OPINION: Could Michael Ring be the right fit for FAI Director Role?

With the door still swinging closed on Marc Canham as he vacates the office of FAI Director of Football, talk in football circles has already turned to potential replacements.

If the bigwigs at boardroom level were to look within, as is likely to be the case, they may find a Mayo man who ticks many of the boxes in Michael Ring.

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The Westport man, who served as Minister for Sport, was brought up in conversation on RTÉ 2FM’s ‘Game On’ show by Shane Dawson, Ruby Walsh, and John Fallon.

“He can certainly open doors,” said Fallon, reporter with The Irish Examiner. “I know he was the one who facilitated the meeting with Pascal Donohue last year, given his Fine Gael connections.”

Ring’s links within the corridors of Dáil Éireann cannot be understated. It seems confidence in the FAI’s capacity to function from those in power is low, as evidenced by the seeming reluctance to release funds to the organisation.

Given the backdrop, the relationship between former Fine Gael TD Ring and his ex-colleagues could be crucial should he succeed Canham.

Ring also has no want of experience holding senior roles in the development of sport in the country. From 2011 to 2016, he served as the Minister of Sport, where he oversaw a plethora of developments in soccer.

In 2015, the then-Minister allocated €2.7 million to the FAI in a bid to increase participation in the sport.

Whether it be Ring, current FAI assistant director Shane Robinson, or the rogue shout of Stephen Bradley floated in The Irish Independent, relations between those at boardroom level and those in grassroots circles will need serious work.

However, Ring has had his ear to the ground in this regard for some time. 

He isn’t on the League of Ireland Board just for the payday, while the €150,000 per year salary of the recently departed Canham isn’t one to be sniffed at.

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The former Westport centre-back has been involved in grassroots soccer since he was a young buck, both in boardroom level and togging out on the many pitches and parks around the county where he earned the nickname ‘head-the-ball’.

The reason for this is yet to be confirmed.

He’s also been on hand to back women’s soccer locally, having been present at the Mayo Women’s League’s 2025 launch.

In a chat with The Mayo News at the launch, Ring discussed his vision for the future of the League of Ireland, including the development of teams in rural Ireland with the new regional third tier coming down the tracks.

“I made it quite clear, if I’m involved in the League of Ireland, that they will have to come out into the rural regions,” he stated at the launch of the Mayo Women’s League. “It can’t just be the top five or six top League of Ireland clubs.”

He also described the idea of teams such as Mayo FC joining the League of Ireland system as ‘the way forward.’

There are some pitfalls in the notion of Ring stepping into Canham’s shoes.

Political experience is needed, and someone with the nous of one of Mayo’s leading faces in the political sphere would be a massive asset in uniting a very fractured Irish soccer ecosystem.

However, the role needs someone who has been more immersed in the nuts and bolts of all levels of Irish soccer, from international squads right down to the grassroots clubs in far-flung corners of the country.

It is no slight on Ring that he doesn’t possess all those attributes. Truth be told, very few, if any, do and perhaps a revision of the terms of employment may be required, and should be actively explored before the vacancy is filled.

However, if CEO David Courrell is looking for someone with influence in Dáil Éireann who could potentially go some way to getting the parties to the table in the right manner for the future of Irish soccer, then a certain Mr Ring might not be a bad call.