How John Delaney Ruined Irish Football

[@SamOGr]

Thank you so much Alfie for making this video, its not a story heard outside Ireland, but its one that needs to be told, what Delaney has done to the FAI is horrible and created a deep culture of failure, the domestic scene is way below standard and the national team is in a horrible state only being fixed by a few young stars, whats hapened to my country on the world stage is embarrasing and I can inly hope the new people fix it, although I dont have much hoep

[@danielmurphy8262]

I think it is too early yet to judge the new people in charge. They’ve talked a good game so far but there is still a way to go. I do think they deserve a bit of credit for how much the women’s game has grown in attention recently (both the National Team and WNL) and if that is a sign of things to come, then it looks positive. But yeah, we’ll see how it goes.

[@Kodakcompactdisc]

He was some gurrier

[@darrenshore5853]

Domestic league has always been shit even before him

[@hsavov]

Similar thing is happening with the Football association in my country, Bulgaria with the reign of Borislav Mihaylov, although unlike the situation with Delaney, here it is a more widely encompassing issue that expands way beyond Mihaylov. The result is similar though, our national team is a joke, we no longer produce talents like Stoichkov, Berbatov, Petrov, and clubs like CSKA Sofia who were once great even in Europe, practically don't exist anymore (technically there are two CSKA teams right now). I can feel you, as I have played football since I was 4, trained at a local club not with aspiration to be a professional footballer, but have had great love for the game. Nowadays, I don't follow the Bulgarian league, as it is not really football and the fact that the leading team Ludogoretz (which is destroying Bulgarian football) has almost no Bulgarians in it is just so sad.

[@Dashslapp]

@@hsavov it's a great shame. I remember the great bg team in world cups. My second team since then. If the youth don't get a chance it'll never happen again. I went to national stadium in Sofia a few years ago, just a visit no game on. Very poor state. I also walked straight through and could of gone on pitch. No one their and gate open. Showed poor investment and must be worse down footi pyramid. Can only hope things get better edit. I loved balakov and his missile launcher foot

[@danielmurphy8262]

Being Irish and a football fan is not a fun time. Even with a 40 minute video, you have barely scratched the surface of how absolutely horrible John Delaney is and what he has done to Irish football. The League of Ireland community had been saying how bad he was for years prior but his media friends covered for him. Even when non-LOI fans began critiscising him in the mid 2010s, he made sure he had powerful allies. Ultimately, everyone and their dog knew there was dodgy stuff going on and it was only a matter of time before he got found out. Thankfully since his departure, it has slowly been getting a bit more positive. Stephen Kenny, after almost leading Dundalk into the Champions League groupstages, is now the National Team manager and is making us more progressive in our play and bringing through new young players. The LOI is slowly earning more acknowledgment in Ireland and hopefully will see the facilites improve to further on its growth.

[@Micfri300]

I don't see a long term improvement though. Kenny is a good progressive manager however once he leaves things will return back to normal. The Irish federation and Irish clubs need to actively promote going beyond the British isles to become better players. No good playing for mk dons in league 1 who sure pay you well however playing for a lecce, deportivo la coruna etc etc on less money would actually improve you has a player. That's how the uruguayan and Croatian federation work and look at their successes in the last 15 years.

[@danielmurphy8262]

@@Micfri300 The important thing wilp be that when Kenny leaves, the FAI hire another manger of his style and dont revert to a big name who only cares about the paycheck. Completely agree that Irish football as a whole needs to look beyond Britain and encourage players to go further abroad. Josh Cullen’s great performances for Anderlecht and resulting great performances for Ireland show that it can work. But it will take a good number of years before we can start to see the result of that change.

[@barry4649]

@@Micfri300 I disagree with you there mate, because of Brexit a lot of our young players have gone to foreign clubs such as Kevin Zefi and Caden McLoughlin

[@Micfri300]

@@barry4649 the fact that i dont know about them is maybe my complete ignorance but someone like liam Henderson left Celtics academy and went to bari in serie B and then to lecce and finally is striving for empoli is my example of how the scottish federation is doing things properly.

[@Micfri300]

@@danielmurphy8262 irish clubs need to be doing more to promote that playing in England is not be all and all when defining a successful career.

[@paulmeehan194]

John Delaney should be in prison. Instead he gets a golden hand shake. Nice pension from ruining Irish football. Makes me sick .

[@1313tennisman]

Honestly Delaney is a textbook narcissist

[@mrkd2k10]

Typical of Irish society to be fair, especially with those who nearly bankrupted the country during the Celtic Tiger.

[@kindmulberry7196]

John Delaney is so hated in Ireland it'd make Thierry Henry blush

[@cribbe6547]

like another said, he is the embodiment of what Celtic Tiger Ireland was

[@patrickmccutcheon9361]

@@kindmulberry7196 one is just a cheat, the other is a crook.

[@danielmurphy8262]

If you are not Irish and are watching this, I would recommend the book mentioned in the video: “Champagne Football”. It is almost unbelievable some of the events and expenses that took place and sweetly describes Delaney’s downfall and the utter shitshow that he has caused.

[@youngdolo8]

There's a four letter word beginning with C that KZbin won't let me use in the comments. It very much applies to John Delaney... Scumbag.

[@chlcrk]

I have heard it is an excellent book. I've also read the extract discussing the big Bond-themed birthday bash and it sounded insane

[@roryslaine7896]

@@youngdolo8 😂 same. I just called him a C U Next Tuesday and my comment got deleted. He's like cancer.

