Glenafton claim Ayr United bid is a joke

Jul 25 2008 by Mike Wilson

A FURIOUS junior club have accused Ayr United of making a derisory offer for their top scorer.

Glenafton claim they would be out of pocket if they accepted a bid of £1000 for David Gormley.

And angry president Jock Timpany hit out: “We won’t allow Ayr to walk all over us. If they want to go to war with junior clubs then so be it.”

Now a transfer tribunal is set to thrash out a price unless the two clubs can reach an agreement for the 20-year-old former Motherwell striker who is under contract with Glenafton until August 1.

Ayr chairman Lachlan Cameron insisted their offer was fair and added: “It’s simply a difference of valuation. I don’t think it’s realistic for a junior club to want £3000 and a 50 per cent sell-on for a player who was on £10 a week and received a £2500 signing-on fee.

“We have been on the other side of this when we lost a player who we valued higher. Craig Conway came through our youth system and joined Dundee United yet we got much less than we wanted.

“But in this case, Glenafton are asking us to pay more than it cost them to have his services for a year. We can’t be held to junior rules - we are a senior club and have made what we think is a fair offer.”

However, Glens, who are managed by former Ayr boss Gordon Dalziel aren’t for budging.

Timpany hit back: “It’s a derisory offer and the way Ayr have handled themselves is amateurish to the extreme. Myself, Gordon Dalziel and Tom King (secretary) have spoken to four different people at the club and we are still 100 miles away from agreement.

“Gormley was out of the game after being released by Motherwell but we took him and put him back in the shop window. We’ll take our chance at a tribunal.”

Unless there is a late breakthrough, Gormley will miss Ayr’s big kick-off on Sunday when they face East Stirling in the Challenge Cup at Stenhousemuir. But he will be available for the opening league game at home to Raith on August 2.

Ayr will entertain Berwick in the first round of the CIS Cup on Tuesday or Wednesday August 5/6.