In March 2006 it was announced that the
League of Ireland and the
FAI would be merging. As part of this arrangement the league would be restructured and membership of the
2007 Premier Division and
2007 First Division would be decided by an Independent Assessment Group established by
John Delaney and chaired by a former FAI honorary secretary, Des Casey. Former
Republic of Ireland international footballer,
Niall Quinn was originally a member of the group. However he later withdrew because of his growing commitments to
Sunderland A.F.C. He was replaced by Richard Collins, a former chairman of and current director of
Charlton Athletic. Other members of the group included John Fitzgerald, the former city manager of
Dublin City Council and Pat O'Neill, a former chairman of the
Irish Sports Council. The IAG effectively performed a
financial stress test on the League of Ireland member clubs. Clubs were assessed on their past five season record in the league. Crucially though, clubs would also be graded on off-field criteria, including attendance, infrastructure, governance, strategic planning, finance, youth development and marketing. The IAG announced their results in December 2006. However the final outcome of the IAG decision was further complicated by the financial difficulties of
Shelbourne who, despite initially passing the stress test, were subsequently relegated to the First Division. This provided a reprieve for
Waterford United, ranked at thirteen by the IAG, who were selected to replace them.
IAG Table Notes ==UEFA coefficient==