Cavan ladies refuse to play Tyrone in strike over expenses and gear

News

Damien Donohoe

The Cavan ladies senior football team have said they will not play their final league fixture today against Tyrone due to a dispute over expenses and gear.

They were due to play Tyrone in the Lidl National League Division 2 fixture.

The footballers claim that the ladies board has not fulfilled an agreement signed on January 15 and that Dublin-based players are being left out of pocket to the point where some cannot afford to attend training.

In a statement issued today to the clubs and supports of Cavan ladies football, they said they had taken the decision with "deep regret".

They had threatened to strike earlier in the week over the dispute.

As neither Cavan nor Tyrone were in a promotion or relegation zone, the strike will not affect the position of either team but commentators say it makes a strong and bold statement.

The statement claims a written agreement was signed by the players in "good faith" with the county board and that it has not been fulfilled "despite numerous attempts to communicate our minimum standards".

In an interview with the We Are Cavan podcast last week, published in last week's Anglo-Celt, captain Neasa Byrd and teammates Aishling Sheridan and Lauren McVeety stated that, other than one pair of shorts and one pair of socks per player, no gear had been provided, with round six of the National League approaching.

Today's statement reads: "While there has been positive engagement since the issues involved were brought to light, we now want to see it backed up by action and the minimum standards agreed.

"We are not prepared to play until the issues have been fully resolved as we feel we have been let down as regards promises and commitments previously."

They say they have communicated their position to the County Board Executive, which they feel are "fair and reasonable requests".

The statement continues: "We have subsequently been informed of the consequences of not playing.

"We want what’s best for ourselves and girls playing club football in Cavan now who will some day line out for our county. The girls and women in Cavan deserve to have promises kept and to be treated with respect. It's imperative we protect those who are most vulnerable, including student members of our squad.

"We are proud to represent our county and pull on the Cavan jersey. Taking a decision to withdraw from a game is not something we do lightly. However, given the current circumstances, we feel we do not have any other option.

"We hope you, the clubs and supporters of ladies football in our county will understand our decision.

"We hope the issues can be resolved to allow us get back to what we want to do, represent our great county."

The Cavan senior ladies football panel.”

As previously reported, twenty of the Cavan panel are Dublin-based, with only one in full-time employment. The players car pool to get to training but they say that expenses – at a rate which is a fraction of what the men’s team get – were paid for just two weeks.

The players state that team manager, Gerry Moane, paid for a bus out of his own pocket and that other members of management have given money to players to cover travelling costs.

The ladies also say they offered to run a coaching camp over Easter to try to raise the money themselves.

“We were told no, it would have to be passed by the executive and the finance committee and that wasn’t a road we were going down,” Byrd claimed on the podcast.

Cavan ladies board has yet to comment.