Quinn not in the frame for League of Ireland position

Interim deputy CEO had been viewed as a leading candidate for newly-created internal role

NIALL QUINN is not expected to fill the vacant role of League of Ireland Director.

There was a strong internal and external feeling that Quinn was primed for the position when it was opened up to FAI employees last month.

However, well-placed Abbotstown sources have strongly cast doubt on whether the interim deputy CEO applied for the position.

Quinn refused to comment on his intentions when contacted, with the 53-year-old heavily involved in the attempts to finalise the details of the 2020 return with an amended fixture list for the abridged campaign expected this week.

Streaming considerations have been a factor in attempts to devise a schedule.

A contingent of Premier Division clubs remain unhappy with the decision to stick with the original plan for promotion and relegation and appeal routes are being considered due to their dissatisfaction with the decision-making process.

The FAI sought internal applications for four positions as part of restructuring, even though it left existing staff members in a position where they essentially had to apply for their own jobs.

They were League of Ireland Director, Chief Operations Officer, Head of Grassroots and Commercial & Marketing Director.

Fran Gavin’s job as Competitions

Director includes the League of Ireland brief, but the FAI are looking to appoint a candidate from within that would be tasked with driving forward a strategy for the league.

FAI staff felt the position was geared towards Quinn, although there was interest in the job from elsewhere in the workforce.

Quinn is well regarded by influential members of the new board and it would be a surprise if he doesn’t have a significant part to play going forward, although he has come under fire from club officials – most notably St Patrick’s Athletic owner Garrett Kelleher – during the attempts to restart the 2020 season.

He has also been involved in attempts to improve relations between schoolboy football representatives and League of Ireland counterparts.

The FAI left a narrow window for applications for the ‘senior leadership’ positions which was tied in with changes at executive level.

Chief Operations Officer Rea Walshe is understood to be keen to stay in her brief. Walshe has come under scrutiny this week after the Sunday Independent detailed she had provided personal legal services to ex-CEO John Delaney when she was the FAI’s corporate affairs and licensing director.

Senior international team manager Stephen Kenny will sit on the executive and is likely to be pressed for comment on what that actually entails when he holds a media briefing today.