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The IFA Executive Committee met on Wednesday 30 April 2008 to consider the application of Portadown Football Club for the IFA Premiership which will commence from August 2008.
The application was not submitted by the stipulated deadline of 4.00 pm on Monday, 31 March 2008 which was endorsed by the Executive Committee at its meeting on 10 January 2008. The application has, therefore, not been included in the process.
IFA Premiership?
I really feel for all Portadown fans right now. We were in far worse predicament, so I know what it must feel like.
The league will be weaker because of it, and the punishment does not fit the crime. BUT Portadown agreed to the conditions when they signed up for the league, and complaining about the deadline after they've missed it does not wash.
Sad day for IL football, but the correct decision and hopefully through this clubs will start to get themselves in order.
Its a sorry state of affairs alright, and totally unbelievable that someone couldn't have had the application in on time.
The only appeal i can see succeeding is one to good nature or commonsense but it doesn't look like thats gonna happen, suppose we'll miss the deadline for the PIL next :rolleyes:
Apart from everything else it has dominated affairs to the detriment of this saturdays IC final....think Bobby Jameson presented the cup last season, I trust he'll get a warm reception if he's within a hounds gowl of Windsor this saturday :D
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/foot...sh/7376359.stm
You would think that common sense would prevail and there application would be considered given that it was only submitted 15 mins late.
Quote:
Originally Posted by hedderman
I don't think it was though. Apparently it was 30 mins late. And the excuses Bobby Jameson has been coming up with have changed every day.
I don't think they should be considered. They made a balls up and it's their own fault. If they are considered you can garauntee that the team finishing 13th in the process will appeal the decision.
Rules are rules. Why did Portadown cut it so close anyway? If you make exceptions for 30 minutes do you want exceptions for 1 day late next season.
I don't know if worked like FAI system but maybe Portadown should just have had 20% of their assessment points deducted as "late fee".
very interesting this, will it mean portadown cant get promoted for 3 seasons then as under this new league there isnt any promotion/ relegation for the first few years isnt it?
Quote:
Originally Posted by CvilleRovers
Have heard that there will be promotion, have heard that there wont.
Have heard that ASDA have put in a mega bid for the land at Shamrock prior to the late application :D
Will hear all sorts before this finally gets sorted.
It didn't. The covering letter on the application stated clearly that no late applications would be considered. Several reminder letters were also sent to the clubs, stating the same.Quote:
Originally Posted by pete
Any update on this?
Sorry Pete but that's exactly the type of pettiness Howard Wells was indulging on the telly on Thursday. He actually got drawn into a debate about whether they were 15 or 30 minutes late with their application. A phonecall to the local cop shop could've confirmed or destroyed the excuse that a traffic accident had caused the delay in delivery. In the event the PSNI confirmed it then even the strictest interpretation of Force Majeure would've allowed the IFA to disregard the lateness of Portadowns application.Quote:
Originally Posted by pete
I have to wonder if this had happened to Linfield or the Glens would anyone even know about it.
I'm virtually certain if it happened down here you'd only get the same level of pettiness if it was a Monaghan or a Kildare and it'd be "ah go on sure you're grand" if it was a Premier club.
But why were Portadown cutting it so close to the wire in getting their application in ? :confused:
They're not First Year Uni students handing in a piece of coursework late cuz they had a big one the night before. Thye've known about this deadline for months now.
Amateur...
Sure, of course it would :rolleyes: Its not like we've had Championships and relegations decided by paperwork, have we?Quote:
Originally Posted by Lionel Ritchie
I'm sure I have no idea why it was that Portadown were cutting it fine. I'll give them the benefit of a doubt though, based on the fact that their application was mere minutes late, that they were bustin their collective balls to get the thing in.Quote:
Originally Posted by dcfcsteve
This all just strikes me as an OTT reaction by the IFA.
But again - why were they busting their balls to do so last minute ?!? :confused:Quote:
Originally Posted by Lionel Ritchie
No other club appeared to struggle with the deadline - including those physically further from Belfast than Portadown, who therefore didn't have the luxury of buying an hour extra by having a quick drive in, were they all in such a last-minute panic to do it.
What's the point in having a clear rule well-advertised in-advance if you then ignore it when it's broken ? :confused: That would be minnowism of the highest order. How will clubs ever learn if they see major deadlines being ignored ? And how would it be fair on the other clubs, who busted their balls and cut corners to get their's in on time, to see a competitor benefit from the rules being ignored to their detriment ?Quote:
Originally Posted by Lionel Ritchie
It's not an OTT reaction. It's an obvious one.
Once again, I don't know the details at all of why they were only putting their application in on the last day. I could have a guess that it might've had something to do with tying up loose ends of their application ... financial, infrastructural, backing, guarantoirs etc... so they could make the best possible case for themselves in their application. Once again that's a guess.
In attempting to do that it's understandable that they should use the maximum amount of time available rather than getting a lesser application in well in advance. After all it's a deadline -it's there to be met not blown out of the water. They did fail to meet that deadline but -Given that the application was in Windsor Ave 15 minutes after the deadline expired I think demonstrates good faith on Portadown FCs part ...whatever about a degree of numptyism I don't contend it also demonstrates.
I do think though that it also demonstrates a degree of retentiveness on the IFAs part when they'd an opportunity to show magnanamity and common sense. It'd have cost them nothing to just accept the application and quote force majeure if any other club spat the dummy out over it ...assuming a police report confirming the RTA which delayed delivery is forthcoming. What are they afraid of? a spate of clubs staging RTAs to get deadlines extended? How often are the planning on reconstituting the league anyway?
The biggest problem with the "traffic accident" notion is that in the days leading up to that "excuse" their Vice Chairman came up with all sorts of reasons and arguements none of which mentioned traffic problems. It doesn't matter whether they were 1 min, 15 mins or 30 mins late. They were late. You cannot seriously suggest that one of the other clubs who followed all the correct procedures with their application, including getting it in on time should be asked to give way to allow Portadown in?Quote:
Originally Posted by Lionel Ritchie
With the changes in how the IFA is running its affairs in recent years I believe we would have known about it just as the Glentoran player registration problems were actioned by the IFA.Quote:
Originally Posted by Lionel Ritchie
It's not pettiness, it is the correct aplication of the process.Quote:
Originally Posted by Lionel Ritchie
It was 30 minutes after the deadline. And what about those clubs who have acted in good faith and summitted everything correctly?Quote:
Originally Posted by Lionel Ritchie
If there had have been an accident on the Lisburn road that was causing 30min plus delays at that time on a Monday it would have made the traffic news as it would have caused major disruption. There were people from other clubs who were coming and going from Windsor Avenue at that time on the Monday who surprisingly encountered no such problems.Quote:
Originally Posted by Lionel Ritchie
You must also put any such RTA into context of other "reasons" given by their club official as they appear contradictory.
So? He quite probably knew they were going to be tight for time and were heading for a close shave with the deadline. Are you seriously implying that with the VC having highlighted their problems with getting an application in on time he'd then try and nick a mere 15 minutes? ...even half an hour if you believe Howard Wells? Why not a day or two? Why not a week?Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr_Parker
I'm not being pedantic here but he's not Mystic Meg. In the days leading up to the that "excuse" he can't have known a traffic accident would bring them to a halt. But yes they were late. Absolutlely IMMATERIALLY late.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr_Parker
There isn't a soul out there that would've been disenfranchised a jot by the IFA just taking the thing. I doubt they even opened the envelopes til Friday morning anyway.
Ah now we get to the meat of the issue. A club who's application may be nearly as good as Portadowns or nowhere near it get in ahead on a piddly technicality. Great news for football.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr_Parker