JOHN RUSSELL IS not long through the gates at The Showgrounds on this bonus St Brigid’s Day Bank Holiday.
A little after 8am and the work continues for the Sligo Rovers boss.
He set off from home when it was still dark an hour ago, his wife and two young daughters asleep in their beds in Castlebar.
“And we’ve a third girl on the way,” he says.
No wonder Russell grabs an industrial sized tin of coffee from the top shelf in the press, a few generous spoonfuls dumped into white mugs.
“You don’t want one of these fancy pods instead?” he teases.
The strong stuff is needed.
Sligo start their Premier Division season at home to Waterford tonight, but when The 42 visits it’s the beginning of week five in pre-season.
Other than three days off around Christmas, Russell has been non-stop since the 2024 campaign finished.
At 39, he is the youngest top-flight manager in the country and already embarking on his third full campaign in charge.
There are no more surprises. “You want to change the world at first,” Russell says. “But you have to adapt. It’s never a one size fits all approach. That doesn’t mean your demands change, though.”
Just like at the end of 2023, the Bit O’Red’s first-team squad was gutted over the winter. Russell was prepared for the overhaul. “You want players to come and do well and use it as a springboard. It’s a blessing and a curse when they do because they can go and double their money elsewhere in the league.”
And then Sligo must build again.
Russell’s budget is the same as last season and he reckons that means it will be the smallest in the division. New – and improved – contracts were offered to those he was able to keep.
The likes of Will Fitzgerald, Ollie Denham, Reece Hutchinson and Conor Malley have remained in the northwest, while the return to full fitness of captain John Mahon is a huge boost after a ruptured Achilles ruled him out for pretty much all of 2024.
“Part of my pitch to any player is buying into the club and the connection that is there with the people and the fans, what they are representing when they cross the white line,” Russell says.
“As a kid, the first thing you’re taught is to try your best. Sometimes that gets lost in professional football and excuses are made instead. At this club it’s about giving every bit of yourself on the pitch so no one questions your desire or can say you didn’t work.”
Russell’s eyes are open to the challenges of this job, but that also means he sees exactly what makes this fan-owned club so special, and the improbable mechanisms behind the scenes that ensure it remains financially viable.
More than €2 million has been raised since 2003 by the 500 Club, a supporters’ group that has outgrown its name given there are actually 723 members, with an estimated 80 full-time volunteers continually ensuring there is additional income raised.
We sit at his desk in one of two portacabins beside the Showgrounds’ pitch. They also help explain the culture of opportunism and volunteerism that is at the very core of this club.
This one, with a small reception area and a narrow corridor that houses a kitchen and a few more offices, was previously used during building work at St Vincent’s Hospital in Dublin.
Former chairman, Dublin-based Dr Dermot Kelly, was told they were to be scrapped so arranged for them to be transported to Sligo within hours.
Similarly, another cabin just a few feet away where there is a club shop and other facilities, was liberated from a convent in Athlone.
They are part of the charm but, more importantly, they will soon belong to Sligo Rovers’ past.
In November, it was announced that they would receive €16,400,000 from the Government’s Large Scale Sport Infrastructure Fund (LSSIF) for the redevelopment of the Showgrounds.
“This level of Government funding is unprecedented for a sporting project in the north-west,” Sligo said in a statement at the time.
The aim is for the ground to be redeveloped in time for the club’s centenary celebrations in 2028. A new hybrid pitch is slated to be installed the season after next, and if Russell is still in charge, he knows he’ll have beaten the odds.
“The board are realistic but the expectation is still to overachieve,” Russell says. “The ambition and message I’m giving to the players is to believe they can play to a higher level, and put those demands on them because it is not just about avoiding relegation. We still need to get results because the wolves are always at the gate.”
…
The drive to McSharry Park for the morning’s training session is a short one.
It is the base for the Sligo/Leitrim District League, and they provided the use of the astro free of charge over the winter.
In return, Sligo will play a Select XI as part of their pre-season plans. The 42 sits beside one of the baby seats in the back while new addition to the staff Jesse Acteson hops in the front beside Russell.
He was brought on board as set-piece coach – the first in the League of Ireland- after Russell crunched the numbers from last season. Half of the 51 goals they conceded were from set-pieces while 11%of their goals scored in all competitions were dead balls.
Russell interviewed the Canadian, who is also fluent in French, online and his homework delved deeper into the league as a whole.
