'I think we're at the end of a disgraceful era' - Brian Kerr on state of play after Delaney departure

WHAT’S JOHN DELANEY’S legacy? 

The FAI confirmed on Saturday night that their former chief executive had parted from the Association, ending the Delaney era. 

Questions remain about the deal the FAI cut with the departing executive vice president, their current financial situation and where they go from here.

Brian Kerr was asked this evening, on Virgin Media’s Champions League coverage, to sum up John Delaney’s legacy.

“I think we are just at the end of a disgraceful era, as far as I’m concerned,” the former Ireland manager said. “There was massive reputational damage to football in Ireland, to the association and even ordinary people who are involved in the game have had to take a lot of stick.

“It appears that him (Delaney) and the rest of them that were involved on the board have left behind a complete financial shambles. We don’t know the extent of that financial shambles yet until we hear the results of some of the reports.

“They’ve left behind a staff whose morale is at a very low ebb due to how that have been treated. Some brilliant people were discarded over the time and they have found that their pensions were not even paid properly. Yet there appears to have been a big settlement to ensure that John’s pension was paid up properly.

“The programmes for underage development were all badly resourced during this period of austerity that was overseen by this regime and I think the game has suffered for that. The League of Ireland has suffered, the grounds haven’t advanced, the prizes for teams winning the league or the FAI Cup are abysmal.

“We have gone down the rankings in terms of our coefficient ranking with UEFA, despite the effort of the clubs individually, especially Dundalk over the last number of years.

“The two qualifications for France (Euro 2016) and Poland (Euro 2012) covered up a lot of problems. I and many others have said for years and years that the organisation lacked leadership and that has now been exposed.

“It was sad the way it came about. They went into the Government Buildings and had a chance to explain their stewardship and they decided to shut up shop and hide behind lawyers.”

Watch Kerr’s full comments here: