Cork City denied a licence; club to be wound up; FORAS to enter First Division

**blue til i die** · 15/10/2009, 12:15 AM

Cork City fans to stage pitch protest

By John Riordan

Thursday, October 15, 2009

SUPPORTERS of Cork City will hold a peaceful centre circle protest at Turner�s Cross tomorrow night prior to the League of Ireland Premier Division clash with Bohemians.

The rally, organised by supporters trust, FORAS, according to a statement issued by the board of management is aimed at highlighting to the FAI "that CCIFL (Cork City Investments FC Limited) under Mr (Tom) Coughlan are not suitable licence holders and should not be awarded a licence for next season".

The statement released last night pointed out that match night organisers had been consulted and that this approach was the best course of action "to exert some control and order over the very real anger felt by members".

The protest is also aimed at showing "solidarity and support for the proposed industrial action by the players, and will highlight the ongoing wage difficulties faced by our loyal players and staff.

"This course of action gives supporters an opportunity to vent their anger," the memo added, "while continuing to support the players and staff financially, in the face of the increasing and understandable calls for a total boycott of all Cork City FC games while Mr Coughlan remains at the club."

FORAS called on fans to avoid offensive banners, slogans or chants and to behave in a dignified manner, requesting those who wish to participate to gather in the Curragh Road Stand by 7.20pm.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/c...st-103372.html

**holidaysong** · 15/10/2009, 12:21 AM

Hopefully RT� show it live in their pre-match build up.

**Leeside Swagger** · 15/10/2009, 2:11 PM

Programme starts at 7.30 and KO is 7.35. They'll probably mention it but they wont really have time to go into too much detail.

**The Lep** · 15/10/2009, 2:56 PM

Will Cork then get fined for a pitch invasion?

**pineapple stu** · 15/10/2009, 3:04 PM

Sure they can't pay a fine anyway.

**Mr A** · 15/10/2009, 3:05 PM

They can offer to pay it in monthly instalments

**Leeside Swagger** · 15/10/2009, 3:12 PM

Originally Posted by The Lep

Will Cork then get fined for a pitch invasion?

I wouldnt think its pitch invasion unless it occurs during the match so they should be safe enough.

**passerrby** · 15/10/2009, 3:54 PM

Originally Posted by The Lep

Will Cork then get fined for a pitch invasion?

while they may fine shamrock rovers for a flare or longford for a floodlight bulb not working or some such stupity they will not fine cork as they wolud not want to undermine there prize bull (or should that be bullshi*ters)

**Celdrog** · 15/10/2009, 3:55 PM

Originally Posted by Leeside Swagger

I wouldnt think its pitch invasion unless it occurs during the match so they should be safe enough.

The Drogs had the league tropy presentation on the pitch, in 2007, on the advice of the Gardai. The club were also instruced , by the guards, to allow fans onto the pitch as it would be safer and easier to control. So....

First ever league title presentation
Took place 10 minutes after the final whistle
Instructed by the Gardai to do so
Nobody went onto the pitch until the stewards instructed them to.... so......

The FAI fined the Drogs for fans on the pitch

**soccerc** · 15/10/2009, 6:29 PM

League of Ireland Director Fran Gavin, FAI Internal Compliance Officer Padraig Smith, and Noel Mooney of FAI will tomorrow sit down formally with representatives of Foras, the independent Cork City Supporter’s Trust, to discuss Trust’s general concerns and those with respect to the League of Ireland license for Cork City Football Club for next year.

The FAI is committed to the future of senior football in Cork and views Foras, the fan's representative body, as an essential stakeholder in the future of Cork City Football Club.

**Dunny** · 15/10/2009, 6:38 PM

Originally Posted by The Lep

Will Cork then get fined for a pitch invasion?

It's the FAI, course they will, any chance for a fine, they will take it.

But as Stu already pointed out they can't pay it so no point.

**blue til i die** · 15/10/2009, 7:39 PM

Cork City Football Club are pleased to confirm that the petition to wind up Cork City Football Club by former player Gareth Farrelly has been withdrawn, by agreement of both parties.

The present board of CCFC has inherited this issue, and like other problems it has inherited this season, it has now been resolved. The club now looks forward to facing next season without any of these inherited incumbencies.

We would like to thank Gareth Farrelly for his contribution to Cork City FC and wish him the best of luck for the future.

**John83** · 15/10/2009, 8:30 PM

Originally Posted by blue til i die

... the petition to wind up Cork City Football Club by former player Gareth Farrelly has been withdrawn...

Zombie Cork takes another shotgun barrel and staggers on.

