New deadline is set for clubs to decide how Danske Bank Premiership finishes

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Barry Gray, Warrenpoint Town.

Q Radio Sport

Clubs in the Danske Bank Premiership have been set a new deadline of 3pm on Friday to decide if they want to restart the suspended season. 

The original deadline was 5pm on Thursday. 

Football chiefs have given them two options for concluding the campaign.

Either play two final rounds of matches next month - or opt for final placings to be predicted by an independent panel based on a mathematical model from previous results.

Authorities here are this week due to inform UEFA of plans for finishing the season.

The Northern Ireland Football League has to nominate representatives for the Champions League and Europa League by August 3rd.  

Officials hope to end the season within the window of July 20 until August 3, with two weeks' training before that - provided they get the go ahead from the Stormont Executive. 

The IFA wants the Irish Cup semi-finals to take place the week of July 20th with the final in early August.

Under the preferred NIFL option, the Premiership could be back up and running in late July. 

The 12 teams would play their final two fixtures before the scheduled split into a top half and bottom half. 

The season would then end with all the clubs having faced each other three times. 

The five post-split fixtures would be scrapped. 

Any matches that do go ahead would be staged behind closed doors.

An additional NIFL proposal is for the second and third tier seasons to end immediately, with a mathematical model to determine the standings.

That could see leaders Portadown promoted back to the top flight from the Championship and another team from the County Armagh town, Annagh United, going up from the Premier Intermediate League.

We've been getting the thoughts of Warrenpoint Town manager Barry Gray.

On the league ...

And on the cup ....

When the season was suspended, defending champions Linfield were top of the table, four points ahead of Coleraine.

Institute are sitting bottom, three points behind Warrenpoint. 

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