Dundalk stalwart Brian Gartland feels the return of the club to local ownership can help to restore the “class and dignity” lost during a turbulent spell for the Lilywhites.

The American ownership group led by investment firm Peak6 last week agreed a deal with a consortium made up of former co-owner Andy Connolly and sports tech company Statsports.

Gartland is encouraged by the community response and the speedy return of individuals who were “shut out” across the last two years as the country’s top team started to command headlines for all the wrong reasons.

The chopping and changing of managers and the stream of player departures were a source of frustration for Gartland with the Dubliner – who is now settled in Dundalk – feeling that the decision-makers had no interest in the elements that had contributed to five league title wins in seven seasons.

In the 35-year-old’s opinion, Dundalk spent heavily without retaining the core strengths of the dressing-room culture.

“We were travelling around Europe staying in the best spots with charter flights and so on but the other side of things is that some basics were just neglected,” Gartland told the LOI Central podcast.

“Ultimately, that’s the big lesson that is learned. You can do these fancy things on and off the park but if you don’t have the basics, everything else will fall through because the standards aren’t there beneath it.

“They didn’t want to know about anything from before, how things were done. People thought they were making good decisions, they were made with good intentions...but people left who were tried and tested.

“The ethos and everything that was Dundalk slowly disappeared a bit. The number one thing I love about the takeover is that it’s local, it is people that I know care about the club and the town.

“It brings a buzz back. It’s not all about money and medals, not all the time.

“First of all you want the club to have the class and dignity we carried ourselves with for so many years and be held in that regard and for the people of the town to be proud of it.”

Gartland said players were finding out of managerial moves via social media on account of a disconnect, with the squad aware it wasn’t “rosy in the background” between personnel at the club.

He added that the fact chairman Bill Hulsizer and ex-sporting director Jim Magilton didn’t live in the town meant they were unaware of the depth of feeling around decisions.