ONE of the players told not to come back to Banbridge Town for opting to play for Northern Ireland has reacted angrily to comments made by Michael Lamont.
Last week the Town boss told the Leader that Mark Quinn and Timmy Grant were not welcome back at the club for not making themselves available for the club's game against Ards.
In a letter to the Leader Quinn said that Lamont knew that neither play
er would be available for selection.
"With regards to the misconstrued apparent lack of dedication by me and Timmy Grant, both of us had been under the impression that we were not required to play on Tuesday night as we had contacted Michael Lamont the prior weekend giving our apologies for not being able to attend and had not received any correspondence back from Mr. Lamont requesting us to play," he said.
"It was only on the Tuesday night when Mr. Lamont realised he would not have enough players that he then contacted both of us, at which time was not enough notice for either of us to play the match.
"When Lamont contacted him, Timmy was at home organising for the following day's early departure to the Isle of Man. Lamont proceeded to give off to Timmy for not attending the match and then told him not to come back to the club again.
"I however was at the club, but not to play in the match, it was to collect some gear that I had left in the changing rooms the previous Saturday which I needed for my international duty.
"It was not until shortly before I arrived at the pitch that Mr. Lamont phoned me and insisted to know my whereabouts as I was required to play the game, at which stage it was clearly understood that I had no gear and so could not play.
"It may also be of interest to you to understand that under FA rules Section D, which covers International Call Ups, Part D.1 states that international duty is a 'calling' which must be attended unless there is good reason not to go and represent the country.
"Part D.2 covers the 'called' player's club's responsibility, which is to ensure that the player will attend the international match and will do everything necessary to make sure they attend.
"The fact that Harry McConkey had requested from Mr. Lamont, that myself and Timmy not to play should have been enough for him under FA rules to understand that we would not be playing on Tuesday night as this would jeopardise our chances at being fit to play on both Wednesday and Thursday for Northern Ireland in the Isle of Man.
The full article contains 457 words and appears in Banbridge Leader newspaper.
