Here we go again.

**Macy** · 27/05/2004, 8:36 AM

From the Times...

Derry City yesterday informed the FAI, through their solicitors, that the club will take legal action in the event that it does not receive either one of Ireland's places in next season's UEFA Cup or compensation. Club officials claim they are entitled to the place on the basis that the Brandywell was the only one in the EL to achieve UEFA's A licence standard

Derry can f�ck off back to the Irish League - everyone gives out about Ollie, but this really is as low as a club can go. Might as well not bother with actually playing the league or cup if this is the way forward.

Jim Roddy, now officially a bigger dick than Ollie.

**dortie** · 27/05/2004, 8:44 AM

Originally Posted by Macy

From the Times...

Derry can f�ck off back to the Irish League - everyone gives out about Ollie, but this really is as low as a club can go. Might as well not bother with actually playing the league or cup if this is the way forward.

Jim Roddy, now officially a bigger dick than Ollie.

Why you so worried, that brilliant stadium of yours should get the A license no bother, or is it that your finances are all fecked up.

As for your pathetic 'f�ck off back to the Irish league'.....the only reason Id consider it as a fan would be to avoid travelling to the ****hole that is Longford.

**tiktok** · 27/05/2004, 8:51 AM

Club officials can claim all they want, the fact is they're wrong.

You can only get into European competition based on League or Cup success. You may be excluded if your stadium is not up to scratch, but you can't be included just because you have the licence.

Informing the FAI of their plans through their solicitors implies that they're willing to go down the legal road, I hope they do, then lose and it costs them so much they lose their A licence, it's what the board there deserve for this rubbish.

**dortie** · 27/05/2004, 8:57 AM

Originally Posted by tiktok

Club officials can claim all they want, the fact is they're wrong.

You can only get into European competition based on League or Cup success. You may be excluded if your stadium is not up to scratch, but you can't be included just because you have the licence.

Informing the FAI of their plans through their solicitors implies that they're willing to go down the legal road, I hope they do, then lose and it costs them so much they lose their A licence, it's what the board there deserve for this rubbish.

Tell me this.........What was the point in us obtaining an A license ? You people are in fact contributing to the amateur nature of this league, think about it. I sat in the City hotel in Derry 2 years prior to the license and listened to the biggest pile of crap about what the FAI/Eircom League would do to any club who failed to meet the criteria. We actually believed them, how foolish....we should have spent all the money on players wages, sure what the hell is the point of an A license anyway.

**Macy** · 27/05/2004, 9:07 AM

Originally Posted by dortie

we should have spent all the money on players wages, sure what the hell is the point of an A license anyway.

Now you've got the licence, and spending money on players you're doing so much better

The FAI should not be held to ransom by one club, and if it comes to a choice of that club in the league or not, then you can f�ck off. It's all about self-interest as much as anything else, something Derry have been quick to accuse the league and other clubs of. Double standards? Bringing a case to court is hardly for the good of the league.

btw Roddy is obviously bottling out of taking on Ollie - if he really believed in the arguement he's putting forward he'd be going for the Champions League qualifier spot wouldn't he?

**tiktok** · 27/05/2004, 9:21 AM

Originally Posted by dortie

Tell me this.........What was the point in us obtaining an A license ?

why quote me? your post has nothing to do with what I had written, but to answer your question...

the point of you having an 'A' licence is so that minimum standards are improved across european leagues and so that you can play in Europe WHEN YOU QUALIFY through a league or cup competition.

**Longfordian** · 27/05/2004, 9:46 AM

We're probably going to be informed that we've achieved A standard in the other criteria apart from the ground on Monday (fingers crossed), all we have to do is cover 67 more seats, put in a medical room and a control room, all of which we should get done by mid June..Hey presto A licence, a la half closed Brandywell.We can nominate a ground which is up to Euro standard to play our game in and should our ground be ready before the game we can apply to have it switched back to Longford up to one week before the game.As regards UEFA Cup the rules of the competition, as Fran Rooney pointed out in very clear terms to Roddy last time he got on his high horse, state that you must have qualified ON the field..As a previous poster said you can be excluded for not being up to standard but you cant be included simply because you are up to standard, despite not having qualified on the field no matter what Roddy may think

**Drogman.** · 27/05/2004, 9:57 AM

Same old Derry. If they can't do it fairly then they want to bring in the legal boys! This has been happening since Jim and his buddies tried to get us kicked out of the league because Derry were in danger of relegation and we were not.
All this A Licence bo**ox, we passed all the criteria except the ground, and we are in the middle of sorting that out AFAIK. This is just another attempt by a sh**e club to cheat their way into getting more money!

**trevy** · 27/05/2004, 10:26 AM

He seems like a right p****k.He was on the Star a few months ago moaning that they were the only team to get an A license and that other clubs weren't happy for them.What did he want,a premier league with just one team in it.If they were daft enough to think the FAI were going to enforce this,thats their own tough.They closed down most of the ground to get the license anyway.If they finish bottom of the table,he'll probably want to avoid relegation because'we got an A license first'.Football should be decided on the pitch and Derry are struggling on it so its a handy way out.

**dortie** · 27/05/2004, 10:29 AM

Originally Posted by Drogman.

Same old Derry. If they can't do it fairly then they want to bring in the legal boys! This has been happening since Jim and his buddies tried to get us kicked out of the league because Derry were in danger of relegation and we were not.
All this A Licence bo**ox, we passed all the criteria except the ground, and we are in the middle of sorting that out AFAIK. This is just another attempt by a sh**e club to cheat their way into getting more money!

Sure if there is nothing illegal in 'our claim' it wont go anywhere, whats the problem.

