Preston Owner Will Help Cork Get First Division License



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Cork City has urged the Munster FA and the FAI to “come to a solution” with Grovemoor Limited less than a week after their proposed acquisition of the club appeared to fail.

It was announced last Friday that Grovemoor’s hopes of taking control of the Leesiders had ended after the Munster FA and the company, which is owned by Trevor Hemmings, failed to agree on terms for the use of Turner’s Cross.

Members of the Cork City fan trust and task force FORAS voted in favor of a motion to sell the club to Grovemoor last October, giving the company the option to take over the club for 1 euro, at time you assumed your existing responsibilities.

However, on Tuesday evening, Cork City issued a statement confirming that the acquisition had been broken and also revealed that Preston North End owner Hemmings would help the club obtain a license for 2021.

The statement continued to implore Munster FA, owner of Turner’s Cross, to enter into a commitment with Grovemoor on the long-term lease of the land.

In February, Cork City sold its terms of sale for Alan Browne and Sean Maguire to Preston for a cash injection believed to exceed € 500,000, helping them obtain their Premier Division license for 2020.

“Significant investment in Irish football is a rarity, and the current situation we find ourselves in is nothing more than a missed opportunity.”

The Cork City statement on Tuesday evening read: “On Thursday 17th December, the Cork City Football Club Board of Directors announced that Grovemoor Ltd. and its owner, Mr. Trevor Hemmings, had informed us that because they could not agree to the terms of a lease with the Munster Football Association (MFA), whereby Grovemoor Ltd would not proceed with its option to buy Cork City Football Club at this time.

“As the Board had communicated to its members in October this year, the lack of investment guarantee with respect to a full acquisition of the football club would result in severe cuts across the club, particularly in the gaming budget and staff. club professional, as well as presenting the risk that the club would not obtain a license to participate in the First Division of the League of Ireland for the 2021 season.

Following the events of last week, and following discussions with Grovemoor Ltd., the Board is pleased to announce that Mr. Trevor Hemmings has committed to helping the club obtain a license to participate in the League of Ireland to 2021.

“The Board would like to publicly thank Mr. Hemmings and his representatives for re-committing to Cork football and in doing so, securing the jobs of our professional staff for the upcoming season.

“Our ongoing work with Grovemoor, along with the budget the board has set for the 2021 soccer season, will allow us to maintain our current academic structures and off-the-field professional structures that we believe are a critical prerequisite for a renewal process. construction to be carried out The club will adopt a youth-oriented first-team player recruitment policy for the upcoming football season.

“Beyond this, our current business model still makes it difficult for us to compete regularly in the top flight of Irish football. This is not a situation we are happy with and it is a long way from what we believe Cork City Football Club can achieve. , both on and off the court.

“This is a particularly daunting situation given Mr. Hemmings’ unique investment opportunity, which he and Grovemoor are committed to pursuing.

“For these reasons, the Cork City FC Board of Directors would declare our utter disappointment that an agreement was not reached with the Munster Football Association to secure a long-term lease that would have allowed Grovemoor Ltd. and Mr. Hemmings invest in the necessary infrastructure that is critical to the growth of the football club and the development of football in Cork and Munster as a whole.

“Significant investment in Irish football is a rarity, and the current situation we find ourselves in is nothing more than a missed opportunity, especially given the dedication Mr Hemmings and Grovemoor Ltd. have shown towards Cork football, even though they don’t currently own it.

“We would now strongly encourage the MFA to proactively engage with Grovemoor Ltd. and the FAI to come up with a solution that improves our collective soccer community, which should be a common goal for all stakeholders at different levels of soccer. “. in the city of Cork, the county and all of Munster. “



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