Irish FA finally clear Joel Cooper to make Linfield comeback as loan debacle resolved

Joel Cooper

©INPHO/Brian Little

Joel Cooper

Steven Beacom Twitter

January 26 2021 06:00 AM

Linfield's Joel Cooper can finally play for the champions again tonight when they meet Cliftonville at Solitude after the Irish FA moved to sort out their latest registration blunder.

Blues boss David Healy was livid on Saturday when, upon learning that Cooper would have been ineligible, he had to pull the winger out of his starting line-up just 40 minutes before his side's 6-0 home win over Warrenpoint Town.

Linfield thought that all the relevant paperwork for Cooper's loan deal from Oxford United until the end of the season had been cleared by the IFA only to discover there were issues with the registration after Carrick Rangers had raised the alarm when they found out their new loan signing from Glenavon, striker Jordan Jenkins, was in the same position.

The Belfast Telegraph understands that the forms for both Cooper and Jenkins were processed by the IFA, loaded on to the Comet registration system and approved, giving the impression that both players would be available for selection at the weekend - until Carrick found discrepancies in the loan registration which could have seen them docked points in another eligibility embarrassment for football's governing body.

The Irish League has been littered with them for decades.

The latest one led to harsh words about the Association's handling of the situation from Healy and Carrick chairman Peter Clarke and urgent IFA meetings yesterday resulting in clearance before midday and communication to the clubs that both players could feature for their teams tonight.

Crowd favourite Cooper, in his second spell at Linfield having won back to back titles first time around, is eligible to pull on a blue shirt again this evening in north Belfast, with Jenkins available to make his Carrick debut at Glentoran.

Irish FA finally clear Joel Cooper to make Linfield comeback as loan debacle resolved

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