Labour emphasises support for ‘football industry’

Ireland needs to commit to creating a “football industry” through sustainable Government support, Labour has said.

Labour finance spokesman Ged Nash said football has been the “poor relation” in terms of Government sports funding.

Launching the party’s “football manifesto” in Drogheda, Mr Nash said Labour would invest in the “beautiful game”.

He said: “We’re committed to increasing the betting levy by 1% each year, and ring-fencing 30 million euros that we generate from that for our game.”

Mr Nash added: “People will be aware that Drogheda United, with the support of the local council and the FAI, made application for just under 20 million euros for a really badly needed new stadium on the north side of Drogheda to house our League of Ireland club into the future.

“Unfortunately, this year, that application was unsuccessful.

“We know that the application will be successful in the near-term future, but we need a resource and a commitment from the next government – a commitment we’re giving here today – that the large-scale sports infrastructure fund will be provided on a multi-annual basis.

“The last time the fund was available was 2018 – that’s too long ago.

“We have a huge deficiency in sports and football infrastructure, in particular across this country.

“We have the funds now to make that difference.

“We know how important football is in terms of social inclusion and, importantly, integration.”

Mr Nash called for a professionalisation of the game on and off the pitch.

He said: “If you look at what happened in football federations and indeed governments across Europe, in places like Belgium, Croatia and Portugal, they invested decades ago in the academy structures of league clubs in those countries.

“Now those countries are famously competing at the very highest level on the international stage, for European Championships and for World Cups.

“That’s where Ireland needs to be in the future.”

Mr Nash said Labour would invest in community facilities, grow Ireland’s domestic leagues and ensure football players can forge careers in Ireland – including centralised contracts for young women and men that would support them to stay in the game in Ireland for a minimum of three years.

“If our plans are acted on, we could turn football into the major industry we know it can become, with talented players and administrators being able to make decent careers here.

“It’s crucial that we lay the groundwork now and get the basics right.”