The immediate future of Carlow football hangs in the balance after indications that the senior county panel will refuse to fulfill next Sunday's league fixture in Mayo unless Bobby Miller returns as manager and the supporters' club, disbanded by the county board last week, is reinstated.

Miller is expected to make a statement to the players tonight and it is believed he will ask them to play the match. "The players say they won't travel," he says. "That's not something I'd necessarily agree with."

This sorry state of affairs can be traced back to last Tuesday's meeting of the Carlow county board which disbanded the supporters' club, an action which triggered Miller's resignation as team manager two days later.

According to Miller, the chances of sorting out the matter aren't great. "I contacted the chairman and secretary last week and asked them was there any chance of a rapprochement and they said no. So I tendered my resignation. Now it's up to progressive people - and some have been in touch with me - to mediate."

Formerly a Laois player and manager, Miller came to prominence as manager of Carlow club Eire Og, whom he took to two All-Ireland finals. He took over the county team three years ago despite a strong, personal antipathy to county boards in general.

Whereas relations between county officers and himself were good, it was never a secret that it had been the supporters' club which convinced Miller to take up the appointment. Success followed as Carlow won the 1994 B All-Ireland, and their three championships under Miller were marked by greatly increased competitiveness and success in the Leinster preliminary pool in 1996.

"The supporters' club gave me a lot of help," he says. "Players wouldn't have wanted to play for Carlow three years ago. Now there is a good-calibre panel anxious to be involved. The supporters' club would do things like have an account in a sports shop for fellas to get a pair of boots. And - there's been talk about this - they also organised taxis to take players back to Dublin after training.

"When we played Louth, all the players were dressed properly and looked the part. It was a re-affirmation that someone is interested in them.

"They (the supporters' club) are very active and have drawn up plans for Carlow in the under-age sector and club sector. They also proposed getting a management consultancy to audit GAA organisation in the county. The county board can be very apathetic, but the (supporters') club is very positive.

"If the county could develop its own structures, there's nothing wrong with the talent in the county. It's not impossible to do well."

Miller disputes the allegation that the footballers had been receiving a disproportionate share of supporters' club funds. He points out that the footballers, competing in the senior championship, have a more intensive training programme and that under-age and camogie teams have also benefitted.

The county board had nothing to add to a statement released on Sunday. In it the board re-affirmed its control of county teams, the appointment of county team managers, club activity and coaching schemes and added that it was answerable only to the clubs in the county.

Furthermore, the statement criticised the supporters' club - established as a sub-committee of the county board in the 1990-91 season - for not transferring funds to the county board and for "refusing to accept the rules and conditions of the county's fund-raising sub committee".

According to the statement, there was "widespread dissatisfaction" at last week's meeting and "a near-unanimous decision" was taken to disband the supporters' club, with only three clubs against the motion.

Miller also made public the statement announcing his resignation.

The decision was taken for three reasons: one, the disbanding of the supporters' club, which had requested him to take the job originally and in then absence of whose organisation, support and resources, he had no option but to step down; two, that he could no longer feel confidence in an executive which would vote overwhelmingly to dismantle "a body of universally respected people"; three, that so many clubs voted to endorse the executive decision "is a huge blow to me".

Beaten All-Ireland senior hurling finalists Tipperary are already looking ahead to next year's championship. Team manager Len Gaynor has planned the county's first senior trial for years for Saturday next at Cloughjordan.

Gaynor has drawn up two 20strong squads for a trial game, but none of those who played in this year's All-Ireland final against Clare are included. Noel Sheehy, who announced his retirement from inter-county hurling after the All-Ireland, is the only member of this year's Tipperary squad to have officially ruled himself out of contention for next year.