Clubs have been set an autumn deadline to decide if they want an 'All-Island League'.
Architects of the plan want to step up efforts to merge the two leagues in time for a May 2021 start, and Kieran Lucid, the Dublin-based entrepreneur from Kerry who has been working on a proposal document for 18 months, wants a mandate for change.
Most clubs have been informally sounded out on the All-Island plans by now, but Lucid’s group will soon address a more formal meeting of clubs at FAI headquarters.
And in Dublin yesterday, he said he will seek a definitive thumbs up or down from clubs on both sides of the border by the autumn.
If the radical revamp of Irish football goes ahead, Lucid wants the first season of the new concept to begin in May 2021 and run to February 2022.
But the plan is to then shift it to an April start with the season finishing on New Year’s Day.
Chief among Lucid’s plans is a 14-team Premier Division comprising of eight League of Ireland clubs and five Irish League sides in a season running from May to January.
The remaining spot would be filled after a playoff between the League of Ireland’s First Division champions and the sixth-placed team in the North.
Below that, there would be two regionalised Championships of 10 clubs each with promotion and relegation to and from the top flight in operation.
