We need a clear start date for next season: Swifts chief
Crusaders vice-chairman Mark Langhammer, who has highlighted a lack of investment in the domestic game by the Irish FA, said: “An All-ireland League is nobody’s ‘silver bullet’ but it does address the fundamental sustainability weaknesses of the domestic game.”
Irish FA president David Martin (below) stated last month: “It has been the position of the IFA, since October 2019, that we were not prepared to go down the road of an All-island League and that hasn’t changed. We’ve made that very clear.”
The Irish FA have declined to comment on the letter sent by the 10 clubs.
Boyd, meanwhile, called on the Irish FA and Northern Ireland Football League to make a swift decision on a start date for next season.
“We are waiting on news of next season and I’d like to see more urgency from the Northern Ireland Football League and
Irish FA,” added the Stangmore Park chief.
“Institute have an appeal in and it should have been heard. Things are being held up when we need to have a starting date for next season.
“I have respect for Institute but a line must be drawn and we need to plan ahead.
“My players are calling me every week but we don’t have a date. All they have to do is give us a date, subject to government guidelines.
“The clubs have responded with their preferred options but we are still waiting on clarity. As long as fans can return to grounds we can get up and running. Clubs simply won’t be open for business otherwise. out this process, we were confident that the independent panel would find as they did, that no rules or regulations had been broken, because we knew that the business model this club is run on is financially sound, legally compliant, sportingly legitimate and above board.”
Glenavon have snapped up striker Matthew Fitzpatrick from Coleraine and winger Peter Campbell from Loughgall.
Fitzpatrick has been awarded a two-year deal with Campbell netting a three-year contract.
Robbie Norton, Ross Hunter and Oisin Barr have agreed three-year contract extensions with the Lurgan Blues.
Glentoran, Linfield and Coleraine are being linked with a move for Glenavon star Josh Daniels.
“I also don’t think any fans should be admitted into the Irish Cup final. How do you work out who is allowed to go and who isn’t? People will be arguing over tickets.
“It’s the same with the Northern Ireland game in September.” It’s been confirmed that the registration period for signing new players in professional football in Northern Ireland will run from August 1 to October 5.
The Irish FA made the announcement, with details regarding the mid-season registration period to be confirmed.
Uefa have called on all member associations to adopt a harmonised end date to the summer transfer window this year. • KYLE Cherry has signed a new two-year contract with Carrick Rangers.
IT wasn’t that long ago that if Colin Nixon had been spotted sitting in a dugout in east Belfast, with a beaming smile on his chops and holding a green scarf over his head, you’d have been forgiven for thinking the conquering hero had returned home.
But no. The man who made the guts of 800 appearances for Glentoran, collecting more silverware than a lottery-winning magpie in that time, is indeed back in management and in east Belfast but at Wilgar Park, not The Oval.
Little Dundela (sorry, that has been the law since chickens started to run) have appointed one of the local game’s class acts to take over the little club with huge ambitions.
Nixon was shamefully shown the door by Ards back in 2019 with the north Down side facing what was ultimately to be a losing battle to remain in the Danske Bank Premiership.
They were finally demoted when they lost the play-off game with Carrick Rangers, Nixon’s successor Warren Feeney unable to conjure up a great escape.
When Nixon was fired, soon after a dismal 3-0 defeat by Institute, on paper it would have been hard to argue with the statistics — six straight league defeats; bottom of the table; three points behind Newry City; and just three wins from 29 games.
But that doesn’t tell the whole story. The axe fell just as the transfer window had closed with Nixon (right) raiding the bargain basement with the meagre funds at his disposal to try and boost his beleaguered side. And just a matter of days before taking on Newry.
I couldn’t understand why you’d allow a manager to do all that legwork and then kick him out, especially when he had shown wonderful loyalty to the club when his beloved Glentoran came calling because — yep, you guessed it — he was doing so well at Ards.
To guide them to eighth and ninth spots in the top division was a remarkable achievement and one that earned him a new contract in 2018 that would have kept him at Clandeboye Road until 2021.
“We are absolutely delighted that Colin is staying with us and we feel he has shown great loyalty to us,” said chairman Brian Adams back then.
“There is that fear he would join Glentoran and abandon what we have achieved so far and I think that fear is only natural when you understand Colin’s affection for the Glens.”
A year later and it was the door, not loyalty, he was shown.
But now his loyalty in the east of the city is to Dundela, where great strides are being made on and off the pitch and when fixtures are finally released for the Bluefin Championship, I am sure there will be a big green circle around those clashes with Ards.
Speaking to this paper recently, he said: “I felt I did a good job at Ards and kept them in the league for two years in difficult circumstances with limited resources. In our third season we lost a centre-forward when Sean Noble suffered a cruciate injury, and when Jonny Fraser left we lacked a cutting edge.
“The problem was identified but I couldn’t do anything about it. The club hit a big red panic button and now it’s water under the bridge.
“In the end, I didn’t get Ards relegated — in fact, I kept them up twice. I threw my heart and soul into the job and that’s what you’ll get from me.”
Anyone who played with or against him will vouch for that, he had an insatiable desire to win and demanded the same of his team-mates. He was the same as a manager. When Ards were deep in the mire, unlike many others I could mention, he never shirked away from facing the media.nor did he miss the wall. If players needed mollycoddling they were, but when they needed a good kick up the backside then he didn’t miss that either.
Life in the east of the city is much changed since his days of bombing up and down that right flank, the new Glens a far cry from the old and also the small matter of Harland and Wolff Welders also planning big for the future with his old team-mate, top man and another Glentoran legend, Gary Smyth, at the helm.
Both clubs are investing heavily to make it to the Premiership but to also create something for the local community; Wilgar Park is unrecognisable from what it was and the Welders’ move to the Blanchflower Stadium is progressing.
“Not only do I want to get to the top flight, I want to build something sustainable where we can stay there,” said Nixon this week.
“Dundela is a forward-thinking club and they tick all the boxes for me and I see the partnership as a perfect fit. It is the 125th anniversary of the club this year and the success at lower level has been phenomenal. Now we have our sights set on moving into the top division. They will get total commitment from me and I won’t rest until we secure promotion.”
With Nicky in charge, the days of little Dundela may well be gone forever. Good to have you back.