Across the Premier Division last season, there were 110 set-piece goals, accounting for 26.96% of all goals. It was the largest percentage compared to top flights in Portugal (20.33%), Germany (19.86%), England (19.02%), Italy (18.45%) and Spain (17.41%). Scotland came in at 18.97%.
So, Russell decided to use some of his budget on bringing Acteson to the club instead of another player.
“It all comes out of one pot here,” Russell says.
The Sligo boss has developed a strong relationship with Arsenal, helped further by the progress Jack Henry Francis made on loan last season. Ken Gillard is also a Dubliner on the coaching staff of the Premier League side’s U23 team.
Arsenal was one of the clubs Russell visited over the winter with some of his own staff, although it wasn’t just Mikel Arteta he tried to get some facetime with. “I wanted to speak to the set-piece coach but he was too busy,” he jokes.
That feels a world away now. We’re beyond the Garda checkpoint en route to McSharry Park as Russell parks up beside assistant manager Ryan Casey.
The rain and wind has worsened. You wouldn’t put a dog out in this weather. Literally.
Casey has brought his English bulldog to training but he will watch the session from the front seat. “I think his name is Max but we all call him Barreler,” Russell says.
There is a painful moment for Mahon late on in the session when he keels over after an incident during 11-a-side shape work. Initial concerns subside when he trudges over to the blue brick wall around the pitch and bends over to compose himself.
A ball smashed into the goolies is no worries at all for a man who has fractured his leg and ruptured his Achilles in two of his most recent pre-seasons.
The Collooney native, now 24, is all smiles when the session finishes and takes a seat beside another local boy, Daire Patton. Both have known the manager since they were children, when Russell combined playing duties with work as a Development Officer in the region for the FAI.
“Mentally I wasn’t in the best place at all after the Achilles,” Mahon says, admitting he was already struggling after returning from a stint with St Johnstone in Scotland.
“I didn’t want to keep playing but Russ was the one who got through to me and made me realise what I had.”
Patton is six years Mahon’s junior and just signed his first professional deal over the winter. If he wasn’t good enough to make the leap from the academy he would be going to games with his friends every weekend instead.
“I want to push on and get minutes to make a mark this season, there is no better feeling than representing the place you’re from and feeling what it means to people around you,” the teenager says.
Outside, the rain has eased. Casey has taken Barreler out of the car and is about to go for a walk after a debrief with Russell.
Back at the Showgrounds, one of the secrets to Sligo’s success is waiting.
….
One of the first things Vincent Nally will tell you is that he is not a dyed in wool Sligo Rovers fan.
One of the next things he will tell you is that he is, in fact, more of a GAA man.
And that is true. He played for Mayo as a full back in the early 1960s and represented Connacht in the Railway Cup.
It was business that first hooked Nally in, backing the club financially when he was in management with local firm Brooks Hanley.
Now in his early 80s, Nally retired 17 years ago.
That is when the work really began.
One of the enduring traits of the League of Ireland is Sligo’s incredible ability to fundraise. Turns out the mystery behind how they do it is very simple, but by no means easy: dedication, organisation and perseverance.
“Family, friends, enemies, you name it, we go after everyone,” Nally says.
He has been at the core of the 500 Club since 2008. While it is independent of the club, they are still incorporated in Sligo’s accounts and audited alongside them.
What started as a target of 200 members in 2003 has risen to 732. Some make their one-off payment of €240 for the year while most have set up standing orders of €20 per month.
On average, €10,000 will be deposited into the club’s accounts each month. In 2023, due to reserves of cash, they were able to provide €150,000.
Nally estimates he looks after 6,750 transactions each year. The admin work alone, ensuring receipts are issued and up-to-date records are kept, takes between three and four hours a day.
Even at the golf club, where he pretends to frequent for pleasure, Nally will scour the tee-times and judge when will be best to collar certain people for support.
“They’re sick of the sight of me.”
The demise of Ulster Bank saw around 80 members fall-off. There will be two trips to banks each week for deposits and lodgements, while transactions coming in from members are every day of the week.
A couple of new members even use Revolut.
“We are conservative and old fashioned in a lot of ways but we’re aiming for the younger generation now. We need people out to keep this going.”
The 500 Club is one element of a three-pronged fundraising attack, with estimates of at least 80 volunteers consistently out on the ground for the club.
The Club Lotto is all year round and takes in €100,000. It happens every Monday night, books to be sold go back out on Tuesdays and they are all gathered again by the following Monday afternoon.