Im laughing at a Drogheda fan calling us a ****e club. Who are Drogheda ?? Where they a big club once or are they good now because they are in the premier league for 3 years in a row.

**dortie** · 27/05/2004, 10:34 AM

Originally Posted by trevy

They closed down most of the ground to get the license anyway..

WRONG......We closed down half the ground for Health and Safety purposes in compliance with the Derry City Council.

BTW: Our terrace is 100 times better than the likes of Drogheda, Waterford and Pats grounds.........so if we had to close it down because of the A license these clubs are truly fecked.

**Drogman.** · 27/05/2004, 10:59 AM

Fair enough Dortie, you may have a better history than us but its the present that counts and I'm only going on current and recent form.

Put it this way, if Derry were in the top 3 this season, would they have been shouting for Drogheda to be kicked out? or for them to be put into europe instead of the other teams who qualified FAIRLY? I think the answer you may find is no, they f**king wouldn't!

**MariborKev** · 27/05/2004, 11:03 AM

Macy the first to jump on the anti-Derry City wagon? Shock horror there

The board discussed this course of action with the fans at public forums on numerous occasions. They explained what reasons were behind it and how we had been silent for too long on the issue. If the League is prepared to disregard the conditions on the Licence then why the hell should we not seek compensation?

No- Derry didn't want a one team Premier Division. We aregued for a single division for all the clubs, as everyone bar us has a B licence. Therefore how could there be a differentiation between "Premier" and "First"?

Derry have sat quiet too long on this one. We let the League get away with at the AGM as we apparently could have taken legal action to stop the league from starting at that stage. We worked our balls off for two years to get the licence and the League went "Jaysus lads, is that the deadline already? Don't worry about it, we'll fudge it". The clubs voted for the proposals, the clubs were bound by them, they didn't adhere to them so they should suffer the consequences.

We are taking league action if we don't get one of the places, the only way clubs in the League can be admitted to UEFA Competitions at the minute is through extraordinary admission. Therefore as A licence holders we have as much right as the other "B" licence holders to apply for admission.

People moan and moan about this league not sticking to rules and twisting and turning their way to get out of it. The when some club stands up and says- "The League was wrong" everybody goes bananas. What way do you want it lads.

PS. Longfordian, the Licensing body might be interested in the photos of the unsecured seating that I took when I was down at the last game

**MariborKev** · 27/05/2004, 11:07 AM

Drogman

That point regarding us being in the Top 3 is a non entity. The board were investigating the possibility of legal action before the season started.

**dortie** · 27/05/2004, 11:10 AM

Originally Posted by Maribor

People moan and moan about this league not sticking to rules and twisting and turning their way to get out of it. The when some club stands up and says- "The League was wrong" everybody goes bananas. What way do you want it lads.

EXACTLY MY POINT KEV............!!!

**kevin_devine** · 27/05/2004, 11:19 AM

Originally Posted by Drogman.

Same old Derry. If they can't do it fairly then they want to bring in the legal boys! This has been happening since Jim and his buddies tried to get us kicked out of the league because Derry were in danger of relegation and we were not.
All this A Licence bo**ox, we passed all the criteria except the ground, and we are in the middle of sorting that out AFAIK. This is just another attempt by a sh**e club to cheat their way into getting more money!

It wouldn't take much to fix your ground its about the size of my back garden!!! YOur ground is sh*te

**Longfordian** · 27/05/2004, 11:30 AM

Originally Posted by Maribor

PS. Longfordian, the Licensing body might be interested in the photos of the unsecured seating that I took when I was down at the last game

Would that be the seating thats being closed off after the Rovers game..Do you not relise that there's a derogation on the infrastructure part of the licence until the end of next season. we were told that by the licensing committee. No club was refused on infrastructure alone,if you had the necessary work done then fair play to you, if not you but you had everything else in place then you'd get an A licence with sanction, every other club was lacking something else, I know what we were missing and believe me there's been a lot of blood sweat and tears gone into putting them right.

"Therefore as A licence holders we have as much right as the other "B" licence holders to apply for admission."
How do you figure that? did you qualify ON the field? No. Second in the league? No. Cup winners ? No. runners up with the winners being in the Champions League? No. Winners of another domestic competition specified in advance to UEFA as qualifying clubs? No. Fair Play entrants? No. The regulations are specific, i read them yesterday, Clubs must qualify through one of those methods. The Licence is a means of exluding those not up to standard, not admitting those that are. There may be no entrants in the UEFA Cup from Ireland (They will be in the competition) but you can still not be nominated instead. Blather all you like, as Roddy loves to point out rules are rules.

P.S Nothing personal against Derry, its just that your argument is wrong.

**Macy** · 27/05/2004, 11:38 AM

Originally Posted by Maribor

Macy the first to jump on the anti-Derry City wagon? Shock horror there

Actually I took it off the Rovers board, where incidentally most thought you were wrong as well

One thing you haven't answered is why you're not looking for the Champions League spot off Shels? Why only the UEFA Cup? Scared of Ollie?

**Longfordian** · 27/05/2004, 11:53 AM

Originally Posted by Macy

One thing you haven't answered is why you're not looking for the Champions League spot off Shels? Why only the UEFA Cup? Scared of Ollie?

He intially demanded the Champions League spot at the start of the season,that was when he went home disappointed by his meeting with Rooney, must reckon we're an easier target..

**Macy** · 27/05/2004, 11:59 AM

Originally Posted by Longfordian

He intially demanded the Champions League spot at the start of the season,that was when he went home disappointed by his meeting with Rooney, must reckon we're an easier target..

But I thought it was the principle, surely the only A licence holders should be in the top competition.