Shelbourne officials had no comment to make yesterday on renewed speculation that the oldest club in the Republic of Ireland may be headed for a change of ownership.

Takeover talks are understood to have started some time ago and are believed to have made at least some progress. At this stage, however, they are said to be still at a preliminary stage.

The development comes at a time when St Patrick's Athletic, another club which has enjoyed significant success in recent years, are also thought to be in the process of restructuring their board of directors.

As yet, nothing definite has emerged from Richmond Park, although one of the proposals likely to be on the table in the event of a change at the top concerns the construction of a new stadium in Inchicore.

Over the years, Shelbourne has been the subject of recurring speculation as they struggled through difficult financial times. At one point, New York Cosmos were believed to be interested in acquiring a controlling interest, but the Dublin club's fortunes improved dramatically after Tony Donnelly joined the club as chairman in 1990.

Strengthened by availability of additional funding, they proceeded to re-establish themselves as a formidable force in domestic football, winning the Premier Division championship in 1992 and the FAI Cup on three occasions in the ensuing six years.

With Tony Donnelly's death two years ago, however, they suffered a serious setback and they lost another influential member this year with the resignation of Finbarr Flood. Two of Donnelly's sons, Aidan and Brian, currently hold seats on the board.

In the wake of the Donnelly takeover, the club has seldom been less than enterprising on the transfer market and further evidence has been forthcoming over the last few days in their interest in the Galway born midfielder Rory Ginty.

Ginty, who made several first-team appearances for Crystal Palace last season, is now back in Ireland after being released by the London club and last Sunday guested for Shelbourne in their exhibition game against Dundalk at Ravensdale.

Dermot Keely is scarcely short of midfield players but with Stephen Geoghegan, their leading scorer, unlikely to be recovered from a damaged hamstring before the start of their Premier Division programme, he would almost certainly welcome the addition of a player of Ginty's ability.

If the signing goes through, he could make his first Dublin appearance for the club in an attractive exhibition game against Leeds United at Tolka Park next Wednesday.

Seats for adults will be priced at a nominal £8 with a charge of £4 for children, making this one of the more interesting of the early season presentations.

Cork City, who open their European Cup Winners' Cup programme against the Ukrainian team CSKA at Turner's Cross on Thursday evening (6.0), may be faced with a major problem in filling the right back position.

Stephen Napier has yet to resume training after being affected by a virus during the summer and Fergus O'Donoghoe, who rejoined the club last season after a lengthy spell in England and later the US, visited a specialist yesterday for another report on a groin problem.

The only other player with experience of playing in the position is Declan Daly but manager Dave Barry will be reluctant to break up Daly's successful partnership with Derek Coughlan in the middle of the defence.

Barry has augmented his staff with the acquisition of Dominic Iorfa, a Nigerian international, and the former Wimbledon player Gerald Dobbs. Waterford United have confirmed the signing of Barry Wood for the coming season despite interest from three English clubs.

Player manager Tommy Lynch has already added Robbie Griffin, Tim McGrath and Jody Byrne in advance of the opening three League Cup games.