[@tedbyrne88]

@@youngdolo8 he's a cake isn't he

[@jackcurley3133]

The man treated the fai as his own personal bank account and destroyed grass roots football in this country thankfully we have got a young hungry team it gives me great hope for the future

[@danielmurphy8262]

Some other things I, as an Irish football fan, would like to also add to this important video: - The loss to Luxembourg was almost inevitable in that we were due an embarrassing defeat to fully come to terms with what has happened to Irish football. Thankfully since then, the national team has begun looking better. - The LOI despite the Delaney treating it with as much contempt as he could, has managed to survive. I do believe if it wasnt for FIFA+UEFA rules stating that all associations much have a national league system, he would have binned it off at the first chance. - The 2010’s saw the first occasion of Irish clubs qualifying for UEFA groupstages (which has happened a total of 3 times) in spite of the LOI recieving f- all help/support from the FAI. - In 2017, the Irish Women’s Senior team proteseted and went on strike due to poor travelling arrangments, having to change in airports and not being allowed to keep their gear after International duty. - Delaney created this celebrity personality for himself and tried to build connections to save himself. The celebrity personallity meant non-Football fans took attention to him and build up his profile, while the grassroots money was purely to have people on his side when shit hit the fan (ie he looked after some so they would look after him. - What worked in John Delaney’s favour after Saipan was that the FAI was an ametaur organisation and he said he was the one to modernise it. - I also want to emphasis the fact that the FAI was €70m in debt and was going to be in administartion. For a national association that is disgraceful, while the FAI under Delaney had been publishing accounts that claimed the FAI was reporting slight net positives annually.

[@tarkanbashllari1627]

Hang on, the last part... I've certainly heard of football clubs being in debt and going into administration, but a country's actual football federation going through the same? And I thought FSHF was bad enough... Speaking of FSHF (Albanian acronym for my country's *equally as bad* football federation) we have Armand Duka who is basically John Delaney's Albanian evil twin. He made the top flight smaller, fucked up the tiers below, connected with all the insanely corrupt governments we've had in this millenia against the interest of our game. Oh and back in his early days in charge he demanded certain players to pay from their own pockets if they wanted to play for the NT. Reason why the likes of Xhaka, Shaqiri, Behrami, Mustafi etc went on to play for other nations. It's because of the Albanian John Delaney that Valon Behrami will have officially featured in more World Cups than Neymar and Shkodran Mustafi has a World Cup in his trophy cabinet while his native country has never even been to one.

[@danielmurphy8262]

@@tarkanbashllari1627 Wow, very interesting to hear about that. I hope yous can get rid of him soon and build Albanian football to be stronger.

[@stevenlawson5233]

Good luck Ireland I cheer you on and cheer against England Love from Scotland You will come back from this Also I didn't know that as never heard a national team in administration Hopefully that's pulled back

[@danielmurphy8262]

@@stevenlawson5233 Yup Scotland! I was cheering for yous at the Euros and hopefully you’ll make it to the World Cup as well! And about the administration thing, it was genuinely that bad and is why the FAI got so much state funding to basically stop it from happening.

[@leonosionnaigh2823]

Not to forget the 100k he borrowed off the FAI to pay off the wife after she nabbed him messing about, hush money

[@Alejandroprz000]

Greetings and sending love to our Irish brothers 🇮🇪 from Mexico 🇲🇽

[@oliverqueen5883]

It’s insane to think that we were once the 6th best football nation in the world considering how shocking we are now 😭

[@mcw8900]

Is this true? Not having a go, just genuinely curious. When was it and was it based on FIFA rankings or something else

[@geovani1700]

@@mcw8900 they got the quarter-finals of the WC 1990

[@mcw8900]

@@geovani1700 Fair enough yeah that's pretty incredible. Thanks for reply!

[@seaniemc83]

@@mcw8900 yep, when the first FIFA world rankings came out in 1993, we were ranked 6th. Above the likes of Brazil, France, Spain, Holland and England

[@mcw8900]

@@seaniemc83 Even better, thanks. Nice avatar by the way!

[@hughleigh3959]

As an Irishman, John Delaney has made football in my country absolute hell.

[@conorkieran8196]

Our Irish people are at fault for their lack of interest in domestic football. I blame the GAA too

[@willywonka7812]

@@conorkieran8196 lol blame the GAA and the common folk on the street, not the organized exploiters thst constitute the management-class. You have your head screwed on backwards

[@Matthew-hm4bh]

Carlos Condit

[@DarrenBates]

@@conorkieran8196 why blame the GAA? It's up to the FAI to make football successful in Ireland. It's never stopped the IRFU from pulling up their socks and making their sport successful in the country.

[@Micfri300]

@@willywonka7812 tbh both are correct. Irish population view football has something they enjoy but don't really have the determination to become amazing at it. Look at Scotland and wales for example their federation and their population want their people to go abroad and learn and develop ie liam Henderson at empoli ramsay at Juventus bale at real Madrid etc etc which is a similar line taken by the Croatian and Uruguaian football federation.

[@Cos1711]

Alfie just as an FYI John Delaney visited my soccer club on his grass roots tour before being finally ousted. The donation he made to the club to help put funds into youth development was valued at 10,000 euros. You might be wondering why I said 'valued' there as it wasn't money he was offering to us for badly needed facilities from the FAI but tickets to the FAI ball that year that we could raffle off to raise funds. But when interviewed on local radio that day he stated He had given us 10,000 to use.......He was literally the worst and eveyone was blinded by his promises

[@lomzaunfiltered9151]

Very true he promises the world.. Never delivers

[@Pique147]

the FAI ball? They only had the one and it was worth 10k? :D Roy Keane was right about Saipan!

