Sligo boss on growing wage gap that makes it ‘harder and harder' every season

Irish Daily Mirror

01-05-2025

Sligo Rovers boss John Russell admits it's getting 'harder and harder' to compete in the Premier Division - with wage budgets at rival clubs dwarfing that at the Showgrounds.
The recent AGM highlighted the issues facing Russell and his coaching staff, with the Bit O' Red spending just under €800,000 on player wages last season.
Russell spoke of players being offered double or treble the money available at Rovers, leading to large-scale departures at the end of every season.
However, he has taken a positive view of the challenges facing the club, including the necessity to blood young players whenever injuries expose the depth of his squad.
Addressing the challenge, he said: 'It's getting harder and harder every season with all the investment coming in, we are losing all our best players because they are doubling or trebling their money to go elsewhere and players want to progress their careers, so that's a challenge for us.'
Rovers did receive a huge boost last year when their dream of a brand new state-of-the-art Showgrounds moved a giant step closer, thanks to confirmation of a €16.4m grant from the government's Large Scale Sport Infrastructure Fund.
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Russell said: 'I feel that when we get the new stadium in the next few seasons that can be a game changer, there will be revenue streams coming in, in terms of renting facilities, you are not waiting every fortnight for a gate so that will be a huge step forward.
'I am sure the committee are looking at other things, Sligo Rovers is the heartbeat of the community, everything revolves around the club and you don't want the club to lose that.
'But you have to look at other revenue streams as we want to compete. There are 10 teams in the Premier Division, at the moment we are down the bottom, that's not where we want to be.
'You want to push on, get up and challenge, be in Europe, which we tasted in 2022, a packed out Showgrounds, Motherwell and Viking coming over, brilliant occasions.
'As players and staff that's what we want, to be competing at the highest level and it's finding ways to get more money so we can keep our players and sign players, make the whole environment more professional.
'I do feel the stadium is going to be a big help.'
Friday's opponents Drogheda United this year became the last Premier Division team to move to a full-time model - and manager Kevin Doherty has been able to tap into the resources offered by owners Trivela Group - who also own Walsall and Danish side Silkeborg IF - to bolster his squad.
So does Russell envy his rival managers, whose player purses are much greater than his?
He replied: 'Look, I know the model that I'm working with here in Sligo and I have to get on with the job.
'I can't feel sorry for myself, I have to try and work within the budget constraints at Sligo and try to sign the best players I can with the resources and money available to me.
'I believe that last season we recruited really well. As the season went on we got better, and I feel it's going to be the same again this year.
'We have got players that have something to prove, they are hungry, we have to look at it as a strength of ours rather than a weakness.
'We are never going to have the biggest budget in Sligo, but that doesn't mean we can't compete.
'What happens when we lose players through injury or suspension, yeah, that does have an impact on us. But it opens the door for our young academy players. We have had four or five starting in games so far in the first series, so that is really good for them.
'There are challenges within that, because they can make mistakes, they are learning their trade on the job, but for me I feel confident in the group that we have and the staff I have around me.
'It's about maximising everyone and improving players, which we have shown we can do year on year.'
Asked what he viewed as a strength, he replied: 'It's the underdog tag, everyone has us written off, that we are going to go down. And also, young players play without fear. They bring that youth and that energy and hunger, and I love that, I love working with young players.
'For us in Sligo, it's trying to maybe get one or two more experienced players to blend with that.
'I'm fortunate enough to get one or two players now on two-year deals this year - the likes of Will Fitzgerald, John Mahon, Jad Hakini, Cian Kavanagh, so we are trying to change it slightly so that at the end of the year there is not a massive turnover.
'That is the key thing for me going forward, that we keep a core group of players moving into next year. But ultimately we need to be in a good spot at the end of this year for that to happen.'