Colin Fortune: "I felt undermined as manager of Athlone Town women"

Colin Fortune has spoken for the first time about his shock decision over the weekend to resign as manager of the high-flying Athlone Town women's team.

The Athlone native said he made the decision to hand in his resignation on Saturday because he had not been given any clarity on his future at the club beyond this season, and also because of what he regarded as interference from the club in the dressing room and team selection.

He said that both of these issues had left him feeling "undermined" as manager.

"I felt it undermined my management and created confusion in the dressing room and I couldn't have that," he told the Westmeath Independent.

The club, which is four points clear at the top of the SSE Airtricity Women's Premier Division, announced yesterday (Sunday) that it had accepted Colin Fortune's resignation "with disappointment, but also with gratitude for his work across a still-ongoing historic season".

His departure comes just before Athlone's two-legged Europa Cup qualifier against Glasgow City, the first leg of which takes place in Scotland this Wednesday evening.

Fortune, who was appointed as the club's women's team manager last November, said that, in recent weeks, some of Athlone's players had been receiving approaches from other clubs, both at home and abroad, which prompted him to seek more clarity on the plans for next season.

He said he wanted "to start tying (players) down with contracts, and to see where my own position was going forward."

"A few of the approaches (to Athlone players) were coming through me. Others were going to the players. We needed to tie down who we needed to keep for next season, and we needed to do it fairly urgently to fend off the other clubs," he said.

However, he said after the team's two European games in the Netherlands recently, which involved a defeat to Breidablik of Iceland and a victory against Red Star Belgrade, he was told no decision would be taken on his future until after this season ended.

"I found that strange because we have a men's first team manager who has a two-year contract and is making plans for next season already, and rightly so.

"It kind of got me thinking that maybe they've lost trust or confidence in me, which is strange because of the position that we are in in the league, the cup, and with the European run. Something just didn't sit right.

"Last week, a few players came to me and said the club had been in touch with them about retaining (them for next year), and they wanted to know what my position was.

"I wasn't aware that the club was speaking to the players, so I again looked for clarity as to my own position and, again, they said nothing would be done until the end of the season."

He added the other main reason for his departure was what he said was a proposal from the club to involve a member of the executive board in training, team selection, and in the operation of the team's dressing room.

"When we came back from the Netherlands it was suggested that there would be an executive board member inserted into the coaching staff that would assist me tactically, that would help with my team selections, would help with training and would be able to report back directly to the board with team selections and, tactically, what way we were playing.

"That I found very odd. Maybe I'm old school, but I think an executive board member should be in the boardroom."

Fortune said he was open to receiving advice or assistance from the board but that he had to have the final say as manager, and he drew the line at involving another person in the dressing room.

"We can't just land somebody in the middle of our dressing room. (The players) will start wondering what's going on here. I could lose the dynamics of the dressing room. People might not start talking as freely or as openly as they should.

"That's something that I've managed all year, because the dressing room is sacred. The dressing room is what wins leagues or loses leagues. We need to keep the dressing room togetherness there.

"Something I've never had before is somebody coming into a dressing room, an executive board member, and being part of that.

"Yes, I agree that there has to be oversight and there has to be proper governance. I did suggest that, away from the dressing room, I'd sit down and speak to whoever the board wanted me to about team selections, and I'd give them my opinion, but I wouldn't change things if people asked me to do it.

"I'm the manager. I'll make the final calls, but I would be happy to speak to whoever away from the dressing room, and the board could air their concerns if they had any. (I said) we'd do it that way, rather than inserting someone in the dressing room.

"At this stage of the season - five games away from winning a league, in the semi-final of the cup, and the massive European run we've had - I didn't think the timing was appropriate. I thought it was going to upset the whole thing and that it had the potential to threaten the run-in for the remainder of the season."

He described the Athlone Town women's team as a "special" group of players, and said he'd had a good relationship with them throughout the season.

"They're a very, very good group. Yes, I put demands on them, but I'm a League of Ireland manager. We need to get them to a culture that's professional, so you do put demands on players and ask them to come up to a certain mark.

"Some of them take it graciously and some don't. To be fair, 90% of the players were 100% (on board), and then there's a few that just weren't able to get up to that mark. A good few of them have moved on, but that's football. That happens."

As an Athlone native and former Athlone Town player, he said he was "hurting" over the manner in which his tenure as women's team manager had ended.

"This is my club. I'm an Athlone Town supporter. I'm steeped in Athlone Town. I will be going to the games, and I'll be cheering them on.

"To get the chance to manage the women's team, and to do as well as we did, has really been unbelievable. The European nights this season were something I'll never forget.

"So I am hurting over it. It's been a tough 24 hours. If this happened with another club away from Athlone then fine, you move on, it's a business.

"But I think that, for whatever reason, the club has made a bad call here and it's hurtful for me."

There have been changes at Athlone Town in recent months with the arrival of US businessman Nick Giannotti as chairman and ex-League of Ireland footballer Steven Gray as CEO.

Speaking to the Westmeath Independent this afternoon, Steven Gray said he had offered his support to Colin Fortune in his role as CEO.

He said he was not in a position at this stage to offer Fortune a contract for next season, and that the club was currently undergoing a financial audit which would help determine its budget for 2026.

"I'm only in the job (as CEO) five weeks, and I'm working twelve hour days, trying to sort out everything at the club," said Gray.

"I emphasised (to Colin), could you please give me time because everything's being reviewed. The club is in the middle of a financial audit at the moment, and everything we're going to do is going to be based off our finances.

"So I couldn't offer Colin a contract for next year when I don't know what money we have. This is the truth.

"I wasn't in a position to offer him (a new contract) in the middle of a financial audit. And that's across the board. My hands are tied," he said.

When asked about the claims of interference from the board in the operation of the team, Gray said he had offered his help to Fortune and had never been in the dressing room without the manager's approval.

"I never stepped into the dressing room without his approval and I never told him what team to pick," said Gray. "I offered my full support.

"Colin met me on Monday (last) and said, 'I need help, I need support, I haven't got enough staff'. I said to him, 'Colin, if you want my help I'm here.' He asked for help, and I offered my help. That is what happened."

In its statement yesterday, Athlone Town said it would "begin the process of appointing a new permanent manager, and provide further updates" in due course.

When asked earlier this afternoon if he was in a position to give an update on who will be taking charge of the team for Wednesday's Europa Cup qualifier first leg in Glasgow, Gray said: "Not just yet.

"My priority is to meet with the players and the staff this evening, because there is a lot of noise at the moment.

"This is a disruption to an exceptionally good group of players. I just want to get in a room with our staff, our players, and create a bit of calm. That's all I can do," he said.