DROGHEDA UNITED'S hopes of survival were boosted yesterday when talks between the club's officials and the union representing the players yielded what is hoped will prove to be the basis of a deal on unpaid wages and bonuses.
PFAI general secretary Stephen McGuinness said he would take an improved offer from the club in respect of the €350,000 they owe playing staff back to his members, although that process is not expected to be completed until later today as several are now with other clubs, some overseas, and would have to be consulted in a series of phone calls.
The club hope to have a response by mid-afternoon tomorrow, when, in the event that it is positive, they will focus on negotiations with the other creditors whose approval is required for the club to come out of examinership when they return to the High Court on the 22nd of this month.
"We're cautiously optimistic that we've taken an important step in the right direction," said club spokesman Terry Collins yesterday. "It was a fairly frank exchange of views this morning but it was good, and I think both sides came away with a better idea of where the others were coming from."
The meeting, which took place at Abbotstown, was overseen by FAI chief executive John Delaney who, Collins said, had played a positive role. Both sides agreed to keep the terms of the new offer under wraps, but, he said, "it's nothing like what they were looking for the club to pay originally".
In fact, it appears the €91,000 lump sum offered has not been improved, but United officials, led by long-time chairman Vincent Hoey, have agreed to make some additional payments to the players over the next three months, a proposal they had previously rejected, and it is understood the FAI have guaranteed those payments.
The talks at Drogheda, as it happens, are just one, particularly extreme part of a countrywide scramble by senior clubs to get their financial affairs in order by the end of this month so they can secure licences to play in the league this year.
Cork City officials, who appear to be on course to name former Ipswich player and Newcastle United coach David Geddis as their new manager, are due to meet the FAI next week to address concerns in relation to money still owed to players and a number of recent glitches in relation to payment.
Double winners Bohemians, and St Patrick's Athletic, meanwhile, are seeking 30 per cent pay cuts from their players, and in at least one case, a player who agreed to sign for one of the clubs recently has had the terms on offer substantially reduced prior to the contract being finalised.
Talks at both clubs are continuing, and Pat Fenlon's hopes of putting together a squad capable of mounting a serious defence of the trophies won last year would appear to depend upon the 12 players currently under contract agreeing to accept an erosion of their terms.
The situation has not been helped by a decision, likely to be confirmed over the coming weeks, to effectively shelve the Setanta Sports Cup until the latter part of the year, with the next final of the competition, which provides significant income to the country's leading clubs, unlikely to be played before the spring of 2010.
At yesterday's meeting in Abbotstown, Delaney is said to have expressed the opinion that the mayhem among league clubs is essentially a one-off adjustment and that the more stringent financial regulations being brought in by the association will prevent a repeat of problems on anything like this scale.
Asked if he believed the assurances, McGuinness said he could only hope Delaney is proven right.
"As things stand," he said, "there are going to be a lot less jobs for footballers in this country next year, and the ones there are going to get a lot less money, so it seems the only positive straw we can grasp at is that whatever contracts are handed out over the coming weeks will at least be honoured."
