John Delaney (football administrator)

John Delaney
Executive Vice-President, Football Association of Ireland
In office
25 March – 28 September 2019
CEO, Football Association of Ireland
In office
December 2004 – March 2019[1]
Personal details
Born (1967-10-16) 16 October 1967
Waterford, Ireland
Spouse
Emer Delaney
​
​
(div. 2016)​
[2]

John Delaney (born 16 October 1967) is a former Irish sports administrator. He was the Chief Executive Officer of the Football Association of Ireland from March 2005 to March 2019, and its Executive Vice President from March to September.[3] He agreed to a voluntary suspension of all duties in September 2019 following journalistic investigation into the financial management of the Association.[4][5]

Early life

Born in Waterford, John Delaney is one of five children of Joe and Joan Delaney. His siblings are a brother, Paul, and three sisters, Joanne, Jane and Mary Pat.[6] His family were removed to County Tipperary when he was about three, and he grew up later in the town of Tipperary. As a schoolboy he played Gaelic games as well as soccer, and lined out for St Michaels of Tipperary and Tralee Celtic of Kerry.[7]

Business life

Delaney's early career was in business, beginning with a bakery in Tralee, and by 2002 he owned three companies in Waterford and had other business interests in Athlone. He sold a logistics business in 2002.[8]

After studies at Waterford IT, Delaney qualified as a chartered accountant[8] but as of September 2016 had not gone through the formality of joining Chartered Accountants Ireland (CAI).[9]

Career

John Delaney joined the board of directors of soccer club Waterford United in 1996, representing the club on the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) Senior Council, and in the League of Ireland.[10][11]

In July 2001, he was elected treasurer of the FAI at the age of thirty-three, becoming the youngest person to hold the position. His father, Joe, had held the same position previously.[10]

CEO and the Aviva Stadium

Delaney rose to prominence in the wake of the 2002 Keane Saipan saga, having emerged as the FAI's public figurehead during the affair.[12] He became acting chief executive of the organisation in December 2004, after Fran Rooney's acrimonious departure,[13][14] and took up the role full-time in March 2005.[15] In November 2006, his contract was extended to 2012.[15] In July 2010, the FAI's Board of Directors agreed to extend his contract again, until 2015,[12] and in July 2014 once more, this time to 2019.[16]

The biggest project undertaken during Delaney's time in office was the expansion of the Irish Rugby Football Union stadium at Lansdowne Road to become the Aviva Stadium. Led by the IRFU with the active participation of the FAI, the project successfully delivered the stadium but while the State and the IRFU parts were financially as planned, the FAI found itself in severe debt. The main scheme to pay for the FAI elements of the work, the Vantage Club for high-income fans, massively under-delivered on advance ticket sales, partly due to the declining economic climate after the Irish financial crisis and partially to the over-pricing of the ticket offering.[17]

FIFA payment revelation (2015)

After the Republic of Ireland's 2009 World Cup play-off defeat to France, Delaney claimed that FIFA had "offered [the FAI] a Fair Play award" and that the FAI had declined.[18] He also stated that FIFA President Sepp Blatter was "an embarrassment to himself and an embarrassment to FIFA".[19][18]

On 4 June 2015, after Blatter announced his intention to hold an extraordinary general meeting following the arrests of seven FIFA officials on charges of racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering, Delaney revealed that the FAI had previously reached an agreement with Blatter for a payment in January 2010.[20][21][10] The payment, reported to be €5 million, had taken place less than two months after the Republic of Ireland's controversial World Cup play-off defeat in 2009 and was described by Delaney as "a payment to the association not to proceed with a legal case".[10][21]

An FAI statement later that day described the payment as a "[FIFA] settlement offer to avoid a long, costly and protracted legal case".[21] FIFA confirmed that the organisation had "entered into an agreement with FAI in order to put an end to any claims" against it but stated that the payment was a loan, granted for "the construction of a stadium in Ireland".[22][21] According to FIFA, the loan to the FAI was to be paid back if Ireland qualified for the 2014 World Cup. After Ireland failed to qualify for the tournament in Brazil, the sum was written off by FIFA on 31 December 2014 "in view of the FAI's financial situation".[21]

Jim Boyce, FIFA vice-president and former president of the Irish Football Association (IFA), called for an investigation into the payment saying "If this [payment] was authorised by the president of FIFA without the knowledge of the executive committee - this is something that has to be looked into".[21][23]

2012–2017

In 2012 Delaney cut all FAI staff wages by 10% and announced he would do the same with his wages. However, in March 2019 it emerged that the FAI had awarded him a benefit-in-kind payment of €3,000 a month towards a house in Kilmacanogue, rented from Grainne Seoige. This outraged the staff as he already earned more than €300,000 annually more than most of them.[24]

In 2012 the Republic of Ireland qualified for their first European Championship since 1988, under Giovanni Trapattoni, and in 2016 they also qualified for the same championship in France, under Martin O'Neill, and advanced to the last 16 of the tournament.

