Members of the Limerick District Management Committee will meet this evening to decide the immediate future of national league soccer in the city.

They will consider a request by Limerick FC to use Jackman Park for the club's home games during the coming season.

National League officials met with representatives of both the club and Limerick District League in Cork on Saturday when it was broadly agreed the ground might be used as an alternative to Rathbane. There had been repeated difficulties with the facilities there and it is now widely believed the ground will be sold for development by American-based owner Peter Hogan.

Considerable uncertainty has surrounded the club's fate since the departure to America late last year of chairman Fr Joe Young and the club's structures now appear to be on the verge of collapse.

While a couple of committee member remain there is no manager, chairman or treasurer, few players and, for the moment, no ground. The club's sponsorship deal with Dell has also expired. Club secretary Noel Hanley declined to comment yesterday.

"We met with everybody over the weekend and the general attitude of all concerned was very positive," said National League Commissioner Roy Dooney yesterday. "Although, obviously, the representatives of the Limerick District League have to go back to discuss the matter with their own people."

A further meeting between the various parties is expected to take place before the end of the week.

The incentive for the junior league to get involved is the possibility of obtaining substantial funds to upgrade Jackman Park which is ideally located, adjacent to Colbert Station in the city centre. But it needs a great deal of work.

Relations between junior football and the city's senior team have rarely been good down the years, though, and some of those involved in the local league are believed to be against allowing Limerick into the ground.

A majority are expected to support the idea, however, although they are likely to require financial guarantees from Merrion Square and, at the very least, some say in how the club is run.

"The truth is that Limerick are fecked and there's no real way that the club can carry on without the help of the Limerick District Management Committee," said one prominent junior football official. "The question is whether people want to take the club on."

While admitting he was aware of some difficulties at the club, Dooney maintained yesterday he was confident the club would be in a position to fulfil its fixtures this year. However, with manager Tommy Lynch having resigned last week after being told he had a budget of £400 per week to run the team and former boss Dave Connell expected to take some of the better players to Galway United in the coming weeks it is far from clear how the club will field a competitive side without raiding local junior outfits. This is not something their prospective landlords are likely to take too kindly to.

Meanwhile, the annual spate of pre-season friendlies against British clubs got under way in earnest last night with the visit of Northampton Town to the Carlisle Grounds. Coventry City, Leeds United and Ipswich Town head up a list of more than a dozen clubs due to play here over the coming weeks.

Comfortably the biggest names to visit, however, are Real Madrid, with the Spanish giants due to take on Derry City at the Brandywell on August 19th in front of what will inevitably be a 9,500 sell-out crowd.