County teams’ expenses continue to pose a challenge

The rising cost of preparing county teams was laid bare at the Westmeath GAA County Convention, where clubs learned that the overall bill continues to exceed the €1m mark and is showing no signs of decreasing.

The biggest outlay for Westmeath GAA in 2024 was team administration - the cost of management teams for hurling and football in the county - and that stood at over €1.2m. There have been concerns from clubs in recent years that this could prove a serious burden. Mullingar Shamrocks delegate Barry Kelly was one of those to caution that the rising costs were unsustainable and it remains a challenge.

At the recent County Convention, Ballynacargy delegate Brian Sheridan and Lough Lene Gaels' Martin Williams both questioned the major costs and raised concerns about how the county can sustain the high level of spending. At the same time, Westmeath GAA is also planning for a new home (a centre of excellence) for which they are hoping to raise €1m in a major fundraiser next May.

The overall development will be phased but, at this stage, it is expected that it will cost in the region of €15m-€20m, and this draw is the first major fundraiser aimed towards raising the necessary finance.

Player mileage costs for senior footballers in 2024 stood at €130,159, while for senior hurlers it was €91,465. Team management and selectors cost €89,340 for football and €72,547 for hurling. The backroom team in football cost €53,884, while in hurling it was €56,300.

Meals, catering and nutrition cost almost €90,000 for football and €65,000 for hurling, with underage managements (including U20) costing €174,441 and backroom teams costing €148,000. Catering for development squads and U20s cost €253,399. Gear and equipment cost €156,699, while there was a medical bill of over €130,000. Training camps cost €27,500 for development and U20 sides.

In terms of tax, there are no issues for Westmeath. While other counties have had cause for concern in 2024, Westmeath GAA is fully tax compliant and has been granted tax exemption under section 235 of Taxes Consolidation Act 1997. A revenue audit is also expected.

In a breakdown of the gate receipts, it was shown that the football championship brought in almost €229,000 while the hurling championships realised €102,363. Underage games brought in €23,594 and there was just a €5 charge for adults at the various underage finals.

Season tickets raised just over €11,500 while streaming of matches raised the county €40,172 in 2024.

Significantly, Westmeath brought in €802,532 from the various GAA bodies, including a Central Council grant of over €300,000 and central funding of €192,000. Without this support, Westmeath could not keep the ship afloat and would be unable to meet their commitments to the various team managements.

The supporters club, Club Iarmhí, raised €20,000 for the county coffers, with their golf classic bringing in €20,248 and half-time draws raising €7,661. Their balance at the end of the year was just shy of €42,000. They provided sponsorship to the various county championship winners and to the Mullingar-based secondary school, Coláiste Mhuire.

Sponsorship brought in €254,212 in the last year and the following sponsors were acknowledged: O’Brien’s Renault, Slevins Coaches, Club Iarmhí, Shay Murtagh Precast, Westmeath County Council, Britvic Ireland, Mullingar Autos, TEG, Clarke’s Bar, Writech, O’Neills, KC Sports, MJS Building & Development New York.

Westmeath GAA’s current assets amount to over €1.5m and they have debtors totalling €742,000 and creditors of €967852. They have stock to the value of €50,000 on their books. On a positive note, the clubs have almost fully repaid their historical debt at this stage and it stands at €8.689 this year, having been as high as €350,000 at one stage and in 2018, stood at €166,000, so great progress has been made in this area.

Initially a committee led by current county chairman Frank Mescall was set up to recoup the funds and this move has clearly paid off.

The organisation has a number of employees and the wages paid in the past year amount to €499,757, while there were social security costs of over €50,000 and expenses of €29,000. Pension fees amounted to €9,639 and there were no redundancies.