| Cefni criticise 'flawed' licensing process |
| Saturday 22 May 2010 |
 CYMRU Alliance champions Llangefni Town will not fight their failure to gain the FAW's domestic licence, but say they may seek compensation over a "flawed process". A well-attended meeting on Thursday night heard that failure to gain a safety certificate was the reason behind the failure of Cefni's appeal, which denied them a return to the Welsh Premier after an absence of two seasons. In common with five top flight clubs in Flintshire and Gwynedd, Llanegfni were unable to obtain the necessary safety certificate from the local authority because their Talwrn Road ground falls short of the minimum capacity criteria. After the FAW arranged a private company to carry out the safety inspections, Llangefni's was undertaken a week before the appeal deadline with little time to make changes to conform. "It could be argued that we should have known or got our own inspector (as some clubs did), but we were guided by the FAW and fell foul in the end," says Russ Austin, who was in charge of the licensing process for the Anglesey club. "This is not the end as the club wishes to state that it is our intention to go through the process again next season, we are so close and every club has to regain their licence each year. "This has been a setback, but in no way dilutes our ambitions to get back to what we consider is our rightful place, in the highest level of football available to us in Wales." Austin added that there is a very strong feeling within the club that the licensing process was flawed. "It is our contention that all clubs who were undertaking the domestic licence process should have been treated equally," he went on. "This is patently not the case; there has been discrimination on a grand scale against clubs from outside the Welsh Premier League on a number of issues. "At this stage the club is taking legal advice to see if there are grounds for action on these issues of discrimination which put some clubs at a severe disadvantage in their efforts to meet the criteria required for the licence. "This will, of course, not overturn the decision to deny us promotion, but may compensate us for such things as costs incurred, future loss of income and may at least make the authorities consider more carefully their actions in future." Llangefni also say they will support Bethesda's campaign to vote against the acceptance of six relegated top flight clubs into the Alliance next season, "if it is seen to be in the best interests of our club". |