Battling for survival in front of near-empty stands

IN footballing terms, 24-year-old Galway United midfielder Stephen O’Donnell must feel like he has lived a lifetime. From Arsenal to Falkirk and back to his native shores, he has seen – and experienced – it all.

When Talking Sport last caught up with the Merlin Park native in February 2006, O’Donnell was full of hope and optimism. Falkirk FC were doing well in the Cup, while in the Scottish Premier League, he faced a date with his boyhood hero, Roy Keane, who was playing with Celtic at the time.

Four years on, though, and it would appear a wet blanket has been thrown on the fire that once burned brightly and that hope and optimism is slowly being drained. O’Donnell has become chastened by his time at Cork City last year and, currently, with United. For this is the other end of the footballing spectrum; a place where the survival of the club is as much determined by events off the field as it is by the players collective effort on it.

No doubt, it has been a difficult year financially for all at Galway United. Players have been let go and wage cuts have been imposed on those who have remained, all in an effort to reduce outgoings and meet the costs of running a Premier League club. To make it financially viable at a time when crowd attendances are down and sport, as a whole, has also felt the brunt of the current recession.Sitting in the Clayton Hotel – after picking up the Connacht Tribune Sports Star of the Month award for his performances in August – O’Donnell, like many, also wonders how long Galway United can sustain itself in the current economic climate. So, the questions are asked. What does the future hold for Galway United? Do they have a strong future?

“Not at the minute,” replies O’Donnell earnestly. “I just don’t see it. So, I don’t think it does. The attendance is what, four, five or six hundred coming to the games. There doesn’t seem to be the interest there. We beat Bohs a couple of times away from home, and in our next home game you would expect the attendance to be alright, but people just didn’t come out.

“It’s not as if Mervue or Salthill are getting any bigger crowds (in the First Division) either. So, you can’t blame them for taking away from Galway United’s attendance. I think, next year, if we stay up, it will still be similar to this year, unless a big benefactor comes in. But I can’t see it happening. I can’t see it changing.”

With United getting less than a thousand paying patrons at the majority of their games, it certainly does not bode well and it is a credit to those at the club that they have kept Galway United afloat. Now, with the team – despite two games left to play in the League – already facing a relegation play-off with Bray Wanderers in the coming weeks, it will be interesting to see if Galway’s sporting public will once again respond. O’Donnell hopes so.

For more, read this week's Connacht Tribune.