted better in ways here too – perhaps there is more to emerge – but it appears to come down to a case of structures and personalities. There was too much of the crossover between the organisations and when that was undone, the collateral damage appears to have led to a dramatic U-turn by the Mayo League.

It remains to be seen where all this ends up and while officially there was no FAI involvement in the meeting with the Connacht FA that saw the Mayo League stand down, you can be sure the FAI were very animated in the background about a move that threatened to undermine Mayo FC’s ascension to the FAI National League (a new third tier League of Ireland division) later this year when that project was so far down the road.

Not only did the Mayo League show very poor judgement, but they picked a fight they could never win.

Instead of their email to clubs being a show of strength, which they presumably thought it was, it turned out to be something that underscored their lack of authority in doing what they did.

It remains to be seen though where this mess will leave Mayo FC. Will it undermine the momentum behind their plans? Will a newly formed Mayo League be fully supportive of Mayo FC or will they just do the bare minimum?

It is a massive step that Mayo FC are taking this year and, whatever about the public at large who have always shown an indifference to the League of Ireland, if the Mayo League themselves are not interested in promoting and supporting the concept, it has more going against it right now than is helpful.

The next few weeks will tell us plenty.