Bray Wanderers could exit Carlisle Grounds by 2021
Bray Wanderers could quit the Carlisle Grounds by 2021, according to their newly written five-year strategic plan. The 32-page document, seen by the Wicklow Voice, outlines the club’s vision from 2017 to 2021, which includes building a 4,500-seater stadium on a greenfield site and the possible development of the Carlisle Grounds.
Any new complex is likely to include state-of-the-art facilities including: two floodlit 4G training pitches, two grass pitches, parking for 200 cars, 3-4 adjacent houses or apartments for player use, astro cages, a sports hall, conference facilities for hire, club offices, a gym and a bar.
The document also states that the Seagulls plan to sign a three-year lease with St Joseph’s FC for Under 19, and Academy training facilities in Stepaside in January 2017. It currently costs €825k to run the club (rising to €1.1m as the club goes fully professional), with the club currently spending significant sums every year on training facilities in Dublin. Overall the ultimate strategy of the club is to move to a self-sustaining financial model.
The club’s current deficit is being funded by the current owners, something the plan makes clear cannot continue indefinitely. It is also hoped that the club will be clear of its legacy debts by 2020, including those owed to Revenue and the Local Authority. On the pitch, the club is aiming to finish in the top four in the league (they finished sixth this year) or win the FAI Cup, and subsequently win one match in a European competition, while increasing average attendances from 700 to 1,500 in the Carlisle Grounds before moving to any new ground.
Bray Wanderers strategic plan
The club also has extensive plans to further strengthen community relations and link with local clubs and schools. However it is the proposal to redevelop the Carlisle Grounds that is likely to lead to further speculation about the future of the site, which is owned by the Council and leased to Bray Wanderers for a peppercorn rent.
In the strategy, under the headline ‘Summary of Main Action Items and Suggested Timelines’, the club outlines its plan to:
Feb 2017 – Open talks with Local Authority on a new greenfield site leisure complex, to include discussions on a new function for the land at the current Carlisle Grounds
Apr 2017 – Agree Plan and commence site identification and Carlisle Grounds development plan
Dec 2017 – Identify site and apply for planning permission for site and for Carlisle Grounds development
Mar 2021 – BWFC begin season in new ground
No discussion with the Local Authority, formally or informally, are believed to have taken place to date.
For the full story see this week’s Wicklow Voice – in shops from November 25
Below are two extracts from Bray Wanderers Limited, Abridged financial statements for the two years ended 30th November 2014 and 30th November 2015. They were both recieved at CRO Carlow on 14th November 2016.
On page 9 of the 2014 accounts under the heading “Going Concern” it states;
“Finally, the club has recently found itself at the centre of a fraud allegation which is alleged to have occured between 2006 and 2008 and relates to the misappropriation of a significent amount of grant funding while the club was under different administration”.
On page 9 of the 2015 accounts under the heading “Going Concern” it states
” the club was selected to form part of the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport’s (DTTAS) 2014 Capital Inspection Programme on foot of an alleged shortfall in the cost of ground improvements relative to grant income awarded to the club between 1998 and 2009. The fieldwork stage of the inspection took place on 9 October 2014″.
The Carlisle grounds, Bray are owned by Wicklow County Council and Bray Wanderers have a 35 year sporting lease from 2001 at a fixed peppercorn rent, which requires that the grounds are used Only for soccer games.
On July 11th 2015 a shareholder of Bray Wanderers John Deering was involved in a High Court case alleging that the club’s new owners are involved in a property play.
Denis O’Connor who knows one of the club’s shareholders Philip Hannigan got involved late last year. Mr O’Connor featured in the Moriarty Tribunal with regards the purchase etc of the Doncaster Rovers Football Club. In February 2015 Gerry Mulvey got involved. In April 2015 Milway Dawn Ltd bought 92% of the shares of Bray Wanderers and Mr O’Connor owns 20% of this company with the balance of 80% owned by Gerry Mulvey. Mr Mulvey is a former majority shareholder in St. Patrick’s Athletic, which has it’s grounds in Inchicore, Dublin. His involvement with that club ended when he sold his shareholding in 2007 to Garrett Kelleher, the developer behind the Chicago Spire project. Mr Mulvey is said to have made a significant profit on an earlier involvement in a sports grounds near the Navan Road.
http://www.irishtimes.com/business/commercial-property/owners-of-bray-wanderers-pursue-club-s-recovery-against-run-of-play-1.2295046
On July 11th 2015 a shareholder of Bray Wanderers John Deering was involved in a High Court case alleging that the club’s new owners are involved in a property play.
The Carlisle Grounds is a public property owned by the people of Ireland.