[@mcw8900]

@Republic Media (RM) My ma always told me the thought is what counts. So I think of donating money to worthy causes all the time and it never costs a penny! Everyone's a winner

[@John_Wood_]

a real wheeler dealer - but the irish applaud the cute hoor

[@MonzennCarloMallari]

Video title: John Delaney, Irish football First 2 minutes: Saipan Ah yes, another classic HITC Sevens video

[@chelseacomps829]

😂 I was so confused

[@ivoxvxi7482]

As an Irishman, I've never expected or even wanted an amazing national team and league. All I want is something that the country can feel like we can actually get behind. Having a league on the same level as say the Swiss or Belgian leagues would be a dream come true. Just having a league that can actually contribute to our players developments rather than pinning our hopes on England.

[@conorkieran8196]

I agree fully, it's our people who need to get their heads out of their rear and support league of Ireland

[@dazzathakilla6364]

@@conorkieran8196 you my friend are right and We do the same thing. Glory hunters all across Ireland.

[@evinh111]

So do you actively support a League of Ireland club?

[@dazzathakilla6364]

@@evinh111 shamrock rovers, go as many times as I can a year. Around 10+

[@kurtpunchesthings2411]

@@conorkieran8196 well that's very hard when your a County like mine that no longer has a team so i live up in Monaghan we used to have a team that went bust in 2012 to put it bluntly we got promoted to the top division could not afford the fees and went bust mid way through that season anyway before that happened i did go to some of the matches when i was a kid if the team was still around i would go to all the home matches as the pitch was i shit you not literally within 200 meters of where i live

[@SC-md2yk]

Vid suggestion: since AFCON is well underway, I think now would be a really great time to tell the story of Zambia winning the 2012 AFCON tournament. It’s a truly emotional n inspiring story that not near enough people know about. Cheers Sevens

[@alpinebloodranger]

Brilliant suggestion

[@guydutoit61]

Awesome suggestion bro - it’s a lot more emotional than people realize.

[@adampark..]

Good suggestion

[@ivaneurope]

IMO a better story will be about the 1994 Zambia AFCON team which had to be reconstructed from ground up following a tragic aircraft incident that wiped out everyone on board and yet it galvanized the newly formed squad to nearly win the whole thing

[@SC-md2yk]

@@ivaneurope Thats what I was eluding to

[@mikevarga2058]

This channel is fantastic - more for the broadsheet reading, discerning football fan. The social and historical context he provides makes these videos extremely interesting. He structures the narrative very well - his dry sense of humour also resonates well with me. Smart kid, whoever produces these videos.

[@oscarosullivan4513]

Not a Football fan I am a Munster Rugby fan but I can agree.

[@dronesclubhighjinks]

I agree! I just found this channel a few weeks ago. I'm going through all of his videos and I'm learning so much!

[@AdamKavanagh]

Very impressed on this video Alfie. There's so much more to the Delaney era which wasn't mentioned too. While he was getting drunk with fans at Euro 2012, League of Ireland club Monaghan Utd went bust. He was also the main man behind the ill-fated 2011 Carling Nations Cup. His huge salary led to the Irish futsal team scrapped and indoor arena abandoned. An entire generation of developing young players was sacrificed to fill one mans pockets.

[@kurtpunchesthings2411]

ah yes Monaghan Utd my county's team as a kid i went to a few of the matches with my Dad to explain what happened to this team well they got Promoted to the top division could not afford the fees to be in this division and folded this year will mark the 10th Anniversary of the collapse of Monaghan Utd there's been talk about them reforming and playing in some small Ulster league only reason that's good is if it could go well enough maybe we could claw our way back into the LOI

[@diarmuidwoods3341]

I play for there rival monaghan Town and I hate him aswelll

[@OscarOSullivan]

Limerick football club also collapsed on his watch

[@OscarOSullivan]

Wasn’t the 2011 Carling Nations Cup a rip off of the six nations rugby championship? Yours sincerely an Irish rugby fan and Munster fan.

[@jtjr26]

Unfortunately, there are a lot of stories like this where someone who talks a good game gets into a position of authority, and instead of doing their job, they seek to enrich themselves. This is just one more example of that.

[@gdes4063]

Delaney is the embodiment of what Celtic Tiger Ireland was.

[@pbh81]

100% a lot of other similar people in high profile well paid jobs out for themselves.

[@rmm9222]

I also think he was a product of the FAI at the time. They had so many issues from even the 60s. Delaney's dad was just as bad and John surely learned a lot of his bullshit from him and the board at the time.

[@stallthedigger2599]

What has changed since the Celtic tiger ? FF and FG are the biggest cronies of them all and Paul Reid CEO of the HSE is on over 400 grand a year for running a shitshow. We have charlatans running the country and yet people keep voting for them, and giving out when things don't change. You couldn't write it.

[@warrenburke9310]

A video on how Neil Doncaster is underselling and ruining the Scottish football league would be great. He also is on a ridiculous wage of around £388k and got the spfl (4 leagues) a smaller sponsorship deal to sponsor the whole league system than Tottenham got for a shirt patch. Our tv deal compared to our viewership is also terrible

[@ParksandPosh]

Whilst I’m not disagreeing there is a chance that an improved tv deal would actually lower attendances. Premier league tv coverage decimates lower league club attendances

[@ciantemple332]

Was waiting for a video on John Delaney for years. He has almost single handedly crippled Irish football completely. The lack of funding to our own domestic league and local youth leagues is disgraceful as many kids choose to play GAA or Rugby instead.

