Gavin Cooney

SHAMROCK ROVERS MANAGER Stephen Bradley believes the stodgy Tolka Park pitch ruined what could have been a showpiece league clash with Shelbourne – but says the FAI must restore trust with government to gain access to the level of funding that can bring league facilities up to scratch. 

Rovers’ goalless draw with league leaders Shelbourne was broadcast live on Virgin Media, with the FAI’s top brass, including interim CEO David Courell and director of football Marc Canham, present among a crowd of 4,628. The spectacle was undermined by a bobbly pitch, however, which was heavily loaded with sand. 

“They did well to make any sort of passing on this”, said Bradley in reference to the surface. “It’s up there with one of the worst I’ve played on. You could see the ball as it was moving, bouncing off the sand. I heard they put a few tonne of sand on it during the week but it killed it really.

“You can see it, see players, players having to take three or four touches to get a pass, it was all over the pitch. We’ve Conan [Noonan] and Dylan Watts in there, two of the most naturally gifted players you’ll get, it’s taken them so much time to actually pass the ball. Yeah, it was really poor, it definitely played a massive part in quality of game.” 

Damien Duff was more positive on the surface, saying it has improved since he criticised it after a game against Derry three weeks ago. 

“If you don’t do your work in the off-season, ie the transfer window, you’ll have a poor squad”, explained Duff. “If you don’t do your work in the off-season on your pitch, you’ll have a poor pitch. We are now trying to catch up and do work in season, which is not ideal, why it’s heavily based with sand. It has to be done. It is markedly better to three weeks ago, fair play to the club.” 

The league continues to cry out for investment, with any momentum behind the FAI’s infrastructure plan and its 15-year, €517 million ask of government seemingly lost, thanks in part to the holiday payments fiasco to former CEO Jonathan Hill. While Bradley remains unflinching on the need for investment, he said he can understand any reticence on the part of the State.

“We’ve all been banging the drum and need to keep banging it”, said Bradley. “I don’t know the ins and outs with the government, they need to be comfortable handing over money to the right people.

“Today, it was Kosovo, was it? They’ve committed €200m to stadiums. In ten years time we’ll be wondering they’ve gone ahead and we’re still stuck. We need investment. Crowds are good. I believe the teams are good. Managers are good. We need help with facilities, everyone across the board. Like you see tonight, this doesn’t help anyone. If you were here for the first time, I don’t think you’d be coming back.

“I don’t know. To be fair to the government, you’ve got to be very comfortable on where you are handing that money to and understand that it’s going to get spent in the right way. I understand that. You’ve got to understand their point of view as well. I hope it is because it’s the one thing holding this league back.”