Warrenpoint Town's appeal rejected by Irish FA

There was a meeting on Wednesday night about the issue after last week’s hearing was adjourned but a verdict has now been reached.

Warrenpoint claimed the licence refusal centered around an unpaid tax bill to HMRC which the club paid last month.

As it stands, the Premiership play-off will now take place between Dungannon Swifts and Annagh United, who finished third in the Championship table - 12 points behind second-placed Warrenpoint.

Annagh secured a promotion licence in a ground sharing agreement with Coleraine at The Showgrounds.

In a document released following the decision on Friday afternoon, the committee chairman said: "The Licensing Appeal Committee would though like to state that they have taken into account all the mitigating circumstances of Warrenpoint Town Football Club.

"The Licensing Appeal Committee understood the circumstances of how they came to the position they were in.

"At no stage was the Licensing Appeal Committee wanting to penalise Warrenpoint Town Football Club, but the decision was a consequence of not fulfilling the criteria.

"The only issue was that Warrenpoint Town Football Club did not meet the criteria and therefore there was no other decision that could have been made.”

The Licencing Appeals Committee also found that the Licencing Committee, who made the original decision last month, hadn't made an error.

They added: "The Licensing Appeal Committee were of the opinion that no error was made by the Licensing Committee when they came to their decision on the 26th April 2023.

"The Licensing Appeal Committee were satisfied with the decision of the Licensing Committee finding that the Appellants had not complied with the “A” criteria was correct.

"The Licensing Appeal Committee were of the opinion that no other decision could have been made.

"The Rules are clear and meant to be clear that they cannot be interpreted so as to prevent a different interpretation of the Rules being made so that they are clear to all persons involved in the licensing process.

"The Licensing Appeal Committee then reviewed the decision of the Licensing Committee as is their requirement.

"The Licensing Appeal Committee agreed with the decision made by the Licensing Committee and that the decision should remain unchanged."