WITH JUST seven weeks to go until the start of the new League of Ireland season, it seems as if the switch to a ten-team Premier Division for 2018 is now up in the air.
Last month, a fixture list for 2017 was issued along with confirmation that three teams from this season’s top flight would be relegated to allow for a change to a ten-team Premier next year.
Today’s Irish Sun reports that the change looks to have the support of only four clubs – Dundalk, Derry City, Shamrock Rovers and St Patrick’s Athletic.
It is believed that Bray Wanderers and Sligo Rovers sided with the majority, although that support has now faded.
A meeting of the Premier Clubs Alliance will now take place on Monday and the format change in the League will be at the top of the agenda.
There has been widespread concern that the eight clubs in the First Division did not have their views reflected by the recent proposal.
Limerick FC and Drogheda United, who have been promoted into the top flight, are unlikely to support the change with the eight First Division clubs all likely to oppose the move – meaning that just four of the League’s 20 clubs would be supporting the proposal.
“Certainly, bigger clubs than Finn Harps could find themselves in bother and they could have voted for it,” said Finn Harps manager Ollie Horgan in an interview with Donegal Sport Hub yesterday.
“If someone could list me ten reasons why it has happened, I might be able to accept. No-one has been able to give one reason, let alone ten.”
Harps are set to hold a public meeting in Ballybofey on Monday evening with the exact terms of what is required by the team this season to preserve their place in the Premier still unclear.
