DERRY CITY will this morning seek payment of money the club insists it is owed by the FAI for finishing fourth in the league this season, with club officials warning yesterday that, if it is not paid immediately, it will go to court to prevent any of the Premier Division’s other clubs from being paid.

The club was told at the meeting on Saturday in Abbotstown, where it was expelled from the league, that it was not due the €60,000 prize for finishing fourth as it was no longer a member of the league. But club solicitor Dessie Doherty will now press for immediate payment in what could be just the first instalment of a battle sparked by the disciplinary measure taken against City by the association over the weekend.

In an emotional meeting with journalists after Saturday’s hearing, club chairman Pat McDaid described the proceedings as “a kangaroo court” which had reached a “predetermined conclusion”.

Claiming that the club had been refused access to some of the documentary evidence upon which the FAI had relied in reaching its decision, McDaid said City had “not received any natural justice”.

He said the club would challenge the decision in any way open to it in the courts, north or south of the Border. And he maintained that the second contract held by a player (Darren Quigley) which lies at the heart of the issue was merely a temporary measure intended to provide some security for both parties until a proper, longer-term agreement could be signed.

“We’re talking about a contract that was in place for less than two weeks,” he said. “It was a holding contract until a proper registration could be put in place – and the FAI have seen fit to put Derry City out of football for that.”

City claim that, as that contract predates the official “standard player’s contract” which contains a clause invalidating any pre-existing agreements, the offending document was invalid from the time the “proper” one was signed.

The case against them centres on claims that all of the club’s players had such second contracts and that the terms of these side deals were being honoured until money at the club ran out at the end of the summer.

It is alleged that at a meeting between four FAI officials and two from City last Wednesday, the charges were effectively admitted, but this appears to have been disputed by the club on Saturday.

According to City’s version of events, they were invited to the meeting at the weekend which they were not in any way led to believe might adjudicate on the case. It was, they claim, only after the meeting had started that it began to become apparent that it was “a hearing”.

Doherty, a prominent solicitor in the city who has been involved in many high-profile northern criminal cases, the long-running Bloody Sunday inquiry and even played a part in the defence of Saddam Hussein, said afterwards that he had never been treated so “abominably”.

FAI chief executive John Delaney said that he had “felt sick” as the decision to expel Derry from the league had been taken. But he insisted that, on the evidence before it, the association had had no choice but to punish the club for serious breaches of the rules.

City officials, he said, had “freely admitted that over 20 players had been given contracts which differed substantially and materially with the ones that were held in private. It is disappointing to hear a denial of that now, because it is just not true.”

The club were told on Saturday that if they cooperated fully in relation to the charges from this point on then the association would meet it this week to discuss at what level below the premier league City might be allowed to re-enter the league next season.

Things may not now go quite that smoothly, as the issue of prize money could lead to a wider challenge of the sanctions imposed on the basis of a claim that there was an absence of fair procedures.

Stephen McGuiness, the general secretary of the PFAI, said yesterday he expected the association to pursue all of the players involved, and suggested the union would not represent the players in disciplinary proceedings because of the nature of the offences.

After a string of impressive performances that helped his side towards top-flight safety and a place in the FAI Cup final, Sligo Rovers striker Rafaelle Cretaro has been named the Soccer Writers’ Association of Ireland Player of the Month for October.

Cretaro scored five times during the month.

“It’s gone well, better than I would have expected,” Cretaro said. “If you had told me at the start of the season that I’d score 21 goals, I would have laughed at you, but my game has gone from strength to strength.”