Make or break time for Limerick FC

LIMERICK FC board member Andrew Mawhinney believes that the League of Ireland club has arrived at a critical crossroads in its 72-year history.
“As it stands the club is simply not sustainable and we’ll have serious cash flow problems come July,” admitted Mr. Mawhinney last night.
The club hosted a screening of a 24-minute documentary, Till I Die, at the Strand Hotel on Monday night, but the buoyant mood inspired by the news that Limerick FC had drawn St. Patrick’s Athletic at home in the third round of the FAI Ford Cup was tempered somewhat by Andrew Mawhinney’s comments.


Mawhinney said that it was imperative that Limerick returned to the Market’s Field and that the club also required a cash injection this season.
“Jackman Park cannot cater for senior soccer and everything leads us to the Market’s Field,” Andrew Mawhinney said.
“We’re using this evening to highlight our desire to return to the Market’s Field. I don’t want to be a prophet of doom, but this is a make or break season for Limerick FC.
“The Market’s Field is the only show in town for us. Going forward I can’t see the club getting through the summer if we don’t have a high-profile friendly that would bring significant revenue into the club.”
As had been previously reported by Leader Sport Limerick FC have been in negotiations with a number of cross-channel clubs in an effort to stage a series of lucrative friendlies at Thomond Park.
Indeed Mr. Mawhinney has now confirmed that the club are examining the possibility of bringing Roy Keane’s Ipswich Town to Limerick.
“I can confirm that Ipswich Town have offered Limerick Football Club a friendly on the Friday before they play Cork City on the 17th of July and we’re currently considering the viability of playing that game because the only place we can play it is at Thomond Park. So, we’re talking to other clubs to turn it into a double-header to make it more attractive for soccer fans in the mid-west.”
While introducing Till I Die, which features interviews with volunteers like grounds man Ralph McMahon, who has been a supporter of the club for over 50 years, and provided those present with a valuable insight into how the club is run on a day-to-day basis, Club Promotions Officer Paul O’Riordan made a plea to the City Council to support Limerick FC’s proposed return to the Market’s Field for the first time since 1984.
“We’re not saying that a move to the Market’s Field will solve all our problems,” Paul O’Riordan said.
“But it will give us a catalyst to move the club forward and establish a foundation that we can build upon.
“We have problems that we have inherited, not problems that we have created. We need a chance to put all of that right and my fear is that we won’t get that chance.”
Andrew Mawhinney echoed those sentiments: “On a lot of levels the club needs something to change.
“We’re grateful to the LDMC, but on a lot of levels Jackman Park isn’t suitable. Jackman Park is a very good junior ground, but we need something that we can call our own.
“The Market’s Field is the only opportunity; it’s the only show in town for us. But I have to stress that the project would mean a municipal stadium, it’s a stadium that we can use, but it’s also a stadium that can be used by the community and be used by other sporting codes.
“I think there is an appetite there to do something with the Market’s Field. I think it has reached a point where a decision has to be made.”
Speaking at the Strand Hotel the FAI’s Richard Fahey, who works on facility development with the national association, left those in attendance in no doubt that the club needs support from the City Council.
Mr. Fahey is currently working on a ‘Vision’ document which will be presented to the stakeholders within the next couple of weeks in an effort to move the project dramatically forward. The FAI, in conjunction with Limerick FC, will then assess political support for the project and decide whether or not to proceed.
Meanwhile Limerick FC manager Pat Scully was delighted with the FAI Ford Cup third round draw which pits the Super Blues against St. Patrick’s Athletic on the week ending June 14.
“Yes, it’s a very good draw, a really good draw,” explained an obviously pleased Pat Scully.
“Normally you’re looking for a non-league team in the early rounds other than that you’re looking for a big scalp. So we have that and it’s great. Pat’s are having a bit of a difficult season at the moment and I think that we’ve been playing reasonably well so I’m more than confident that we can give them a really good game.”
A week after the cup game against St. Pat’s, Limerick host Shelbourne at Jackman Park while they will spend the next two weekends playing away from home. On Saturday, June 6 Limerick pay a visit to Athlone Town, but this coming weekend they face a resurgent Mervue United in Galway.
“It will be a tough match,” admitted Pat Scully.
“They’re new to the league and they’ve done exceptionally well so far. They started out a bit sluggishly, but over the last month or so they’ve started to get results.
“Terryland Park is a tough place to go and they’re a big physical team so we know it will be a battle, but again I think we proved last Friday that we can play good football and be a match for anyone.”
Limerick FC, although they only managed a point against UCD (0-0), will be hoping to build on their brilliant performance against the league leaders, but they will have to do so without Pat Purcell and John Tierney who both limped off against the Students - both Purcell and Tierney are expected to miss the next four to five weeks through knee and hamstring injuries respectively.

Brian McDonnell