Warrenpoint Town officials are consulting with legal advisers over the next step to take after the club’s appeal against the denial of licenses to compete at the top level was denied.
An IFA licensing appeal committee late on Friday issued its judgement affirming the decision of the IFA licensing committee.
Warrenpoint, which had won a promotion play off place to the Premier League was denied the licences for failing to have paid all owed taxes by March 31.
But the club countered it was an oversight and that when this was discovered the amount, believed to be under £15,000, was immediately paid.
In a statement on Friday, the club said it was “extremely disappointed”.
"As a club, we feel the wider issues were not properly considered and a narrow restrictive view of the matters were only accepted,” the statement read.
“Our club is the heart of football in South Down. The public support has been immense and we greatly appreciate that. We now have a shortwindow to prepare to take the decision for arbitration.
“The club will be making no further statement as we consult with our Senior Counsel and legal team on the matter.”
Warrenpoint finished second in the Lough 41 Championship and were due to compete in the play-off against Dungannon Swifts.
The denial of the licences, described as “catastrophic” by the club, means Warrenpoint could end up playing in the regional leagues. It means the club is likely to most of if not all its best youth players.
In its ruling, the licensing appeal committee said “no other decision could have been made” as the rules are clear.
“The licensing appeal committee would though like to state that they have taken into account all the mitigating circumstances,” according to the ruling.
The appeal committee understood the circumstances of how they came to the position they were in and did not want to penalise the club.
“But the decision was a consequence of not fulfilling the criteria. The only issue was that Warrenpoint Town Football Club did not meet the criteria and therefore there was no other decision that could have been made.”
