In a League of its own

CORK CITY have overcome some big name opponents in the course of their 25 year history but none has proved quite as formidable as the tax man.

The result of the club’s latest battle with the Revenue Commissioners came perilously close to being the most devastating of all – a winding-up order on the back of an unpaid tax bill which, until injury time in the High Court yesterday afternoon, threatened to put the club out of existence with immediate effect. Now, they have until close of business next Wednesday to settle a debt of almost €400,000 – or face the activation of the winding up order 24 hours later.

That the club are confident they can meet the deadline is good news for football in Cork and the domestic game in general but that the Leesiders ended up in this situation at all can do nothing but accentuate the sense of recurring crisis in the League of Ireland.