[@kurtpunchesthings2411]

and can you blame them ? the GAA and the IRFU have pumped fortunes into the grass roots game

[@oscarosullivan4513]

IRFU and GAA run a tight ship

[@rampageclover9788]

GAA is the one sporting institution on the globe not deflowered by big money which is why it's so popular, it should at all costs be protected from wank mercenary investors who potentially identify it as a "niche".......IRFU on the other hand has got the balance right. Decent salaries but the love of the game still triumphs. Cannot say the same in football

[@niharg2011]

We needed Michael (The Irish Guy) to co-narrate this one

[@MjolnirMarks]

Saipan - The backarse of Japan

[@ian-flanagan]

Joke

[@barbarian92]

I was going to say, having the occasional "Christ above" thrown in would've made this documentary even better

[@ryannstringfellow2067]

Vid suggestion: Bolton's descent down to League 2 from playing in Europe. And in particular the Ken Anderson era

[@pierfrancescocosta6336]

To be fair, now the club looks way more stable than it did just two years ago, but I agree that a documentary like this would be very interesting!

[@akshadchavan5528]

Do one video about the AIFF and FSDL also here in India. The last few years have been up and down for Indian football. After reaching the 96th rank in 2019, we as viewers thought things would change. But it was totally the opposite. Right now the the main league is having huge problems with the management, the 2nd division is postponed forever. No women's league was conducted despite the fact that the Indian women's team is playing the Asia Cup at the moment, and all the top division teams are going thru huge losses.

[@debayanbhunia7084]

I hope the Women's team does something. They are our only hope

[@Micfri300]

If indian football is to improve it needs to focus on exporting indian youngsters rather than importing mediocre over the hill foreign players. However i don't think Indian youngsters are prepared to make that jump.

[@akshadchavan5528]

@@Micfri300 I disagree on the last sentence. Most of good players rn are youngsters. The U16 or the u23 show grit, but there's nothing to built up on it. In a country of 1.3 billion, you can easily make 5 divisions of football, but there's absolutely no structure and no planning for it. The federation sleeps and just keeps on sleeping.

[@Micfri300]

@@akshadchavan5528 Indian youngsters are not prepared to make that jump because they are too proud of themselves to admit they may have to take 2 steps back to make 5 steps forward(ie less pay in the short term)

[@kiranp5611]

@@Micfri300 The biggest problem starts with the president of the football federation itself. He is one of the most corrupt politicians of India who I rarely knows anything about football and still continues to lead it for 20+ years. Coaches come and go, there are some flashes of brilliance here and there but I doubt if anyone at the top cares about our players improving and playing in bigger trophies. A friend also told me about the corruption inside and how agents and administrators care about squeezing money out of players. They can't even learn something from our cricket federation which is minting so much money !

[@FlamingBasketballClub]

The Ghana Men's National Football Team went from competing with big teams in the 2010 FIFA World Cup to getting knocked out of 2021 African Cup of Nations by debutants Comoros. Would be nice to see Alfie do a video on what led to their downfall.

[@21hazza]

That would make a great video!

[@davidmathews143]

As an Irish man I thank you for this. Easily one of the most hated men in Ireland.

[@ciarandevaney385]

David Mathews • John delaney's rein will be regarded as ireland's golden age of football. Qualified for major tournaments Aviva stadium World class manager's Results against ranked countries Investment in underage football League of ireland revamped.

[@joshuaharding4422]

Will you make a video on the the large investigation into Belgium football, that has recently lead to the indictment of 57 high ranking footballing officials?

[@bluebillbo]

A massive irony of the AVIVA Stadium was that if you lived in any of the houses in the surrounding area, you could not get House Insurance from AVIVA because they classified it as a floodplain.

[@gallowglass2630]

never heard that before

[@bluebillbo]

@@gallowglass2630 I remember reading it in the paper around the time they were building the stadium.

[@OscarOSullivan]

I remember we as a U10’s rugby squad got to tour it when it was relatively new. The player facilities including the changing rooms are impressive especially the massive bathing pool.

[@aaroncottam]

I seriously can't get enough of these doc videos, I watch/listen to them every single night when I go to bed

[@danielkelly2401]

It's actually crazy how every club in the league of Ireland hasn't gone bust!! Those clubs CEOs and owners could teach the FAI a thing or two about running within your budget

[@dylanhennebry4750]

there is a few, cork city, wilton united, limerick fc, dublin city to name a few

[@shanemcgaley8322]

Newcastle West, Thurles Town, Sporting Fingal. The list goes on. They got a shit tv deal as a result of his tenure from RTE. I’m just glad that they now have a subscription based and PPV for all the league.

[@rocksock7999]

The 100k loan that was his undoing, was due to Dundalk FC looking to draw down UEFA prizemoney from the EUROPA League group stage participation, paid to national associations by UEFA to be distributed to clubs. As the FAI and John Delaney had dipped in to this fund they found themselves a bit short changed when Dundalk FC came calling for the few millions Euro and Delaney's house of cards came crashing down. It should also be noted that Delaney sat on the board of UEFA and was also in receipt of a UEFA salary. A prequel video on missing money from when John Delaney's father was was involved in the FAI for added context of corruption and greed, the apple didnt fall far from the tree!!

[@jamiecarroll1627]

Suggested this months ago and buzzing that Alfie made it. A truly bizzare story that few outside of ireland would be aware of. "Champagne football" by Mark Tighe is a great book to read if anyone is interested in reading about his many, many scandals

[@MK_1991]

Great video Alfie. Been an Irish football fan and league of Ireland fan. These types of videos need to be made. I would love to see Irish football improve. Another scandal was with the Irish woman's football team. They are currently doing better than the mens team the last few years. but the fai would not give them funding for kits, tracksuits and travel. They had to buy there own. I really enjoyed this one keep them coming.

