League of Ireland is sink-or-swim territory, as Mayo FC will discover

by Caoimhín Rowland

The 2011 Hollywood film Moneyball starring Jonah Hill and Brad Pitt makes a remarkable job of presenting Microsoft Excel junkies as rock stars.

The premise, based on a true story of the Oklahoma A’s baseball team in 2001, has been replicated in the world of European football recently by FC Nordsjaelland of Denmark. Learnings from outside the box could help Mayo FC's evolution occur more seamlessly and sustainably if followed.

2024 presents an inaugural challenge for soccer here in Mayo and more encouragingly for the newly announced Meath FC, CK United and Klub Kildare who look to be the newest members of the illustrious and growing domestic game in Ireland.

The vaunted third tier that Mayo FC will be part of looks set to be a fixture sooner rather than later as the land of the yew trees announced their crest over the Christmas break and have followed the Kingdom into the realms of the professional beautiful game.

Mayo FC needs to be smart if it has any hope in a world of more and more football and with the benefit of support in place from the League of Ireland which is keen to see a third tier succeed.

Rumours of university teams from Galway and Cork to bolster the numbers could see an eight-team league run off over a short space of time.

The inaugural Mayo FC, if it continues to copy Kerry FC, will have an entirely native and homegrown squad, at least for the first season.

The folks at Mounthawke Park managed to entice former Sheffield United youth player and Kerryman Leo Gaxha back to the Kingdom, plus the promotion of several youth players from the county.

Most notably, Kennedy Amechi was plying his trade with neighbouring Cork City before being offered a professional deal and a chance to play senior football for his home club, Kerry FC. This season he has impressed on trials with Reading and Crystal Palace.

Spectators of the Mayo Super League know there is talent within the county and with a pipeline of talent coming through the chances of seeing that grow is exponential.

But it is a global game and the rules that define Gaelic games are entirely foreign to soccer, unless you’re Athletic Bilbao.

Kerry FC use their much inferior airport as their main shirt sponsor.

Knock airport is already often in use for LOI clubs during their European exploits due to the colossal charge of chartering planes from Dublin Airport.

Morten Gamst Pedersen famously flew through the Monsignor’s airport, as did Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, during their stints at Molde, just 30 minutes from Milebush. A partnership should be sought to foster ties, for the benefit of both parties.

ATU, on paper, at least makes Castlebar a university town. Funds will be low to pay wages and transfer dealings involving payments will be a long way down the line.

Offering international players from Europe and South America the opportunity to earn a degree and a chance to showcase their skills close to English football scouts should be used as a carrot to entice talent typically out of budget for most low-ranked sides.

A campaign to advertise the combination of an international airport, English education and proximity to scouts from the UK to football agencies across the continent and beyond could be explored to some success.

The Mayo FC crest upon release attracted mixed reviews. It smacked of a designer recreating the Mayo GAA crest from memory.

But what it did possess in spades was a deep understanding of the county’s history.

No other Irish club can say one of their sons laid the first sod on Paradise.

Michael Davitt, a globally recognised Irish revolutionary hero, is well remembered in Glasgow, alongside Sligo’s Brother Walfrid, the founder of the club.

The former European Cup winners are under the wing of Dublin businessman Dermot Desmond. He also has a majority stake in Shamrock Rovers.

But due to the chasm that will exist between Stephen Bradley’s side and newcomers Mayo FC, an affiliate link to foster young talent from Tallaght Stadium could be explored, similarly, offering Celtic youngsters not up to the standard of their youth teams an opportunity to play or even share players, coaches, knowledge and scouts as networking and brown-nosing particularly at the beginning of the ambitious Mayo FC project.

Accommodation and the housing crisis are inescapable facts of life in modern Ireland.

FAI Cup winners St. Patrick’s Athletic admitted to Dan McDonnell in the Irish Independent that sourcing housing for players is one of the biggest headaches for the club's recruitment team.

So much so that they have focused on young players with no wives or children who are happy to board in rented accommodations close to Inchicore with several other players.

For a semi-retired, older pro, keen on obtaining coaching badges via the FAI, relocating to Mayo is a far more affordable option than Dublin or even Galway.

Similarly, across from Solar 21 Milebush Park, the Hawthorn student accommodation has several properties currently for sale on Daft.ie. Purchasing one or more of those flats close to the club ground would be another boon in the arsenal of enticement Mayo FC could pursue.

Thinking outside of the box will be vital in making the Mayo FC project succeed. The odds, quite frankly, are stacked against them.

The League of Ireland is real sink-or-swim territory and the professional football game has no room for sentimentality.