OUR INITIAL reaction was somebody s taking the mickey but then we heard stuff that made us realise it might actually happen. If the price is right, they re prepared to flush years of tradition down the toilet and go to Ireland.
They may be small in numbers but David Munro and his fellow United Clydebank Supporters were hugely unimpressed last month when it emerged that the Scottish Second Division Club were considering a move to Dublin. Wimbledon, it seems are not alone in wanting to tap the potential of the Dublin market. Neither are the club s fans alone in opposing the very idea of re-location on this scale.
The United Clydebank Supporters realised for certain that they had something to worry about when a letter to Bankies money man David Low elicited the most fence-sitting of replies.
I can only repeat previous statements that a number of locations are being considered by the directors and a decision will be made soon, he parried. This is a difficult time for Clydebank supporters and directors although not the Steedmans, who I have to say are responsible for the predicament.
Having brokered the sale of Celtic to Fergus McCann in 1992 and been called in recently to save Division One Partick Thistle from receivership Low has the reputation of being one of Scottish football s financial big hitters. His involvement with Clydebank stems from the messy dealings which saw the Steedman family depart the club last September after a dynastic 24 years in charge.
Low was brought in by the new chairman, John Hall, to look at all the various options that are open to Clydebank, continues David Munro. We re obviously not privy to what those are but Low has gone on record as saying they include ground sharing, merging with another club or relocating to a new stadium. Dublin fits into that equation, as does taking over Firhill, if Partick go bust.
frightening
Clydebank s desire to find a new home is understandable. For the past season they ve been tenants at Dumbarton s aptly-named Boghead Park, a ground described by Scottish sportswriter David Bennie as the footballing equivalent of a rat-infested hovel.
With home attendances that rarely hit the 300 mark, the club are haemorrhaging money at the rate of #6,000 a week.
This cannot or will not continue, warns John Hall. Having taken over the club some five months ago and subsequently been in a position to examine in detail the severe problems it faces, we can only conclude that drastic action is required. This will mean tough choices.
Low s link-man on this side of the Irish Sea is his fellow stockbroker Colm McCarthy. A partner at DK&M in Dawson Street, McCarthy first appeared on the sports pages in 1990 when his Dublin City consortium tried to gain entry to the Scottish Third Division.
They turned us down because there wasn t any room and the trail effectively went cold until 1994 when the Chief Executive of the Dublin Sports Council, Jonathan Irwin, said let s see if we can do this another way , McCarthy explains. We d previously ruled out England because they ve got this pyramid system whereby you have to start with the Mickey Mouse League and work your way up but then we heard Wimbledon complaining about their crowds and thought hang on!
To cut a long story short, Jonathan set the Dublin Dons ball rolling by writing to Sam Hammam, but while that was dragging on, these fellows got onto me and asked whether I d get involved in this little team they were buying in Glasgow. They d heard about Dublin City and agreed with me that there was room here for Premier League Scottish football.
That s pretty much all I can say at this stage, he continues. We re having talks tomorrow (Saturday February 14th) and hope to make an official statement within the next week.
McCarthy admits that we ve got quite a job on our hands. To get anywhere near the top flight, Clydebank are going to have to buy a completely new squad. Big money will be involved but nowhere near the outlay that d be required if their Premiership ambitions lay south of Hadrian s Wall.
Then there s the question of travelling support. The prospect of the Dublin Dons drawing Millwall in the cup is frightening enough, but imagine the nightmare of having to police regular league encounters between Liffeybank and Rangers? Indeed, the last time the Gers were in town for a 1985 European meeting with Bohemians, there were running battles outside Dalymount Park. Hopes that the Gardai may have learned from the numerous mistakes they made that night evaporated when they allowed England fans to run amok at Lansdowne Road. The message is clear the Irish authorities don t have a clue how to handle orchestrated hooliganism.
groundshare
It would break my heart to see Clydebank or whatever they decide to call us getting caught up in sectarianism, proffers David Munro. A regular chant at our old ground was No religion in Clydebank . I imagine one of the first things that ll happen if we move to Dublin is our red shirts will be swapped for green and white hoops.
And what about attendances? While a glamour tie with Celtic would have the touts out in force, you can t imagine any paucity of tickets for a mid-week relegation dogfight with Motherwell.
If David Low and John Hall want to make money out of Clydebank, I honestly think they d be better off finding a ground in the town itself and building-up the squad so that we can climb through the divisions and take on the Premiership big boys in our own backyard, Munro resumes. The club say they need attendances of 5,000 to break even well, during Clydebank s previous season in the top flight, the average was 4,500. Bearing in mind that that team was dreadful and only won 19 points, it shouldn t be too difficult to make up the shortfall.
Of course, there can be no move without a pitch. Reports that Clydebank have already given the National Athletics Stadium in Santry the once-over are confirmed by Colm McCarthy who says they re among a number of people we ve talked to.
There s another possibility that can t be ruled out a seriously FAI-annoying groundshare with Wimbledon.
John Hall has set his sights on European football within five years which, unless Clydebank win the cup, means getting into the Premier League or the Super League now the breakaway s been confirmed, Munro says. Our guess is that they ll use the Premiership s smallest club, St. Johnstone, as the yardstick and insist on a minimum seated capacity of 10,400, which rules out sharing a League of Ireland ground.
And the National Athletics Stadium which would almost have to be torn down and rebuilt to come up to Super League spec. Meantime, while it may be the cause of grave concern in Scotland, the world governing body, FIFA, consider such matters to be academic.
FIFA has already informed the FAI some months ago that it would not be permissible under FIFA statutes for a club to be based in one country and to play in the competition of another, states Director of Communications Keith Cooper. Any exception to this rule could only occur in special circumstances, which are not present in this case, and with the express support of the two national associations concerned, which we believe is not the case here either.
Despite all the uncertainty, Clydebank have opened up an eight point lead at the top of the Second Division and barring major disasters e.g. signing Jason Lee should be keeping somewhat more exalted company next season. Where they ll be doing their entertaining, though, remains to be seen. n