Success attracts support from all over the country
St Ita's U9G at the FAI Futsal tournament in Gormanston College.
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Wednesday February 03 2010
IT'S not just the home county that have been bitten by the Sporting Fingal bug, as the League of Ireland's newest club have firmly captured the nation's imagination.
Liam Buckley's men rightly made headlines across Ireland by winning the promotion and the FAI Cup in only their second year and the plaudits - and new fans - have continued to arrive ever since.
'After we won the cup, we got emails from all over the country,' general manager, Joe Corr said. 'It goes to show the draw the League of Ireland really does have.
'People were sending mails from as far away as Cork congratulating the club. We got mails from St Pat's fans, Cliftonville fans and one Bohs supported said he had brought his grandkids to the final in Tallaght, who are now huge Fingal fans. 'It's nice when you get feedback like that and it's positive for the club and the League of Ireland.'
Perhaps the most telling ingredient in Sporting Fingal's success has been the input of Fingal County Council, who initiated the blueprint behind the set-up and continue to play a vital role. However, as Mr Corr was eager to stress, contrary to speculation, they don't provide a penny in funding and arguably it's the army of volunteers that are the club's most valuable asset.
'Sporting Fingal is a very new club and we certainly wouldn't be able to have as much success if it wasn't for the strong support of Fingal County Council,' Mr Corr continued.
'Although the council is not financially backing the club, there are other elements of what we do where the council have strong involvement. They want to deliver sport into the community and Sporting Fingal is a vehicle with which to do that. ' The stewards in Morton Stadium are volunteers, fantastic people who have a great attitude towards volunteering. If we didn't have them working on that voluntary basis, we wouldn't be able to function.
'I'd like to take this opportunity to thank the council staff, other volunteers and councillors for the support they've given us at home matches and long may it last.
'We're like any other club in the Premier Division. We're all out there vying for sponsorship and financial support from commercial partners.
'Luckily, we're the only Premier Division club in Fingal and businesses have been very supportive of us, which we're very grateful for.'
