Muddy Waters!

There was a ‘storm in a teacup’ that came about last week when Dungannon Swifts manager Harry Fay moaned about the United board not acceding to their demands, to switch the game to Friday night, in order to give the Swifts more time to prepare for their Setanta cup match. United officials are at a loss as to how this occurred and would like to know whom Dungannon approached, as they have no knowledge of an approach being made. We then had the various statements from officials of teams involved in the Setanta cup, purporting suggestions such as teams being allowed to cancel Premier league fixtures prior to their Setanta games, or the other farcical situation of playing such games on a Saturday afternoon. I think these individuals are getting somewhat carried away by their own self-importance, would we then not have a case of ‘the tail wagging the dog’? After all only 4 of the present 16 teams in the Premier league are involved in the Setanta cup. Opinion in some circles says this is only the ‘thin edge of the wedge’ and the Setanta is actually a forerunner of an all-Ireland league. It has become increasingly hard to get fans to travel to away games in Norn Iron, once we have to travel the length and breadth of Ireland, the away fan will become a thing of the past. The travel time involved would necessitate fans taking time off work as travelling to the centre of Dublin, despite claims of the great motorway, still takes three to four hours and Cork, Limerick and Waterford are even further afield. Hopefully the I.F.A. will seek the views of the people who really matter, the local fans, before embarking on any ‘hair brained’ scheme, dreamt up by the greedy individuals behind certain teams. Of course the I.F.A. have their own plans to reform the present set-up and the criteria outlined for it is as clear as mud, as the saying goes. On one hand they say that certain things like numbers of supporters would be part of the requirement, but if that were the case they’d only be about six teams in the league. Take Cliftonville as a prime example, three days after winning the County Antrim Shield they brought about 50 spectators with them to Ballymena, a perfect example of fans reluctance to travel to games. Will each case be considered on merit or is this criteria just a way of weeding out teams not wanted in the league? A lot more thought will be needed before any major decisions can be made, as the old saying goes, ‘better we learn to walk, before we try to run’!