This website details the story of how Galway United destroyed the career of an 18 year old goalkeeper.
Hopefully it might help some other young players avoid the same pitfalls, and maybe even help to get FIFA’s illegal Training Compensation rules changed.
These are the poeple who made the decision:
Board of Directors
- Jonathan Corbett
- Colin Coyle
- Rosemary Killilea
- Stephen Long
- Cormac Lyons
- Pat Mulhern
Club Administration
- Secretary: John Flannery
This is a list of Galway United’s sponsors.
By sponsoring Galway United they support Galway United’s actions, and are jointly responsible for destroying this 18 year old’s career
- Comer Group Ireland
- Pressed4Time
- O’Neills
- TItanHQ
- The Kingfisher Club, Renmore
- NexVentur
- The City Bin Co
- GHR Consulting
- Circle Advisory
- Midwest Solar
- iSupply
- Zimmer Biomet
- DPD
- Foras Na Geailge
- Reaneys
- Galway Bay FM
- Shearwater Hotel & Spa
- Connacht Hotel
- Galway Train Station Gym
- Cellular Fitness
- EcoFuel
- What’s for Dinner
- DCI Ireland
- Galway Water
- Sweeney Oil
- The Frame Shop
- Campion Insurance
- Hanley & Co
- Western Management Centre
- Monaghan’s Galway
- Ireland West Airport
- Midwest Fire & Security
- The Cellar
- Kingfisher Gym
- The Charcoal Grill
- Marvoy Limited
- Steeltech Sheds
- McGinn’s Hophouse
- C2 Security
- Dilligent
- Utah Department Store
- Centus
- RDent
- Bon Secours, Galway
- Cellnutrition Sport
- Galway Bay Physio
- Harry’s Bar
Training Compensation.
There is a FIFA rule where a club giving a player his first professional contract must pay Training Compensation to all his previous clubs since the age of 12.
If it is an international transfer, FIFA have rules for calculating the amount. The only way to avoid the automatic application of these rules and fees is to get a Letter of Waiver from each of the training clubs.
My son was registered as an amateur player for Galway’s U15s team in 2020. This season was destroyed by COVID. They trained only about 2 months of the year, and played only 6 matches in total. My son is a Goalkeeper and played 3 of those. The trials for the 2021 season were also disrupted due to COVID, and while he was assured he would get a chance to trial for Galway’s following season’s U17s, on the day before deadline day he was told there would be no trials and he was being dropped. We frantically rang around and managed to get him a place on Limerick FC’s U17’s for 2021.
He returned to Galway’s U17s for the 2022 season. In July of that season, He was called to an Ireland U18 assessment. During the assessment, he was asked about his training at Galway United. The Ireland coaches told him he needed to be training more often and with players older than himself. At least with the U19s and preferably with the first team goalkeepers. When he requested this from Galway United, it was flatly refused. He was told the 2 x 1.5 hours training sessions per week was enough, and that he needed the remaining time to recover. During that conversation, I was also asked if I thought the U17’s team was not good enough for him…
Anyway as a compromise, it was suggested he should enrol in a Elite Soccer PLC course being run by Galway United in conjunction with the Galway Technical Institute. This course was starting in September 2022, and promised to include 2 days per week of training with Galway United’s first team coaches. However my son was starting his final Leaving Cert year that September. But since his dream was to be a professional Goalkeeper, we let him drop out of school and enrol on the Elite Soccer course instead. He was also told doing this course would 99% assure him a place on Galway’s U19s team in 2023.
My son commuted from Co Offaly every morning to Galway to attend this course. The promised 2 days training on the PLC course never happened, and to top it all, in January he was told he would not get the U19’s place either. He was being dropped by Galway United again.
Again we scrambled, we sent him back to school, paid a lot of money for private grinds and revision weeks in Yeats College, Galway. My wife and I and our son spent all our spare evenings and weekends teaching him what we knew of the leaving cert syllabus. Thankfully he got a decent Leaving Cert, and even got a place on a Computers for Robotics Degree Course in TUS, Athlone. He also got a place on Athlone Town’s U19s team for 2023.
In January 2024, a private goalkeeper coach managed to arrange a trial with Sunderland AFC. Prior to attending the trial, we were asked to give a signed letter stating that he was not currently contracted either amateur or professionally to any other clubs. We did so, the last club he was registered with was Athlone Town, and that expired on 30/Nov/2023.
Sunderland AFC liked him, and after keeping him for a second weeks trial, they offered him a contract. Shortly afterwards we for the first time heard about Training Compensation. When Sunderland AFC realised there was training compensation due, they refused to pay it. They would not go through with the contract.
We contacted the 5 clubs involved. His 2 grass roots clubs agreed to waive their Training Compensation immediately. The 3 League of Ireland clubs refused. We tried to arrange some kind of deal to compensate the clubs in the event of a future sell on transfer fee, or other arrangement. Trying to coordinate this across the 3 League of Ireland clubs proved impossible, and after over 3 months of trying to pull every thing together, Sunderland AFC decided they were not going to do any kind of future compensation deal and were not prepared to wait any longer.
The last option was for me to compensate the clubs directly. Both the other League of Ireland clubs agreed to this in principle, but Galway United flatly refused.
This last act by Galway United has destroyed my son’s football career, and his mental health. He has dropped out of college where he was doing really well, and has given up playing football because of the way he has been treated, especially by Galway United.
How Galway United can feel justified in insisting that Sunderland AFC pay them ~€100,000 in compensation for the grossly sub-standard training they gave him. How they can use an 18 year old with a dream and the potential (which Galway United were too blind to see) as a pawn in their squabbles with Sunderland AFC and rich English clubs.
If Sunderland AFC have to pay Galway United their €100,000, they would then have to pay the other clubs too. The total would come to around €310,000. Why would they pay €310,000 extra for my son an out of contract and unproven player, in fact a rejected player by his former Irish clubs. They can hire an English player in the same or better situation for free. And they will have had much better training at their previous clubs.
In the past there have been a few landmark legal cases taken against various FIFA rules which have forced FIFA to make changes.
I was willing to personally pay the full amount of Training Compensation which would have been due to Galway United, but they refused to accept it. So it’s not as if they would be losing any money. Are they stupid enough to think that destroying the career of an young promising Irish player is going to teach Sunderland AFC and the rich English clubs a lesson.
Instead I will put my money into taking a legal case against them.
If you think there is anything untrue in this website, please use the contact form to let me know and if it I will correct it.
If you disagree with the sentiments and wish to make a counter argument, please use the contact form to send me your thoughts and I will publish it along with your name and contact details.
If you are listed as a sponsor above, and can demonstrate to me that your in fact not a sponsor, please contact me. I got that list from Galway United’s website.
If you are on the sponsors list and can demonstrate that you are withdrawing your sponsorship, please contact me.
I intend to create a protesters list. If you or your organisation would like to be included on that list please contact me.
If you would like to contribute to the legal costs which may be incurred, please contact me. I will not accept any monies now, but may come back to you for help if and when the costs start to build.