**SMorgan** · 15/10/2009, 8:35 PM

Well they can't say they inheritted the Alan Matthews case. It was entirely of their own making.

**Ezeikial** · 15/10/2009, 8:36 PM

Originally Posted by soccerc

League of Ireland Director Fran Gavin, FAI Internal Compliance Officer Padraig Smith, and Noel Mooney of FAI will tomorrow sit down formally with representatives of Foras, the independent Cork City Supporter�s Trust, to discuss Trust�s general concerns and those with respect to the League of Ireland license for Cork City Football Club for next year.

The FAI is committed to the future of senior football in Cork and views Foras, the fan's representative body, as an essential stakeholder in the future of Cork City Football Club.

It may not be already clear that the above is a formal press release issued by the FAI. It speaks volumnes that FORAS are identified by the FAI as "an essential stakeholder". Thats a very strong statement by the experts of fudge.

**sheao** · 15/10/2009, 9:08 PM

Great step to see the FAI sitting down with FORAS . This has been a long time coming imo . Tomorrow night should be great if it all goes off saftly and there is no hassle while fans are on the pitch . It really will be a great oppertunity to get the message across to a national audience that we are fed up of TNB at our club .

**dcfcsteve** · 15/10/2009, 9:26 PM

Originally Posted by passerrby

while they may fine shamrock rovers for a flare or longford for a floodlight bulb not working or some such stupity they will not fine cork as they wolud not want to undermine there prize bull (or should that be bullshi*ters)

WTF ?!?

**sheao** · 15/10/2009, 9:36 PM

FORAS welcomes tonight's FAI statement regarding our meeting tomorrow afternoon. The meeting, which was requested by the FAI, will discuss the future granting of a licence to CCIFL under Tom Coughlan among other concerns. FORAS welcome this opportunity to outline our concerns to those responsible for the running of the League.

FORAS will use this meeting to argue against the granting of a licence to CCIFL and be putting forward an alternative to this scenario. The anger felt by many genuine Cork City supporters is palpable at this time and is becoming increasingly hard to control. This is the main reason the FORAS BoM felt the need to intervene and take control of the protest.

As a trust we are not just about protesting for the sake of it. Every protest must have a message and the protest this Friday night was to highlight our belief that CCIFL are not suitable holders of a licence sanctioned by the FAI.

The FAI has now publicly acknowledged these concerns and have, for the first time, agreed to sit down formally with FORAS, who in their words are, an essential stakeholder in the future of Cork City FC. This is a very significant development and one which the FORAS BoM must, on behalf of its membership, treat seriously. The meeting affords FORAS the opportunity to state our case directly to the FAI in the strongest possible terms.
Having discussed the continuation of the planned protest the BoM has decided that it is in the best interests of the Trust to postpone the protest.

We have decided on this postponement only because the FAI has sought to address our concerns directly and we welcome this development. We cannot stress enough that the proposed protest has already achieved its goal without a single supporter's foot stepping onto the field at Turner's Cross. We request that all supporters respect our decision to postpone; please do not enter the field of play at Turner's Cross tomorrow night but we ask you to make your voice heard loudly from within the stands of Turner's Cross and show your displeasure with the current ownership regime in the same dignified manner that supporters showed at the recent Sligo Rovers game.

FORAS have a responsibility to our members to ensure that we do everything possible to safeguard the future of our beloved club. At this moment in time this is best served by meeting with the FAI to outline our concerns and detail our own plans to them.

This will not deter us from taking future protest action should we feel it is in the best interests of the trust and the club. We ask all members and supporters to understand that the postponement of the protest was not one we took lightly.

Regards,
FORAS BoM

**A face** · 15/10/2009, 10:09 PM

Originally Posted by passerrby

while they may fine shamrock rovers for a flare or longford for a floodlight bulb not working or some such stupity they will not fine cork as they wolud not want to undermine there prize bull (or should that be bullshi*ters)

Ah, i dunno how to respond to that, but just because you have an inferiority complex doesn't mean we're not better than you

passerrby, come man, you know that aint true, we got fined for singing 'Barry and Charlie, the best of friends' at Barry Ryan when we played Pats a while back. We all thought at that time that they would literally fine us for anything at that stage.

**tiktok** · 15/10/2009, 10:12 PM

Originally Posted by Ezeikial

It may not be already clear that the above is a formal press release issued by the FAI. It speaks volumnes that FORAS are identified by the FAI as "an essential stakeholder". Thats a very strong statement by the experts of fudge.

Very strong statement.
I hear someone is hopping mad over it