Top Ten: Asterisks

Kerry and Wexford are naturally seething over their recent points deductions, but having an asterisk attached to your name on the final table is something of a rite of passage for League of Ireland clubs. There were many years when final positioning in the ‘League of Asterisks’ was decided in arbitration hearings or even High Court cases and sometimes the real business took place in the close season. Here’s a countdown of the most impactful decisions, deductions and demotions over the years.

 

10.   We start by going back a full century to the League of Ireland’s first asterisk. The league started in 1921 and by the autumn of ’25, we had a result overturned for the first time. Bohemians travelled to Ballinlough in Cork to play Fordsons and won 2-0. Bohs had inside-left Harry Willitts in their ranks. Injured in the Battle of the Somme and a league winner with Bohs in 1924, Harry was one of the best-known players in the country, but was mistakenly put on the teamsheet as ‘Henry’ Willitts. Fordsons, the team of the Ford Motor Factory, appealed and were successful, meaning they were awarded the two points that the Dubliners were deducted. The Cork side finished third in the league with Bohemians fourth.

 

9.   Next up is the Kilkenny City affair that went all the way to the High Court in May 2000 and this one had a knock-on effect on Waterford United. Promotion-chasing Kilkenny beat Limerick 3-2 in November 1999, but Fran Carter was deemed ineligible. The problem was that manager Pat Byrne had signed Carter’s name on his registration form rather than the player himself. The result was annulled, but a replay was ordered for April the 20th. Kilkenny won again, 1-0, with a goal from Davy ‘Squealer’ Walsh. Fellow Waterfordmen Brendan Rea and David Breen played in both games with a young Breener smashing a 25-yard effort off the crossbar in the second tie.

The three points put Kilkenny into third place, a point ahead of Dundalk, and a promotion-relegation playoff with Waterford. Dundalk appealed, claiming Carter’s registration amounted to forgery and that a points deduction was the appropriate punishment rather than a replay. They took their case to the High Court and it dragged on for weeks.

Waterford, meanwhile, had the playoff put back twice while waiting to find out who their opponents would be. Eventually, Judge Finnegan dismissed Dundalk’s case on the basis that the League’s rules didn’t state that the player had to “personally” sign the form. Dundalk were outraged, the rules were quickly changed, and Kilkenny went on to beat Waterford 2-0 on aggregate and relegate the Blues.

 

Carlton Palmer signing for Roddy Collins' Dublin City

 

8.   The worst kind of asterisk is when a club resigns from the league midway through a season. This happened twice – to Dublin City in 2006 and Monaghan United in 2012. Both clubs were newly-promoted and found the financial strain of the Premier Division too much. Dublin City’s exit in July that year meant that Waterford United finished 11th rather than 12th and entered into another playoff with Dundalk (which set off its own incredible non-asterisked controversy). Ironically, Dublin had 15 points from the 17 games they played, whereas Waterford finished the 30-game season with just 12 points. Monaghan’s withdrawal in June 2012 meant that it was Dundalk, this time, who finished 11th and bottom, but benefitted from a promotion-relegation playoff with Waterford and ultimately survived. 

 

7.   Now to the Blues’ only points deduction to date. This was in the 2001/2 season and revolved around local lad Noel Hunt. Shamrock Rovers, having beaten the Blues to his signing that summer, loaned Hunty to Waterford United before Christmas 2001 and he proceeded to score three goals in three games in the First Division. Rovers then recalled him and he played and scored in a League Cup game against Longford. It was then agreed at the end of January to loan him back to Waterford for the rest of the season. 

That was fine until Jimmy McGeough’s Blues pulled off a dramatic late win away to Dublin City at the beginning of March. Dublin appealed the result saying Hunt wasn’t eligible. Waterford insisted that they had been given clearance for him to ‘resume’ his loan, but the League found against them. The Blues were docked three points, killing off their promotion hopes, but this also infuriated Dublin City who wanted the game replayed and a chance to win the points themselves. In the end, Drogheda United were promoted, second-placed Finn Harps lost a playoff to Longford Town, and both Dublin and Waterford missed out in third and fourth places respectively. 

 

Charles Mbabazi Livingstone

 

6.   A moment that truly rocked Irish football was when Shamrock Rovers were relegated in 2005, in part due to an eight-point deduction for “financial irregularities”. Ireland’s most successful club were in never-ending turmoil at the time and were in the process of the change of ownership which led to the 400 Club and Jonathan Roche purchasing the club.

The FAI’s licensing committee found in May that €600,000 in debts had been missing from the balance sheet submitted in preseason. This ‘serious breach’ could have seen Rovers demoted or even expelled from the league, but the FAI opted to deduct the eight points they earned to that point. By season’s end, the homeless Hoops were in 11th place and lost a promotion-relegation playoff against Dublin City that they were still heavy favourites to win.

 

5.   To paraphrase Oscar Wilde, losing one club may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose two looks like carelessness. That’s what happened at the end of the 2009 season when third-placed Cork City and fourth-placed Derry City were both expelled from the Premier Division. Cork’s holding company was given a winding-up order by the High Court over hundreds of thousands in debt to the Revenue Commissioners. For a short time, there were two Cork City clubs, but a new entity run by fans was given the FAI licence for 2010 when Cork City FORAS (Friends of the Rebel Army Society) Co-op entered the First Division.

