Scottish club's position unclear

Details of the proposal by Scottish second division club Clydebank to relocate to Dublin will be unveiled over the next couple of weeks, according to Dublin economist and Clydebank shareholder Colm McCarthy.

Club officials had, he said yesterday, been caught off guard by the leaking of a document concerning the proposed move over the weekend and were not yet in a position to make their case public. In the aftermath of the story breaking, however, he said they will now look to put firm proposals to the Scottish FA as a matter of urgency.

"The story came as a bit of surprise to us so we weren't too well prepared for the publicity," he said. "Not everything has been completely thought through, as we didn't feel that we would be going public with it for a while yet. But now that the story is out we would hope to get some firm proposals together as soon as possible."

The target seems to be to have Clydebank in Dublin in time for the start of next season, but there remains considerable uncertainty as to whether this could be achieved without a prolonged legal battle.

It seems that the fate of the Clydebank proposal may come to depend on the success of the recently announced legal initiative by Wimbledon. Derry City have agreed terms with former Sligo Rovers striker Mike Small. The 35-year-old, who has also had stints with Brighton and West Ham, is expected to make his debut in next Saturday night's match against Finn Harps in Ballybofey.