Cobh Ramblers were ‘weeks maybe days’ away from administration before new takeover

Cobh Ramblers Football Club were ‘weeks maybe days’ away from administration following issues at FC32, the investment group that took control of the club last October.

The ‘house was on fire’ and a frantic search for a new owner followed, led by chairman Bill O’Leary and the board of volunteers.

All the while, the expensively assembled first-team at St Colman’s Park stayed second to Dundalk in the race for promotion in the League of Ireland First Division.

Alexander Jarvis steered towards the life raft, through his group Blackbridge Sport LLC and with that came fresh investment from Digital Athlete Ventures.

There were negotiations, which lasted just 22-days, and the takeover was announced in mid-July as fans learned that the organisation took a 90% stake in Cobh Ramblers.

“The house was on fire – and Bill and the board knew that they had been putting out fires for months,” Jarvis talked about the state of the club.

“That’s how bad it was. Very close to administration bad, weeks maybe days,” he added.

Ilya Movshovich, one of the leaders of Digital Athlete Ventures, has placed this crisis into his vision for the club.

“Right now it is about stability,” he told The Echo.

“We mentioned that. That is the most important thing for us, to get it back on track. 

"To Alex’s point, it has only been 22 days since Cobh came so it is definitely something that is the focal point of it. Too many changes? 

"No. Additions with a value add. Absolutely. Is it happening today? No. Not until we stabilise it.” 

This all comes from a conversations that began with the club chairman contacting Blackbridge Sport LLC, an organisation that specialises in football finance.

“Well, several months ago FC32 had some problems and Bill was obviously not in a good place [and] the volunteer board [had] loads of problems,” Jarvis told the story.

“I got a phone call. We needed to get a new buyer, someone good for the club to bring stability. 

"That is where my company came in, Blackbridge Sports LLC. I introduced Ilya [Movshovich], Pedro [Lombardo], and Bryant [Clark], several investors of Digital Athlete Ventures LLC from America.

“We did a few calls and these guys closed the deal in 22 days which is a fantastic kind of speed and one the club agreed to work with. 

"There’s some big plans now but that is how it happened. It was a distressed situation and we wanted to fix it, and here we are.” 

Pedro Lombardo works alongside Movshovich at Digital Athlete Ventures, and the Brazilian native believes everything clicked with regard to the takeover once they set foot in Cobh.

“We find it beyond our expectations – as investors we invest in people before anything and the club is the community and the community is the club,” he said.

“It is amazing to see that. That is what we were expecting to see. The potential is unheard of. 

"That is what we saw 22 days ago when we started looking at the club with Alexander. It fits our investment thesis. 

"It fits what we were looking for.” 

Now is all about outlaying a vision, to everyone involved in Cobh Ramblers, and Movshovich gave a brief insight into what they want to do at St Colman’s Park.

“First of all it is great - the connection we have with Bill and the rest of the team,” he began.

“In terms of a club perspective, we’re looking as a value add. What is it that we can bring without playing football because obviously that is not on us. 

"That is on the guys. For us, it is what value can we bring. What can we do. Is it the technology background that we have, that we can assist with to reduce injury, to improve plays, can we improve or better equipment? 

"How can we add value in order to raise it up. That is why we were looking at it and why it made sense.” 

Making sense of the current situation involves some level of understanding of the current economic world that is the League of Ireland.

The entire landscape has changed over the last five seasons, something brought on by investors eager to develop young players in the aftermath of Brexit and clubs needing financing to cope with rising costs.

It’s a new world order, a totally different place to the place of fan-ownership and self-governance of the mid-2010s.

The problem is, this has meant more interest and that has meant clubs changing hands at a furious pace. 

Waterford is a testament to this after going through three different takeovers since 2021, while Shelbourne changed hands twice during a five month window in 2023.

Each one of those stories exists in its own dimension, but the common theme is change and what that means going forward in a sport where everything is decided by results on the pitch.

“Yes – I am aware and yes we are aware of it,” Movshovich talked about change and the recent history of the League of Ireland.

“We’re in it for the long haul in our case right. We’re here to work with the team. We’re here to work with the team. 

"We’re here to build on the community aspect of it. That is the focus for us. 

"That is what connected us and got us excited.”