On Soccer It's just about a decade since the then Sligo Rovers manager Willie McStay observed as he wandered off the pitch at the RDS, where his side had played Shamrock Rovers in a relegation battle, that if the Dubliners did go down the rules of the league would probably be changed in order to grant them a reprieve, writes Emmet Malone

At the time the suggestion didn't seem that far-fetched. The idea that one of the country's big clubs could end up in the First Division seemed unthinkable, something that changed a few seasons later when Dundalk became the first one to take the plunge.

It's hard to imagine anybody in Merrion Square losing much sleep over the prospect of Rovers joining seemingly doomed Dublin City in the lower flight.

There are times when the threat of relegation looks the least of the club's worries. In some ways going down might not have been such a bad thing for Rovers a few years back as the board could have concentrated their resources on ending the saga of their proposed relocation to Tallaght.

Instead, a move that everybody hopes will revitalise a once great club seems as far away as ever. The club have given up announcing the commercial deals that will supposedly enable them to complete it after the embarrassment last year that followed their shouting from the rooftops about Ben Dunne's involvement. Since then there have been countless rumours but little or no progress.

Most observers still view the fact the club got a UEFA licence as baffling given the difficulties they were having at the time in their efforts to secure an agreement to play at either Dalymount or Richmond Park.

That question was never adequately resolved given the restrictions that come with their current deal in Richmond Park. All of that, however, has been overshadowed by the almost endless reports of financial difficulties, most obviously in relation to the payment of players, something that has culminated in the present situation in which about €40,000 is owed to members of the PFAI who balloted last night on whether to take strike action during the coming weeks.

Club chairman Tony Maguire, who says the difficulties will be sorted out within four weeks of an impending deal being concluded, was scheduled to meet the players last night in the hope of persuading them to show further patience in relation to payment. But with the end of the season approaching players fear their chance to make an effective stand will pass. It was expected before last night's meeting a majority of those voting will have supported the proposed action when the result is announced today.

Relations haven't been helped that while most players are owed three or four weeks' money (one is waiting on the equivalent of eight weeks' pay in wages and bonuses) the money of two players who might command significant fees if they were to be sold, Trevor Molloy and Shane Robinson, has never been allowed to fall behind lest they become free agents.

The problem, of course, is the required money is clearly not there at present although there are apparently two possible sources from which the board can obtain it as part of a deal to finance the stadium project.

The first is the one being pursued by the directors, apparently a sizeable loan deal which will enable this board to stay on while phase one of the stadium is completed. The other involves Liam Buckley and an unnamed investor who has said he will invest €12.5 million in the club in return for control.

Buckley and this investor met two of the club's directors last Friday week and asked for details of the club's financial state to be confirmed by last Wednesday so they could move forward with their offer. As of yesterday, however, they were waiting for contact to be made.

In the meantime the €10,000 paid to squad members last week to keep things ticking over came, as so much else has, from supporters via the "400 club", one of many schemes aimed at maximising income from what is a dwindling number of remarkably loyal fans. It appears these fans may have no significant say in what course is taken by the people running the club despite having done so much to preserve it in recent years.

With that in mind it appears any action taken by the players would be aimed at provoking the involvement of the league and, more significantly, the FAI who, for all their own problems these days, would have the financial wherewithal to resolve the most immediate problems.

Remarkably there is no mechanism for either organisation to become directly involved until a crisis like this starts to impact on fixtures.

In a league run by clubs, many of whom have been down this particular road themselves in the not too distant past, that probably isn't all that surprising.

But if the FAI is really prepared to overhaul the already battered public image of the game's most important domestic competition a structure needs to be created in which situations like this are addressed a little before players find themselves on picket lines.