Northern Ireland Football League CEO Gerard Lawlor insists "there were no deals done with anybody" to ensure last week's extraordinary general meeting took place to prevent a delay to the start of the new season. Local football's pyramid undergoes changes as the Premier Intermediate League is replaced by a new Conference League organised by the Northern Amateur Football Division. Banbridge Town successfully challenged the move, claiming NIFL had not followed its own regulations, requiring an EGM with 90% of NIFL's 47 members consenting to pass three proposals.

"We lost an appeal. I don't think it's the first we've lost and unfortunately it won't be the last, but the timing couldn't have come at a worse time," Lawlor told BBC Radio Ulster. "I apologise and hold my hands up, but we turned the situation around and there were no deals done with anybody."

Despite fears of a delayed season, Lawlor was "always confident we would be playing football this afternoon" but accepts lessons must be learned. The NIFL board will conduct an independent review to prevent a repeat. Lawlor says the structural change is for the good of the game, though he left a "loophole" in procedures that was challenged and fixed. He also joked that new NIFL-branded footballs were delayed by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz due to conflict between the US and Iran.