[@pierfrancescocosta6336]

I didn't know the problems with Irish football were this bad... What hit me the most about this documentary is that grassroots football has had to face the worst consequences of it: when the chief executive of your national football federation basically drains the youth national teams of resources to finance his own birthday party, I couldn't really blame kids for growing disillusioned with football, despite how painful would be for them to give up on their dreams. I know I'm not saving words this time, but seeing kids getting outraged like that just frustrates me (and I'm only in my 20s, by the way 😅). As I discovered when I did a school project some years ago, Ireland is an incredibly fascinating country, and their national team has a very respectable history: I really hope they can regain at least some of their potential and their prestige with time, because they definitely deserve it. The same goes for the Irish football league, too! A system that is still producing guys capable of leaving a mark at Inter (Kevin Zefi), Celtic (Scales, Kenny, Connell, Lawal, Vata) or even Premier League/EFL clubs (Bazunu) looks far from being "a problematic child" in my eyes.

[@danielmurphy8262]

Trust me when I say that as an Irish football supporter, this video only scratch the surface. It is remarkable that the clubs and Ireland in general has managed to produce any good players due to the lack of support from both the FAI and the government. Since Delaney has left, it has been slowly getting better with the national team as we have a manager (Stephen Kenny) who was really successful domestically (as well as nearly getting Dundalk into the Champions League groupstages) and he really believes in Irish players and what Irish football can achieve. The Women's game as well has seen a significant rise in attention and support which is welcome. The LOI is also slowly becoming more popular and recognised (not with traditonal media though) and hopefully will continue to grow. At the moment, it looks like Irish football is heading in the right direction, but it probably wont look that way till the end of the decade. Most important thing is that Delaney is gone, unfortunately he is not in a jail cell.

[@pierfrancescocosta6336]

@@danielmurphy8262 I wish Irish football the best, although patience will definitely be needed in the process, I agree.

[@qwert28077]

Bazunu is class

[@patrickthomas8101]

Aviva Stadium is really more of a Rugby stadium. The IRFU is the way better governing body, although we still haven't reached the Semi Finals of World cups, for that we are forever cursed.

[@greatone7314]

The FAI paying the mortgage on the stadium if you can call it that, while the IRFU are laughing at them.

[@OscarOSullivan]

A miracle the FAI were not given the boot from Landsdowne road over their financing plans for building the new Landsdowne road.

[@Theincredibledrummer]

Great video. Any possibility of covering New Zealand's run qualifiying and remaining unbeaten at the 2010 world cup?

[@musawandile7375]

This is good insight into football governance 👌🏾 If you want a good laugh and a tricky puzzle, though, try the South African Football Association. From the 2010 World Cup, to the perpetual failure of qualifying for International tournaments. Give it a try Alfie, I promise you won’t regret it!

[@matthewplunk4928]

Beautiful and enlightening story--you really don't hear much about football in the ROI, and after watching this video, it's not very hard to see why. Also, this has gotta be day 30 (non-consecutive, just pretty much every time I watch a video of yours) of me asking for that sub-Saharan Africa-based Best XI

[@tgypc]

As someone who has first-hand been in the Irish football development teams, it’s absolutely ridiculous how rubbish coaches, facilities and the culture is absolutely terrible. Really hope we up our standards in the next few years.

[@kurtpunchesthings2411]

next few years ? mofo the problem the Irish football is in rn will take a generation to solve 20-30 years

[@BadDubII]

All our best players play GAA which Im fine with tbh

[@greatone7314]

The FAI should be taken out of Irish hands from top to bottom for a few years to set proper intelligent practices in place.

[@leemcdonald1342]

Here's a video idea that I would like to see: The rise of soccer-specific stadiums in North America.

[@pacco9532]

Football

[@gihanprabash]

That sounds boring af

[@Ricky_Baldy]

So why don't you make it.

[@deathlybadger7192]

Thank you for making this video on this absolute piece of garbage. As an Irish man myself it makes it boils my blood to see what he's done to Irish football and the FAI.

[@greenhandskelly5580]

It was also revealed through leaks to the press that Delaney had an FAI credit card which he used for personal expenses, including the rent on his girlfriend's house, overnight stays in 5 star hotels in Dubai and dry-cleaning bills for designer suits. This was at a time when the FAI was already in 25 million Euros of debt.

[@cringycook9597]

The guy put Irish football back at least a generation and that's unforgivable

[@kurtpunchesthings2411]

or fr and now Irish Football has to sit on the grass and watch the GAA and IRFU continue to invest in their grassroots and make strides forward increasing the gap between them and the FAI a gap that may never be bridged

[@Eibarwoman]

What has happened to Huesca? As for what is rotten in Aragon, the team that was closest to escaping relegation in La Liga is mired in 12th in the Segunda Division is now closer to relegation from just promoted Amorebieta (9 points) than to Valladolid and Eibar (19th and 20th in La Liga last season are 12 points ahead in a battle for 2nd with Valladolid leading on goal differential). Part of the issue comes from Segunda Division salary maximums which forced Alvaro Fernandez to be loaned out to Brentford. The Eibar roster is where it gets particularly fascinating as they finished 20th and pretty much had most of the roster either released, sold, or mutually terminated.

[@heya_ger]

I am a proud Irishman and I can tell you that this is the tip of the iceberg when it comes to organisations in this country. The so called revelations about Delaney were not revelatory at all, his arsery was known for a long time but ignored by his powerful 'friends'. I have Facebook posts going back 10 years complaining about the state of the finances, about grassroots and the horrible state of Irish League stadiums. I was not the only one talking about this, any half decent fan knew and had an opinion about it. Fans give life to football and we put the administrators and players in these lavish lifestyles. We deserve a better return for our investment. We need a committee on corruption in football, to be chaired by people who will not receive payment for their work. We need to ensure that sport is sporting, and we need to restore or establish confidence in the running of the industry behind football.

