“We need Cork to get behind the team,” FORAS chair Declan Carey
FORAS chairman Declan Carey has called on Cork City FC supporters to get behind the team and interim management ahead of Friday night’s SSE Airtricity League class with UCD. A 1-0 win over Bohemians last Friday saw the club secure all three points in Dublin, and Declan is hoping the vocal support in Dalymount Park can be repeated in a few days’ time.
Speaking to RedFM’s Big Red Bench, he said: “We’ve a huge game Friday against UCD. Hopefully the whole of Cork will come out and support the lads – they’re Cork City through and through. We are in a difficult place in the table but that can change if we get a couple of wins on board. If everyone gets behind the lads, that’s a huge motivating factor in itself.
“John Cotter worked under John (Caulfield) for a number of years. He has a number of his own ideas about how he can change things up a bit. He was eager to get other club legends involved: Colin Healy, who is running our Academy at the moment, and Alan Bennett, as assistant manager. There’s also the existing team – Liam Kearney, Kevin Tattan and Lisa Fallon – they can definitely bring the club back up the table.”
Following the departure of John Caulfield, the FORAS chairman touched on events behind the scenes, adding: “All of us on the Board are volunteers, we’re Cork City supporters and lifelong City fans. We were elected to the Board to do a job on behalf of the members; it’s a job that comes with great responsibility.
“We deal with things unbelievably professionally. We looked into all aspects of the club and what a decision like this would make and what kind of an impact not making the decision would make. We’ve had various Board meetings discussing where the club can go over the next one, two, three years.
“There’s no bigger legend at Cork City FC than John Caulfield as a manager and a player. We still have unbelievable respect for John and he’s welcome back to Turner’s Cross. We expect to see him in the stands, cheering the team on.”
Addressing speculation around the club’s playing budget, Declan explained some of the detail that FORAS members would be aware of. “At a meeting last September, there were early discussions about what the budget would look like this year. There was a figure thrown out that was subsequently incorrect about how our playing budget would be reduced. Looking at the 2019 budget compared to 2018, our playing budget was reduced by about 4 to 5%. We went from the Champions League down to Europa League in 2018, and that is a drop in prize money of somewhere in the region of €550,000.
“We manage everything as a club. To minimise the impact to the first-team budget, we drastically increased our targets in terms of merchandise, marketing, sponsorship and fundraising so the first-team budget itself didn’t take as much of a hit when you compare to previous years. Looking at 2017, when we won the double, (our current playing budget) is significantly higher than that.”
The full interview with Declan on RedFM’s Big Red Bench is available below or via the club’s Soundcloud and Podcast.
FORAS members will hear further detail of the club’s financials and updates on all other areas of the club at a General Meeting on Saturday, May 25th. New members are welcome to join the trust on the day or online in advance at CCFC.ie/foras