Northern Ireland Football League (NIFL) CEO Gerard Lawlor has stated that “there were no deals done with anybody” to facilitate last week’s extraordinary general meeting (EGM), which was essential to prevent delays in the upcoming season’s start.

The local football scene is experiencing changes as the Premier Intermediate League (PIL), formerly NIFL’s third tier, transitions into a new Conference League managed by the Northern Amateur Football Division (NAFL).

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Banbridge Town, one of the ten clubs moving to the Conference League from the PIL, had their challenge to the Irish FA’s appeals committee upheld. They claimed that NIFL failed to adhere to its own regulations by not obtaining approval from member clubs at either an annual general meeting (AGM) or EGM before implementing new annual regulations.

This situation mandated an EGM, requiring consent from 90% of NIFL’s 47 members to pass three proposals aimed at avoiding disruptions to the new season. Although there were initial concerns about meeting this requirement, the threshold was met and all motions were passed.

“We lost an appeal. I don’t think it’s the first we’ve lost and unfortunately it won’t be the last, but the timing couldn’t have come at a worse time,” Lawlor remarked on BBC Radio Ulster’s Sportsound before the Saturday afternoon matches.

“I apologize and hold my hands up, but we turned the situation around, and there were no deals done with anybody.

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“At one stage, the optimism for a new season was at risk, and that was the downside. Others were trying to take advantage of a difficult situation, but my focus had to be on the good of football.”

Despite concerns that the new Irish League season could be delayed, Lawlor maintained that he “was always confident we would be playing football this afternoon [Saturday],” though he acknowledges there are valuable lessons to be learned from recent events.

“The NIFL board will conduct an independent review into what transpired and what went wrong,” he said. “This will be a candid, thorough process involving our members, and we will do everything possible to ensure this situation does not repeat.”

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‘We didn’t pay enough attention to our articles or rules’

Lawlor believes the restructuring of local football outside the top two leagues benefits the sport overall. Following initial consultations with clubs, he noted, “we got to a good place in the end where all clubs were content to move to this new Conference League.”

However, he admitted that NIFL left a “loophole” open for future challenges, as showcased by Banbridge Town’s successful appeal.

“We spent far too much time on the personal and emotional aspects of this process, but we didn’t pay enough attention to our articles or rules,” he stated.

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“We had clubs that had been lifelong, founding members of NIFL, and the decisions we made were difficult as they involved personal relationships and emotions. While we were concerned about this, we inadvertently left a loophole in our procedures. Thankfully, that was quickly addressed.”

Moreover, NIFL faced additional delays before Friday’s Premiership opener between Cliftonville and Crusaders, as this season’s new NIFL-branded footballs did not arrive on time. The shipment was impacted by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz amid ongoing tensions with the United States. Lawlor humorously commented, “Mr. Trump and Iran have stopped our new NIFL balls from appearing at our grounds today.”

Northern Ireland Football League [NIFL] CEO Gerard Lawlor insists “there were no deals done with anybody” to ensure last week’s extraordinary general meeting [EGM] took place to prevent a delay to the start of the new season.

With local football’s pyramid undergoing some changes for the new campaign, the Premier Intermediate League [PIL] – formerly NIFL’s third tier – is replaced by a new Conference League which is organised by the Northern Amateur Football Division [NAFL].

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Banbridge Town – one of 10 clubs moved to the Conference League from the PIL – had a challenge to Irish FA’s appeals committee regarding the move upheld, claiming NIFL had not followed its own regulations by not previously securing approval from member clubs at an annual general meeting [AGM] or EGM to bring its annual regulations into operation.

This ensured an EGM was required which 90% of NIFL’s 47 members had to consent to in order to pass three proposals to be approved to ensure no delay to the new season and while there were early fears this target would not be met, the threshold was met and all motions were passed.

“We lost an appeal. I don’t think it’s the first we’ve lost and unfortunately it won’t be the last, but the timing couldn’t have come at a worse time,” Lawlor told BBC Radio Ulster’s Sportsound prior to Saturday’s afternoon kick-offs.

“I apologise and hold my hands up, but we turned the situation around and there were no deals done with anybody.

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“At one stage, the optimism of a new season was at risk and that was the down side.

“Other people were being opportunistic to try and get something out of a bad situation, but I had to concentrate on the good of football.”

Despite the outside fears the new Irish League season would be delayed, Lawlor “was always confident we would be playing football this afternoon [Saturday]” but accepts there are lessons to be learned from the situation.

“The NIFL board will sit down and look at an independent review into what took place and what went wrong,” he continued.

“That will be honest, robust, will involve our members and we will do everything humanly possible to make sure there is no repeat in the future.”

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‘We didn’t pay enough attention to our articles or rules’

Lawlor insists the change in the structure of local football outside of the top two tiers is for the good of the local game and after initial consultation with clubs, “we got to a good place in the end where all clubs were content to move to this new conference league”.

However, he acknowledged NIFL left a “loophole” for a challenge down the line, which was presented by Banbridge Town and ultimately upheld.

“We spent far too much time worrying about the individuals and human, emotional side of this process, but didn’t pay enough attention to our articles or rules,” he added.

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“We had clubs who had been life-long, founding members of NIFL, but the decisions we made and journey were were on was difficult because there are personal friendships, emotions, people who have dedicated their lives and we were worrying about that but left a loophole in our procedures. That is what was challenged and thankfully it was fixed very quickly and turned around.”

It was not the only delay issue NIFL faced prior to Friday’s Premiership opener between Cliftonville and Crusaders as this season’s new NIFL-branded footballs did not arrive on time.

Their delivery was delayed due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran due to the ongoing conflict with the United States, with Lawlor joking: “Mr Trump and Iran have stopped our new NIFL balls from appearing at our grounds today.”