Shelbourne FC shareholders buy back club to keep Damien Duff as manager

Following concerns around the future of Damien Duff as manager of Shelbourne FC, the Irish shareholders at the club are to buy back the 60 per cent stake bought by Turkish billionaire Acun Ilicali last June.

An arrangement has been agreed with Ilicali’s representative at Hull City, where the 54-year-old also holds a majority share, for Premier Sports founder Mickey O’Rourke to take control of Shels.

O’Rourke is a current member of the Shelbourne board of directors. The Irish Independent initially reported the story.

The Turkish media magnate only took control of the Drumcondra club five months ago, when it was agreed that €3 million would be invested to turn Shels into the leading League of Ireland side by the end of 2024. Money already invested will not have to be paid back.

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“With Damien, it won’t take long [for success]. Let me put all the stress on his shoulders,” said Ilicali in June. “If you ask me, what is the target? If we are not in Europe for next season I will be disappointed. And why not become the champions? It would not be a miracle. Next season, with many, many recruits, we can go into higher positions.”

[ Shelbourne owner Acun Ilicali: ‘Our vision is not to destroy the Irish league, it is to improve it’ ]

Shelbourne chief executive officer Barry Mocke told the official supporters club at two separate meetings that a new contract for Duff was close to agreement. However, the former Republic of Ireland winger revealed after last Friday’s league campaign ended that he was no closer to agreeing an extension.

“We’ve had five or six months to sort my future out and it hasn’t happened,” he said. “I want to be here.”

Seemingly, Duff’s future as Shelbourne manager was resting on the result of Sunday’s FAI Cup final between St Patrick’s Athletic and Bohemians at the Aviva Stadium.

A hugely popular figure at Tolka Park, since becoming manager in November 2021, Duff guided Shels to the FAI Cup final last year before finishing fourth in the Premier Division, one place outside automatic qualification for the Europa Conference League qualifiers.

If St Pat’s prevail on Sunday, Shels sneak into Europe next season due to the Saints having already secured a spot in the Europa Conference League from their second-place finish in the league. If Bohemians win the cup final, they will take the last European spot, which comes with a minimum €400,000 windfall.

Whether European football is attained next year or not, the O’Rourke-led group of the board of directors see the value of securing Duff on a long-term deal. The current club owners were non-committal on his position and about giving over control of recruitment to the man capped 100 times by Ireland.

Last June, Ilicali described Hull City vice-chairman Tan Kesler as “Mr Operations” at both clubs.

Kelser has been approached for comment.

The initial interactions between the Irish and English clubs proved fruitful with 20-year-old English players Harry Wood and Will Jarvis making an instant impact on short-term loans from Hull.

However, the promise of Shels dominating Irish football as part of a multi-club model funded from Turkey looks like it has run out of road. The termination of the initial agreement could be confirmed this week.

Shelbourne sources claim that the club remains in “robust financial health” with hopes of improved investment from O’Rourke and other shareholders. The situation around the redevelopment of Tolka Park and the stadium’s repurchase from Dublin City Council is expected to go ahead as planned.

And Damien Duff is now expected to remain at the helm for a third season.