Wimbledon move is on - McGuinness

STARKLY contrasting accounts of the current position in regard to the proposed relocation of Wimbledon Football Club to Dublin emerged yesterday as Paul McGuinness, one of the main figures involved in the consortium backing the move, cast doubts on reported claims by the London club to the FAI that they had no interest in the move.

The FAI's new chief executive, Bernard O'Byrne, issued a detailed statement yesterday denying that he or the association had been `sounded out' by either the current owner of the London club or its Irish backers. The statement also relayed assurances from the current owners of Wimbledon that they were seeking a move to another part of the English capital.

Upon hearing this, however McGuinness remarked: "I'm not surprised that they've said that but you have to understand that until all of the ducks are in a row, no duck is going to admit to being interested in being in a row.

McGuinness made it clear that a number of meetings had taken place to discuss the proposed move. He linked the proposal to a switch by the National League to a summer programme - a switch he described as being potentially part of a "coincidence of interests on everybody's part".

"The people who are interested in bringing Wimbledon to Dublin, and I'm certainly one of them, realise that it can't be realistically achieved without the interests of all the different sections being satisfied.

"But there are moves afoot in Sky Television, or at least there are people there who are very interested in seeing the league here switch to the summer because they have no football then and it would fill a gap. That would provide a considerable source of income for the league clubs and leave the way open for us during the winter.

If all of those things came together for us, he said "then it's a runner. If they don't then it's not."

The presence of a purpose-built soccer stadium in Dublin would, he feels, also be an attraction for the FAI, while the size of the market here in Ireland was the incentive for Sam Hammam and his fellow directors at Wimbledon.

McGuinness emphasised, however, that his position was that the move to the proposed site of the new stadium in Neilstown could only take place if "a happy coincidence of interests" could be arranged and "proper support had been provided to the National League".

In his statement yesterday O'Byrne stated that the FAI had "in recent days" received assurances from Wimbledon that "the club is not involved in any way with any campaign to relocate to Dublin" and that the club was "annoyed and distressed" that it is being linked with such a campaign.

O'Byrne maintained last night that, as far as he is concerned, the issue will not be seriously considered by the FAI.

"I think what seems to be happening here is that two separate issues are being crossed. The issue of summer football is a live one and there are people who both support and oppose it within the association, but it is not what is being discussed here.

"As I've said before, we have not been approached either formally or informally by Mr McGuinness or any of his associates about the idea of any English club moving into our jurisdiction and we are not particularly interested in being approached."

Several newspaper reports over the past 10 days had claimed that despite public denials by the FAI, some of its officials have in fact been discreetly helpful to the consortium behind the venture. This idea, too, was dismissed by O'Byrne.

"I would say that it's the easiest thing in the world to send up a smokescreen, but if all of the things that have been going on have been above board then why don't the people involved come out and name the FAI people involved."

McGuinness, meanwhile, did not confirm nor deny that talks had taken place with senior figures in the game here, saying only: "We have had talks with several parties, but the conversations are private and privileged. It (the overall proposal) is not at the stage where everything has come together yet so I couldn't expect them (the FAI) to support it."

These comments by McGuinness support the view of at least ones other observer with connections to members of the consortium that previous claims regarding the current state of the negotiations over the move have been greatly exaggerated.

While there do clearly seem to have been contacts between McGuinness and the rest of the consortium which is believed to include property developer Owen O'Callaghan and architect Ambrose Kelly, Sam Hammam would appear to have other options on the table, and there may be some truth to the claim reportedly made to the FAI that "serious proposals" aimed at keeping the club in South London are being "actively considered".

Those proposals are believed to centre around the construction of a new £15 million stadium close to their old home at Plough Lane. Funding for the project would come in equal shares from the local Merton Council, the club itself and outside investors and Hammam's main objection to it is rumoured to be the size of the contribution which would be expected from Wimbledon.

Meanwhile, in Dublin last night the first move by supporters of domestic clubs to oppose the proposed move were made when a group calling itself National League United hosted a public meeting at Wynns Hotel.

Around 200 supporters drawn mainly from the big Dublin clubs heard Niall Fitzmaurice, who chaired the meeting, claim that the arrival of the "Wimbledon Dons" would mean "the death of the National League within five years." He said the aims of the people behind it were purely financial - "they have no love for the game," he remarked.

Other speakers questioned the sincerity of the FAI regarding the move with several pointing to the perceived control of the association by the junior leagues which, as one supporter put it, "have never had any interest in the League of Ireland at all."

The meeting elected a committee which will decide on how best to mount a campaign against the move over the coming weeks and it was decided that the group as a whole would meet again to discuss developments in two or three weeks' time.