St Patrick’s Athletic in scathing FAI critique

The fallout from the FAI’s strategic funding initiative rumbles on after St Patrick’s Athletic rejected the offer out of hand and rounded on a governing body they believe “has displayed nothing approaching leadership”.

After the FAI publicly declared the rejection “extraordinary” on Saturday, the board of the League of Ireland club, owned by benefactor Garrett Kelleher, launched a full-scale critique on the association’s governance of the domestic league.

St Pat’s became the second top-flight club to snub the offer of up to €5,000 in grant aid towards devising a five-year plan, after Derry City branded it “disgraceful and disrespectful”.