[@joenoonan9255]

The problem in Ireland is that all, the politicians state media and all that feed them are corrupt. Its not called "treasure Island" for nothing. The so called leader's of this island only look after themselves and their surrounding circles. The people are juiced from cradle to grave. John delaney is just a small fish who got caught with his hand in the till. Sure, remember that sad act of a political leader we had and his friend pa pa paddy the plasterer?.

[@seosamhofionnaghain5555]

Easy to scapegoat Delaney . The problems with the League of Ireland is their clubs ALWAYS sell their best players overseas for a pittance then complain about Delaney as a bizarre excuse when they always flop in European Club Competitions. No League of Ireland player has ever been sold for 1 million Euros in the 100 year history of the FAI. If similar standard players leave Norway Sweden Denmark or Finland they go for regular transfers of a minimum of 5 Million. Club boards and Directors are MONUMENTALLY stupid continually selling off their best players for bargain basement prices. As for Ireland losing to Luxembourg that is all down to Kenny playing a lone rookie as a central striker against a massed defence. Kenny's bizarre tactics and gameplan has NOTHING to do with Delaney who is not a football coach . Delaney was an administrator who ran up debt and as a result got the FAI into near bankruptcy However that has nothing to do with the terrible coaching of Stephen Kenny who was sacked in the past by Shamrock and Bohemians. If you ain't good enough to coach in Dublin then it's no wonder Kenny lost to Luxembourg and nearly lost to Azerbaijan at home. Stop living in the Past about Delaney he is long gone it is up to the new So called independent FAI board To sack Kenny a left over last relic from Delaney's time and move on with a far superior manager like Neil Lennon to get Ireland out of the winless competitive home rut we are on since 2019. As for the League of Ireland Clubs STOP selling your best players for a shilling to overseas clubs and show ambition when it comes to European competition. No wonder RTE no longer show weekly League of Ireland games as the clubs are useless in Europe. Heck even Cyprus Moldova and Azerbaijan have all had clubs qualify for the group stage of the European Champions League while League of Ireland clubs CONTINUE to flop year after year.

[@davidpryle3935]

I share your frustration about the League of Ireland clubs selling their players for a pittance. The transfer fees for Kevin Doyle and Seamus Coleman were an absolute robbery. But surely the clubs would not agree to these transfers, if they had any real choice in the matter.

[@thelastgreataudit8112]

Point of order: A *huge* percentage of Saipan's civilian population was killed by the Japanese Army either through impressment into suicide attacks, preventing their surrender to the Americans, or forcing mass "suicides" at gunpoint. (Source: I'm actually a historian of Pacific War land conflicts.) Not a criticism, but a very important addendum when mentioning that the civilian population died at the hands of the Americans. Love the content. Do an audio version of your book.

[@Jonathanizer]

Where did he say the civilians died at the hands of the Americans?

[@Ricky_Baldy]

*correction* Point of irrelevant pedantry. Fixed it for you.

[@depekthegreat359]

Ireland is one of my favourite respective countries and footballing nations and also,I like their respective clubs daily and ever!!!I am extremely so sad with their national team's decline through an irresponsible owner who only wanted to earn more money for himself than to develop the facilities of the team through mainly the recruitment of some of the respective players who at times would not be selected to represent the national team even though,they would play well with their respective clubs,good friends!!!For sure,good friend Irish guy would agree to what good friend Alfie Potts Hammer enacted in this amazing documentary of his national team and massive changes are needed to develop the national team through the present owner and coach to bring back their glory days and maybe,in future,win a major tournament,good friends!!!

[@RyuzakiTaiyou]

Best German players in the premier league of all time. (Day 264) I will not give up until the video is made or Alfie himself tells me to stop. Everyone else telling me that will be ignored. If you don't believe my number, just go back to the previous videos. I'm at the bottom most of the time, but I'm there.

[@Ricky_Baldy]

What a boring suggestion.

[@TowerForCast]

Would love to see you do a video on the sfa and the ineptitude and corruption that has ruined scottish football

[@MrLukeymurphy]

Brilliant coverage. if you’ve got the time, I’d suggest reading ‘Champagne Football’ by Mark Tighe.

[@pierfrancescocosta6336]

He actually quotes it in the video: that looks like a nice book.

[@jackbambury7680]

I have that book too such a class read

[@laurencebyron9183]

As an Australian. When I see "Irish Football", the first thing I think about is Irish Football = Gaelic Football

[@gallowglass2630]

AVIVA stadium didn't open until 2010 not 2007 thats when the old stadium was demolished.They played in the GAA stadium croke park while AVIVA was being built.Fans were complaining about the lack of atmosphere compared to landsdowne but many wanted to stay in croke park permanently

[@jaydale5398]

With a squad featuring Shay Given, Robbie Keane, Damien Duff, Steve Finnan, Niall Quinn among others in 2002 and considering they lost on pens to Spain who played South Korea in the quarters, you can only imagine how deep they would've gone with Roy Keane at the helm.

[@qwert28077]

There was also a Leeds United left back right? I don't remember his name.

[@qwert28077]

Ian harte

[@brianfeely9239]

A very kind take on Delaneys bullying reign of greed. There was no surprise at his downfall. The audacity and cunning of the man to stay in power was long running and extreme.

[@eamonnrussell1]

I’ve been begging for this for AGES. Thanks Alfie!

[@the-d-man4819]

Brilliant documentary Alfie! Thanks for doing it! You are helping tell the world how bad he was. In the future you should look at the Irish national team and the reasons for the decline and the potential hope that we have with our young players coming through.

[@hayzinthehouse2744]

I'm going to love the information in this video. Thank you Alfie

[@gabrielgodinho3187]

I get that making an ice sculpture is hard and this is not the point of the video, but that ice gun looked nothing like a Walther PPK or a Walther P99 (Bond's pistol during the last movies of the Brosnan era). So not only he used FAI funds for private expenses, but his own private expenses were not what was promised.