In the summer months, tickets for the Annual Draw are targeted from June to August so they can make the most of the grand aul stretch in the evening. In those three months alone, a further €110,000 net will be gathered, and that’s after the various cash prizes.
Groups of nine or so will visit housing estates and homeplaces throughout the county, and a little bit beyond. It’s an army on the march and part of the culture.
“There isn’t a house in Sligo that hasn’t been called on. All we’re doing is minding the money for everyone, for the club, the conduit for the people who put the money into the club,” Nally says.
Often it still won’t be enough, additional fundraisers are a necessity while last year’s friendly matches with Celtic and Everton were both crucial to minimising the effects of back-to-back loss-making seasons.
In the case of the game with the Hoops, it was the late Tommie Gorman who pulled out the stops with contacts in Glasgow to help organise that fixture.
“I go to all the home matches, I buy my season ticket like everyone else and I love soccer and the players but I’m not deeply entrenched in it like some people are,” Nally says.
“I’m not jumping out of my seat at games.”
He will hopefully have a new one once the redevelopment is completed in three years’ time.
“It is a long-term commitment and will need people totally committed to making it happen. It will totally uplift the model we have now and make it completely different. The club will be transformed.”
…
The rain has returned, and on the drive out of town up to Rosses Point it is joined by mist and fog that is thick and still.
Oyster Island should be visible but isn’t. Coney Island is beyond it and Strandhill further out again.
Club chairman Tommy Higgins is waiting, holding a brochure of the redevelopment plans for the Showgrounds that are no longer a pipe dream, but are now clearly in sight over the horizon.
A seven-week application process last year was fully supported by Sligo Council and the FAI.
“There was no pushback at all,” he says.
Three years of intensive planning and management throughout the club ensured the historic grant application was accepted. The late Tommie Gorman was a crucial figure throughout the process. A week before his death last year he was still organising the application and meeting with the bank.
There will be expertise in project management, finance and engineering on board to ensure the timeline can be met.
Mark Cousins is the club’s development officer with experience as senior executive engineer for Sligo council.
A tendering process for works is set to begin which means more work behind the scenes throughout this year before “the diggers will be out in 2026.”
Higgins is thinking as much with his head as he is with his heart.
“It will always be difficult but I believe this will be a saviour. We need more income. It’s all about the money. We have a ceiling on our budget, and we have to work within that,” he says, putting the current annual figure to run the club at €2.1 million.
“Even that is a challenge. The next three years will be challenging. Where will we end up? Who knows.”
He laughs.
“Oh yes, that is absolutely where we have to be. We have to be in the Premier Division but we’re going ahead with this regardless. Money doesn’t always mean success. Whether you’re Real Madrid or Sligo, you’re handing the club over to one person to (WORD MISSING HERE). You’re a custodian.”
Sligo confirmed a deficit of €298,887 for 2023, after recording a surplus of €17,017 in 2022.
In ’23, total expenditure was €2.36m, a reduction from €2.85m the year before.
That is why, on the cusp of another new campaign, the goal remains the same. “How do we get to the end of the season?” Higgins says.
Another nervous laugh.
The former head of Ticketmaster Europe, he knows the importance and value of a modern, manageable Showgrounds in the town.
Their average attendance last season was around 2,900. The new stadium – which will also be suitable for rugby – will see capacity climb to just above 6,000, although there is scope in the plans to extend it further with a second tier. “If the thing really explodes, and there really is something different in the air with the League of Ireland now.
“You can run a really good football club if you get 5,000 people in for every home game, and I’ve no doubt that we will see our attendances reach that with a new ground.”
Remaining 100% fan-owned is also not up for debate. “That is the culture of the club, that community aspect is something we love. The new ground will help transform what we are capable of but would Sligo Rovers be the same if outside investment came in? I don’t know. We’re not looking at that.”
A different kind of future has become clearer for Sligo, and taking them there will be a relentless spirit.
Tonight – Sligo Rovers v Waterford, 7.45pm.
Getting Jermaine Defoe and swapping him for Jozy Altidore is probably one of the best transfer deals ever.
Dozy Altidore
Altisnore
Dozy Antiscore
Take it from me, Defoe will not score against Spurs. Mainly due to the fact I have put money it!!
It will be great to see Defo back at WHL ..but wish it was for us …He would be great back up for Harry Kane ..While Soldado trys to find his boots.