While Derry City left Oriel Park on Friday night with three points to keep themselves in a four-way title race going into the last two weekends of a gripping SSE Airtricity Men's Premier Division season, the mood among the hosts was both sombre and fractious.Dundalk are officially down to the First Division as a result of the 2-0 defeat, an outcome that would have been unthinkable at the height of the Stephen Kenny era when adventures in Europe were becoming the norm and the trophy cabinet was stocked with silverware.Those days feel like a distant memory now and the future is one of uncertainy amid off-the-field struggles that almost led to oblivion last month before the club stepped back from the precipice.For former Dundalk striker David McMillan, whose goals were a regular feature of the glory days, domestically and in Europe, relegation itself is not the primary concern; rather it is ensuring that the Lilywhites are a going concern by the time next season's First Division kicks off."Look, there's no harm in going down to the First Division," he told this week's RTÉ Soccer Podcast."It happens to clubs, it's a sad state of affairs that a club that was doing so well over the last decade is now down in the First Division."Cork City have gone down and bounced straight back, it's not the end of the world.
The whole situation behind the scenes is far more concerning than the club being relegated. Listen to the RTÉ Soccer podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. We need your consent to load this YouTube content We use YouTube to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity.