Irish Junior Cup final disarray as four-time winners face IFA hearing over little-known rule

The fonaCAB Craig Stanfield Junior Cup final at Windsor Park could be set for delay after an appeal was launched over one of the semi-final results.

Four-time Junior Cup winners Enniskillen Rangers beat Tummery Athletic 3-1 in the semi-final last month to set up a May 6 date with Cleary Celtic.

Rangers were without young attacker Jordan McClure due to suspension after he was shown a red card for a bizarre collision with an opposition manager in a Fermanagh and Western League game just days earlier.

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McClure did not feature in the Junior Cup semi-final win over Tummery but it’s understood he was present and posed for a picture with the team ahead of the game. Enniskillen Rangers are not disputing that fact.

Tyrone club Tummery Athletic decided to lodge an appeal over the result based on Rule 15:9 of the Irish Football Association’s Disciplinary Code which defines a ‘standard suspension’ as: “A ban on taking part in a match with a player or official not permitted to enter the dressing room area, the player’s tunnel, the technical area, the substitute’s bench, the area immediately surrounding the field of play or the playing surface at any match played under the jurisdiction of the Association during the period stipulated in Article 15.9.1.”

Article 22 of the IFA Disciplinary Code states: “If any player participates in a match whilst being suspended or if any player breaches the terms of his suspension his club will be sanctioned with a minimum fine of £600 (imposed on Senior teams), £450 (imposed on Intermediate teams) and £350 (imposed on Junior teams). Additionally, the Club will forfeit the match by the score 3-0.”

This appeal was brought to the IFA Junior Cup Committee but because that law is not listed under their Junior Cup competition rules, Tummery’s appeal was dismissed. However, it was decided that Rangers may have a ‘case to answer’ under the IFA’s overall disciplinary code and they were issued with a ‘note of complaint’.

The next step is a Disciplinary Committee hearing at IFA HQ next Wednesday, April 24 where they will rule on the matter and decide on a sanction, if any.

If either side are not satisfied with the outcome there, they can take the case to the IFA appeals committee.

Beyond that, the next step is to take the case to the Court of Arbitration for sport but that would likely come with huge legal fees and the losing side having to incur those costs.

The Junior Cup final is set for May 6 at Windsor Park but that could well be pushed back now.

There is recent precedent for a delayed Junior Cup final and bizarrely the same two teams were also involved while a player set to feature in this year's final for Cleary Celtic was in the eye of the storm back then for another club.

Enniskillen Rangers won their third Junior Cup title in a row in 2019, beating Tummery Athletic in a delayed final at Ferney Park in Ballinamallard.

Rangers were beaten 3-1 in the semi-final by Bessbrook United, with former Irish League striker Declan Monaghan scoring twice for the Armagh side. Monaghan had played for Bessbrook for a number of years up to that stage in the Carnbane League but it transpired that it was the duty of the League to register players with the IFA and when the IFA Junior Cup final came around, Monaghan could not be found in the recently introduced Comet system where team lists are submitted.

Bessbrook fielded Monaghan, knowing that information, and their win was later scrapped on appeal, with Rangers proceeding to the final instead. Lengthy delays for that appeal process meant Windsor Park was no longer an option due for the blue riband final due to maintenance works. That meant Tummery, after weeks of waiting having won their own semi-final, were denied a run out at the National Stadium. Instead, the showpiece decider was played at Ferney Park in Ballinamallard, with Rangers winning 1-0 thanks to a Jason Keenan header.

Tummery believe they have the IFA laws on their side with the current appeal and could yet make their return to the Junior Cup final stage if the disciplinary committee rule in their favour on Wednesday night. If so, they will come up against none other than Declan Monaghan who is now the star striker for another Armagh side Cleary Celtic. They beat Lincoln Courts in the other semi-final last month.

To add further intrigue, less than 24 hours after their crucial hearing in front of the IFA committee in Belfast next Wednesday, Tummery Athletic and Enniskillen Rangers are due to clash on the pitch in the F&W’s Mulhern Cup semi-final.

That game is due to take place at Ferney Park, where the Enniskillen side beat Athletic in that delayed 2019 Junior Cup final.

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