Richard Ferris has been forced to resign his position as Derry's minor football manager.

The Drumsurn man had been in charge of the county minor team since the start of 2009 and took up a position last August as the Games Production Officer for Limavady District Council.

However, the terms of his contract meant that both the council and the Derry county board paid each half of his wages and at a meeting on Saturday night, the Coiste Bainisti upheld their rule that full-time staff shall have no involvement with inter-county teams.

"I have no query with the county board or John Keenan. I want to make it clear that they did everything they could for me and they dealt with me with the utmost respect," Ferris told the Derry Post newspaper.

"But I would have to say that the bureaucrats in Croke Park, the boys in suits, have again punished me, the volunteer. I was taking the Derry minors because I love doing it.

"In the time I was doing the job, I never even took expenses. I am a voluntary member of the GAA. My job had no impact on the Derry minors," he added.

Derry county board secretary, Liam Peoples, underlined the board's stance on the issue by saying: "It's Coiste Bainisti who have made this decision, not the Derry county board. We were very happy to keep Richard as manager." Tweet

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