It hasn't been a good year for Sunderland AFC. A lot of attention has fallen on the club about how much they knew about Adam Johnson's guilty pleas despite continuing to play the player after his arrest.
Now it has cost the CEO her job. Margaret Byrne, hailing from Armagh, resigned her position with Sunderland AFC after admitting that she knew about Johnson's confession to the police.
It emerged that Byrne had copies of the police transcript, and access to the whatsapp messages that Johnson had shared with the girl.
She also confessed to not informing Sunderland manager Sam Allardyce, which meant that Johnson continued to play even after his arrest.
I recognise that, as CEO, my involvement with Mr Johnson and the decision to allow him to continue to represent Sunderland was a serious mistake.
