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LAST UPDATE
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\n 8 hrs ago\n <\/p>\n
DROGHEDA UNITED CO-CHAIRPERSON Joanna Byrne claims that the club\u2019s board have said her position is untenable following her calls for a boycott of Ireland\u2019s Nations League games with Israel.<\/p>\n
Byrne, the Sinn F\u00e9in TD for Louth and the party\u2019s spokesperson on sport, called on the FAI to not take part in the fixtures with Israel later this year.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, she said the club\u2019s board informed her of their concerns \u201cwith an expectation that I would resign, something I have told them that I intend to resist\u201d.<\/p>\n
She described the board\u2019s move as \u201cunwarranted\u201d and \u201cprofoundly hurtful\u201d.<\/p>\n
Following an enquiry from\u00a0The 42,\u00a0Drogheda United say that \u201cno changes have been made to the club\u2019s board\u201d.\n<\/p>\n
The concerns expressed to Ms Byrne by her fellow directors are unrelated to anyone\u2019s specific political or moral views, and at no point were any such concerns expressed.<\/p>\n
Byrne is co-chairperson of her local side alongside Ben Boycott, the founding partner and chief executive of Trivela Group. The American investment firm specialises in multi-club ownership and took control of Drogheda in 2023. They also have English side Walsall and Danish outfit Silkeborg as part of their stable.<\/p>\n
In November last year, the Drogheda board was updated with Trivela\u2019s chief operating officer, Marc Koretezky, joining Trivela\u2019s general counsel Barton Lee and the club\u2019s chief executive Rian Wogan.<\/p>\n
– \u2018Profoundly hurtful\u2019 –<\/p>\n
Byrne said: \u201cOn Monday morning, I was informed by the board of directors of Drogheda United Football Club that my role as chairperson of the club was no longer tenable with an expectation that I would resign, something I have told them that I intend to resist.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis unwarranted action was taken after my public statement last week that Ireland should not play Israel in the Nations League while a genocide against the Palestinian people continues.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is profoundly hurtful that expressing a moral view \u2013 one shared by the majority of Irish football fans \u2013 has led to this approach despite me never referencing the club at any stage whilst doing so.<\/p>\n
I stand over those comments. They were made from a deeply held belief in equality, human rights and the power of sport to take principled positions \u2013 as it has done many times in history.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese fixtures should not go ahead and I believe pressure will grow in the days and weeks ahead against them. This position is in line with Drogheda Utd delegates\u2019 vote at the FAI General Assembly in November in supporting a motion for Uefa to ban Israel from its European club and international competitions.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u201cDrogheda United has been part of my identity since childhood \u2013 standing on the terraces, travelling to away games, sharing victories and heartbreaks with family and neighbours. The club is woven into the fabric of my life and of our town.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo have the honour of serving as chairperson \u2013 and as the first woman to hold that position in the League of Ireland \u2013 is a source of great pride to me. I work every day in that role to strengthen the club\u2019s governance, sustainability and standing within Irish football. I do so voluntarily, and always in what I believe to be the best interests of Drogheda United.<\/p>\n
\u201cDrogheda United is a community club. It belongs to the people of this town \u2013 to the children who pull on the claret and blue for the first time, to the volunteers who give countless hours, to the supporters who travel the length of the country week in, week out. I have always sought to honour that spirit.<\/p>\n
\u201cNothing will diminish my commitment to Drogheda United or to the League of Ireland more broadly. I remain immensely proud of the progress made during my tenure, and will continue to elevate the club and the League of Ireland at every opportunity.<\/p>\n
This has been a deeply upsetting development for me personally, but my attachment to Drogheda United runs far deeper.<\/p>\n
\u201cI will continue to support the club as I always have \u2013 as the proudest chairperson in the country, a supporter, a volunteer, and someone who believes wholeheartedly in its future and I look forward to seeing it continuing to thrive.\u201d<\/p>\n
– Concern –<\/p>\n
In response on Wednesday night, Drogheda United said that the club \u201chas noted the statement issued regarding our co-chair, Joanna Byrne. At this time, no changes have been made to the club\u2019s board.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe concerns expressed to Ms Byrne by her fellow directors are unrelated to anyone\u2019s specific political or moral views, and at no point were any such concerns expressed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat was expressed was a concern over the open criticism of Uefa and the FAI, regulatory bodies to whom the club is subject, as well as each club official\u2019s responsibility to respect the neutrality provisions of the Fifa Code of Ethics and the Uefa Statutes.<\/p>\n
To be clear, the substance of Ms Byrne\u2019s views has never been attacked by the Club or Trivela Group.<\/p>\n
\u201cNeither the club nor Trivela Group will be making any further comment at this time.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LAST UPDATE | 8 hrs ago DROGHEDA UNITED CO-CHAIRPERSON Joanna Byrne claims that the club\u2019s board have said…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":305605,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[103980,1113,61,60,124629,2539,32808,3405,112],"class_list":{"0":"post-305604","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-drogheda-united","9":"tag-fai","10":"tag-ie","11":"tag-ireland","12":"tag-joanna-byrne","13":"tag-league-of-ireland","14":"tag-loi","15":"tag-soccer","16":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305604","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=305604"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305604\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/305605"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=305604"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=305604"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=305604"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}