Paddy McLaughlin extends invitation to Mike Riley as Glenavon boss reaffirms desire to see Irish League officials 'go full-time'

The Lurgan Blues have been left frustrated by a number of decisions in recent weeks which has potentially impacted their push for a top-half Premiership finish.

After Saturday’s 1-0 defeat to Coleraine which came courtesy of a late Declan McManus free-kick, Glenavon sit seven points adrift of sixth-placed Portadown prior to a midweek clash against Glentoran, which is the first of three final pre-split fixtures over the next 10 days.

Glenavon had put together a six-game unbeaten league run before losing out 1-0 to Crusaders on February 22 and following the latest setback against Coleraine, it leaves McLaughlin’s men mainly targeting a route into the European play-offs by finishing seventh.

Former Premier League referee Riley was appointed to his IFA role in July 2023 and has overseen the implementation of campaigns including ‘Catch Yourself On’ and ‘Join The Game – Be A Referee’, which was launched last year to help drive recruitment.

While more Irish League clubs continue to receive significant investment and four now full-time outfits, McLaughlin would love to see the same happen with officials to help them further improve too.

"I've said all along that I would love to see them go full-time, meeting more often as a group and improving their game, but it's not for me to decide that,” McLaughlin told the club’s media channel. “Every week you're hearing managers criticising and I don't want to jump on that bandwagon of criticising them, but the performances certainly can frustrate you with the decisions that go against you.

"People say things even themselves out - they don't, that's a nonsense.

"The only person who can say that is probably someone sitting top of table because the rest of us who are scrambling for places, for survival and for European places won't tell you it evens itself out, it certainly doesn't.

"It can be frustrating...they've a difficult job and I know that, but we need to invest money into our referees and improve them because we can't keep going on about them every week and not do anything about it. They need support and help.

"It would be nice to see Mike Riley make an appearance here - we'd set him up with a seat and VIP treatment if he ever decides to come and visit Irish League football.

"I know he's the head of referees and we'll give him everything he wants and welcome him with open arms so he can make at least one appearance at one of our games to see the standard of his referees."

One avenue that could potentially help Irish League officials is VAR, and while a streamlined version which would require less investment and technology is being tested, it’s still not seemingly on the immediate horizon.

“If you look realistically, VAR is an incredibly expensive and resource-hungry product,” said Riley in November. “I was on a meeting with IFAB (International Football Association Board) where they provided a progress report on what is essentially VAR-Lite.

"That will probably take another while to develop and come into full implementation. At that point, smaller countries could look at VAR and see if it’s something for them.

"We would still need to invest in more technology – you’d need a minimum of four cameras to allow it at every game. It’s a possibility but I don’t think full VAR is where we’ll end up in the short-term.”