Dermot Keely: Fundamentals need to be in place to be considered a pro league

FOR one set of floodlights to go in the opening few weeks of the season might be deemed unfortunate.

For a second to go, is downright embarrassing.

There are plenty who will say that the lights went out on the League of Ireland years ago.

And the sight of games in Athlone and Sligo being called off in the past fortnight will be grist to the mill for those who want to mock the league.

Ours is not the only league where it happens but it does occur far too often.

In 2014, Shelbourne had an FAI Cup tie against St Pat’s called off when four of the eight floodlights went.

Last year, a league match against Wexford Youths was held up for 35 minutes when something similar happened.

I know Shels had taken precautions from a previous incident. They had someone on standby who could fix a problem if it arose.

It is like having St John’s Ambulance there.

The chances are that you are not going to need them because someone gets ill or is hurt in the crowd but, when you do need them, you appreciate their presence.

In the past, I’ve been critical of some of the demands the licensing system brings because I don’t think it takes into account the hand-to-mouth existence of a lot, if not all, of our clubs.

And there is a real jobsworth element to some of the things that clubs get picked up on.

But there are fundamentals that need to be in place if you are going to consider yourself a professional league.

We all agree good pitches are desirable if you are going to allow your best players to shine.

But yet again there has been a lot of discussion about how poor some of the surfaces are.

It is a new season and you want things to be better than they were last year but already you find yourself talking about negatives.

The fact we now have a summer season has presented clubs with challenges.

It’s very difficult to repair a pitch over the winter months when there is no growth unless you have a lot of money at your disposal, which clubs don’t.

And it looks as though it is proving just as difficult for clubs to keep their floodlights in regular order.

In an ideal world, you would think all of these things would be serviced over the close-season to ensure they are in regular working order.

But we all know that is not how things operate in our league and this is where the FAI can help.

We are in the final year of the merger between the Association and the league and it astounds me that some simple things have not been done.

As part of the sponsorship deal, clubs are obliged to have SSE Airtricity hoardings at certain, prominent places around their pitches.

That is something that inhibits clubs’ ability to bring in their own revenue.

You wouldn’t mind if there was a quid pro quo so, say, the FAI had a collective agreement with groundsmen, electricians or whoever of which all the clubs could avail.

There is strength in numbers, if utilised properly, and it could avoid embarrassing repeats like we have seen at the Athlone Town Stadium and The Showgrounds over the past fortnight.