A FORMER politician fond of soundbites once said he was there for people who got up early in the morning.
Leo Varadkar was not there for football.
He must have forgotten he was previously Minister for Sport when he said that electing Fianna Fáil would be like having John Delaney back in charge of the FAI.
But the nature of football politics is your enemy can be your friend when it suits.
As Varadkar arranged his marriage of convenience with Fianna Fáil in 2020, First Division clubs united in opposition to Shamrock Rovers II — the Hoops’ reserve side.
Yet when Covid-19 hit and Premier Division clubs tried to abolish the relegation play-off, it was Rovers who sided with the First Division clubs to keep it.
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That meant Longford Town — who did not name Rovers on the match programme cover for their first meeting — went up.
The Town went straight back down and the gap between them and top clubs continues to grow with, for the first time, the entire Premier Division now being full-time.
And a division comprised completely of players who get up early in the morning for training naturally has different priorities and worries from the largely part-time division below.
There is nothing new in that. After all, the Premier Clubs Alliance has been active for more than a decade and it is no different from any other league in the world.
But we have gone from 42-week contracts and clubs looking to get by from season to season to Shamrock Rovers earning €7million in European prize money.
First Division clubs are ambitious but you need deeper pockets to get into the Conference League than to get to the top tier of the League of Ireland.
And that can be seen in Uefa’s new solidarity payment model, negotiated with the European Club Association, which means only top-flight clubs now benefit.
Premier Division clubs will receive €350,000 per annum while First Division sides receive just €45,000 annually.
The gap will only increase unless those in the top flight make a mess of it or those below trap lightning in a bottle.
Failing that, cash is king, which is evident in the changing landscape of Irish football.
Of the 22 clubs in the league during the financial crash of 2008, just ten still have the same owners.
Kildare County, Limerick 37, Monaghan United, Sporting Fingal and Wexford Youths are no longer senior clubs or in existence while Derry City and Cork City are new iterations.
And since 2020, half of the 20 clubs have welcomed new owners or investment.
Significantly, the new owners or investors are as interested in First Division clubs as they are in those in the top flight.
Treaty United and Kerry FC are new to the league but have had investment in the past 12 months and Cobh Ramblers were recently taken over by FC32.
With the financial gap between the divisions growing, those in the lower tier cannot afford to be caught napping as the early risers in the Premier Division push on.