United supporters lose hope

CIARAN TIERNEY

Hopes that a side bearing the name of Galway United will feature in the Airtricity League this season received a major set-back at the weekend when senior Football Association of Ireland (FAI) officials appeared to rule out a supporters’ led bid for inclusion in the First Division.

Representatives of the Galway United Supporters Trust (GUST), who decided to “go it alone” without the existing club directors last month, are understood to have been hugely disappointed by the response of the senior FAI officials during the meeting at Terryland Park on Friday.

“It was a difficult meeting, but we are still fighting to keep Galway United in the League,” said one GUST source, who did not wish to be named, yesterday. “There are still negotiations on-going between both parties.”

With the FAI set to decide on club licences at the start of February, it was hoped that the meeting might provide some indication to the GUST that they would have a chance of fielding a team in the lower division when the new campaign begins on March 2.

United were relegated after a record run of defeats in the Premier Division last season – culminating in a heavy defeat to Monaghan United in a two-legged play-off – after the supporters effectively took over the running of the club.

But the four outgoing directors then decided to withdraw the club from the League, in the hope of regrouping, putting new structures in place, and getting a new licence for 2013.

However, the GUST has described the possibility of a full season without a Galway United side in the League as a “disaster”. The possibility of not having a team bearing the name of Galway in a national senior soccer competition for the first time since 1977 now looms on the horizon.

The FAI officials are understood to have indicated to the GUST that the presence of city clubs Mervue United and Salthill Devon in the First Division had complicated their bid to effectively launch a new club.

They also pointed out that new clubs need to be “invited” into the League, as both Mervue and Salthill were after qualifying through the ‘A’ championship in recent seasons. Clubs from Tralee, Carlow, and Cobh are also hoping to join the First Division next season.

For more, read this week's Connacht Sentinel.