DERRY CITY manager Declan Devine seemed pleased yesterday that his first competitive game in charge of his home town club will be against Irish League strugglers Lisburn Distillery in the Setanta Sports Cup, but conceded he is likely to be without highly regarded left-back Daniel Lafferty for the ties which are scheduled to take place in mid-February.
Lafferty, an under-21 international, who previously spent time with Oxford United, Celtic and Ayr United, returned home to play at the Brandywell in the summer of 2010. Since then he has been one of the club’s most consistently strong performers, attracting interest from a number of clubs in England.
For the last week, he has been training with Burnley and after doing well, it seems, in a training game on Tuesday evening, the Championship outfit are expected to make a formal offer worth something in the region of €240,000 plus add-ons for the 22-year-old today.
“It looks like he will be moving on, alright,” said Devine at the draw for the first round of the Setanta Cup at the Aviva Stadium yesterday. “It looks like Burnley will be making a bid for him tomorrow and Watford are also looking. It’s unfortunate from my point of view but the club and I have to be happy for him.
“He’s a smashing player, in my opinion the best left-back in the league last year. For a left-back to score eight goals in a season is a tremendous achievement. But we’re looking at losing those eight goals and eight goals from James McClean, the 22 that [Eamon] Zayed got and Gareth McGlynn’s six. There are a lot of goals needing replacing. But we still have good players and are hopeful of bringing more in tomorrow.”
In fact, the club hope to confirm a new deal with striker Mark Farren this morning and sort out the formalities with Rory Patterson. The Northern Ireland international’s contract has been delayed by the need to strike a deal for the termination of his old agreement with Plymouth Argyle.
Airtricity League director Fran Gavin expressed confidence that the cross-border competition, which has suffered during its six years from persistent tinkering with the format and timing of games, can have a bright future.
He declined to comment, however, on the situation with regard to the Galway United Supporters’ trust which has given up hope of obtaining a First Division licence for a side effectively intended to take over from United. Gavin said the league would issue a statement on the situation in Galway along with a provisional fixture list that is expected to include Tralee Dynamos and Cobh Ramblers today. The two clubs are still working on securing the licences they need to compete in the league this season.
A report by Uefa suggests that attendances in the top flight of the League of Ireland declined by about 25 per cent to an average of 1,600 during the 2010 season with revenues falling by roughly 10 per cent.
The FAI had persistently claimed that all Irish clubs were profitable during the period in question but the figures contained in Uefa’s annual report on licensing across Europe suggest that almost half made an operating loss and that much the same number said that their liabilities exceeded their assets.
Tributes were paid at yesterday’s draw to Donal Crowther, the long-serving Bohemians official and former League of Ireland administrator who passed away on Tuesday evening. Crowther was regarded with enormous warmth within the game and Setanta Sports Cup chairman Milo Corcoran spoke of the widespread sadness that had greeted the news.
Setanta Sports Cup – first round draw: Bray Wanderers v Glentoran, Bohemians v Portadown, Lisburn Distillery v Derry City, Cliftonville v St Patrick’s Athletic. First legs to be played on February 13th with the second legs taking place on the 20th.
