A war of words has broken out between Clare and Kerry ladies football officials, after Saturday’s National League game between the two sides was postponed.
Clare chairman Sean Lenihan labelling the comments of Kerry joint-manager Declan Quill, as “uncalled for” and “unprofessional”.
The teams were due to play at Doonbeg for a 3pm start, in Division 2 of the Lidl Ladies National Football League, but the pitch was deemed unplayable.
Lenihan said that Kerry were told before 10am that the game would be postponed, Quill insists that his team were told “very, very late in the day.”
Kerry booked the 4G pitch at University of Limerick and offered this as an alternative venue. Clare, however, “still weren’t happy to play the game”, Quill claimed on Radio Kerry.
Taking to social media, Quill tweeted that what happened on Saturday was a “pure joke”. In the same tweet, the Kerry joint-manager said “I [bet] u Doonbeg will be OK next week though. #somethings up”.
Pity we weren't told earlier. We have 40 girls sitting on the bus after coming from sth ky Cork etc. We had an alternative venue set up for Clare but they refused to play. Pure joke. I get u Doonbeg will be OK nxt wk though. #somethingsup
— Declan Quill (@DeclanQuill) February 19, 2022
Responding on Clare FM on Tuesday morning, Clare LGFA chairman Lenihan said Quill’s comments were “uncalled for” and “unprofessional”.
“My reaction to the Kerry manager’s comments, I was extremely disappointed. It is not what you’d expect from a proud footballing county like Kerry.
“You’d think from listening to him that we cancelled it within an hour of throw-in. The game was scheduled for 3pm and they were advised before 10am on Saturday morning, following a pitch inspection by Doonbeg,” Lenihan explained.
“At last Thursday’s Central Council meeting, it was advised that any games that had to be refixed could be played this weekend because there was a free weekend in the calendar, so we are looking forward to this weekend.” Lenihan stated that Kerry’s offer to play the game at UL arrived “too late” as the referee, the streaming providers, and Clare panel had already been informed the game was postponed.
Quill, speaking to Radio Kerry on Saturday, said that the whole thing was “totally unacceptable” given an alternative venue had been sourced.
“By the time we are leaving Tralee, we are told the game won’t be played. We know the weather was bad, but we are extremely disappointed with the whole thing.
“To be told very, very late in the day that the game is called off is not good enough. We provided an alternative venue, which we shouldn’t have done, but we did, and they still weren’t happy to play the game.
“It is not good enough, it is not good enough for the girls either. Every county was told to have a back-up plan for the weekend, they were told to have a 4G pitch on standby.
“There isn’t a 4G pitch in Clare, but we managed to book UL this morning. We were still in Tralee at the time, it is a lot easier for them to go from Clare to UL than it is for us to go from Tralee to UL.
“We had UL booked, there was an alternative venue provided. Clare just weren’t happy with it and they got away with it. It looks like we have to go back to Doonbeg next Sunday. There are massive costs involved. We are running this thing on a shoestring budget. We are not one bit happy about it.” The game has been refixed for this Sunday (Doonbeg, 2pm).
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