Manorhamilton Rangers Club AGM took place last Thursday at Manor Astro. Club ChairmanHugo Clancy opened the meeting and welcomed those present . He then gave a breif outline of the year gone by both off and on the field. He thanked his committee and the managers, coaches amd parents/supporters and sponsors for their continued contribution throughout the year and wished them continued success in the forthcoming season. He spoke first about the underage section of the club and thanked Bernie Cleary for her tireless work that she continues to do season after season. In particular he highlighted the success of the underage girls teams who have again excelled on the field with both the U15 and U18 teams retaining their league titles for a scond year in a row.

Hugo outlined how the senior team was in a period of transition but still managed to have a good season and were very unlucky to lose to Cartron Utd at the semi-final stage of the Glasshouse cup. Special mention was made of Brian McDonald who was named Superleague Player of the Year. He expressed his gratitude to Senior manager Thomas McDonald who stepped down at the end of season.

Hugo also outlined the continued sucess of some of our former players on the international stage, namely Muireann Devanney for the Ireland U19 team, Peter Maguire for the Irish Colleges team and Eanna Clancy for the Irish schools team. Mention was also made of pride in all three players who are now playing in Athlone Town and Sligo Rovers league of Ireland sides.

Hugo then thanked all who had contributed to fundraising iniatives during the season and made particular mention of club PRO Dave Cummins for his work throughout the year.

Joe and Martin Cleary were also acknowledged for the maintenance of the Bee Park pitch and the time and effort put in by both.

Finally Hugo announced that he was stepping down from position of Chairman and wished the club well going forward.

Eugene Gilgunn delivered the senior secretarys report and gave a detailed outline of the senior teams season. Eugene as always have a detailed numer of statistics from apearances to goal scorers , scorelines etc.

Bernie Cleary delivered the youth secretarys report and detailed the continued success of our teams on the field in particular the girls this season. She thanked all the managers and their assistants. She poutlined that some managers were stepping down and she thanked them for their efforts throughout the season. she also highlighted the need for more people to step forward and take up these roles as it will lead to teams not being entered if there is no one to look after them.

Bernie highlighted the number of players from the club representing Sligo Leitrim amd the fact that three of our current coaches Daithi & Dave Cummins and Brendan Mclaughlin and one of our former coaches Aileen Masterson are involved with representative teams shows the high level of coaches involved with the club. It was decided that no trophies for players of the year etc would be purchased this year but that the monies usually used for this would be donated to Caroline Flynn and her campaign 100km in 30 days for Breast Cancer Ireland.

Joe Cleary delivered the treasurers report and highlight the substantial cost of running the club for the season and also the huge role fundraising had played during the season. The club accounts are audited by Coggins & Co Accountants and submitted to companies office as we are a limited company by guarantee.

Dave Cummins delivered the Pro/Administrators report and spoke of the huge success and successful migration to the Clubzap platform. The club will continue to use this platform going forward and all club business .i.e. training, memberships, fundraising etc will only be on this platform. All members will be required to registered on the app. This is to comply with GDPR and child protection policies.

Club membership fees are remaining the same as last season despite rising costs to the club. Details of which will be on our website.

Social medis continues to be a vital source of promotion for the club and all members were advised to send items for inclusion to the PRO. The club are experiencing between 45,000 and 50,000 hit on twitter and facebook monthly.

Dave made special mention of club sponsors Sarah Mc Cann & Peter Hunt formerly of The Granary Bar and now XL & Route 66 Blacklion, They were the main sponsor of the senior team and added considerable monies during their period of time at the helm. they also sponsorsed a kit for our underage section and numerous prizes for our various raffles.

Thanks was also expressed towards John Mullen and Manorhamilton Fire Service for our annual car wash which has become a vital source of revenue for the club. Joe & Sinead Connolly were also acknowledged for their contribution to our raffles.

Thanks was also expressed to Felim Gurn, John McManus and Kieran Fox for theor sponsorship of Ronan Fox & Kar Gethinds participation in the Kennedy Cup.

The club are currently looking for new sponsors to come on board and anyone who wishes to do so can contact Dave or Bernie.

Dave then outlined the following:

At the recent A.G.M. of Manorhamilton Rangers AFC, North Leitrim Community Amenity Association Chairman Dave Cummins asked to address the delegates. He expressed huge frustration and dissappointment as he announced that the N.L.C.A.A. ,who provide training facilities for Manorhamilton Rangers and other user groups in North leitrim, woud be unable to avail of €77,500 allocated to it from the Sports capital programme in 2018 towards building a dressing room, toilets and a disabled facilities development.

Mr Cummins outlined that Covid had been a major factor with all facilities closed for large periods of time and and building activities severally restricted. He stated we have been given a number of extensions to the allocation up to the end of September this year to draw down the allocation. Unfortuately with the pandemic we have been unable to fundraise the way we normally do and therefore are unable to source match funding. The cost of building etc has also risen during this period. We had initally been quoted €164,000 to complete the development but this has now risen substantially to over €210,000 which leads a large shortfall which our voluntary association are unable to meet. This will lead to us being unable to drawdown the allocation and losing same. Our facilities are badly lacking and presenlty we have no changing facilities etc. We are operating from a delapidated cabin. This is a widely used facility by the greater North Leitrim area and a huge asset to the community. It is an absolute travesty to lose it due to lack of available funds or means to acquire funds towards this new development.

Mr Cummins futher added that this scenario was being repeated up and down the country with clubs or community groups being allocated funding with huge fanfare and then unable to draw down such allocations due to costs and the completely changed lanscape since the pandemic. Mr Cummins called on the Minister to revisit the way funding is allocated. He suggested that the full cost should be allocated from central funding with the grant allocated being provided by the department whislt the balance could come in the form of an interest free loan which clubs or community groups could repay over a period ot time. Sadly at this juncture despite the best efforts of our hard working community volunteers we are left with this situation. We have exhausted all avenues."

Manorhamilton Rangers Club Chairman Hugo Clancy expressed his huge disappointment also and shared with the sentiments expressed. As a club with over three hundred members , which is the main user of the facilities provdied by the N.L.C.A.A this has come as a hammer blow. Young players partaking in sport is huge now, considering the growing problems in relation to mental health and the need for social interaction, facilities like the one provisionally allocated are a must and are paramount to keeping people involved.

The following officers were then elected:

Chairman Dave Cummins

Secretary Eugene Gilgunn

Youth Secretary Bernie Cleary

Treasurer Joe Cleary

PRO Dave Cummins

Club Coaching Development Officer Daith Cummins

Child Liasiom & Protection Officers Dave Cummins & Bernie Cleary

Committee members Helder Oliveira, Sean gallagher and Thomas McDonald.

The AGM was then brought to a close by the chairman.