FAI says new league format here to stay

The FAI insist there will be no reversal of the decision to change the format of the League of Ireland to two tiers of 10 teams for the 2018 season.

Sources in Abbotstown also indicated they have no plans to reinstate the promotion-relegation playoffs at the end of the coming season, meaning three teams will go down and only one will go up, a scenario which has caused dismay among First Division clubs.

There is also opposition to the revamped format among Premier Division clubs, as well as anger at the way in which it was announced by the FAI just before Christmas, with the governing body saying at the time that they had ratified the new structure “following a proposal from the Premier Clubs Alliance (PCA)”.

While the FAI continue to point out that the PCA did, in fact, vote in favour of the reduction to 10 in the top flight, one club representative says: “Just to clarify, this wasn’t a proposal by us. It was literally a single number based on a very specific query from the FAI about whether it should be 10 or 12 clubs in the Premier Division. Three times they came back to us on this and they knew there was no consensus. They just wanted a number. We weren’t asked about relegation playoffs or how many would go up or down.

“The three down/one up was definitely not a PCA move. The key to this is that it was not a yes to the structure that was actually proposed because that wasn’t the question put to us.”

The PCA say they alerted the FAI to the reality that, even after lengthy deliberations and discussions, the narrow vote in favour was only reluctantly backed by some members and didn’t at all reflect the divergence of views across the whole of the Premier Division.

Nor did it include the views of First Division clubs who, although they have been occasionally invited to attend meetings of the PCA when matters of mutual interest arise, are not members of the umbrella group.

Last Monday, the PCA met for the first time since the format was ratified by the FAI board and, although no new vote was taken, it is understood that a shift in support among the clubs means only a minority now continue to back the 10-team format, with most favouring the retention of 12 clubs in the top division.

At the meeting, newly promoted Limerick raised the issue of how they felt their runaway promotion success last season negatively impacted other clubs in the First Division, a situation it is feared will only be exacerbated in the absence of the playoffs at the end of this season.

“Last year, when Limerick were leading, they found that attendances dropped off massively for other clubs in the division,” said one source. “And if it were to happen again, let’s say Waterford end up winning the league with 15 games to go, the other teams have nothing to play for. It’s ridiculously short-sighted.”

Against the wider backdrop of concern about what they feel is a lack of transparency on the part of the FAI in their administration of the league, the PCA are anxious to address a number of issues when they hold a scheduled meeting with the FAI on Monday, including the prize money on offer for 2018 and the remit of the league’s new marketing manager.

The PCA has agreed to draw up rules designed to put itself on a more robust, official footing, a move which, it is hoped, will make it easier for the representative body to speak with one voice in the future.

The BallTalk team are divided on whether the expansion of the FIFA World Cup to 48 teams is a good or a bad thing.