Eircom League Focus

By Shane Murray

The debacle that is Cork City's attempt to register two players fell further into the mire this week when FIFA rejected the club's latest efforts to process the signings of Gareth Farrelly and Colin Healy.

While the feeling within the Cork camp was that their chances of success were slim, there was still hope that football's top brass would see some semblance of sense, but unfortunately, that was not to be.

City's only hope of registering the players now rests with an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, but manager Damien Richardson has suggested this is an option he and the club is unlikely to take.

Speaking on the club's website, corkcityfc.ie, Richardson, with traditional eloquence, said: 'This further intransigence shown by FIFA compounds my belief that we are whistling into the wind in this matter, and it looks like an appeal would be a futile gesture on behalf of the club.'

As suggested in an earlier column, this decision smacks of a lack of knowledge by UEFA and FIFA on the dynamics of the league, the clubs and the players that are integral to it.

This is no matter of a transient playboy, a mercenary who will happily move from club to club, collect hefty sign-on fee after hefty sign-on fee, with little or no care or respect for the clubs involved.

This is about two proud footballers, wanting to play the game they love and collect a wage in doing so. In Healy's case, the situation is more infuriating as he is a local lad, returning from England after serious injury, hoping to resurrect his career at his hometown club.

Elsewhere, it was with interest and a degree of regret that I read some notes posted by a member of the Shelbourne board on the club's website, shelbournefc.ie.

Firstly, we were alerted to club's belated payment of some €175,000 in back wages to ex-players and then of the payment of more than €130,000 to the Revenue Commissioners 'to leave us in the enviable position of being completely tax compliant'. Good work gentlemen, better late than never, as they say.

While the reasons for their original financial plight are too wide and varied to explain here, this is a step in the right direction, and the club and its current board should be recognised for their continuing efforts to right some of the wrongs of the previous regime. 

The club also took the opportunity to officially condemn the small number of 'idiots' moonlighting as Shels fans who have been a nuisance at recent matches.

'WE DO NOT WANT YOU, WE DO NOT NEED YOU, YOU ARE NOT WELCOME AT OUR CLUB IN ANY SHAPE OR FORM', was the overwhelming verdict from the club.

This sentiment would be echoed by every club around the country to the small numbers who seek to be a nuisance to the genuine fans.

League of Ireland grounds have improved immeasurably in recent years thanks to FAI, Government and EU funding and, by and large, there is a friendly and family atmosphere prevalent in all 22 stadia.

However, the message from the FAI and the clubs is that any hint of trouble will not be tolerated and will be punished appropriately. 'Idiots', you have been warned!

This stance is reflected in the encouraging increase in attendances over the first six weeks, which saw 97,656 people attend the first 66 games of the season, up 37% on the same period in 2006.

This rise can be partly attributed to the sterling work being done by the various PROs and Development Officers throughout the land and, together with an improvement in the standard of play, you would hope this is a trend that will continue.

On the pitch, Waterford United dropped to the bottom of the Premier Division table after a 1-0 defeat to fellow early season strugglers Longford Town at Flancare Park.

For the third time this season, the home side finished with ten men after the 61st minute dismissal of Daire Doyle to consign The Blues to their sixth reversal in seven league outings.

Manager Gareth Cronin was optimistic going into the match after his charges gave a much-improved account of themselves when losing 1-0 to Derry City the previous week, but despite ploughing forward in the last half hour, they failed to really test Longford 'keeper Shay Kelly.

Both sides have much to do if they are to claw their way out of the relegation zone, but with less than a quarter of the season gone, there is no need to panic just yet.

Next up for United is a trip to Sligo Rovers, who suffered their third defeat on the bounce at home to leaders St Pat's at the weekend. The concession of a 20th minute penalty against the run of play and two unfortunate own goals contributed to Rovers' 4-0 demise, but they will be looking to return to winning ways against Waterford.

Whether that comes about under the stewardship of a new manager remains to be seen as there is still no movement on the managerial front.

Current caretaker-manager Leo Tierney has confirmed he is unwilling to take the position on a full-time basis because of his ongoing commitments with the Mayo League, and so the search continues.

As you'd expect, club websites are an invaluable research tool and source of information to all of the league's supporters (and scribes) when attempting to gather details on any of its members.

And while I must applaud the considerable improvement made by most clubs in the updating and maintenance of their portals, there are still a small minority that are infuriatingly out of date and lacking any real content of merit.

Yes, I hear you cry, those in glass houses should not throw stones, but I would like to use this forum to ask all clubs to help us to help you. Dynamic and up-to-date websites can only lead to good things, so the continued efforts of all 22 clubs would be beneficial to all.

Around the grounds:

Longford Town: Planning permission has been lodged for a restaurant, shop, bar and commercial unit development at the roadside of Flancare Park located on the N5 Longford to Mayo road.

Drogheda United and St Pat's: Holders Drogheda booked their place in the Setanta Sports Cup final on Monday night with a 1-0 extra-time win over Pat's. Eamon Zayed poked home the decisive goal in the 112th minute.

Cork City: Iceland's Valur Reykjavik will provide the opposition for the Leesiders in next season's Intertoto Cup.

General: Sunderland have confirmed friendly dates with Bohemians, Cork City and Galway United this July.

General: The first Buntús coaching course was held last week through Irish. Part of the FAI's key grassroots schemes, 25 primary school teachers from County Kildare took part in the course at Gaelscoil Cill Dara.

League of Ireland club websites:
Athlone Town: www.athlonetownfc.com
Bohemians: www.bohemians.ie
Bray Wanderers: www.braywanderers.ie
Cobh Ramblers: www.cobhramblers.com.
Cork City: www.corkcityfc.ie
Derry City: www.derrycityfc.net
Drogheda United: www.droghedaunited.ie
Dundalk: www.dundalkfc.com
Finn Harps: www.finnharps.com
Galway United: www.galwayunitedfc.ie
Kildare County: www.kildarecountyfc.com
Kilkenny City FC: www.kilkennycityfc.ie
Limerick 37: www.limerick37fc.ie
Longford Town: www.longfordtownfc.com
Monaghan United: www.monaghanunited.ie
St Patrick's Athletic: www.stpatsfc.com
Shamrock Rovers: www.shamrockrovers.ie
Shelbourne: www.shelbournefc.ie
Sligo Rovers: www.sligorovers.com
UCD: www.ucd.ie/~soccer
Waterford United: www.waterford-united.ie
Wexford Youths: www.wexfordyouthsfc.ie

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