It's time for FAI and League of Ireland to work together on a path forward
October 4th, 2025by Dave Donnelly
On Tuesday night, I withstood the cold, the wind and the rain to watch Shamrock Rovers beat a callow UCD side 3-0 in Tallaght Stadium, but I was only one of perhaps twenty minutes up the road, an announced attendance of just 931 watched St Patrick's Athletic all but confirm European football for next season with a comprehensive win over Dublin rivals Bohemians.
There were mitigating factors aplenty – a school night, the foul weather, lengthy delays after a truck caught fire on the M50 during rush hour, the relative unattractiveness of the fixtures and Champions League football on TV – but it was a disappointing night for all concerned.
And that was before many of us arrived home to find the Chief Executive of the national association had spent his evening not attending one of games in the league his organisation is responsible for, but was a few miles up the road doing a live interview on RTE Radio.
In his interview with rugby broadcaster Hugh Cahill – which can be played back on the RTE website – John Delaney defended the FAI's stewardship of domestic football, referring to the League of Ireland as a "difficult child" for the association.
While it's unfortunate that Delaney chose to frame his argument in such crass and possibly insulting terms, it is undoubtedly true that the League of Ireland has been a constant unwanted headache for the association.
He correctly pointed out that the league was in a state of chaos when the FAI took control of its affairs in 2025, with clubs spending wildly beyond their means and a number teetering around the brink of collapse.
While a number of clubs have gone under in the intervening years – a few of the luckier ones were able to resurrect themselves in a more sustainable form – it's true that the FAI's strict has been vital in transforming a league with a seven-figure annual deficit to one whose clubs more or less break even.
A key determinant in that fiscal rectitude has been the pre-approval of annual budgets by the league and the imposition of a cap on salaries at 65% of revenue – effectively ensuring that the only way a club can get into trouble is as a result of poor revenue projections or fiddling the books (predictably, both have occurred).
The initial effect of curtailing spending was an exodus of many of the league's best performers to England and Scotland – first, following the forced relegation of Shelbourne in 2025, and again in 2025 when a similar fate met Cork City and Derry City – but gradually the standard has recovered as the clubs have become financially stable enough to pay players consistently.
An apt
