BRIAN KERR IS set for a second, and more realistic, approach from the Football Association of Ireland to discuss ending his 15 years in exile.
The famous Dubliner, who was rewarded for unprecedented success with Ireland’s youth teams by being promoted to the senior post, has been frozen out since John Delaney issued him a P45 in 2005.
With the long-time chief executive finally off the scene, following his resignation in recent months from both the FAI and UEFA amid ongoing probes, hopes of a Kerr comeback have increased.
That prospect gained further traction over the weekend by Gerry McAnaney’s elevation to the post of FAI President.
He was emphatically returned ahead of Martin Heraghty as the choice of members on a 88-40 vote at Saturday’s emergency general meeting.
It’s no secret that McAnaney and Kerr are close.
The pair worked together on devising a development plan when Kerr was technical director before taking on the ultimate task of senior boss in 2003.
The new President, born in Dublin but living in Cork for 35 years, spoke glowingly of Kerr after Saturday’s triumph at the Crowne Plaza Blanchardstown.
Unlike former interim chief executive Noel Mooney, who last year annoyed Kerr by floating a role of “media watchdog” for him, McAnaney will be playing to the veteran’s strengths when hosting a sit-down in the coming weeks.
Niall Quinn, another fresh face inside Abbotstown from Monday as deputy chief executive, has also endorsed a return to the frontline of Irish football for Kerr.
It remains to be seen what specific post he’ll be offered but, in the first instance, a place on the new Football Management Committee could be explored.
That forum, as recommended by the governance review group, will function directly beneath the board.
It’s terms of reference includes “having a key advisory and oversight role in all football-related committees”.
Brian is on the record as saying he has no problem helping the FAI, so I would certainly be willing to talk to him,” said McAnaney.
“He is a personal friend of mine but I don’t need to tell people what he has done for Irish football over many years.
“Brian has something to give. I know him to be a man of extreme loyalty and that stretches to Irish football, through thick and thin.”
Meanwhile, the new President is convinced the right personnel are in place to help steer the FAI from its current crisis.
He has given a commitment to ensure any lay-offs arising from tackling €70m of debt won’t entail those at the coalface.
Sports Minister Shane Ross, intergal to supplying a bailout package also involving the Bank of Ireland and UEFA, is adamant that low-paid staff shouldn’t be punished for the mistakes of the previous regime.
“The boil has been lanced,” said McAnaney, in reference to the board overhaul.
“We could see at the EGM on Saturday and the recent AGM that members have found their voice. They are now dealing with a new board, including independent directors for the first time in the association’s history.
“There is high-calibre independent directors in Roy Barrett, Catherine Guy and Liz Doyle. People have been wondering how we managed to attract those when the FAI brand is supposed to be toxic.
“Then, there is our new interim CEO Gary Owens and his deputy Niall Quinn. We are certainly getting bang for our buck, albeit a buck we probably don’t have.
“The low-paid staff in the FAI are the footsoldiers keeping the show on the road week in, week out, so I would be very anxious that all of those people would be kept on.”
- Originally published at 00.01
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Fantastic news. Things are finally looking up
About time. To treat this man in such a way was appalling. We need all the help that we can muster.
@garfarkle: the way John Delaney treated everyone was appalling
@John S: not exactly true; he treated himself very well (and still prob does)
Proper order…a football man
When will Delaney be charged?
@BewaretheBeardies: He won’t, it would be a house of cards then.
It’s criminal he was left out, the man’s got good experience and great knowledge within Irish football and has a passion to improve it. If everyone in the (hopefully) new FAI has the right intentions and they get the right people in there could be a great future for football in Ireland.
@simplysuperman69: John only wanted his ‘yes’ men and his personal stooges within the FAI. Someone like Brian Kerr who would upset the whole party was a no-go..
About time he is back , a good honest guy , who the FAI were waiting to get rid of at the first chance they got .great news .
@Tricksy: Not the FAi but the bar stool fans who know nothing and Delaney. Sadly Brian was not the only one or club he tried to destroy.
Quinn and Kerr are the right people to help the fai back and more importantly get the league of Ireland up to its potential
A multi winner coach/manager. About time
Would be great to see Kerr involved. But it might be too late for the fai to survive . Right now they’re giving the public what they want. Possibly to reduce the backlash of any government assistance/bailout
@Quentin Tarantino: looking forward to the film
@Quentin Tarantino: at this stage, most people, I would say, are in favour of a govt bailout. The alternative is insolvency and that cant be allowed to happen.
Hopefully he will be off tv so
@Tony Mcgrath:
He’s brilliant on TV
@Tony Mcgrath: he is the most insightful pundit on telly and radio at the moment and funny with it. Having a strong Dublin accent seems to be a crime these days. I hope he doesn’t give up his tv work.
Great news, Kerr great football man absolute shame he wasn’t involved last 15 years, great have him back unwards and upwards.
There is a simple solution to this whole FAI debacle. Disband it, and get FIFA/UEFA to again recognise the IFA (the Irish Football Association, not the Farmers.) as the administrators of association football on the entire island. It would mean we would have a unified Irish team.
We could take the names of the previous teams i.e. “Northern Ireland” & “The Republic of Ireland” and combine them to something snappy like “Northern Ireland”. Everybody wins.
@Feardorcha Ó Maolomhnaigh:
Dead simple. I’m sure that the 40 something percent of protestant fans in NI will also feel they have won..
