IFA using us to send a deterrent to junior clubs, say Donaghadee
JAMIE B r ys o n’s club Donaghadee FC have accused the Irish FA of sending a monetary message to junior sides after they were hit with significant costs in the wake of their failed arbitration case.
It is understood Irish League side Institute, forcibly relegated from the Premiership last season, relented on their own arbitration challenge due to the potential legal bill involved.
And that’s the reality facing Amateur League minnows Donaghadee now, who claim saddling small clubs with huge legal bills will deter those clubs from mounting future legal challenges.
In a statement, the club told the Belfast Telegraph: “This is a clear effort in our view to send a deterrent message to discourage other junior clubs from ever chal- lenging the football authorities.
“Mr Bryson represented us free of charge, yet the IFA had a large corporate law firm, a solicitor and one of Northern Ireland’s foremost QCS.”
Donaghadee took the Amateur League to appeal, and then the IFA to arbitration over the way in which they ended the 2019-20 league season and cups.
Judge Nicholas Stewart QC came down on the side of the Irish FA on all counts, but did make clear the curtailment of the cups was “flawed”.
Meanwhile, Terry Pateman, the chairman of the Amateur League, hopes to see a return to competitive football by “the end of next month”. But there could yet be a sting in the tail for the thousands involved in the Amateur League hoping for a quick resumption of junior football.
Uncertainty over the coronavirus notwithstanding, there are two unresolved legal challenges from member clubs Rosario and Greenisland, both of whom are pushing for a resolution of the league on a points-per-game basis.
r Pateman said while he would be “exercising caution” due to the resurgence of the pandemic, he “was very hopeful the Amateur League and league football would return towards the end of next month”.