Criticism of league after Larne defeat 'unfair' - Lawlor

Gerard Lawlor has suggested a chance to the Irish League calendar

Northern Ireland Football League chief executive Gerard Lawlor says criticism in the wake of Larne's 4-1 defeat by Shamrock Rovers was "over the top".

The Premiership champions were easily beaten by their League of Ireland opponents in the north v south encounter in the Uefa Conference League.

Larne are the first side from Northern Ireland to qualify for the league or group phase of a major European competition.

"Larne didn't have a great game, they didn't play well and maybe the occasion got to them," Lawlor told BBC Radio Ulster's Sportsound.

"Some of the criticism of Larne as a club and us as a league after it was unfair."

Larne started the campaign with a 3-0 defeat by Molde and the Rovers setback was followed by losing 2-1 to St Gallen on Thursday night.

"Shamrock Rovers started their [European] journey 13 years ago. I think we have to keep up with that and try to develop.

"We're trying to aspire to where Shamrock Rovers are and that takes time. I just thought the criticism was over the top."

Lawlor's quest for improvement to help local teams progress in Europe includes a review of the academy structure and flexibility over when matches are played.

A change in the football calendar has been discussed for a number of years and Lawlor believes a "tweak" may be required.

"Do we need to look at the season? It's a big topic of debate - a tweak in the season let's call it.

"Is it maybe a May start and run to maybe February as a tweak? Is it worth a chance? If we continue to do the same things we'll continue to get the same results."

Lawlor also addressed the issue of funding for stadium improvements and said that "in the next three to five years we'll see massive progression in new facilities in the Irish League".