@Feardorcha Ó Maolomhnaigh: Would need a new anthem too. None of that Ireland’s Call rubbish. How about Come out ye black and tans? Or Joe McDonnell? Or maybe we’ll just wait 5 to 10 years for reunification which is a certainty at this stage.
@Ebeneezer Goode: Nothing like a nasty bit of sectarianism to lighten the mood.
@Ebeneezer Goode: Certainty??? Are you trying to get a rise. You must be one of these people who hope for disaster.
@Burn_the_Witch: #Think32
@Feardorcha Ó Maolomhnaigh: I didn’t want to highlight that Feardorcha, thank you for admitting it.
Best news ever … looks like we’re starting to get some real football men in there now. The swamp is almost drained ..
Why are FAI only appointing people from within Irish football? Kerr, Quinn etc. all have blemish free characters but the fact is that creating a management/oversight team of people who know each other is a recipe for corruption.
FAI needs support from the Irish taxpayer through a direct bail out and through BOI which the taxpayer is a shareholder. If Ross was able to do his job there would be no bail out until a diverse management/oversight team is established. At the very least this would be an expectation of a blended management team comprising of Irish, International and even stakeholders from outside football.
@Wreck Tangle: your proposal regarding Ross is what is known as political interference, a big no-no from both UEFA and FIFA. Any such interference would likely scare off any potential investors and risk sanctions from UEFA and FIFA. Trying to pin blame on Ross (and I would agree he’s not fit for purpose) is either scapegoating or shows a lack of understanding.
@Wreck Tangle: like the FA in England is full of outsiders. Get a grip
@David Glynn: Tax payer’s money should not be bailing out the FAI under any circumstances.
@Brian Ó Dálaigh:
Any bail out is money belonged to the tax payer and diverts funs from elsewhere in society, therefore Ross is accountable to the electorate on this, not to FAI, FIFA or UEFA. He should 100% not state who should be appointed to these boards but a taxpayer bail out should be conditional on diversity within the management structure.
FIFA/UEFA are not exactly role models to oversee integrity. If this is seen as interference, fine. Let them bail out FAI or let it go to the wall. Throwing tax payer money into a pit of corruption and no oversight is not the answer.
@Feardorcha Ó Maolomhnaigh: Are you so thick that you don’t realise that they don’t want a bailout. They want Govt support and restoration of funding that paid for development officer network. This sort of misleading guff helps no one.
Get your facts right.
@David Glynn:
I would say you should look at your facts. Bailout by definition: An act of giving financial assistance to a failing business or economy to save it from collapse. Funding is normally associated with development. This money will stop the FAI going to the wall, i.e bailout.
Feardorcha’s point is not misleading, it’s fair! FAI has squandered revenue, it’s become so toxic that it cannot attract sponsorship and why should the tax payer provide funding/bail out when the Govt ( a few weeks ago) was independently advised not to give money to this organisation.
@Wreck Tangle: there shouldn’t be a taxpayer bailout, full stop. The FAI got itself into this mess. The FAI needs to get itself out of this mess. My apologies if I interpreted your initial comment incorrectly, but I was sure you were advocating for Ross and the government to intervene in the selection process. Even conditions of diversity could be seen by UEFA and FIFA as political interference. Any injection of money by the government is simply saying to other organisations – and the FAI itself – that there is no need for any accountability; the government will come to the rescue. So, no, there should be absolutely no bailout.
@Wreck Tangle: They have made five recent appointments at the top of the FAI. The chairman of the board, two further independent directors and the interim CEO are all appointments from outside Irish football, with a further independent director soon to be added to that. Quinn is the only one who has been appointed who was previously involved in Irish football and that was as a player, not with the FAI. So when you ask “Why are FAI only appointing people from within Irish football?”, what exactly are you talking about?
@The Logic:
Gerry McAnaney, new president, formerly chairperson of the Defence Forces Football Association and served as a member of the FAI board of management and the FAI disciplinary panel.
Great news. He could run Academy for youth.
As to money sure the greyhound guys get 17 million euro and the horsey crowd 1.7 million for equestrian stuff.
All FAI was looking was their grant restored and guarantees to Bank.
This is the Bank we rescued.. BOI.
All the Govt has to do is to say we’re happy with the new set up and back the revamped FAI. State money shoud be used for development of the game solely. After all, despite a decline recently it is the most popular competitive team sport in Ireland and with Chancer Delaney banished can come good again.
Support the boys in green!
It’s crazy to think the FAI shunned the domestic league for years and fell out with just about every great footballing brain we have in this country. What did they think their remit was? National team only? The players were resourced from any scraps we could source from England and there was no money to pay a manager so a fan did it… what were they doing all those years and how did they get away with it? Baffling. The team I’m supporting is the Garda fraud investigation unit. Really, really hope they win.
Great news the man live’s for Irish football has true passion for it
BleeDin Imelda Mayyyyys buddy. Get him in even just to here his lingo classic. “Dat yokes a cabbage in da ball”
When does Annie show up offering pictures of John Delaney being water boarded?
Delighted for Brian and delighted for.everyone who loves soccer in Ireland. An Inchicore legend and a real football fan who gives his all to the game. His love and passion for the game is unrivalled.
Considering that the association is financially struggling, why are these positions for Quinn & Kerr not on a voluntary capacity, they are not short of money and as stated the genuine staff are struggling.
For an association that is financially struggling why can’t these positions ( Quinn & Kerr )be filled on a voluntary capacity if they are truly interested in the wellbeing of the association.
Great stuff