Dear Editor,
There has been almost universal condemnation of the Board of Galway United Football Club for making a good man walk the plank in their recent dismissal of Tony Cousins from the position of manager.

Anyone with the remotest acquaintance with running a football club in either a voluntary capacity or as a so-called business will recognise most of the comment as ill informed, devoid of genuine analysis and downright offensive.

Some of the national media coverage directed at the Board and its CEO has been cheap and scurrilous. Unsurprisingly the local media has been more circumspect, and has engaged in the unusual practice of reflecting and researching their topic before committing to print. The puerile dribbling all over their keyboards engaged in by Eircom league 'experts' Pat Dolan in the Daily Star and Eamonn Sweeney in the Sunday Independent shows how ill informed they are. They might have a smidgen more credibility if either of them could name two of the Galway United squad.

In Galway we have not benefited from the largesse of Roman Abramovich, Denis O'Brien or the Irish owners of Sunderland Football Club. Instead we have local business people supporting a local product and providing jobs in a local setting – for no profit and a lot of headaches. Quite a few people have put their hands in their pockets to keep senior soccer in Galway, and the city and county is in their debt. They entrust the day to day running of the club to an amiable and capable CEO. The club deserves support from within its catchment area, because local soccer can unite and bring joy in the same way any other sporting success can.

The volleys of abuse hurled in the direction of the Club, its CEO and its Board of Directors in the last week were as undeserved as they were unsurprising.

The Club, its CEO and its core group of dedicated volunteers can hold their heads high. The current adversity is undeniable. But it will pass. There will be better days ahead. Well done to those who are stretching to keep senior soccer in Galway. The know-alls in the national media are very rarely seen paying at any turnstile; their self-indulgent nonsense is best ignored.

Gerard Burke,
Season Ticket Holder,
Galway United Football Club

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