SOCCER:THE prospects of Cobh Ramblers retaining their league status for the coming season looked bleak last night after the FAI's board rejected a rescue plan that involved the association purchasing St Colman's Park and then leasing the ground back to the club.

In a statement last night the FAI said that it could not take any action that would involve helping particular clubs to get through the licensing process but, it said, it would look at ways of using St Colman's after the process has been completed.

Cobh Ramblers have been struggling with mounting debts over the course of the last year and the club now has less than a week to come up with a new way of obtaining the finance required for survival if it is to avoid being forced out of the League of Ireland just short of 25 years after it joined.