Clubs chief refutes claims by IRFU boss

THE chairman of the First Division Clubs Association has refuted claims by IRFU chief executive Philip Browne that clubs had asked for changes to the structure of the All-Ireland League.

Speaking in Dublin on Wednesday, Mr Browne indicated that pre-Christmas consultative meetings had produced a clear consensus among clubs that things had to change.

"The one thing that came out of the whole consultation process and we heard it at every single meeting, was that there's a crying need from the club and school games to be revitalised and at every meeting the clubs said they can't go on like this," said Mr Browne.

However the chairman of the First Division Clubs Association, Wally Morrisey, is puzzled by that assertion.

"I've some concern about Philip Browne's comments at the launch of the league blueprint," said Morrisey, a Cork Constiution clubman.

"He said that the clubs had been asking for change, and while that could well be the case with the second and third division clubs, it's certainly not the case with the first division clubs. We sent a letter to the union recently signed by thirteen of our fifteen member clubs stating that we wanted the retention of the first division as it presently stands, while fully supporting whatever the second and third divisions clubs wanted from the process.

"The only clubs who didn't sign the letter were Dolphin and UCD, who agreed that the first division should stay how it is but had differing views as to how the second and third division clubs should be dealt with. To be honest, I don't see where the consensus is in all that."

Morrisey believes that any change that does need to be implemented in the All-Ireland League involves, not a change in the structure of the league itself, but rather in the way in which each club handles its' financial affairs.

"Essentially the IRFU want the money drained out of the club game and in that case, they have a valid point," he said. "There were a lot of players coming in from abroad to play in the league and it was costing a lot of money. But clubs aren't stupid, they have many businessmen involved and they had come to realise that anyway. I think we've started to see a change in that aspect of the club game before the IRFU meddled with the league structure."

The Association met in Dublin last night to decide on their next course of action and are due to make a statement on the matter before the weekend. It is believed that they formally rejected the new IRFU plan for the All-Ireland League involving provincial leagues before Christmas and an All-Ireland competition thereafter at the meeting.

And while it had been reported in some quarters that the first division clubs may form a breakaway All-Ireland League should the IRFU ignore their views, this option is believed to be an absolute last case scenario for the Association.