Being a Dundalk Supporter is hard, seriously, is there any other football club in Europe that has this much drama and constant noise surrounding it?

The last five years have felt like ten, from being taken over by “that” crowd in 2018, that “other crowd” in 2021 and now our current owner all the way from Boston, sometimes it seems that being a Dundalk FC supporter is exhilarating but exhausting, exciting but frustrating and its like having a bag full of every emotion and just battering the shit out of it with a hammer.

Someday I hope that we can just settle all this down both on and off the pitch and just get back to playing football, winning matches and lifting silverware, you know, the good old days.

But those days still seem out of reach.

After Stephen O Donnell left, remember that? it seems like a long time ago, doesn’t it? but its only two weeks ago, but after Skip left a process was put in place to recruit our new first team manager, we were told that 70 plus applicants had applied, applicants from all over Europe and abroad.

It seemed like Dundalk FC was still a draw for up-and-coming managers to make a name for themselves, we were told that names like Ian Barraclough were in the running, excellent.

The club released a statement via our CEO, Peter Halpin, stating that time was required by the club to make the right decision and the closing date was April 24^th.

Finally, the club had started to communicate their progress to the supporters, it seemed like they were doing things right and taking their time to select the right person. 

This was Wednesday.

Roll on Friday night after a spirited performance against Sligo Rovers in the Showgrounds where we earned a one all draw. The Townend lads had barely taken to their Zoom stage, Donal had barely poured his whiskey, when the news broke, leaked if you will, Noel King was rumoured to be appointed as our new First Team Manager. Nah, its just one of “those” rumours we all thought.

It was quickly dismissed by the lads on the podcast, but more and more posts arrived on social media seemingly backing up the story. 

It was true, unconfirmed by the club, but as good as confirmed.
The backlash started immediately.

Its here that I want to dig deeper into this and see is the backlash warranted?

Firstly, for those born in the 1990s and after:

Noel King is a football man through and through, he has managed many League of Ireland clubs during the 1980’s and 1990’s, from Derry City, Shamrock Rovers and Finn Harps, he has a vast football background from working in the League and also with the FAI in many capacities.

Noel coached the Ireland U-21 squads before Stephen Kenny took over, he also took control of the Ireland Senior Men’s team in 2013 for two games as interim manager.

In more recent years, Noel had overseen the Shelbourne Women’s Team but left his role in November 2023 citing stresses of the role and needing to take time off.

We can see that Noel has a vast knowledge of Irish football.

We Dundalk FC Supporters are a passionate bunch, we want people at our club who have the same passion for our club as we do, that is why the appointment of Stephen O Donnell went down so well with the supporters, he is a club legend and was the next best alternative to having Stephen Kenny back.

We want the ownership to take the job seriously, to stop and think about decisions and make the correct decisions for the club.

On Wednesday, Peter Halpin, Dundalk FC CEO released a statement outlining the process that was in place for recruiting the next first team manager and the deadline for applications.

He asked the supporters to be patient and give the club time to recruit the correct replacement.

It seemed like the club was going in the right direction and doing things right.

So, when the news broke on Friday night, it came out of the blue, it undermined the entire process that was laid out in the statement during the week, and it had all the signs of an owner going rogue.

So much so, that reports on Saturday suggested that the Staff and Players were as surprised by the announcement as the supporters were on the Friday night.

That’s one side of the backlash, the other is the fact that Noel King hasn’t managed a League of Ireland club in over 20 years, the league has moved on since then. The last time Noel took control of a League of Ireland club, was 2003 with Finn Harps, previously to this Jim Mc Laughlin was still manager of Dundalk FC.  

Overall, the decision comes across as one that was hurried, had no thought process behind it and was made by an owner who just undermined the entire structure of the football club.

If the club had over 70 applicants for the position of First Team Manager, then why did the owner dismiss the entire process to opt for a close friend with no League of Ireland managerial experience for over 20 years.

This is the other half of the backlash. The decision was rash, rushed and didn’t consider the process laid out by the CEO just a couple of days before.

So, what’s next?

The supporters have a decision to make, we either roll in behind the team regardless of your opinion of the appointment or you don’t attend any more games. Unfortunately, it’s that simple.
I will tell you about my thoughts on this, I’m a Dundalk FC Supporter, therefore I will support Dundalk FC, end of.

I will be there on Friday night cheering the lads onto the pitch and applauding them off it, no matter the result, because as supporters that’s what we do.
It doesn’t matter who sits in the Dugout and shouts instructions from the sideline, Skip did it, Vinny did it, Fillipo did it etc, but we stood behind them and supported the club, because without supporters there is no club.

I have no issues with Noel King as a person, I have never met him, but I do hope to meet him over the coming weeks and months in my capacity in the supporter’s club, but is he the right man for the role, only time will tell…

End.