Drogs chairman says owners will stump up cash to cover Conference League exit
Drogheda United co-chairman Ben Boycott has confirmed that the club's owners Trivela will stump up €525,000 to offset the financial loss of being kicked out of the UEFA Conference League.
In an open letter to fans of the Louth club, Boycott also accused UEFA of lacking "consistency, clarity, and fairness" in their treatment of the club.
Drogheda earned a place in the Conference League by winning last season's FAI Cup. But Kevin Doherty's side was disqualified from the competition after Danish club Silkeborg, who came under Trivela ownership shortly after Drogheda's cup triumph, also qualified for the Conference League through their league finish two weeks ago.
Now, after the Drogs had an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport rejected on Monday, their chairman has hit out at UEFA.
Boycott wrote: "Let me say first: I absolutely respect UEFA's aim to uphold sporting integrity in European competitions.
"But I believe - strongly- that the way this year's rule changes around multi-club ownership (MCO) were introduced and enforced has unintended negative consequences to that goal. I believe that the process has lacked consistency, clarity, and fairness. And Drogheda United is paying the price."
Boycott says Trivela have agreed to pump €520,000 into the club, the minimum prize money Kevin Doherty's side would have received for competing in the Conference League.
He said: "Trivela will cover the shortfall in revenue from missing Europe, and we are fully committed to seeing this project through.
'Day-to-day operations are unaffected. I will be meeting personally with our players and staff in the coming days, and I hope that we as a group can remain focused on the task at hand.'
But Boycott believes that UEFA did not treat Drogheda with the same level of attention or respect as other clubs in similar situations.
He said: 'It seems that some of those that were contacted and began taking steps before this deadline were then given time to implement structures after the deadline.
'We were not ever contacted directly, and Drogheda was not afforded that same flexibility.
'Worse still, historical precedent gave us every reason to believe that we would have a path to resolve any concerns post-assessment date.
'In recent years, multiple clubs have enacted share transfers, blind trust structures, and other remedies after the assessment date.
'Those precedents shaped our expectations—and we acted accordingly.
'I personally believe this decision makes an example of Drogheda so that UEFA can signal a change of approach to its regulation of MCOs (multi-club ownerships)
'It punishes a club that, just a year ago, was still part-time and operating without a CEO.
'It punishes a community-focused organization run with integrity, ambition, and limited resources—while major clubs with compliance departments and vast legal teams were granted direct communication and additional time to comply.
'That said, accountability ultimately falls on us at DUFC and at Trivela Group.
'The responsibility to navigate regulations—however murky or fast-changing—belongs to our leadership.
'And for that, I offer a personal, sincere apology to our players, staff, and supporters. This will never happen again.'
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