During the 2016 Summer Olympics ticket scandal, Brazilian police were given permission to seize Delaney's passport as part of an investigation into alleged ticket touting.[25][26] Delaney resigned from the Olympic Council of Ireland's (OCI) executive committee and his position as the second vice-president of the OCI on 25 October 2016.[27][28]

Delaney was elected to the executive committee of UEFA in April 2017.

Bridging loan (2019)

On 16 March 2019, the Sunday Times revealed that Delaney had provided the FAI with an undisclosed personal loan of 100,000 euros in April 2017 to prevent the association from exceeding its 1.5m euros bank overdraft.[29][30] On 19 March, Sport Ireland – the agency that provides state funding to the FAI – confirmed it had sought "urgent clarification" from the board of the FAI on the John Delaney loan, confirming that the agency had not been notified in 2017 about a deterioration in the FAI's finances, as per the terms and conditions of its grant approvals.[30]

On 23 March 2019 the FAI announced that Delaney had resigned as CEO, and would take up a newly-created position of executive vice-president. This role would see Delaney reporting directly to the board of the FAI, rather than the CEO, and retain responsibility for international affairs, including all UEFA and FIFA matters and a proposed 'home nations' bid for the 2030 World Cup.[31][32][30][33]

On 9 April 2019, Sport Ireland suspended and withheld future funding to the FAI due to the breach of the grant approval terms & conditions.[34] On 10 April 2019, Delaney was part of an FAI delegation appearing before the Oireachtas Committee on Sport but, after reading a prepared statement, declined to take questions or speak any further.[35] Ireland's state corporate watchdog, the Corporate Enforcement Authority (CEA), began legal proceedings against the FAI in May after the association acknowledged it had broken state funding rules. Auditors also said the association's accounts were not being properly kept, contravening two sections of Irish company law.[29]

Delaney remained on gardening leave and held his new role until 28 September 2019 when the FAI announced that, following negotiations, he had resigned from the role of executive vice-president with immediate effect.[35][36] Delaney resigned his UEFA executive committee membership in January 2020.[37]

Other roles

Delaney became a member of the executive committee of the Olympic Council of Ireland in 2005.[38][27] He was re-elected unopposed as Second Vice-president of the OCI in 2008.[39] He resigned from the executive committee and from his position as the Second Vice-president of the OCI on 25 October 2016.[27][28] Prior to this, he had been seen as heir apparent to OCI president Pat Hickey.[40]

As the FAI's chief executive, Delaney also served as a member of the Aviva Stadium's board of directors.[41]

He was elected to the executive committee of UEFA at the Helsinki Congress on 5 April 2017.[42]

National team managers

Delaney has overseen the appointments of Steve Staunton, Giovanni Trapattoni, Martin O'Neill and Mick McCarthy to manage the Republic of Ireland national football team.

Personal life

Delaney was married to a Clare woman, Emer, who was a secondary school teacher in Tipperary Town; they have twins, Thomas and Eve.[43][2] Divorce proceedings commenced in 2016.[2] In 2017, he became engaged to model Emma English, after being in a relationship with her since 2014, they separated in 2018.[44][45] As of 2022, Delaney has been UK-resident for some years. His mother died in August 2022, and at her funeral he mentioned the birth of a further daughter with his new partner, Natalia.[46]

