Sir, - Nigel Cooke's examples (November 24th) of Berwick playing in the Scottish League or Cardiff and Swansea playing in the English League don't really stand up to scrutiny. First of all, none of these clubs moved to another city - they stayed where they were. Secondly, they don't play in a foreign country's league. Wales is, after all, part of Britain.
He further states that Welsh clubs get two bits at European qualification - in fact they don't. Cardiff, Swansea and Wrexham are no longer allowed to enter the Welsh FA Cup. The Welsh football authorities have realised that having Welsh clubs in England has been a disaster. They have been trying to woo back these clubs into the Welsh League.
At the same time Welsh football goes from crisis to crisis. Their national team is now ranked 98th in the world (below Congo, Brazzaville and above Syria). Their "English" teams have sunk without trace and standards continue to fall all the time.
The League of Ireland, despite its myriad problems, continues to improve and provides enjoyment and employment to many people around the country and not just in Dublin.
Finally, I wonder if the people of west Dublin really look forward to the arrival of English hooligans on their doorstep every second Saturday? Already this season (and it's only November) the citizens of Rome, Strasbourg and Rotterdam have witnessed violent scenes on their streets due to the arrival of English football teams. Sad but true. - Yours, etc.,
Davitts Quay, Dungarvan, Co Waterford.