John Martin’s role in Michael Noonan’s contract another unwanted distraction for FAI

“Not much shocks you in life, especially after what I’ve been through and in football, but this shocked me.”

This was one of a number of things Stephen Bradley, the Shamrock Rovers manager, got off his chest when addressing the media on Monday night after the 1-1 draw with Dundalk in Tallaght.

The five-time league winning manager was speaking about revelations that Fifa and the English FA are examining complaints about a deal between Rovers and the agent of the club’s star-17-year-old striker Michael Noonan.

So, what is the Rovers manager referring to?

The story about the controversy broke over the weekend in the Sunday Times, which reported that Noonan’s mother Sandie had complained to the Football Association in England about the deal her son’s agent David Moss did with Rovers in January 2025 when he joined from St Patrick’s Athletic. Moss, a former head of scouting at Celtic, is registered as an agent with the FA.

This newspaper has established that Rovers self-reported its deal with Moss to Fifa, the world governing body for football, last summer. It had concerns the deal may breach rules banning third-party ownership of players.

This happened as the club was in the process of ratifying another Moss contract with young goalkeeper Alex Noonan, no relation to Michael Noonan.

Under the deal negotiated by Moss with Rovers’ then chief executive John Martin, Moss would receive a percentage of any transfer fee the Tallaght club obtained for Michael Noonan when he turns 18.

With a recent proposed €1.8 million sale to German Bundesliga side Hoffenheim falling through, due to it being rejected by Noonan and his family, the size of any percentage cut for Moss would be substantial.

However, such a deal, where an agent is effectively on commission from the selling club, could breach Fifa rules introduced in 2015.

Ownership structures where agents own players’ economic rights were already banned in the Premier League in England. West Ham had to pay a £5.5 million fine in 2007 over the signings of Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano. The Argentinian players’ rights had been partially owned by super-agent Kia Joorabchian’s company.

Rovers and FAI sources insist the Noonan case is not on a par with the Tevez case, but was more “an error in construction of the contract”. A separate issue is whether Noonan and his family were informed by Moss of his arrangement with Rovers. Moss has insisted that he “complied with all legal and regulatory requirements”.

Martin resigned from Rovers in the summer of 2025 and in September was appointed as the FAI’s new director of football, a pivotal position in the association.

FAI directors and executives are aware there has been bad blood between Martin and Bradley from their time at Rovers. Martin barred Bradley’s agent, Graham Barrett, from Rovers’ training ground while he was chief executive.

The issue about Martin’s involvement in the Noonan deal will be among a series of hot-topics discussed at a FAI board meeting on Tuesday night.

On Tuesday evening, FAI and Rovers sources said they believe Martin may have made “a mistake” over the Noonan contract.

There are minutes of a Rovers board meeting from early 2025 that show Martin briefed directors that any sale of the then recently-signed Noonan would include a percentage of the transfer being paid to his agent.

“He was trying to get the best deal for the club and made an error; there’s nothing sinister involved,” insisted one well-placed source.

With the FAI facing political headaches over the upcoming Israel games and the Minister of Sport threatening to withdraw State funding for pitches because of damage caused by fans throwing flares, the controversy over the Noonan contract and its new director of football is an unwanted distraction.

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