Hegarty leaves Harps

LEAGUE OF IRELAND:FINN HARPS officials will take "a few weeks," to decide on a long-term replacement for Paul Hegarty whose resignation as manager of the club was confirmed yesterday in a statement which cited "family reasons" for the decision.

Hegarty informed club chairman Derek Wilkinson, after the 1-1 draw in Limerick on Friday night, of his decision to quit and confirmed it after a long discussion between the two men on Saturday. The news was relayed to the board on Sunday morning and a decision was taken to ask Hegarty’s assistant James Gallagher to take the reins again on a temporary basis.

“James is in charge for the moment and we’ll take a few weeks to weigh things up,” said Wilkinson last night. “It’s been a difficult few weeks for everyone but we’ve a home game against Monaghan United this weekend and hopefully we can get a win and start to move up the table a little.”

The club has just seven points from nine games, 20 less than leaders UCD who have played once more, and 12 less than Shelbourne who are in fourth position.

Harps were relegated last year from the top flight along with UCD and encountered severe financial difficulties during the close season. Hegarty was operating on a fraction of the budget he previously had. In the circumstances, Wilkinson acknowledges, it was always likely to be a difficult season and, he insists, there was no pressure on the manager to go.

“We’ve got a lot of young players and they need time and we got a point down in Limerick, which wasn’t a bad result,” he says. “We’ve lost a bit of ground but a lot of the teams tend to beat each other in the First Division and so a few wins would have had us moving in the right direction. We’ll just have to take a bit of time to consider the situation now.”

Sligo Rovers, meanwhile, have been told they will be allowed to play their Europa Cup games at the Showgrounds this summer after the club’s home passed the necessary Uefa inspection. “Given the huge amount of work that has taken place in the ground in recent weeks, this news is a great boost for everyone at the club,” said chairman Dermot Kelly.

“While I was confident the ground would meet the various criteria, it is reassuring to know Uefa deem the Showgrounds a suitable venue for European football.”

With support from the local council and the FAI, the club had implemented significant improvements to the stands, dressingrooms and car-parking facilities at the stadium and the outcome, said Kelly, was “a fitting tribute,” to the volunteers who had helped.