Lawrie McMenemy has rejected the offer of a new contract to carry on as Northern Ireland manager.

McMenemy, who had been in charge since February 1998, has told the Irish Football Association that he and his coaching team intend to move on when their current deals expire on November 30th.

A statement issued by IFA general secretary David Bowen said: "Mr McMenemy said that he and his management team were all keen to pursue their individual future careers in club football."

The news will be welcomed by the majority of Northern Ireland fans, who had lost faith in the McMenemy's so-called `dream team' after a miserable European Championship qualifying campaign in which they won only one game.

Bowen's statement added: "Mr McMenemy thanked the IFA for the opportunity to manage at an international level and felt that his successor, perhaps whose roots were in Northern Ireland, would have a solid foundation upon which to build for the future and based upon the work that had been carried out since their appointment in February 1998."

McMenemy's decision, together with that of his assistants Joe Jordan and Pat Jennings, is not that big a surprise given that he had been unhappy with the IFA's handling of contract negotiations from day one.

He was annoyed at the manner in which the IFA announced the unanimous offer by its international committee of the new deals in Dortmund back at the start of September.

He then became further annoyed when talks dragged on and it was clear at last weekend's game against Finland there was a problem, although he would not admit to one.

After McMenemy had finished talking about the state of the negotiations he aimed an unsolicited dig at the IFA, saying: "It's nice to see Mick McCarthy get an extension and Mark Hughes being offered four years after successful starts. Those countries are both going for continuity and stability."

While McMenemy succeeded in broadening his squad by adding Maik Taylor and Mark Williams, ultimately he could not improve results.