Cork City boss Caulfield feels for Bray players 'ultimately, they have to pay their bills'

Denis Hurley

Yesterday evening’s 5pm deadline for Bray Wanderers players to be paid came and went, increasing the likelihood of strike action.

Should that come to pass, the Seagulls’ game with Cork City on Friday week will be the game for which they stand down, and City manager John Caulfield sympathises with their situation.

“It’s very disappointing,” he said.

“The whole Bray scenario and that players have been left without their wages.

In the context of where we are, it shows where domestic Irish football is, in the sense that we haven’t got a strong footballing industry in our country.

“We’re always striving to make it a proper industry at home and it’s a disappointing story.

“You’d feel sorry for the Bray players because, ultimately, they have to pay their bills.

“We’ll have to see how it develops but it’s certainly not a good story for our league.

That has been the way for 40 years and at some point we’re going to have to get serious and tackle it properly.

“The plus side is that Cork City are out here representing the country, in a fantastic country and fantastic stadium, playing brilliant players, but we have brilliant players ourselves, and other players can’t even get their wages.

“That’s extremely disappointing and I just hope that some kind of a solution can be found.”