Ian Harkin prepared to roll with the punches as long as Harps go the distance 

Ian Harkin says the 2023 season shouldn't be written off by despondent Finn Harps fans despite their current on-field woes. 

Dave Rogers - just nine months into a four-year deal - checked out three weeks ago with the Ballybofey outfit second from bottom in the League of Ireland First Division.

Harps chairman Harkin though explains that the professional model and full-time direction the club veered towards at the start of the season won’t be abandoned. 

Football clubs though are judged on results and Harkin agreed that element of the process just wasn’t good enough under their former boss. 

“When you look at it, before this year, we’d never really looked at a full-time football model or even had a real grasp on what that looked like,” he explained. “When Dave and Darren Murphy came in, how they set up the club, it was a learning curve on our end as well. 

“You have to remember, we’d only one player signed and that was Sean O’Donnell. That’s the point we were starting from. We were part-time and keen to see how it worked lifting it up to the next level. 

“And a lot of that was operational elements, things like what processes now need to be put in place; basically, what does full-time football look and feel like? 

“And going along to the early part of all of that, the training sessions and so on, there really was a good buzz to it. 

“The players were coming in, eating in the morning, they were then training and even coming back in, later that day, for more food and further pitch work. So there definitely was real learning, for us as a club, in seeing how all that was set up. 

“How did it need to be funded, what facilities were needed and, even how it could be improved upon? We added in technology elements for the squad as well. And those processes are now all in place - that full-time infrastructure remains”.

The learning curve was certainly steep but at stages, there was real hope a corner was being turned. 

The last real juncture of hope under Rogers, the one where it looked like the nose might have been pulled up, came back in mid-September when Premier Division outfit St Patrick’s Athletic arrived at Finn Park in the FAI Cup.

Harps were superb on the night and, but for a controversial refereeing decision, an upset might have been on the cards. But the complete lack of consistency that has persisted throughout the season again reared its head in Cobh when the team suffered another one of those inexplicable drubbings, going down 5-1.

Still, it came as a bit of a shock when Rogers punched his card the very next day. This was always going to be a long-haul process where supporters were asked to show real patience. And to be fair to the Harps fans, they’ve stuck it out. 

But, in the end, it seems the manager just didn’t have the same endurance needed when the going was at its toughest. 

“The results just weren’t near where anyone could have hoped for, not as a fan, a board member or even the management themselves,” said Harkin. “They weren’t happy with it.

“To be honest, it came down to the person themselves and how they judged how they were going.  And clearly, they weren’t happy with where they were.  

“I don’t think Dave underestimated the challenge. The way Dave wanted to play was very specific. And I’m no expert but maybe that was just a step too far for some of the players at a very early stage. 

“And genuinely, that’s just me talking as a fan. I’m not a coach or a manager. That’s not my realm”.  

He added: “But from a board perspective, being able to tie down the best talent in the county has been a big step forward. There is so much uncertainty in football - especially at the level we’re at. So from a process perspective, I think we’ve taken quite big steps.

“So the hope is, having that security in place for those younger lads, it means they can continue to focus on the here and now as well as developing into the future.  We seen against St Pat’s that those lads are capable of being competitive at a really high level.

“We have to find the right person now to harness that, coax it along in terms of consistency and even self-belief”.

Harkin says the clock is now ticking and it has been ever since Rogers’ abrupt departure, to find the next permanent Harps boss.  But again, he’s keen to point out that some real foundations are now in place. 

“The great thing about it is that we have lots of those same players signed up and whoever comes in will inherit, I believe, a squad with real potential. 

“There are other lads from the northwest either playing in the Irish League or the League of Ireland and we’ll explore the possibility of maybe attaching them to Finn Harps.

“And we’re probably only really looking for three or four.  So there is a sort of legacy aspect from this season to carry over. We’ve put some really solid structures in place. Now, the next part of that is to start getting results.

“We want to get this sorted as quickly as possible. We’re very happy with Darren right now and the job he’s doing.  Darren actually interviewed for the job last year and he made the final shortlist. 

“So he’s very well thought of by ourselves. When we spoke with Dave at the end he felt it was important that Darren see out the season still in place. So we’re very grateful for that. And the players were more than happy to go with that”. 

New stadium 

Meanwhile, Harkin hopes that Finn Harps’ initial fundraising target of €200,000 - to get work restarted on their delayed new stadium project - can be raised before the end of the year. 

A grant of €4m has been awarded by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, under the Large-Scale Sports Infrastructure Fund (LSSIF) and Harps have to provide matching funding, which means they need to raise €700,000.

But club chairman Harkin explains that if the club can initially hit €200,000 then construction can recommence on the Stranorlar site. And the aim is to hit that target before Christmas. 

“We have broken it out into phases,” Harkin said. “Once we raise €200,000 we will be able to get diggers on site once more. We already have €4m secured. So it’s up to us to raise our bit. And another €500,000 on top of that will finish the project. 

“To me, that’s very manageable. And €500,000 more will mean the project will be completely debt-free. That’s the goal we’ve set ourselves - we have to raise €1.2m. When you break it down into portions like that, it isn’t as intimidating. 

“We hope to have the €200,000 raised before Christmas, that’s the initial aim. And it would tie in nicely to see work starting one more, early in 2024, before the new season starts”. 

He added: “There are so many variables but the will and even the momentum now to get this done is there. We will need help - we need the general public and the supporters to get behind it as well. 

“And we also aim to out into the diaspora. It’s a legacy project that will be there for the whole of Donegal. So we hope people see it as that. That money raised will only go towards infrastructure and the stadium. 

“I think it’s an exciting opportunity for the county”.

The initial application that was approved for the stadium’s build cost was €5.7m but a revised estimate now puts that figure at €7.3m. But Harkin remains undeterred. 

“The hours that volunteers, ordinary people, are putting in are unbelievable. I’m probably not far off full-time. My own business probably does suffer a little because of that.  But one of the main reasons I took on this role was to help deliver the stadium. 

“My dad was on the stadium committee since it was formed (in 2004). It’s something we talk about most days. So I really just want to get it done and over the line. I’ll hand over the reins when we get to that point”.