FAI Annual Review 2014

Turner’s Cross, home ground of Cork CityFootball Club, won the 2014 SSE AirtricityLeague Pitch of the Year Award, followingan inspection by the Irish Institute ofSports Surfaces (IISS). This is the secondtime that the ground has received thisaccolade, having been a winner previouslyin 2011.The winner of the award was announcedfollowing nominations by SSE AirtricityLeague referees and players, inassociation with the ProfessionalFootballers Association of Ireland.The award, which is organised by the FAIand IISS, and sponsored by GreendayEnvironmental Services, was presentedprior to the FAI Cup Final at Aviva Stadiumon November 2.Club Licensing and Financial FairPlay WorkshopIn September, a UEFA Club Licensingand Financial Fair Play workshop washeld in Carton House in Maynooth. Thisannual event brought together all 54 UEFAmember associations and representativesfrom other confederations.The workshop was opened with awelcome speech by FAI Chief ExecutiveJohn Delaney. Also addressing theconference was the chairman of the UEFAClub Licensing Committee, David Gill, whostressed the important role that nationalassociations have played in embracingclub licensing and financial fair play.In addition to reviewing the major eventsof the 2013/14 season, the workshopprovided the perfect platform to discusshow club licensing and financial fair playcan continue to evolve, and how Europeanclub football can gain further impetuson the back of the successful resultsachieved since the introduction of the clublicensing system in 2003.The workshop at Carton House wasvery successful, with many delegatesremarking on the excellent hospitality andfacilities provided. Some good informationand exchanges took place and a previewof the likely changes to regulations nextyear was also provided.Human ResourcesUEFA Certificate in FootballManagementThe FAI made a successful bid withthe Irish FA to be the first nationalassociations to jointly host the UEFACertificate in Football Management inIreland. The FAI hosted the first face toface seminar in Dublin on April 15 and 16.The UEFA CFM is a nine-monthprogramme, featuring footballorganisation, strategy and strategicmanagement, operational management,marketing and sponsorship,communications, media and publicrelations, and event organisation. 38students will complete the course, sixteenfrom the FAI, sixteen from the IFA, twofrom Wales, two from Scotland and twofrom Gibraltar.Participants acquire skills related tomanagement techniques and bestpractices in a variety of areas, whichenable them to move into senior executivepositions in the future, while also makingimmediate use of what they have learnedthrough their CFM studies. Two otherseminars will follow in Belfast in August,and in Dundalk in December.Employee Training75 employees attended 64 trainingcourses or seminars in 2014 througha combination of those provided bythe Irish Sports Council and thoseprovided by the HR and Coach EducationDepartments. We arranged seven FurtherEducation Support Scheme applicationswhich were granted as part of theIrish Sport’s Council’s OrganisationalCapability Strategy 2014-2018. Over40 people were trained in projectmanagement to enhance the deliveryof all our programmes and events. Thedevelopment of our employees is key toour continued growth and success and wewill continue to support their developmentthrough education, seminars and traininginterventions.Key appointments in the last 12monthsEamon Breen joined the FAI as FinanceDirector in August 2014. We welcomedKarl Heffernan as the new Commercialand Marketing Director in January. Karlhas many years of experience in seniorpositions at AIB and joined us after MaxHamilton, Commercial and MarketingDirector, finished in December to returnto the UK with his wife and young family.We said farewell to Brian McCarthy, ourPerformance Analyst with the SeniorTeam, who left to explore an opportunityabroad. Ger Dunne has since beenappointed to the role.FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION OF IRELAND ANNUAL REVIEW AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2014 41