A week after his side were beaten by Cork City in the final of the FAI Cup, Alan Mathews resigned yesterday as manager of Longford Town. The 42-year-old had been in charge of the Flancare Park outfit for more than five years during which he had won three trophies: the FAI Cup (2003 and 2004) as well as the League Cup in 2004.
Mathews's relationship with the club had been strained at times during the season as the players sought to avoid relegation after the imposition of a six-point penalty as a result of administrative problems. The club was relegated on the last day of the campaign despite a strong run of late season form.
After Denis Behan's goal gave Cork City victory in the FAI Cup final, Mathews said he would be discussing his future with members of the board and in the wake of those talks, he confirmed yesterday he would be moving on.
"I just think that I've taken the club as far as I can, really," he said last night. "I can't do any more and so the time is probably right on both sides for a change."
Representatives of one of the leading Dublin schoolboy clubs that opposed the rule change passed at yesterday's FAI egm in relation to compensation for the development of young players, said last night that legal action is likely to result from the meeting's refusal to defer the matter for further discussions.
A solicitor's letter requesting a postponement of the vote was read to the FAI council members but it was decided to press on with the matter and it was voted through with only representatives of the Dublin and District Schoolboy League opposing it.
But a leading club official at one of the seven clubs - these include Home Farm, St Kevin's Boys and Stella Maris - who signed a letter opposing the new rules on Thursday said they would meet early next week to consider how to proceed. He suggested a legal challenge was the most likely course of action.
The measures adopted allow for the payment of compensation amounting to a minimum of 500 for each year that a player has been at a schoolboy club in the event that he goes on to turn professional in Ireland. But the clubs fear they will not be properly compensated for their work with young players and that they will not get a fair share of the back money to be paid by the FAI to the SFAI. There was also a wider concern after yesterday's meeting that the board of the association will be able to change the detail of the arrangement without outside consultation in future.
