NIFL CEO Gerard Lawlor backing plan to play all future League Cup finals on a Sunday

NIFL chief executive Gerard Lawlor is set to propose that all future finals of the BetMcLean League Cup be played on a Sunday.

He has also suggested that clubs who are opposed to the development will be permitted to withdraw from the competition without sanction.

11,103 spectators - a record attendance for the showpiece - witnessed Paddy McLaughlin's Cliftonville beat Coleraine 4-3 in a thrilling encounter at Windsor Park at the weekend.

It was the first time the final had been staged on a Sunday and Lawlor says the Irish League family would be “mad” to revert back to a Saturday showpiece next year.

The NIFL chief, who fronted the groundbreaking proposal to hold this year’s final on a Sunday, said: “Obviously, we will have to sit back and review the whole occasion, but it is my opinion that a Sunday final worked.

“Yes, there are things that might work better and there are things we need to change, but overall it is definitely something to build on.

“I think it would be crazy to retreat from this now and it would be my recommendation to the (NIFL) board that the League Cup final be played on a Sunday moving forward.

“We would be mad not to play future League Cup finals on a Sunday. We have to say 'next year’s final is on a Sunday' and we go for it.”

Coleraine and Cliftonville both embraced the concept of playing a Sunday final, but Lawlor accepts other clubs may have their reservations.

“I know some clubs mightn’t particularly like a Sunday final and it might not work for them, but overall I think that’s what we have to do,” he said.

“Going forward, if the board makes the decision that future finals are on a Sunday, it would then be up to individual clubs whether they enter the competition or not.

“We wouldn’t punish