Stephen Looney
Today at 10:21
Linfield and Cliftonville have both taken steps to challenge the Irish Football Association over Irish Cup Final takings that saw both clubs receive a paltry sum of less than £11,000.
The showpiece occasion was played at Windsor Park in front of a crowd of just under 15,000 on May 4.
Sunday Life Sport can reveal that gate receipts for the Final — won by Cliftonville after extra time — amounted to £124,000.
But the Blues and the Reds were left with a reward of just £10,800 each from the net takings on the day.
Now the two Belfast clubs have challenged the IFA, who oversee the Irish Cup, with particular reference to costs incurred on the day of the Final.
The biggest outgoing was expenditure on security at £44,000, considered to be normal to police a high profile game.
But there are other expenses that have rankled with the two clubs, and top of the list is the cost of hospitality on the day.
The President’s Dinner and other hospitality expenses came to a whopping £17,000, dwarfing the money going to the two clubs.
Linfield and Cliftonville were invited to take 10 guests each to the President’s Dinner, only to find out afterwards that it was the clubs covering the costs themselves.
Signage (£14,000) and running costs (£3,500) also ate into the pool of money for the participating teams, while the IFA was also entitled to some of the gate receipts involving the two Premiership clubs.
Participating clubs are each granted 40 per cent of net takings, with the association taking the remaining 20 per cent, which this year amounted to £5,434.
To add insult to injury, both Linfield and Cliftonville were charged for cups of tea at the Blue Riband event.
A fee of £125 was charged to both clubs for tea, coffee and oranges for the players.
“It’s a bit galling”, said one club insider. “We were told the tea, coffee and oranges would be provided by the IFA, then we find out we were billed for them.
“There are a number of aspects to the hospitality costs that we want to drill down further into, and we have asked the IFA for further details of the breakdown.
“Both clubs have made separate challenges but are united in that both clubs want to get to the bottom of the costings.”
By comparison, clubs playing in the County Antrim Shield Final can reasonably expect to earn up to £10,000 after costs, and that is with the decider being played to a capacity crowd of 3057.
In the Republic of Ireland, modest FAI Cup Final ticket prices contributed to a record crowd of 43,881 and participants in the match can earn up to €100k each.
Sunday Life Sport asked the Irish FA if the costings were indeed correct and whether the association could stand over the huge expenditure when compared to the money received by the clubs actually playing in the Final and bringing huge numbers of fans.
A spokesperson for the association was either unable or unwilling to go into a breakdown of the costs, and responded thus: “The Irish Cup Final is our marquee competition.
“Safety and security were of a particularly high priority in the most recent Cup Final in May but, year on year, the fixture requires investment in all elements of its operation and delivery to ensure everyone involved in it has the best possible experience.”
To add insult to injury, Cliftonville were fined £4,000 for supporter misbehaviour during the game, bringing their financial return down to just £6,800.
Linfield were hit with a £2,500 penalty and were also given a stadium ban for home fans.
The south Belfast club appealed the ban and were successful in their bid when the IFA Appeals Committee overruled the association, taking into consideration “Primarily, the lack of control which Linfield FC had over spectators during the IFA given the lack of control over Ticketmaster sales.”
The committee also criticised the IFA’s Disciplinary Code, stating: “The Disciplinary Code does not contain any specific guidance in relation to activation of suspended sanctions OR sanction guidance generally.
“These are significant gaps that need to urgently be addressed.”
In its recommendations, the Appeals Committee also called on the IFA to do more to support clubs when it comes to dealing with racism or sectarianism.
It is not the first time the IFA has had its knuckles rapped by its own Appeals Committee, a three-person panel comprising two independents.
In November of last year, the committee ruled that the IFA’s disciplinary body was wrong to reject a NI Football League recommendation to take a case against Linfield over sectarian singing.
by pickneyboy3000
3 comments
£17000 for a fucking dinner? What were they eating, beluga caviar and truffles?
This is just embarrassing
IFA are a fucking joke