Irish League manager feels NIFL need to 'step in and have a look' at Friday issue
Glenavon manager Michael O’Connor feels the Northern Ireland Football League (NIFL) have to “step in and have a look” at the situation of part-time teams playing against full-time opposition on Friday evenings.
The Lurgan Blues are preparing for a trip to high-flying Coleraine this Friday while O’Connor’s men also travelled to leaders Larne in November, losing out 2-1 at Inver Park on a Friday night.
Debate has surrounded the scheduling of Irish League matches between full-time and part-time clubs with the former often arguing playing on a Friday sees an increase in attendance.
NIFL rules state “a home club wishing to change from the date or time of a scheduled fixture, advance notice must be served in writing to both the Secretary of the away club and the NIFL Chief Operating Officer six weeks prior to the scheduled date of the tie”.
There’s a similar situation in Friday’s other Premiership clash with Larne hosting Bangor, while on Friday, February 20, Ballymena United make a trip to Coleraine and the Inver Reds are scheduled to host Carrick Rangers.
O’Connor believes the current situation should be reviewed with it clearly benefitting full-time clubs.
"It’s going to be tough,” he told the club’s media channel. “When you play any of the full-time teams on a Friday night, we have boys coming out of work at 4pm after a long day’s shift to go up and play there.
"Listen, it’s not Coleraine’s fault. They’ve changed it to Friday...now the league is split almost in two between part-time and full-time teams, it’s no advantage to us.
"Coleraine are playing it with any advantage possible. I think NIFL have to step in and have a look at that because it doesn’t benefit us or any part-time team playing on a Friday night against full-time teams.
“It’s no excuse. We’ll go there, set-up against a good team and try and give them problems. We’re not going to just go there, sit in and let them have all the ball – we’ll try and cause them problems and try and come away with something.”
O’Connor has been busy throughout the January transfer window with six players – John Mountney, Conor Falls, Mikey Harkin, Nathaniel Ferris, Charlie Lindsay and Gavin Gilmore – all arriving at Mourneview Park.
Recruitment could prove crucial for Glenavon as they look to avoid Premiership relegation, currently sitting 11 points adrift of Carrick Rangers at the bottom with 14 matches left to play.
Pleased with the squad at his disposal, O’Connor isn’t rushing into the market for further additions – but will strike if the right opportunity comes up.
“Maybe one more before the end of the window,” he added. “We’re not overly pushing it.
"You look at the squad we have now, it’s really healthy and there’s competition for places. We’re happy with what we have.
"If something comes up and it’s worth doing, we’ll do it, but we’re not going to chase it.”
When asked about potential outgoings, O’Connor replied: "We haven’t had any contact from other clubs.
"If players that aren’t playing want to move on and play games then we’ll have a chat, but there’s no talk about outgoings.”