Johnston saga: Timeline

(As published in The Anglo-Celt last Thursday alongside the "Seanie we hardly knew ye - and now you're gone" story) Late October The Cavan county board write to every player who had been involved in the senior team in 2011 to thank them for their efforts and inform them that the panel was being disbanded. Val Andrews contacts a handful of players via telephone "as a mark of respect". Johnston is contacted and, it is understood, ends the phone call after a period of silence. He would later tell the Irish Independent that all he got was a 10-second call after eight years of service. "I wasn't looking for anything special but after nine seasons with the county I might have been entitled to a little more compassion," he would later say. November 24 The Anglo-Celt break the story that Johnston has met with Kieran McGeeney. It is understood that the original contact may have involved a member of the Kildare back-room team, although well-placed sources in Kildare continue to insist that that they were approached. A Cavan county board officer states that the board has heard nothing official and that, in what by this stage already looked set to be a high profile case, Johnston would have to prove his residency beyond any doubt before the board would sign off on any transfer. December Johnston applies in writing to the CCC in Croke Park to request permission to play football for Kildare without leaving his home club Cavan Gaels. This is refused. Having originally given a postal address in Croke Park, he requests that all correspondence is via email. December 1 Kieran McGeeney's right-hand man, Niall Carew, denies that the wheels are in motion on the move. "Any player, whether they are inside the county or outside, if he wants to come in, we'll give him a go, but for now there is nothing happening," said Carew. December 17 Johnston is elected as the Cavan Gaels players' representative on the club committee at the AGM, which appears to suggest that he will not be leaving the club. January 12 Johnston appears before the Central Appeals Committee in Croke Park appealing against the decision not to allow him to declare for Kildare. The appeal is turned down. January 16 On his official twitter page, Johnston comments: "Honesty is d best policy". The following day, under the heading "Let me go" he breaks his silence and insists that he now lives in Straffan, Co Kildare in a revealing interview to the Irish Independent during which he states, "I'm 27 now and I want to continue playing inter-county football but I don't want to leave my club. It's hugely important to me. But I'm resident in Kildare now and I'm surplus to requirements in Cavan." January 21 The Cavan Gaels club executive refuses to take a case on behalf of Johnston to the Disputes Resolution Authority. Had they lost, the club could have incurred fees of up to €10,000. January 21 McGeeney lays out the welcome mat for Johnston in an interview on local radio. "If he wants to play for Kildare, the same as anybody else wants to play for Kildare, I've an open door policy," McGeeney said on KFM. "He can come here, turn up, play, train and I've never stopped anybody who's wanted to play for Kildare. He has indicated that he wants to and we'll take him in with open arms but he's going to have his work cut out. January 24 The Leinster Leader reveals that Johnston will seek to move to St Kevin's of Staplestown, an intermediate club based eight miles from Straffan and the home club of Carew. The club secretary and Kildare secretary Kathleen O'Neill sign the form and return it to Croke Park. January 30 Cavan county board object to the transfer on the grounds that there is some doubt over the player's permananent residence in Kildare. The following day, St Kevin's chairman Martin Murray is quoted as saying that Johnston is "committed" to the Kildare club and is critical of the Cavan county board. "Seanie is committed to playing football with Kevin's and Kildare and we at Kevin's are committed to taking him on" said Murray. "Cavan county board have pulled something out of the hat and we'll have to go down the Croke Park route now. February 1 The Cavan Gaels committee meet, seven days after receiving the papers and two days after the Cavan county board's meeting, and decide not to object. February 5 Johnston trains with St Kevin's and, afterwards, makes his second public comment, telling freelance reporter Daragh Ó Conchuir that he has moved residence to Kildare and that "there should be no issue". He also issues an invite to any doubters to "come down for tea, they're more than welcome".