Clubs not convinced on costing of stadium

FAI chief executive Bernard O'Byrne is expected to come under renewed pressure to justify his estimates on the costings for Eircom Park in the wake of this evening's meeting of representatives of the 22 National League clubs.

At their last meeting, the clubs handed FAI and league treasurer Brendan Menton the task of substantiating the various figures associated with the proposed project, for which the association is hoping to obtain planning permission from South Dublin County Council within the next six weeks.

However, ahead of this evening's meeting, originally intended to discuss the rules of the league, there still appears to be considerable concern regarding O'Byrne's assertion that the stadium can still be completed by contracting company, HBG, for their initial estimate of u £65 million.

Over the past couple of days O'Byrne has sent a 20-page document outlining the case for continuing with the proposed stadium to every affiliate of the national body and while several areas over which the clubs had previously expressed doubts are addressed in it, the specific issue of HBG's price is not.

Senior league officials continue to believe that the u £65 million estimate is now outdated which, if true, could mean a substantial increase in both the projected u £89 million cost of the overall project as well as the anticipated debt requirement of about u £30 million.

If Menton informs delegates this evening that he remains sceptical of the current projections then it is expected that O'Byrne will be approached to address the issue over the coming weeks.

Cork City's under-18 international Joe Gamble yesterday completed his move to English second division side Reading following a successful trial with the club.

Reading boss Alan Pardew watched the youngster play in two pre-season friendlies and paid tribute to the player who was a key figure in last year's FAI Youth Cup winning side at Turner's Cross.

Brian Kerr's under-16 team finished in third place behind Danish club Brondby and Manchester City in the main competition of the Northern Ireland Milk Cup and have now qualified to play Tottenham Hotspurs in the quarter-finals of the subsidiary competition, the Northern Bank Trophy.

Kerr's squad shared a scoreless draw with Manchester City in their final Milk Cup game yesterday despite having had the upper hand throughout.