League of Ireland:While the members of Shelbourne's management committee last night pondered how best to move forward in the wake of Monday night's decision to relegate them from the Premier Division of the League of Ireland, the FAI moved swiftly to fill the vacancy created by the demotion of the champions with Waterford United accepting an invitation to step up from the first division.
The Dubliners have until next Monday to lodge an appeal against the decision taken by the First instance Committee but while there is considerable disappointment and a good deal of anger regarding the present situation around Tolka Park there seems to be no great sense of optimism regarding the club's prospects of being reinstated to the top flight.
Speaking yesterday ahead of a meeting of the club's management committee interim chairman Gary Brown suggested that the club might even withdraw completely from the league in order to regroup. Asked about the explanation Shelbourne had been given for the action taken against them, Brown expressed considerable annoyance, insisting that the club had given a commitment that the money due to both the Revenue and the players would be paid in full.
"We feel that we addressed many of the points they have made to us in their letter in our earlier submissions but that they have chosen to disregard what we had said," he said.
"In the end we went to them with a guaranteed budget for the coming season that probably would have been bigger than two thirds of the other Premier Division clubs . . . how many times has anything like that ever happened in this league? But that doesn't seem to have made any difference either."
The club's lack of a manager was also cited by the committee as a sticking point but Brown maintained that one, who had already agreed to take the job, would quickly have been put in place in the event that the Premier Division license had been granted.
The manager, in turn, is said to have had a number of players lined up to join the club. The problem was that none of the names in question could be confirmed in advance and that was not regarded as acceptable in the circumstances.
When interviewed on RTÉ Radio after the club's senior officials met to consider the situation Brown said that it would take another few days before a firm decision would be taken on how to proceed and that may well mean that the present uncertainty continues until after the weekend. Clearly anxious to be pressing on, though, the FAI last night issued a provisional fixture list for the new season with Waterford United filling the top flight's 12th place. Gareth Cronin described the turn of events as a "brilliant" one for his side.
If Shelbourne fail to regain their place in the Premier Division then Waterford's first opponents will be Cork City who last night confirmed that they had signed 26-year-old international midfielder Colin Healy on a two-year contract.
FIRST ROUND OF FIXTURES (provisional). Premier Division - Mar 9th: Bohemians v Drogheda Utd, Derry City v Bray Wanderers, Galway Utd v Sligo Rovers, UCD v Shamrock Rovers, Waterford Utd v Cork City; Mar 10th: Longford Town v St Patrick's Athletic. First Division - Mar 8th: Dundalk v Finn Harps; Mar 9th: Athlone Town v Kilkenny City, Monaghan Utd v Wexford Youths, Shelbourne v Kildare County; Mar 10th Cobh Ramblers v Limerick 37.
The complete list of fixtures can be viewed online at www.ireland.com/sports/soccer
