DERRY GIVE BACKING TO PLANS FOR ALL-IRELAND LEAGUE

DERRY CITY have given their support to the All-Island League proposals set out by Kerry businessman Kieran Lucid. Securing the backing of a such highprofile club is a significant coup for Lucid and will focus minds in the hierarchy of the FAI and the IFA. Lucid’s project would see all-island champions crowned through a knockout competition. This would happen after a split season where the League of Ireland and Irish League would retain independence by crowning their own champions. In a statement yesterday, Derry hailed the plan as ‘a seminal moment in the well-being and even existence’ of Irish football. ‘We are informed that the IFA and the FAI have agreed to jointly examine the report. We see this as creative and important,’ the statement read. The IFA had previously said it would not sanction the participation of any Irish League clubs. Derry City acknowledged their ‘unique relationship’ with football in Ireland having participated in both leagues in their history, winning the League title and Cup in both jurisdictions. The club’s statement added the report by the All-Island League Advocacy Group was ‘impressive’. Derry’s statement said the coronavirus pandemic has added to the financial pressures on clubs. ‘The pandemic has exposed the underlying fragility of the present model. It is not viable.’ The prize money for winning the League in the North is just £22,000 (€25,000) while the SSE Airtricity champions receive €110,000. Yet it costs top-flight clubs approximately €1million a year to keep the show on the road. ‘It is time to acknowledge the tenuous state of both Leagues and to recognise that neither the FAI or the IFA have had the local leagues at the top of their ambitions,’ the statement added.