The disgraced John Delaney

 

Is this Genesis Report available online anywhere?  I don't think I've ever seen it anywhere

 The clubs must focus on building strong links and associations with their local communities, both from a playing and non-playing perspective. On the playing side, the league club should act as the pinnacle of football in the area in a pyramid structure. The clubs should have the capability to recruit, coach and retain local talent from under age through to the Senior team. Ideally, the club should work in partnership with all clubs in its area to support the development of players and create a genuine partnership between the local amateur clubs and the league club. As outlined above, each amateur club/league should be attached to a league club.  

For this to work efficiently the issue of compensation to amateur/schoolboy clubs/leagues should be addressed and a clear protocol agreed. Off the field, the clubs should invest in building closer relationships with the local schools, clubs, and the community in general. There are numerous examples of innovative community-based schemes in sports throughout the world. For example, most UK clubs operate a ‘Football in the Community’ scheme. Bolton Wanderers’ scheme included over 20,000 adults and children last year in a diverse range of activities. By developing community-based schemes, clubs can attract new fans to the club and strengthen the loyalties of longer established supporters. It is possible that public funding may be available for Football in the Community officers to be appointed at league clubs. This should be pursued aggressively.

From Genesis - has any LOI club attempted to develop links with all the schools and clubs in its catchment area?    Asking a question, would be interesting to know just how many have, if any.

It is interesting you are putting the onus on the (invariably cash strapped) LOI clubs with that post. Around here, and I would be confident enough saying similar is replicated throughout the country, self interest (and perhaps correctly) from the junior clubs is the biggest obstacle to any cooperation between LOI & said same clubs. Take a former FAI club of the year near here, Tramore AFC, who sold Derrick Williams, an Irish underage international, to Bristol City a few years back. 

Have no idea the ins & outs of the deal, but the club did receive some money for him. Around the time Williams moved to Bristol, Waterford Utd were, as they have been for much of the last decade, financially struggling and I doubt they were in a position to offer Williams or anyone else of that ilk any alternative career in the LOI, much less provide Tramore with any financial compensation for his loss to that club. What would be in it for them (or any junior club) to provide players to the LOI teams ??

The statement above is exceptionally vague in the extreme, particularly 2 sentences; ''Ideally, the club should work in partnership.......'' - without even a suggestion as to how this is supposed to happen, given that as now, the 2 sections are actually in direct competition for players, and the compensation that may arrive if a promising player is sold. 

And ''For this to work, the issue of compensation would have to be addressed'' - Noble sentiments, but again, not even a hint of a suggestion as to how this is supposed to happen, no guidelines or directives issued by the governing body of all of football in the country, just a vague ideal or expressed wish that somehow this will happen organically, or maybe by magic. ''A clear protocol'' - Away ye go lads, I can't wait to hear it. There isn't even a vague protocol there at the minute, never mind a clear one. 

The governing body, I'm presuming, should be the authority that would issue those protocols, if such events came to pass. But any directive like that would mean at least short term pain for the junior clubs/schoolboy clubs. Big deal, a visionary governing body should be able to see the bigger picture in all this. But for some reason, they can't, or won't see it. 

You would nearly think some members of the FAI were in some way beholden to these clubs politically, or depended on their votes to maintain their powerful poisitions or something mad like that, but that's probably me being a bit cynical.... Maybe the LOI clubs & junior clubs aren't the only stakeholders with a vested interest in why this suggested collaboration between clubs isn't happening. Just a thought.................