[@eeeeewewew]

Thank you Alfie ! Been asking for this for like a year and a half!!!! AFTER watching: This was more informative than a RTE documentary about the same topic.

[@lomzaunfiltered9151]

RTÉ are a joke

[@heliumtrophy]

With a face any decent man wouldn't tire of punching in Ireland, watching this is like gazing at the festering wound he's left Irish football in. I was never Roy Keane's biggest fan but I was absolutely on his side during the Saipan incident. What happened since has only enhanced that. (That James Bond themed birthday party is the real kicker for me).

[@Londronable]

Belgium is a bigger country of course but Belgium was ranked 22nd in 2002. I'm honestly baffled by the football progress Belgium made ever since. Belgium and competence don't generally go together :p.

[@laoch5658]

belgium has nearly 3 times the population of ireland

[@patrickmccutcheon9361]

@@laoch5658 with 11.5 M compared to 4.9M, their population is just over twice ours. In 2002 they were in a slump but they have qualified 13 times compared to our 3 times and they made it twice to the semifinals in 1986 and 2018, curiously both 16 years before and 16 years after their low point. A real shame they have not won a tournament as they are probably the best team to watch since the Netherlands team of Cruyff in the 70s.

[@marcioduartef]

ireland has to mirror itself in croatia.

[@n-tertainmentx-tended4760]

Maybe this is why Irish rugby is so popular. People don't want to watch football anymore.

[@davidpryle3935]

No. It’s easier be a big fish (in a small pond) at rugby.

[@nishitshetty5688]

Suggestion: how praful patel and fsdl ruined Indian football

[@qwert28077]

@Ahmad Nizam ngl as a time there was hope.

[@qwert28077]

At*

[@joellapointe9139]

Not an Irishman, unless you consider my consumption of ale 🍺 ! But been a Cork city fan for roughly 20 years since seeing a game while travelling Europe in my younger years! This vid is spot on! Regardless of the BS he caused within the squad, his lack of good business dealings are well known as is his financial running of the FAI. If you've looked at the financials behind his dealings you've gotta ask! Did he ever pay attention during civics classes? This man could not run a fruit stand without loosing money! The Irish leagues with it's talent pool and should be close to on par with the Scottish leagues! The beautiful game is not so beautiful when idiots like him with no understanding of basic finance leads what should be a great Football Association. We need more regular Joe's running clubs and associations, we need less egotistical money hungry arses involved! You run a club/association like any business, slow and steady wins the race!

[@gallowglass2630]

No GAA in scotland though and scotland is far more urbanised in a confined area where its easy to travel to games.The football club in a village in rural scotland is a GAA club in ireland

[@MasterofSpiders]

Delaney salary: €400,000 Prize money for winning the League of Ireland Premier Division: €230,000

[@OfficialFingazMC]

Ooo, I know nothing about Irish football (even though my family is from Ulster) so gonna enjoy this. Thanks Alfie :)

[@davidsheilds7191]

Excellent work sir. And a big hug to all my fellow paisanos.

[@harrymaxwell5420]

Whenever there’s an appropriate time for another Hull City video, make it about a deep insight into the life of our new owner Acun Ilicali from his tragic early years to his monumental success as a businessman.

[@camgreystonesphysio3582]

The one bit of credit he’s given is the football stadium. It’ is a rugby stadium, the by e oldest one in the world. The FAI became tenants. The don’t own the ground, just half the stadium which after so many years goes back to the Rugby Union. Who in fairness drove the stadium and paid their share without a bailout.

[@arzhi_azis]

Day 205: Indonesia XI If All Eligible Players Had Declared For Them

[@balham5606]

i don’t know how often i been asking i don’t want to spam Alfie Can you do a documentary on the afc Wimbledon on the nine promotions in eleven years, how they’re a fan own club and how they have a stadium in plough lane now. The story of they lost the club, how the F A allowed that and won’t allow that anymore. How they were very close to moving to ireland How they went up the English football leagues. It would be a good documentary video if you can do this. #thepeopleschannel

[@luispestana693]

Amazing story, I had no idea of Delaney's influence in the current state of Irish football. I really hope the Irish national team can bounce back. Cracking work as always, Alfie!

[@stivstilianos980]

Can you make a video on the 7 nations most likely to become 1st time world cup winners by the end of the 21st century.

[@lukebignell7846]

When was the last time there was a new winner of a World Cup? There have been the same set of repeat winners now for over 40 years

[@edwardfinegan2039]

Brilliant video Alfie easily the best channel on the KZbin football scene

[@yohanmccormick8257]

The nightmares are coming back after watching this, but great video as always.

[@wfl6887]

It’s still going on. Robbie Keane gets €250,000 a year for doing nothing.

[@marcelsoludo8424]

Another interesting topic of discuss. Thank you for what you do, please it would be interesting to do one concerning the NFF (Nigeria Football Federation)

[@lalitthapa101]

Can't wait for the Irish guy references in this one😂

[@guguy00]

Surprisingly none, Christ Above.

[@kieranmurphy1613]

Great video Alfie!

[@mike.n.n.7723]

Phew 40 minutes Keep up the good work man

[@aidanmoran12]

Thanks for covering this

[@AlanIsAinmDom]

Saw this vid and instantly liked it. Was waiting for this!

[@stephen123470]

What happened to Panathinaikos?

[@adamofyorkshire]

As a Brit living in Ireland I can't tell you how far away the league of Ireland Is from even league 2 in England. John Delaney was a crook that bankrupt the league.

[@patrickmccutcheon9361]

It is blatantly obvious. Went to see Cork City before their rise and fall. It was an awful spectacle. Roy Keane was there. Wonder what he thought of what he was watching.

