THE FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION of Ireland paid €7.7 million off its legacy debt in 2023 — but still owe more than €40m according to the latest accounts published on Monday.

A year-on-year increase of €9.5m in match-related income — helped by strong attendances and season ticket sales for the Euro 2024 qualifiers, and the WNT’s Aviva Stadium debut against Northern Ireland — as well as increased commercial revenues saw turnover grow to €62.3m, leading to a €3.5m surplus in 2023.

The total amount owed to banks and in other borrowings, which stood at €50.9m in 2022, has been reduced to €43.2m, with cash reserves falling from €10.9m to €1.6m as a result.

In a statement on Monday, the FAI said that “the accounts confirm that the Association has continued to prudently manage its financial position in 2023 in order to sustainably invest in the wider football community, reduce financial risk, while managing the costs associated with legacy debt issues”.

Interim chief executive David Courell said that 2023 “has reinforced the steady improvement of the Association’s financial situation”. 

“With a surplus of €3.5 million achieved for the second year in a row year we continue to make significant strides towards our long-term financial goal of reducing our legacy debt which will in turn enable us to maximise our investment into the game. 

 ”While making progress, we are acutely conscious that we are only part way through the journey of clearing our legacy debt. We need to balance the requirement of servicing and paying down this legacy debt whilst continuing to invest in developing the game and helping it to achieve its full potential.

“As a not-for-profit organisation it is incumbent on us to be increasingly vigilant in our financial management, ensuring we maximise each and every euro of investment that we put back into the game.”