The way in which Eircom League clubs pay their players could come under increased scrutiny from the tax authorities after the examiner of Shamrock Rovers, Neil Hughes of Hughes Blake chartered accountants, confirmed yesterday that a review of practices at that club had resulted in its liability to the Revenue Commissioners being revised upwards from around €500,000 to €1.5 million.

Hughes was speaking at a meeting where he confirmed that a majority of Rovers' creditors have agreed to the terms of a package that should pave the way to the club's emergence from examinership early next week.

Under the deal those owed money by the club will receive little or nothing, but Hughes, nevertheless, expressed satisfaction with what had been achieved.

Preferential creditors of Branvard Limited, the company behind the club, who include the Revenue Commissioners, will receive just 4.25 cent in the euro while unsecured creditors will get just over half that.

Others, including the club's directors and Sloane Park Limited - the company established to build the stadium at Tallaght, from which €923,000 was "borrowed" to meet day-to-day running costs - will get nothing at all.

Hughes said, however, that the fact that all of the classes of creditors who had been balloted had endorsed the deal meant the examinership could justifiably be considered a success.

"I wouldn't want to prejudge a decision by the High Court, but normally when there is popular support for a deal like this the judge tends to allow it to proceed, but we should have a firm decision on it within a matter of days of Monday's hearing," he said.

At that hearing Hughes will outline to the court the irregularities in the way players were paid, with the club routinely paying excessive portions of salaries in the form of "unvouched expenses" and also assuming that players, even part-time footballers who were also in other employment, had maximum tax credits when this was often not so.

On the plus side, Hughes pointed out, the wage bill at Rovers has been reduced by a third since the examinership was commenced and the new owners of the club, supporters organisation The 400 Club and lifelong fan Ray Wilson, are in a much stronger position to move forward.

If the deal is approved by the High Court, the new owners could quickly be in control, and 400 Club spokesman Dave Carpenter said they would ensure the club is "run professionally".

In the meantime, Roddy Collins has been told the budget for the rest of this season is €10,000 per week, compared with current spending of around €15,000.

Hughes, meanwhile, revealed that the reason the position of South Dublin County Council changed in relation to who would control the new stadium in Tallaght was that officials at the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism, which has already invested significantly in the project, had indicated they would not provide additional funds if Rovers rather than the council were the effective owners.

This policy would undoubtedly have been influenced by the handling of the funds of Sloane Park, to which grants would have been paid.

Work on the ground is expected to restart within a matter of months, with the council now building what will be a municipal football stadium which, it hopes, could be finished by June of next year.

The new owners of Rovers have, in the meantime, reached agreement with Fingal County Council over a return to Santry Stadium, where they will start next season.