[@cillianwhelton5963]

The league of ireland premier division has clubs that are better than league 2 level, we have clubs qualifying for european tournaments and sell young players to championship, league one and SPFL regularly, the league has increased in standard throughout the last 10 years and is on the up every year despite your sweeping british view on the league that is just an ill informed view

[@adamofyorkshire]

@@cillianwhelton5963 How many clubs Outside the likes of Dundalk and Cork? On reflection I was being far too harsh on the quality of football but I'd love to see and expect L of I to be on a par with Scottish football because I see all the potential and the similarities.

[@TheLastAngryMan01]

@@adamofyorkshire I’d say Shamrock Rovers would be there too, and Derry City. A big problem really is that not enough Irish football fans follow a domestic team, which has implications for the resource base.

[@adamofyorkshire]

@@cillianwhelton5963 missed the 'british view' bit 😂 I'm allowed to be British and have an opinion!

[@TheMrSheerbags]

Great to see and hear that they still call us United after we changed our name back to the original Waterford FC in 2016

[@jimbob-robob]

This was absolutely an AWESOMELY entertaining investigation Alfie...WELL DONE! MORE LIKE THIS!! 👍🏻👏🖖✊

[@Klynch111]

That sports direct deal was an absolute disaster. Who the hell offers a company the chance to get them pretty much free advertising as it was inevitable Ashley would ask for the money back. One of the many criminal acts delaney has made

[@MCKevin289]

Ireland population would most likely be on par with the UK’s had they not mismanaged the famine and divided the country into two. Not to mention soccer is the third most popular sport in the country after Gaelic games and rugby. Also it’s Taoiseach not prime minister. It’s interesting in my opinion to see the impact of colonisation on sports and performance of national sports teams.

[@alankenny21]

wow, you really need to learn the history. There was plenty of food in Ireland during the famine but the English wouldnt allow the Irish to eat it and exported it all. Soccer is more popular than rugby.

[@davidpryle3935]

Ireland could not sustain a large population in the 1800s unless it industrialised. Industry needed coal. Ireland barely had any coal. Belfast being the exception. It was just close enough to the Scottish coalfields, to make the importation of coal viable.

[@philmccavity3854]

Cheers, Alfie. Great presentation

[@bonifaceodoemene6608]

This was an excellent watch. Thank you for making this

[@JoDyMa]

I like the video before I watch the video, because I know it will be interesting and informative.

[@mcentee2755]

Thanks Alfie, great video. 👍

[@jimbob-robob]

@35:13 That tiny squished little stand at one end of the Aviva stadium is freakin' weird considering the size of the rest...like they ran out of concrete or something...

[@pjr7661]

There are houses right behind it, they either didn't have the money to enforce a cpo or the residents wouldn't sell.. does look a bit silly though!

[@robbieedwardes1615]

This channel is how I learn about world geography and history

[@PrinceJimi]

quality content as always Alfie

[@notthatcreativewithnames]

There are two US territory FAs that are member of the AFC, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, so technically, in terms of football administration, the US has two "Asian" territories. Under the same football administration terms, Australia is somehow also "Asian", and allegedly, another US territory in the Oceania, American Samoa, might have played the part that caused Australia to switch to be "Asian".

[@DabDabGoose]

Australia moved to Asia to have a better chance of getting the world cup, beating pacific island teams regularly by over 10 goals and without question always being top, only to have to face a South American Team in the playoffs was the primary reason(imo Oceania should of just merged with AFC anyway it's pointless). Considering Israel was the first country to move from Asia to Europe I would say that was more likely the catalyst.

[@goattm2]

That will be that 33-0 game then.

[@ivaneurope]

@@DabDabGoose Israel's move from AFC to UEFA was a political one as Arab AFC countries didn't want to play with them. Australia's move is more of an convenience as they didn't want to be the punching bag for South American teams

[@DabDabGoose]

@@ivaneurope Yes, but the fact it happened meant there was a prescedent, which was likely used in their argument to move

[@notthatcreativewithnames]

@@DabDabGoose Australia's move to AFC is way after Israel's move to UEFA. The catalyst would be more likely the Kazakhstan's move to UEFA which happened a few years earlier. Australia being in the AFC and the AFF (ASEAN Football Federation) is quite a funny thing here in SE Asia because they have never joined the AFF Championship. To be fair, they join youth competitions, just not the main one.

[@bhobg]

Good job again. How I wish you could make a video about the federation in my country....

[@goattm2]

That's the thing where I will defend Keane on this. It's a World Cup, you either take it seriously because you never know when you will qualify again or you do what Ireland did to their players and treat it as a relaxing holiday and disrespect their time.

[@conorkieran8196]

He was a disgrace backing out of the tournament, any other country would have condemned him properly and not have offered him assistant coach

[@eoinosullivan4594]

@@conorkieran8196 nearly twenty years later and this bollocks is still being spouted

[@conorkieran8196]

@@eoinosullivan4594 it was our last time in a word cup in our lifetimes

[@eoinosullivan4594]

@@conorkieran8196 yeah and it was so terribly mismanaged

[@theincrediblechaz]

Thank you so much for making this Alfie!

[@DarklordZagarna]

Actually, Saipan natives can vote in American elections if they move to the United States. Strangely, this is not the case for American Samoans, who (despite the name) are considered mere U.S. "nationals" who have to apply for U.S. citizenship.

[@EuropeanQoheleth]

Fitting that there'd be pictures of Charles Haughey in the video.

[@jacoblangford4788]

would love you to have a look at the situation at Birmingham City alfie mate. genuinely mind boggling to see how badly the club is being run, and the deeper you delve the worse it gets

[@FlamingBasketballClub]

👌🏿🤙🏿🤟🏿