November 8 – Former champions Derry City have been stripped of their contract to compete in the League of Ireland Premier Division after a crisis meeting with the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) at Abbotstown this afternoon found the club to have held “secondary unofficial contracts with its players”.
The FAI Board of Management “took the decision to terminate Derry City Football Club’s contract”.
It means the club, founded in 1938 and who are based in Northern Ireland, must now reapply to become part of the league.
The Brandywell club have been struggling to meet their financial commitments for some time with players largely unpaid for the last nine weeks.
Other debts have been mounting to the point where, while estimates vary considerably, there appears to be upwards of €300,000 (£268,000) owed in total.
This evening’s statement issued by the FAI confirmed the Brandywell outfit’s wrongdoing with regards player contracts.
It said: ”The Board of Management of the FAI reached its decision following statements from FAI personnel that Derry City FC had admitted to them at a meeting of November 4th (held at the request of Derry City FC), to holding second unofficial contracts with its players.
“There is contractual evidence to substantiate this.”
As a result the FAI has agreed that a delegation will meet with Derry City and relevant stakeholders in the coming weeks to consider how the club can move forward and compete in senior football next season.
Derry will not be allowed to compete in the Premier Division and participation in any other league depends on the normal licensing process.
Today’s outcome means the forthcoming Setanta Sports Cup match involving Derry City next Tuesday has been postponed, pending discussions with the Irish Football Association, through the Setanta Sports Cup Committee.
Derry joind the League of Ireland in 1985 after receiving special permission from and th Irish Football Association (IFA) and FIFA.
The club were promoted to the Premier League in 1987 and had been there ever since, winning the title in 1988-89 and 1996-97.
Their most recent trophy was winning the League of Ireland Cup last year.