Last updated on .From the section IrishConnor's Institute have not played a competitive match since MarchInstitute manager Sean Connor says Championship clubs feel "abandoned" by the Irish FA. The Championship has not been given the elite sport status required to play amid current Covid-19 restrictions. However the competition was postponed, with just 12 of the 32 participating teams qualifying for elite status. "Elite status should have been granted to Championship clubs at the very start of the process," argued Connor. The NI Football League made a request for elite status on behalf of the Championship in November, but it was rejected by the IFA.

Source: BBC January 12, 2021 16:41 UTC