FAI confirms significant job losses as part of restructuring process

The Football Association of Ireland (FAI) will introduce a voluntary redundancy scheme in the coming days to “significantly” reduce the current staff of 230.

Following a meeting of the FAI board on Tuesday and a “town hall” meeting to inform staff in Abbotstown on Wednesday morning, the chief executive of the organisation, David Courell, was unable to state how many jobs will be lost by the time the redundancy process is concluded.

When pressed by staff, Courell said that a “significant” number of jobs would go.

The FAI aims to “modernise how football is developed and delivered in Ireland” by introducing “specialist skill sets” and attain “financial sustainability”.

“Once [voluntary redundancies are] completed, the association will then assess progress against its long-term vision and move forward with a phase of redeployment before confirming the number of compulsory redundancies required,” read an FAI statement.

“The transformation programme is informed by extensive research including, Uefa benchmarking, and has been shaped with the benefit of external guidance from specialist consultancy firms.”

The statement added that the current skill sets within the FAI are unable to implement “vital strategies, including the FAI Football Pathways Plan”.

Last Sunday, trade union Siptu called for Minister for Sport Patrick O’Donovan to “urgently intervene” to avoid job losses.

“Without a clear commitment to protecting jobs and community development, the very foundations of the game are at risk,” said Siptu spokesman Robbie Purfield. “Football cannot be rebuilt from the top down, it must be supported from the ground up.”

Courell and the FAI senior leadership are due before the Oireachtas joint committee on Arts, Media, Communications, Culture and Sport in Leinster House on September 24th.

The association is hoping to secure €8 million funding per annum over the next 11 years to build professional academies in League of Ireland clubs.

The FAI continues to manage a debt of €40 million, which has been reduced from €70 million in 2019 after a government bailout.

Alongside redundancies across all sectors of the association, there are concerns among staff over unfilled positions.

In July, FAI vice-president John Finnegan stepped down citing personal and family reasons, while Derry Coughlan, the legal and governance director, resigned after four years with the association.

Dan McCormack, the finance director since June 2023, is leaving to become Leinster Rugby’s chief financial officer in November.

The chief football officer post has been vacant since Marc Canham returned home to England this summer .

The FAI also intend to hire a new head of women’s and girls’ football as Hannah Dingley left in May, after 12 months in the role, to become head of the Manchester City girls’ academy.

“We have no money,” said Dingley in March when asked about the budget for her newly launched action plan for women’s football.

The FAI statement added: “The association thanks staff for their understanding, hard work and commitment, especially during this period of significant change and will provide the appropriate supports to staff during this process.”

Siptu has been approached for comment.

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