Once again good sense prevailed and the timing of next weekend's Harp Lager FAI Cup final replay has, after talks with RTE and the clubs, been switched to Saturday evening (5.15) from Sunday afternoon.

However, as we come to the end of another season, the sad fact is the FAI have created problems because of lack of foresight or planning and then sorted them out at the last minute after somebody had pointed out what should have been obvious in the first place.

This season has had its fair share of similar problems and sadly there is little reason to suspect they will be addressed at the forthcoming a.g.m. of either the league or the FAI.

Last season's league meeting was remarkable for the decisiveness shown by clubs to cast aside the ludicrous proposals to reorganise the structures of the two divisions.

Other matters considered then were recommendations to help clubs raise their own profiles, and that of the league, by improving their dealings with the media. Such issues as sending a weekly fax containing team news to each of the main papers and radio stations were contained in the document. However, 12 months on only four clubs - St Patrick's Athletic, Bray Wanderers, Bohemians and Galway United - communicate regularly with this newspaper, while a few others make occasional contact.

It will be interesting to see what's on the agenda this year. Here are a few things that I feel merit discussion . . .

1. The fixture list remains a major problem. The back-to-back weeks need to be done away with immediately.

2. The rules of the cup should be reviewed and a version of the competition should be settled upon that can get us through at least one season without having to be changed, altered or simply ignored. Items worth looking at include the rule compelling clubs to replay drawn fixtures by the Thursday of the following week (which should be abandoned) and the playing of extra-time in the event of the final being tied (which should be introduced).

3. Suspensions picked up in National League and FAI Cup matches should be served out in those competitions. The fact that clubs in Leinster and Munster can use provincial cup competitions to negate bans while those in Connacht and Ulster cannot is a joke.

4. Every team in the league should be obliged to have a functional reserve team. The situation which arose with Kilkenny City insisting that they could not field a team for a cup match should not be allowed to happen again.

5. The appeals structure of the league should be reviewed and a panel of legally qualified people without connections to either clubs or lower leagues should be put in place to deal with players or clubs seeking to challenge league or FAI decisions. At the moment there is a widespread belief that appeals boards are unfairly appointed by, in many cases, the very people who made the original decision.

There are other smaller matters which could be tidied up. The fact that the transfer deadline rules effectively favour those clubs in a town with a post office which opens on a Sunday (the postmark on the registered letter rather than the arrival of the form in Merrion Square must be by the set date and this year at least that day fell on a Sunday) is something that could do with changing.

Of course there are more, but this lot would be a good start. Well, this lot and the 18 clubs who never bother to get in touch from time to time. But doubtless after this summer it will all be different.