F&W representative ‘privileged and honoured’ to be elected onto IFA Board

FERMANAGH and Western official Sam Dennison says he’s “honoured and privileged” to be elected onto the board of the Irish Football Association.

The board is the highest committee at the IFA and has the final say on a whole myriad of matters around the governance of the local game.

Dennison’s election as a board member brings to five the number of Fermanagh and Western representatives who hold key positions at the IFA.

Neil Jardine, sits on the board as First Deputy President, Enda Love is a leading figure on the Junior committee, Gordon Lee sits on Senior Council while Roy Cathcart chairs the Stadium Development Company.

Dennison, president of the Fermanagh and Western League, said he was looking forward to playing his part and representing local grassroots football at the highest level of the local game.

“I see it as an honour for myself, an honour for the junior game and in particular for football in Tyrone,” said the McClintock Primary School principal.

“The board is made up of people representing all levels of the game. There are 10 people on it as well as a chairman and that includes three non-football people. It’s a good representation of all walks of life.

“The old board included Strabane man John McCrossan (now deceased) but outside that not too many Tyrone folk have served on the board. Certainly it’s a privilege and honour for me to be representing the Fermanagh and Western.

“Of course it’s going to mean more work for me, more meetings and more documents to read. For the first meeting I had 90 pages to scrutinise in advance.

“Previously when I sat on the junior committee I was responsible for the Junior Cup and Youth Cup but now it’s going to the next level. The board deals with budgets, strategy, medium and long term planning and so on. In many ways it’s very similar to my role as a school principal.

“Things discussed at the first meeting included the findings of the research completed under UEFA’s GROW programme, funding streams and the negotiations around Ian Baraclough’s new contract, that sort of thing.

“Another issue discussed was the price of tickets for Northern Ireland games. Obviously I’m well placed to represent the views of those involved in the grassroots of the game, in particular given my association with the Castlederg Northern Ireland Supporters Club.

“The junior side of the game is well represented on the board and rightly so given that the amateur game produces most of the players. All sections of the game are well represented.”

Initially Dennison has been elected for three years but the Drumquin man, like all board members, can serve up to a maximum of nine years.

For now he’s looking forward to getting his teeth stuck into the job and helping the board embrace the many challenges that lie ahead.

It goes without saying that there are many hurdles to be cleared but Dennison is well aware the demands of the job.

“I suppose the ambitions are to see the men’s international team qualify for another major tournament and the women’s team to carry on their excellent work after qualifying for the Euros in England next year,” he continued.

“Other goals is to see further improvement of facilties and have money drip feeding down through the system so clubs can become more “professional” in their approach and to build on developing the Northern Ireland brand as all inclusive.

“The IFA is proactive and aspirational as they demonstrated in bringing the Super Cup to Belfast last year. We want to host more of those events and if the UK were to bid for a World Cup at some point in the future we would be hoping to be part of that.”