AS THE process of trying to establish the full extent of Cork City’s debts continued yesterday, the first signs of dissatisfaction with the amount of leniency shown to the southerners by the FAI’s licensing committee began to show with Dundalk claiming they should get City’s place in next year’s Europa League.
City’s place in Europe may well come up for grabs in the event the takeover of the club by a new consortium fails to go through. It’s fate was still far from certain last night amid speculation the ongoing due diligence was producing a larger than expected list of creditors.
At a club board meeting on Monday night, however, Dundalk officials decided they should stake a claim to the Europa Cup spot before the matter of City’s licence is formally resolved and the club has written to the FAI to argue it should be nominated to represent the league in Europe.
“We appreciate the FAI is in a difficult situation here,” said Dundalk’s Colm Crosson yesterday, “and we can understand why the association is keen to keep City in the Premier Division but we feel it’s clear that they did not have a tax clearance certificate on the stated date and we don’t want to appear shy about claiming what we believe to be rightfully ours.
“The impression I get at the moment,” he added, “is that it’s the independent licensing committee’s intention to grant City a licence for next year and if they can find a basis for doing that then it doesn’t seem likely that they are likely to impose sanctions of any sort. We are just saying we want even-handedness towards those clubs, like ourselves, who did comply with the various conditions and deadlines laid out in the licensing documentation when we were supposed to.”
One problem to be overcome by Cork in relation to Europe, even if the club is saved by the new consortium, is the fact Roddy Collins does not have the appropriate coaching qualifications to manage a club in European competition. But neither, as it happens, does Dundalk manager Ian Foster. “That’s a separate issue,” insists Crosson, “and for the time being, it’s an irrelevancy.”
The attempt to skip City in the queue for European football later this year should make for a frosty atmosphere in the directors’ box at Turner’s Cross on March 5th as Dundalk are due to start their league campaign in Cork in the event City do survive intact.
The fact City’s fate will not be clear until at least next Monday, however, means the league will today publish provisional fixture lists for both of its top divisions with Bray, who will travel to Derry in a fortnight in the event things proceed as planned, also watching developments and waiting to see if City’s downfall will mean a last-minute reprieve for them.
“There’s nothing we can do about any of it so we’ll just wait and see what happens,” says Wanderers chairman Eddie Slevin.
Supporters of the club are understandably anxious to see the club escape the fate of playing in the First Division for the coming year although those in charge may see at least some consolation in the opportunity it would provide after a couple of very difficult years in the top flight.
Derry City chairman Philip O’Doherty says he is happy any lingering uncertainty over the club’s immediate future has been ended even if Stephen Kenny’s side will not be playing in the top flight next year.
“Obviously, we’d have preferred to be playing in the Premier Division and we feel it would have benefited from our presence, but John Delaney (FAI chief executive) made it absolutely clear from the outset that that was not a possibility and so I don’t suppose we have any complaints really.”
Former Cork City defender Alan Bennett has moved from Brentford Town to Wycombe Wanderers on a one-month loan deal. The 28-year-old skippered the Londoners to promotion from League Two last year but lost his place in the team this season and hasn’t started a game in three months.
Galway United will host English Premier Division side Hull City in a friendly game on the 26th of this month.
