John Delaney continues to split opinion as he steps aside from FAI | Barry Glendenning

The FAI’s great survivor is heading off for some gardening leave and his days with the FAI look numbered

Although John Delaney retains support from certain loyal sections of the Irish football family, he has never been more unpopular in his native land. The long-time chief executive of the Football Association of Ireland until he stood down last month to take up a newly created role as the executive vice‑president is no stranger to controversy but now the 51-year-old finds himself clinging by his fingertips to a crumbling personal fiefdom that increasingly resembles an empire of dirt.

The business of sports administration is, by its very nature, staggeringly dreary but the subject of football governance in the Republic of Ireland has recently been little short of box office. In March a Sunday Times exclusive revealed Delaney had mysteriously loaned his employer €100,000 in April 2017. That was soon repaid and no record of any such transaction appeared in the FAI’s accounts.

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