Cork City owner Dermot Usher spent €1.4 million since taking over
Ciara McNamara of the Cork City Women’s team receiving a presentation jersey from club owner Dermot Usher and women’s manager Danny Murphy to mark her milestone in playing an incredible 200 games for the club. Picture: Doug Minihane
Cork City owner Dermot Usher has revealed that he has personally invested €1.4 million into the club since taking in December 2022.
That was the start of a helter-skelter period for the men’s first team as they experienced relegation and promotion back to the League of Ireland Premier Division.
Usher also explained that without these funds, Cork City would not have been ‘sustainable.’ This was revealed during a wide-ranging interview with the Rebel Army Podcast, hosted by Stephen Ryan and Aaron Howey.
“The club wouldn’t be sustainable unless I was putting money in,” he said.
“That’s investment though as well. There’s a two-year period there for me. I said it on the last pod, I was caught like a robin in the headlights in the 2023 season.
“We’re in a phase now where that money needed to be spent and it needed to be spent this year and money will be spent going into next year as well.
"But, throwing that level of money at something isn’t sustainable and it shouldn’t be a sustainable business model for anybody going forward. That is all part of it.”
The owner sees a pathway to suitability that involves merchandise made by Cork City, a first for the League of Ireland.
“Myself and Howey spent a lot of time on it during the course of the year and I think from a design point of view I give Howey a lot of trust with the design element of it,” Usher went through the new process of creating merchandise from scratch.
“I’d like to think I’ve a fairly good eye, whenever it is my left or right eye I don’t know, one of them is relatively decent. I have a good eye for product.
"It was bathrooms but it is a similar thing at the end of the day. I’ve trust in ourselves in regard to a design point of view and then in the quality end of the product, I’m really happy.
“It’s not myself and Howey going off on a solo run. The kit men and various people in the club have been involved checking the fit of the product and the standard of where it is at.
Usher went on to explain his plans for growth, which involves bringing in new fans alongside the release of the Rebel Army’s clothing line.
“That is the opportunity that I see – if we can make a product that fashionable, affordable, attractive, good for families to wear, good for kids to wear, good for adults to wear, and the right product at the right price.
"Hopefully we can change that,” he said.
“I’ve set the club aggressive enough targets over the next few years for that. But I think that is achievable when you look at the size of the population in Cork and what our current fanbase is and we are looking to grow that as well.
"I think it is achievable.”
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