David Healy feels Linfield being 'punished' as former Northern Ireland international fumes at festive fixture rescheduling

The Blues’ top-two clash with defending Premiership champions Larne at Inver Park was brought forward from New Year’s Day to Saturday, December 30 alongside the other five top-flight meetings and they’ll now face Crusaders on Tuesday, January 2 after their original fixture in November was postponed due to international call-ups.

Goalkeeper David Walsh was drafted into Tommy Wright’s Northern Ireland U21 squad for their European Championship qualifier against England at Goodison Park, joining teammate Chris McKee, who was forced to pull out through injury.

It means Healy’s side – and the Crues – will play four league games in the span of 12 days over a busy festive period and the former Northern Ireland international says NIFL “need to take a hard look at themselves”.

“Being upset would be putting it lightly to be honest,” he said. “I’m frustrated. It doesn’t come as any surprise to me because we completely opposed and NIFL need to take a hard look at themselves.

"When the fixtures get announced we prepare for that calendar, we prepare the players thoroughly in what we are going to be doing in the Christmas period and New Year.

“We were all due to play on January 1 so you prepare for that. As a club we were completely opposed to the change (to the Larne match) as a fixture going to December 30th.

“It was out of our control, it’s Larne’s home fixture and NIFL probably should have stood by because why do NIFL then feel the need to put a calendar out (at the start of the season). It is going to get to the stage if NIFL put a calendar out a game might be on the first, second or third and it will be decided down the line.

“We were opposed to the move from January 1 to Saturday, December 30 and because they have moved that it has now opened up the opportunity to play our rearranged game with Crusaders on January 2, which again is completely out of our control and completely wrong.

“We were told the fixture against Crusaders could not be played in December because of a duty of welfare to the players with the seven games or whatever we were already playing in that month but my frustration is it has now been rescheduled for January 2."

Linfield have produced a number of players for both the underage and senior national team in recent years and Healy feels they’ve essentially been punished for their own success.

“It was originally cancelled because we had two young players away with the Under-21s,” he added. “We have so many, have had so many and will continue to have so many youngers players away with youth international football with Northern Ireland right up to Under-21 level.

“We have Trai Hume, Dale Taylor, Callum Marshall, Ross McCausland, Paul Smyth and Shayne Lavery who have come through this football club who have gone on to represent the Northern Ireland senior team.

“Ross McCausland is a little bit different because he came through the Academy and as a club we rejuvenated Shayne’s career and gave him the opportunity to break back into the international set-up. Then there’s Trai, Dale, Callum and Paul.

“We have so many representatives who have come through not only the 21s, but are in the full international squad at the moment which is an unbelievable achievement for this football club, more than any other club over the past five to 10 years that have had players coming through the same pathway.

“We are being punished with the change of fixture and this is at NIFL’s door because they changed the fixture.

“To move it in and around the Christmas period to allow and open up and put our reannarged Crusaders fixture on is completely bang out of order.

“As a club we have shown huge respect to Northern Ireland football. We were asked years ago if our league could produce full internationals and we’ve done that from youth level right the way through."