{"id":426626,"date":"2026-05-01T08:25:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T08:25:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/426626\/"},"modified":"2026-05-01T08:25:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T08:25:10","slug":"finances-tight-for-every-league-of-ireland-club-not-called-bohemians-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/426626\/","title":{"rendered":"Finances tight for every League of Ireland club not called Bohemians \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cWe have to collectively look at the club\u2019s model,\u201d said Sligo Rovers<\/a> long-serving chairman Tommy Higgins at the club\u2019s annual general meeting on Tuesday. \u201cThere are headwinds ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n

Higgins added: \u201cI don\u2019t want to appear negative, but there\u2019s trouble down the road if we don\u2019t address it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The immediate possibility is that one of the two remaining member-owned models in the League of Ireland Premier Division<\/a> will turn to private investment, similar to Shamrock Rovers and Shelbourne, or a multiclub model takeover as has happened at Drogheda United under the Trivela Group and Waterford with the Pilley family. <\/p>\n

Bohemians<\/a> remain a solid example of a fan-controlled club holding its own in a time when millionaires and even billionaires are investing in Irish football. <\/p>\n

Bohs published a profit of \u20ac1.5 million in their 2025 accounts, largely due to jersey sales that include a partnership with Oasis<\/a>, while Sligo were commended at their annual general meeting (agm) for losing only \u20ac45,000. <\/p>\n

Wonders are also being worked on the pitch with John Russell\u2019s side winning three straight matches in April over Bohs, Waterford and Dundalk, in advance of tonight\u2019s trip to Drogheda. <\/p>\n

What makes Sligo\u2019s current standing of seventh in the Premier Division so impressive is that Russell\u2019s assistant coach Ryan Casey admitted to the membership that Guinean striker Mai Traore\u2019s signing in January to cover Owen Elding\u2019s move to Hibernian has not worked out, with the striker left out of the starting line-up in recent weeks. <\/p>\n

Sligo hope that a budget of \u20ac2.6 million will be enough to avoid relegation to the First Division<\/a>, never mind spending enough to secure European football next season, according to reporting by The Sligo Champion sports editor Jessica Farry. <\/p>\n

The Sligo members are now forced to consider the future direction of the club despite Uefa solidarity payments taking a giant leap from \u20ac93,000 to \u20ac386,711, just as their volunteers\u2019 heroic fundraising dipped from \u20ac532,466 to \u20ac486,804. <\/p>\n

It can always get worse. Waterford are facing almost certain relegation even before a ball is kicked over a hectic May bank holiday weekend<\/a>, when they travel to Tallaght tonight before hosting Dundalk on Monday. Still searching for a win from 12 outings, they are eight points behind ninth-placed Drogheda despite their English owners pouring \u20ac3.8 million into the club over the past 24 months. <\/p>\n

Even Shamrock Rovers could not turn a profit last year despite banking close to \u20ac6 million in European prize money, as their recent accounts revealed a loss of \u20ac469,973. <\/p>\n

Stephen Bradley\u2019s men will hope to remove St Patrick\u2019s Athletic from the top of the table by taking six points off Waterford and Drogheda in two home ties over three days. <\/p>\n

Stephen Kenny\u2019s St Pat\u2019s have a tougher challenge with games out west in Galway and at the Showgrounds, which the Sligo agm also confirmed is due for reconstruction from February 2027. <\/p>\n

Elsewhere, Bohs welcome Derry City to Dalymount Park for a meeting between fourth and fifth, while Dundalk are well positioned to heap more pressure on Shelbourne manager Joey O\u2019Brien. Despite significant investment in the squad, Shels are having a nightmare season, lying eighth in the division on equal points with Drogheda in the relegation playoff spot. Last year\u2019s European nights must seem like a distant memory for the Tolka Park regular.<\/p>\n

League of Ireland Premier Division, Friday (7.45 unless stated)<\/p>\n

Drogheda United v Sligo RoversDundalk v ShelbourneGalway United FC v St. Patrick\u2019s AthleticBohemian FC v Derry City, 8pmShamrock Rovers v Waterford FC, 8pm<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cWe have to collectively look at the club\u2019s model,\u201d said Sligo Rovers long-serving chairman Tommy Higgins at the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":426627,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[61,60,2539,112],"class_list":["post-426626","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-league-of-ireland","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/426626","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=426626"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/426626\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/426627"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=426626"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=426626"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=426626"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}