The FAI's 'Festival of Football' has been rolling along in Kilkenny all week. At the same time, Bray Wanderers players were unsure about whether they would be paid for the week. On Saturday, all of the top brass from the FAI were present for the associations AGM.
The man tasked with the running of the League of Ireland by the FAI is the Fran Gavin, the Director of Competitions. That name may ring a bell to you after he faced heavy criticism by Brian Kerr on Soccer Republic last year.
Gavin has faced many questions in the past about the licensing structure enforced by the FAI to the league clubs at the start of every season. Ahead of the AGM, he was asked by the Independent about the diabolical situation which Bray find themselves in.
He responded by claiming that no one could've seen what could have happened:
Licensing is one of the best things that happened in the league in the last few years in that it's starting to get stability,
We do work with the clubs around their budgets. We look for assurances and we got the assurances. But, sometimes, unforeseeable things do happen in any industry. It's a very delicate situation at the moment.
Unfortunately, something out of the blue can happen. We try to ensure that there is as little room for error and mistakes as possible.
Many fans had questioned the motives of the Seagulls after they handed out two-year contracts at the start of the season. Their attendances had dropped year on year, and when they were subsequently awarded a Premier Division license, eyebrows were raised.
The transfer window for the League of Ireland closes in nine days, with every Bray player placing themselves on the transfer list. Harry Kenny's side lost 3-1 to relegation threatened St.Patrick's Athletic last night - which meant they lost ground in the race for the European spots.
