Bray Wanderers' continual neglect of their players has appalled the footballing community in Ireland, in light of the squad going without wages for the past seven weeks.
Journalist Johnny Ward was on OTB AM, with plenty to say on the situation. "For the Bray Wanderers players to be treated like dirt two seasons in a row now is disgraceful.” While many people may have been critical of the FAI, Ward was clear that his gripe was with the club.
“The people running that club: I don’t know how they can go about their daily lives and think this is OK. This is absolutely despicable.”
Watch the video here:
So what is the solution? There is not much else that seems to be on the cards. As Ward pointed out “There is no recourse for the FAI to come in and say we can help you out with some solidarity fund or something.” Even if the FAI decided to do go down this, it is questionable how long they can be expected to pay for the sins of the club.
However, focus remains on the players who are in the unenviable situation of having no income for the foreseeable future. Hugh Douglas recently posted a tweet saying that the club has let him down as he had to seek his own medical treatment, which has been made even more difficult by the lack of income.
Hugh Douglas’ tweet:
— Hugh Douglas (@hughie_douglas) July 13, 2018
The club, which has been struggling for some time, are still unable to pay their players and have begun to shed them from their staff. Aaron Greene, Ronan Coughlan, Cory Galvin, Daniel Kelly and Craig Walsh have all left the club, while a statement released by the players contained the damning “We have now lost all trust in the club.”
If the past is any indication of future performance, the club will be in for a torrid period. This is the second season that wage issues have become big news: last summer all of the club's players transfer-listed themselves due to the situation at the club. Bray had only sorted the problem out in the short term for the 2017 season after the chairman at the time, Denis O’Connor, had assured everyone that he had received financial backing.
The crisis had been looming long before last year, with desperate signs as far back as 2014. In October of that year, one of Bray’s creditors, St Joseph's Boys, requested that the FAI not licence the club for the following season. At the time the debt was claimed to have reached €41,000.
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