LURGAN Celtic arrived at Banbridge Town late last season down to the bare bones and manager Gerry McMahon, a former Northern Ireland international striker, had to put himself in goal to fulfil the fixture.
Resources were stretched almost to breaking point and when it was put to one of their supporters that a former player could have been called up to fill the void, he replied: “We couldn’t afford him”.
Times were hard and they became worse over the summer until the tipping point came last week with the news that the Lurgan Bhoys had pulled out of the intermediate league.
Celtic’s demise is a warning that none of the North’s other clubs can ignore, says Crusaders manager Stephen Baxter.
“It really is a shame,” said Baxter.
“When I first took this job on 15 years ago, we were relegated and we played in the Championship. Lurgan Celtic were one of the stronger sides in it and we were up to their ground a couple of times that season.
“It was a lovely ground and the hospitality was good, the people were good and they always produced good players around that area so it’s disappointing to see a team that has been around for such a long time folding the way they have.
“I hope we don’t see more of that sort of thing happening in the game and I hope that all their players find clubs and move on very quickly.”
The former Linfield and Crusaders striker led the Crues to three NIFL Premiership titles between the 2013-14 and 2017-18 seasons but when he first took the reins at Seaview the Belfast club was in serious financial difficulty.
“I think when something like this happens it’s always a warning for all clubs,” Baxter added.
“You’ve got to count the pennies going out and you’ve got to count the pennies coming in. We have been juggling the finances for many a year at Crusaders. We were 750,000 to a million pounds in debt when I first took the job on at Seaview.
“We had to go to our fanbase to find money to keep ourselves afloat. There have been clubs over the years that have been in financial trouble and clearly you always have to be looking at your budget, spend within your means and make sure you know what you’re trying to do.
“I think the IFA deserve a lot of praise for bringing in the blueprint so that teams have to fulfil the criteria for being a championship club or a premier club.
“They set the bar that clubs have to reach to be in those divisions and I think in many ways they got it right.”
