Big clubs may form new league if Premier Division is not cut

THE growing divisions and disharmony within the National League could manifest itself in a breakaway by leading clubs akin to that which took place in England. Eight of the existing National League Premier Division clubs will meet in a Dublin hotel today with a view to having the Premier Division reduced to 10 clubs or else forming a splinter group.

This follows a meeting of the big four Dublin clubs last Friday, attended by representatives of Bohemians, St Patrick's Athletic, Shelbourne and Shamrock Rovers. Angered by the decision of the League's Management Committee to reduce the programme of the Premier Division to 22 games next season and expand the League Cup to 10 matches, the four Dublin clubs had come to the view that the tail was wagging the dog.

The quartet agreed that the Premier Division should continue in the current 33-game format next season, but at the end of the season there would only be one First Division club promoted, with three relegated.

The following season, 1997-98, would see the formation of a 10-club Premier Division, with four rounds and 36 games. Under their proposal, the League Cup would be scrapped. With all of this in mind, the four Dublin clubs have contacted Sligo Rovers, Derry City, Cork City and Dundalk for a meeting in Dublin today.

Though Dundalk's Enda McGuill proposed the much-criticised format for next season, it is probable that the four provincial clubs will support the Dublin clubs' proposals, which would then be put to the next Management Committee meeting of the League on May 7th. That is likely to be a fairly seismic affair, and if the Management Committee does not ratify the aforementioned proposals then the prospect of a breakaway is a very real one.

The move will also be interpreted as elitist and as bullying by some, but a director of one of the Dublin told The Irish Tines last night: "We're putting too much money into it anyway and we have to create an environment where big money can come into the League of Ireland. On a grander scale, that's how Blackburn and Newcastle have done it in England, and the main city clubs in Italy. If we're ever going to ensure minimum standards of spectator and playing facilities in our top division, then this is the only way forward."

Though the format also runs the risk of familiarity breeding contempt amongst supporters fed up with the same diet throughout the season, the disaffected Premier Division clubs cite what they believe are similarly successful decisions to prune the top divisions in Scotland, England and, most recently and pertinently, in the Irish League, where an eight-club Premier Division was formed this season.

Encouraged by those examples, the four Dublin clubs believe that a reduced Premier Division will prove far more lucrative than an expanded Premier Division - as some other clubs have proposed in the restructuring of domestic soccer - which they believe would merely see them prop up the poorer relations of the domestic game more than ever.

Another reason for their discontent is the general reluctance of the smaller clubs to start the season earlier - something which the bigger clubs see as essential if the National League clubs are to improve their shocking level of performance in European club competitions.

As things stand, the first leg of next season's first preliminary round of the UEFA Cup, in which Bohemians will compete, will take place on July 17th, with the second leg on the 24th. St Patrick's will enter the competition, as Shelbourne do in the Cup Winners Cup, at the qualifying round stage on August 6th and 13th. However, the League Cup is not scheduled to start until August 18th next season.

Showing an unprecedented level of co-operation, the disaffected four Dublin clubs also discussed the vexed issue of players' signing-on fees and wages at their meeting last Friday. The quartet have agreed in principle to a maximum on both signing-on fees and wages involving player transfers between Bohemians, St Patrick's Athletic, Shelbourne and Shamrock Rovers.

It was also agreed that Donal Crowther would be the official spokesperson for the group, but lee declined to reveal any of the discussions from last Friday night.