Manager Dean Smith says he has not agreed to terminate his contract with Loughgall FC despite the club claiming “mutual consent”.
On Thursday night, the Co Armagh club announced the sudden departure of their long-serving manager, only for their statement to be contradicted by the manager’s representatives, JWB Consultancy, 90 minutes later.
At 8.30pm, Loughgall released a statement which read: “Loughgall FC have tonight parted company with manager Dean Smith by mutual consent.
“The club wishes to place on record its thanks to Dean for his service over the past eight years. Full Club Statement to follow in due course.”
However, shortly after 10pm, JWB Consultancy released the following statement on behalf of Smith: “We represent Mr Dean Smith. Our client has not agreed to terminate his contract. The statement issued tonight by Loughgall FC is factually and legally incorrect and amounts to unfair dismissal. There will be no further comment as this is now a live legal matter.”
The Villagers look destined for relegation to the Championship as they sit rooted to the bottom of the Premiership, 12 points adrift of 11th-placed Carrick Rangers. They have not won a game since November.
Smith has been serving a 15-game ban for disciplinary breaches following Loughgall’s 2-1 defeat to Glentoran in January.
He was given a 10-match ban for breaching article 23.1 which involves “offending the dignity of a person or group of persons through contemptuous, discriminatory or denigratory words or actions concerning race, colour, language, religion, sectarianism”.
A further five-game suspension was imposed under article 14.1 which deals with players or officials “reported for unsporting conduct towards a match official”.
While this season has been a difficult one on and off the field for Loughgall, Smith did enjoy success in previous campaigns, leading the team to promotion to the top flight in the 2022-23 campaign where they finished ninth.
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