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Moses Dyer during his time at Galway.Evan Logan/INPHO

Losing the LOI’s top scorer for €30,000 shows measures clubs must take just to keep up

Moses Dyer’s exit from Galway United shines a light on one of the issues Damien Duff rallied against during his time as Shelbourne boss.

7.46am, 27 Jun 2025

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David Sneyd

ONE WEEK ON from what turned out to be Damien Duff’s last game in charge of Shelbourne and plenty has already been written about his resignation.

Early on Sunday afternoon, when the first indications of something abrupt taking place began to circulate, calls were made to verify. They went unanswered.

A message was written, copied and pasted, and sent to several contacts on WhatsApp.

Some were online, some were not. Some got the blue ticks straight away, others did not. Rumours of rows and bizarre endings began to swirl.

One voice note message – understood to be from a coach on a rival team’s staff – started to gain traction. It was quickly debunked. Some calls were then answered.

Duff’s exit was confirmed by one reliable source, but with a story like this, even the most trustworthy of people needs at least one more source to verify details before running it with confidence of proper due diligence.

The Irish Examiner and RTÉ Sport were able to do just that, the latter getting confirmation from Duff himself of his decision.

That seemed to loosen some lips. Details of how Duff handled the announcement with his squad were confirmed; so too was a sense of the loyalty that remained to the manager, but also a change of atmosphere for some.

Once Shels confirmed the news in a statement of their own, the story was already out. Follow-up pieces detailing the events were in motion by that point as more information could be garnered.

Some details that The 42 were already aware of in the days before Duff’s departure was that he wanted to bring Arsenal academy graduate Jack Henry-Francis to Tolka Park, his loan spell with Sligo Rovers last season making him an appealing addition in midfield.

A deal for another League of Ireland defender, who now looks set to depart for a club in England, was also being worked on. Again, trusted sources are key to ensure this reporting could all be stood over and when Duff left his role, it was clear they became important in the breaking down the anatomy of the situation.

Maybe Duff will be glad of not having to deal with the added headaches this time of year brings, as transfers and the whole mechanisms behind the scenes push and pull in different directions.

We already explained some of the issues around add-on clauses previously, but now release clauses are again at the forefront of peoples’ minds after it emerged that Moses Dyer was able to be plucked away from Galway United because he had one inserted in the contract he signed ahead of this season.

Duff rallied against release clauses in a different context 18 months into the Shels job when he made it clear they would not be considered as part of negotiations when signing new players or renewing contracts.

“As long as I’m here it will be club policy,” he said. “Any agents that come in and say ‘I want a get out clause for 30 grand or 40 grand’… you can go and do one.

“I’ve had conversations and it’s just taking the piss. It’s agents (saying) ‘oh I’ll make a quick buck, I’ll get them across to any old club in England.’ I care about my players, they’ll go for what they are worth and if a club really wants them, they’ll show how much they want them by paying the money. That’s my policy at the club.

“Did Daniel Lambert [the Bohemians chief operating officer] mention something about it (clubs taking a collective stance of clauses)? Whether it’s the FAI get involved or Mr [Mark] Scanlon (league director), it really makes me angry.

“I’m not trying to make a headline or anything here but this is what I do and as long as I’m here, I’m not going to be hamstrung by agents. I like to think it helps the league. I think there’s a real lack of respect for the league by doing it. I’ll fight it all day long.

“I’ll fight anyone verbally. It’s my league now. I know you [in the media] are around longer. There’s wonderful men and women in the stands for 70 years, legends of the game, and I’m just a blow-in here 18 months. I’ll still fight tooth and nail for this league.

“I’m not going anywhere anytime soon because I’m going to live in Ireland. I’m not just fighting for Shelbourne, it’s the two divisions and below because someone needs to do it.”

First of all, the above speech is a very stark reminder of what a powerful voice has been lost – for now – within the League of Ireland.

Secondly, when going through the archive to bring up the above quotes, it also illustrated how compelling Duff was on such issues.

Tom Maher / INPHO

Tom Maher / INPHO / INPHO

It came to mind over the last few days even more so when Dyer, the League of Ireland’s top scorer so far this season with 10 goals, said his goodbyes at Galway United.

Derry City triggered the clause in Dyer’s contract but were unable to entice him to the Ryan McBride Brandywell. Other League of Ireland clubs are also understood to have showed interest.

Again, much like the Duff situation, news of Derry’s interest came last week but could only be double sourced by Wednesday. When the story went live, within minutes other people connected to the Connacht club were in touch.

The Derry move might not be happening but the player was on his way elsewhere. More calls and WhatsApp messages could only nail down that it was a deal in Asia. Suggestions on social media that it was a club in Cambodia were eventually verified.

Others within the League of Ireland reached out with information. Dyer was offered to a number of clubs with a release clauses mentioned varying from €20,000 to €25,000 to €30,000. People at Galway will say the figure is north of those mentioned.