Collateral Damage

The Last Word by John Kehoe

(first published in the August 2010 Wexford Youths match programme)

This week saw the resignation of Eddie Gormley from Bray Wanderers, after a four year stint at the seaside club which was one of the longest tenures in the Airtricity League, second only to Mick Cooke at Monaghan.

While nobody could express themselves shocked at the news, as Bray have been rooted to the foot of the table all season long, the timing is a little unusual given a recent slight upturn in the club’s fortunes with a crucial away win over Drogheda, and the signing of some much needed talent to the squad, not least Wexford man, and former Blue, Gary Dempsey.

But be that as it may, the saddest thing about the news is that Gormley, an outstanding League of Ireland player, an absolute legend at St Patrick’s Athletic and at Bray at the end of his playing career, and a well-liked manager in his time on the sideline, can be seen as something of a victim of circumstances beyond his, or his club’s, control. Collateral damage, if you like.

When Derry City were removed from the Premier Division in November 2009, for breaching the Participation Agreement in the dual contracts affair, Bray were temporarily reprieved from the immediate drop, instead facing Sporting Fingal in the play-off. An aggregate 4-2 win for the newcomers saw Bray’s relegation confirmed, however, and they set about preparing for life at the lower level.

But the interminable to-ing and fro-ing of the Cork City fiasco all year long was to have a knock-on effect on the Seagulls, and when the Licencing Committee finally denied Cork a Premier licence, Bray were invited back into the Premier Division with less than a week’s notice to the start of the season, and had to scramble around looking to sign players to fight a Premier level campaign on a First Division budget. It has been a struggle for them, as the table attests, and though they did manage a run through to the Leinster Senior Cup final, they currently lie eight points adrift of Drogheda at the foot of the League table. Tough scrap as it was always going to be this year, Gormley’s task had been made immeasurably more difficult by the lack of preparation for the top flight, and the subsequent reduction of the income to put things right, as poor home form has seen crowds down by some 30% on last season.

We, of course, know all too well what that’s like down here, having gone through almost exactly the same thing at the end of 2006, put into the play-off spot thanks to the demise of Dublin City, a play-off which we lost to Dundalk (though in our case it was the Independent Assessment Group that ultimately relegated us, not that play-off result), only to be reprieved at very short notice when Shelbourne imploded in February 2007. A team set up for the First Division struggled all season long (though they also lifted the Munster Senior Cup), and eventually went down very tamely to Finn Harps in another play-off. At this stage Bray would certainly settle for catching Drogheda to give themselves a similar chance via the play-off route.

The punishments handed down to Shelbourne and Cork are, of course, to be commended. Painful as they may be to the fans and clubs involved, they will ultimately stamp out the more lunatic practices seen at some League of Ireland clubs over the years, and lead to a more sustainable “product”, much as I hate that word. This can only be a good thing, but on occasion, clouts cast at an offending club can also blindside an unwitting participant, like ourselves in 2007, and like Bray in 2010. Bray have not yet suffered the collateral damage of a protracted relegation (and of course they may not yet do so), but they have lost a good man in Eddie Gormley, a great servant to the domestic game. Hopefully he will be back involved in the Airtricity League before long.