Coleraine manager Ruaidhri Higgins has called for the Irish Premiership to adopt a summer-football calendar after his side’s 8-0 aggregate defeat by HJK Helsinki ended their Conference League qualifying campaign. He argued that playing through the summer would leave Northern Irish clubs better conditioned and more competitive in early European qualifiers, potentially helping protect the league’s European allocation.

HJK won the second leg 3-0 at Inver Park after taking a five-goal lead from the first match, despite Higgins believing the aggregate score overstated the gap between the teams. He pointed to the League of Ireland’s improvement since moving to a February-to-November season, with Shelbourne and Bohemians reaching the third qualifying round while Coleraine, Linfield and Glentoran have exited; Larne remain Northern Ireland’s only European hopeful. Coleraine also face injuries to Mark Coyle, Aidan Wilson and goalkeeper Ryan Schofield before the new domestic season.