Drogheda players consider boycott of clash with Saints

FIRST-TEAM players at embattled Drogheda United are planning to boycott Friday night’s eircom League Premier Division game against St Patrick’s Athletic at United Park.

The club, which went into examinership last month, had reached an agreement with its playing and managerial staff to pay 30% of their normal salaries in recent weeks but, following last week’s 4-3 loss in Bray, the players reportedly received only half of that amount.

With concern mounting about the reliability of payment for this coming Friday’s home match, a number of senior players are now planning to boycott the game. It’s understood that the players are also concerned about the financial implications should they be injured in what will be the club’s last game of the season.

However, the expectation is that the match will still go ahead — under league rules, failure to fulfil a fixture would result in automatic relegation — even if manager Paul Doolin has to turn to his youth team to make up the numbers.

The disgruntled senior players are also due to meet with club chairman Vincent Hoey on Thursday though there seems to be no great optimism on Boyneside that a resolution to the problem will be found before the 7.35pm kick off the following night..

This time last year Drogheda were celebrating becoming league champions but, in recent months, cash flow problems, arising out of their stymied move to a new ground, led to the club declaring itself insolvent, going into examinership and, as a result, being punished with a 10-point deduction in the league.