References

  1. ^ "20 years of drama in Irish football, Chapter 1: the rise and fall of John Delaney". The 42. 11 May 2020. Retrieved 13 May 2020.
  2. ^ a b c Hughes, Craig (24 March 2019). "John Delaney's 'bridging loan' occurred during his divorce proceedings". Extra.ie.
  3. ^ "John Delaney to step down as FAI chief, taking on new role". RTÉ. 24 March 2019. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
  4. ^ Tighe, Mark (17 September 2020). Champagne football : the rise and fall of John Delaney and the Football Association of Ireland. Penguin UK. ISBN 978-1-84488-494-0. OCLC 1197760113.
  5. ^ Tighe, Mark (2020). Champagne football : John Delaney and the betrayal of Irish football : the inside story. Paul Rowan. London. ISBN 978-0-241-99006-3. OCLC 1272868236.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  6. ^ Lacey, Eamonn (16 March 2002). "Influential FAI officer proud to follow in father's footsteps". The Nationalist (Tipperary). Retrieved 28 March 2019.
  7. ^ Keyes, Dermot (7 September 2001). "Corcoran and Delaney honoured by Mayor". Munster Express. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
  8. ^ a b "John Delaney - The CV". Irish Independent. 9 October 2005. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
  9. ^ Fallon, John (4 September 2016). "FAI boss scores own goal on qualifications". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  10. ^ a b c d Houston, Rory (29 September 2019). "Delaney departs - End of the most colourful FAI career". RTÉ Sport. RTÉ.ie. Retrieved 18 March 2026.
  11. ^ Lacey, Eamonn (16 March 2002). "Influential FAI officer proud to follow in father's footsteps". The Nationalist (Tipperary). Retrieved 28 March 2019.
  12. ^ a b "Delaney pens new deal to stay at FAI helm". Irish Independent. 10 July 2010. Retrieved 13 July 2010.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  13. ^ "Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown, but King John will not abdicate". Irish Independent. 24 October 2007. Retrieved 27 August 2010.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  14. ^ "FAI confirms Rooney departure". RTÉ Sport. 3 November 2004. Retrieved 27 August 2010.
  15. ^ a b "FAI extend Delaney's tenure". RTÉ Sport. 12 November 2006. Retrieved 15 February 2007.
  16. ^ Smith, Alan (13 October 2014). "Why John Delaney has a fraught relationship with League of Ireland". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 May 2019.
  17. ^ Tighe, Mark (2020). Champagne football : John Delaney and the betrayal of Irish football : the inside story. Paul Rowan (Penguin ed.). London. p. 85. ISBN 978-0-241-99006-3. OCLC 1272868236.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  18. ^ a b "Delaney brands Blatter 'an embarrassment'". RTÉ Sport. 21 December 2009. Retrieved 16 February 2026.
  19. ^ Gannon, Willie (21 December 2009). "Ireland Turns Down FIFA's Patronizing Fair Play Award". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 21 December 2009.
  20. ^ "Sepp Blatter to resign as Fifa president amid corruption scandal". BBC Sport. 2 June 2015. Retrieved 16 February 2026.
  21. ^ a b c d e f Mallon, Ian; McQuinn, Cormac (4 June 2015). "Delaney claims €5m Fifa payoff 'was a good deal'". Irish Independent. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
  22. ^ "Fifa paid Irish to stop legal action over Thierry Henry handball". BBC Sport. 4 June 2015. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
  23. ^ "Eamon Dunphy: The FIFA payment to the FAI was like something from The Sopranos". Irish Independent. 4 June 2015. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
  24. ^ "FAI workers call for explanation of CEO's rent payment while they endured cuts" (Press release). SIPTU. 25 March 2019. Retrieved 29 March 2019.
  25. ^ Bailey, Ryan (22 August 2016). "Brazilian judge issues warrant for passport of John Delaney and five other OCI officials". The42.ie.
  26. ^ McMahon, Cathal; Phelan, Shane (22 August 2016). "Brazil judge issues warrant for passports of John Delaney and five other OCI officials". Irish Independent.
  27. ^ a b c Moran, Carroll (2017), "Chapter One: Introduction" (PDF), REPORT of the Moran Inquiry (Inquiry into the receipt, distribution and sale of tickets to Olympic Games and ancillary matters) (PDF), Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport, p. 9, archived from the original (PDF) on 15 September 2017
  28. ^ a b McConnell, Daniel; Ó Cionnaith, Fiachra (26 October 2016). "FAI boss John Delaney resigns as vice president of OCI". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  29. ^ a b "Delaney resigns from FAI role". Sky Sports. 29 September 2019. Retrieved 3 January 2026.
  30. ^ a b c "'The €100,000 issue': A timeline of statements as FAI, John Delaney to face politicians today". The Journal. 10 April 2019. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
  31. ^ "Delaney Steps down as CEO but retains control of key portfolios". Irish Examiner. 23 March 2019. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
  32. ^ "John Delaney steps down as chief executive to take up new FAI position". The 42. 23 March 2019. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
  33. ^ "'The beginning of the end for the old FAI'- Dramatic day sends crisis-hit Association into endgame". The42.ie. 16 April 2019. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
  34. ^ Gallagher, Aaron (9 April 2019). "Sport Ireland has decided to suspend and withhold future funding to the FAI". The 42. Retrieved 4 January 2026.
  35. ^ a b Malone, Emmet; McGreevy, Ronan (30 September 2019). "John Delaney timeline: From CEO to paid 'gardening leave' and resignation". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
  36. ^ O'Donoghue, Tony (28 September 2019). "John Delaney resigns from the FAI".
  37. ^ "John Delaney resigns from UEFA Executive Committee with immediate effect". UEFA.com. 20 January 2020. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  38. ^ "THE OLYMPIC COUNCIL OF IRELAND". benefacts.ie. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
  39. ^ "Sonia in line for Olympic Council role". Irish Examiner. 10 October 2008. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
  40. ^ D'Arcy, Ciarán (21 August 2016). "Who's who on the Olympic Council of Ireland executive committee: Members include FAI chief executive John Delaney, seen as heir apparent to Pat Hickey". The Irish Times. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  41. ^ "Stadium Management Company". avivastadium.ie. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  42. ^ "John Delaney". UEFA. UEFA. 5 April 2017. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  43. ^ Blake, Ben (19 March 2013). "7 things we learned from John Delaney's Sky Sports interview". The42. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
  44. ^ Hughes, Craig (24 March 2019). "John Delaney's 'bridging loan' occurred during his divorce proceedings". Extra.ie. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
  45. ^ Live, RSVP (10 April 2019). "Who is John Delaney's girlfriend? Emma English is an events and PR manager". RSVP Live. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
  46. ^ Mallon, Sandra (4 August 2022). "John Delaney tells mother's funeral he's become dad to baby girl". Irish Mirror. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
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