Walsall's sister club row rumbles on as Drogheda United co-chair refuses to resign

The Trivela Group, which owns the Saddlers and has since acquired League of Ireland club Drogheda United, released a statement on Wednesday which said it had 'provided written instruction' for co-chair Joanna Byrne to resign.

Last month a row blew up - with Byrne, an Irish member of parliament, had been told her position at the club was 'no longer tenable' - having made comments about the Republic of Ireland fulfilling fixtures against Israel.

In her role as spokesperson for sport for political party Sinn Fein, she said she was 'angry and dismayed', that the games were going ahead in the Nations League, and said 'Israel should not be in this competition'.

Byrne refused to resign - while Trivela said the reason for the request was because of Byrne’s criticism of UEFA and the Irish FA and said they were unrelated to “anyone’s specific political or moral views”.

Now the row has rumbled on, with Trivela releasing a statement on Wednesday.

They said: "For the avoidance of doubt, this decision was not taken in any way on the basis of Ms Byrne's political views or beliefs, which she has expressed freely and in a public manner for the duration of her directorship.

"Rather, this decision followed a statement made regarding private discussions with Club ownership.

"This not only caused a breakdown in the trust and confidence necessary for her to continue in the role as a director of the Club, but also sharpened the governance concerns that had been the topic of those original discussions."

Trivela also said a review had taken place over the practicality of having an individual with political obligations serving as a director.

It stated: "That review concluded that this is not a workable arrangement and should have been addressed previously."

Following the statement, Bryne reiterated she will not resign in comments to Irish broadcaster RTC.

She said: "This is nothing more than a formal follow-on in writing by Trivela Group from the meeting on 16 February where expectations for me to resign were expressed after I was told my position as Chairperson was untenable. I stated at that stage I would not resign and that remains my position today.

"I am under no illusion that this is solely as a result of my comments in my capacity as Sinn Fein Spokesperson on sport that the Ireland v Israel match should not go ahead, and I think people will see it for what it is.

"I will now consider the options open to me and proceed from there."