David Healy makes 'man on the moon' claim as he rips into disciplinary processes

Yahoo

08-07-2025

David Healy has taken a swipe at the Irish FA's disciplinary procedures claiming 'the man of the moon can see they are not fit for purpose'.
Speaking after Friday night's penalty shootout defeat to Dungannon Swifts in the Charity Shield the Blues boss hit out at how several incidents were handled last season.
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Healy highlighted the decisions to rescind the red cards handed out to Josh Carson and Andy Ryan.
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He also voiced his frustration with a decision which affected his own side as he claimed an 11th hour clarification on the competitive status of the season opener against the Swifts now means Scott Whiteside will miss the opening league fixture of the new campaign at home to the same opponents.
Healy said there was confusion in the run up to the game at Windsor Park claiming Whiteside, who was sent off in the final game of last season at Coleraine, was initially deemed ineligible for the game against the Irish Cup winners due to suspension.
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The Linfield boss revealed the club were given late clarification from the powers that be that the defender was eligible to take part in the game meaning he would have to wait until August 9 to complete his ban.
This has been borne out in statements from both the IFA and the NI Football League, who confirmed the Charity Shield as being a non-competitive fixture meaning it does not count towards a player's suspension.
"There was a little bit of frustration for me coming into the game," said Healy, who is also set to miss the opening league game due to suspension. "I spoke to NIFL regarding the fixture. For me it should have been a competitive fixture.
"This wasn't to clear myself of an accumulation of yellow cards. I will serve my suspension in the first league game of the season because I've been told it is competition specific.
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"The strange one for me was Scott Whiteside who also picked up a second yellow at Coleraine.
"The rules are in my opinion that you automatically miss the next competitive game which for me was against Dungannon in the Shield.
"On Monday Scott was suspended for the Shield game and free going forward and over the course of 48 hours before the game it changed to Scott being free to being involved in the Shield and they are going competition specific.
"I don't get that because if we had been playing in the first round of the County Antrim Shield or a League Cup match, he automatically misses that so the contradictory quotes coming from the IFA Disciplinary baffles me at times.
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"Scott was suspended on Monday and then later in the week he was free to play because they had decided then it was a non-competitive game and he would have to miss the first league game."
Despite Healy's claims NIFL confirmed the Charity Shield is not deemed a competitive fixture in the calendar.
"The suspension for a red card in a competitive match is served in the next competitive match but the Charity Shield is considered a pre-season fixture and suspensions from competitive games are not carried over to it," said a spokesperson.
The IFA also confirmed this stating: "As the Charity Shield is classified as a friendly by the competition organiser [NIFL], the player in question will serve his suspension during the first League game of the upcoming season."
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Healy also blasted the general disciplinary matters in Northern Ireland highlighting the incidents involving Josh Carson, who received a retrospective red card for a challenge against Ethan McGee on the opening day of last season, and Andy Ryan's dismissal against the Blues for a tackle during their game at Windsor Park back in February before both players successfully appealed the decisions.
"The man in the moon can see the disciplinary code in this country is not fit for purpose," the Linfield boss declared.
"Josh Carson got a yellow card in the first day of the season, it then got upgraded (to a red) and then it took them seven months to downgrade it to a yellow where he didn't have to serve his suspension.
"Andy Ryan got sent off here at Windsor Park and then the sending off was downgraded and they had gone against the referee. There are people in suits making the decision on a refereeing matter which again I think is baffling.
Larne's Andy Ryan was sent off against Linfield in February -Credit:INPHO/Stephen Hamilton
"(Referee) Shane (Andrews) had made the decision, in my opinion on the night he got it right, then there was the subsequent messing about after it.
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"This isn't picking on Larne or Andy Ryan because he is a fantastic player but the subsequent five-match ban he got after the game somehow disappears with an appeal.
"The cost of the disciplinary hearings here and the appeals process must be an absolute fortune. That's money wasted out of our game with months and months of appeals.
"The IFA and disciplinary code cannot take the heat. I know it is the process of being altered because people have torn it to shreds over the last 12 months."