Derry’s expulsion was a little smoother. They had been caught issuing dual contracts, meaning players were getting higher wages than in the budget presented to the licensing committee. They went into the First Division for 2010 and won it with Waterford United finishing second. The main beneficiaries were Bray Wanderers, who had been relegated in a playoff against Sporting Fingal, but were reinstated due to the double expulsion. 

 

Asterisks galore in 78/79

 

4.   That still all pales in comparison to the 1978/79 season when the league table was utterly dominated by asterisks. A staggering five teams were affected by points deductions and awards due to player registrations. Cork Celtic went to Thurles Town in November and won 1-0, but that result was overturned with Thurles getting the points. Into January and Celtic lost another point – this time from a 0-0 draw with Limerick that was changed to a Limerick win. And two weeks later, Finn Harps won 1-0 away to Drogheda United, but that result was reversed on appeal.

All of these were down to ineligible players. The main consequences of these interventions were that Drogheda finished in third place above Waterford and Cork Celtic, who finished bottom, were excluded from the league with UCD elected in their place.

 

3.   When it comes to making headlines, it really is hard to beat relegating the champions. Shelbourne won the league in 2006, but were then demoted to the First Division. The ‘Shelegation’ stands out as one of the most humiliating episodes during a very messy time for the League of Ireland. Shelbourne survived three winding-up orders during their league-winning season while spending way beyond their means. Player contracts were cancelled at the end of the year due to unpaid wages and total debts were reported to be up to €10 million, yet the FAI had still given them a licence to compete in the Premier Division for 2007.

By February, Shels had only one player and no manager. The licensing committee reassessed the situation and gave them a First Division licence instead, although most felt that even that was generous, and allowed to hold on to their league title. Waterford United, who had assembled a team for the lower division, were reinstated to the Premier in their place, but were relegated in a playoff once again at the end of 2007.

 

Waterford withdraw in 1941

 

2.   Now, we’re down to times that asterisks decided the destination of the league title. Netflix could well take a look at the debacle that was the 2001/2 Premier Division race for all the elements of punishments, appeals, loopholes, courtroom drama, moral grandstanding and bitterness. This was the great St Pat’s and Shelbourne saga of Paul Marney and Charles Mbabazi Livingstone.

St Pat’s were initially docked nine points for fielding Marney in their opening three games when he hadn’t been registered. This was overturned in arbitration in March 2002 within days of the end of the season which was finishing early due to the upcoming switch to ‘summer soccer’. Shelbourne appealed this and took it to the High Court, but their case was rejected.

That seemed to put Pat’s in the clear to win the league title, but there was to be an even bigger turn of events when Shels Chairman Ollie Byrne ‘discovered’ that Livingstone hadn’t been correctly registered for the first five games that he played. St Pat’s were informed by journalists that they had been deducted fifteen points, leading club president Tim O’Flaherty to state, “We’ve been treated like dogs tonight, like dogs.” They appealed the decision and the whole ugly scene continued through to June.

The only thing that kept this down the list of news stories was the matter of Saipan, Roy Keane and the World Cup that was happening simultaneously. By the 14th of June (with Ireland preparing to play Spain in the knockout rounds), St Pat’s had lost their appeal and Shelbourne were confirmed as champions. The Inchicore club still claim the 2001/2 title in their list of honours – they would have finished five points above Shelbourne without the deduction – and always insisted that they would never seek to benefit as Shels had done without earning it on the pitch (until they did in 2019).

 

1.   To get to the Top of the Pops in this countdown of heartache, you need injustice and dire consequences, so this one, of course, relates to Waterford. The conclusion to the 1940/41 league championship must be the most inglorious piece of engineering in the history of the League of Ireland. Waterford FC were on the verge of their first league title in a great battle with Cork United. Both teams finished on 30 points after 20 games. The Blues had won both time the teams met in the league – 4-0 at Kilcohan Park in December and 2-1 in the Mardyke in March. However, the League decided to fix a one-off playoff for the title with Cork getting home advantage.

On the 9th of May, the tie was fixed for two days later, Sunday the 11th of May, at the Mardyke. The Waterford board decided to pay a £5 bonus to the players if they won and £2 10s for a draw. Seven players (Daly, Hartery, Myers, Walsh, Coad, Johnstone and O’Keeffe) insisted that they wanted the £2 10s bonus to play the extra game even if they lost. The directors were outraged and dismissed all of them from the club, placing them on the transfer list immediately. They tried to bring replacement players in, but had to inform the FAI that Waterford would not be able to field a team on Sunday. The League had the option of rescheduling the match, but instead chose to award the championship to Cork United.

Within weeks, Waterford had resigned from the league. The Blues would be absent from League of Ireland football for the next four seasons until they returned in 1945. It was the end of a great team and one consequence saw Paddy Coad joining Shamrock Rovers where he became an iconic figure as player and manager. Cork United won the double, having already beaten Waterford in a cup final replay, and went on to win three league titles in a row in the absence of their main rivals. They resigned from the league in 1948 and were replaced by Cork Athletic. Waterford would have to wait another 25 years to win their first league managed, appropriately, by Coad.