I’ve no
scientific way of proving my instinct is correct, but I’d imagine I was one of
a select band of Tyneside residents who opted to watch the FAI Ford Cup Final
on www.rte.ie on Sunday 4th
November, rather than Newcastle’s trip to Anfield. I must admit that the dire
first half at Lansdowne Road (enough of this Aviva Stadium horseshit) did cause
my concentration to waver and my vision to stray from laptop to television,
just long enough to see Yohan Cabaye’s masterful finish. I was tempted at that
point to stick with The Magpies, but I knew my responsibility, Hiberniores Hibernis ipsis, was to show
my support for the players, officials and 16,116 fans of Derry City and St.
Patrick’s Athletic who played out another 75 minutes, plus about 5 minutes of
injury time at the end of the second half of extra time, of high quality, high
tempo football. Unlike the two previous seasons, when Sligo Rovers had
triumphed on penalties over Shamrock Rovers and Shelbourne respectively, this
one didn’t require the added drama of kicks from the penalty mark, but it was
no worse a spectacle for that.
Following on
from Donegal’s triumph in the All Ireland Football Final at Croke Park in
September, Derry City made it an Ulster double by winning the cup final 3-2
after extra time. St. Patrick’s Athletic took the lead after 53 minutes through
Sean O’Connor, but were forced to scramble for the extra 30 minutes when
Christy Fagan made it 2-2 after 87 minutes, after firstly Stewart Greacen,
almost immediately, and then substitute Rory Patterson from the penalty spot,
had put the Foylesiders ahead, though it has to be said St. Pat’s were
desperately unlucky, on the balance of play and number of chances created, not
to win the thing for the first time since 1961. Sadly Patterson’s winning goal
for the Candystripes after 105 minutes ensured another season of what might have been for an Inchicore
outfit that finished third in the Airtricity Premier League. At least this
ensures another shot at the Europa League for the Richmond Park team in early
July 2013. If there is a silver lining, it must be that retiring champions
Shamrock Rovers, who saw short-term manager Brian Laws depart from Tallaght
after barely two months in charge to assume charge at Scunthorpe United for the
second time, will not be in Europe next season. Their new manager is Trevor
Croly, who had been assistant to Liam Buckley at Richmond Park. League of
Ireland football can be so incestuous.
For Derry
City, winning the cup more than made up for the disappointment of losing the
Setanta Cup on a penalty shoot-out to Crusaders 5-4 after a 2-2 draw at
Glentoran’s The Oval back in May (a fixture that would have been
incomprehensible for much of the previous 4 decades) and presented them with
their fifth FAI Cup success since being accepted in to the League of Ireland in
1985. Never mind discussions of the club’s troubled times while under the aegis
of the IFA, or the geographical location of The Brandywell, the sight of 8,000
Derry fans lustily singing Amhrán na bhFiann is proof enough
that, in the absence of a 16 team, September – May, 32 County professional
league, which is the only realistic way to drive up the standards of the
domestic game on the island of Ireland, the League of Ireland is the appropriate
place for Derry City to play their football. Like St. Patrick’s Athletic and Corn Sraithe na hÉireann (League Cup)
winners Drogheda United, who were also runners-up in the Airtricity Premier
League, proving that all is once again hunky dory with the Diamond Drogs,
another appropriate place for Derry City to play is in the Europa League
qualifiers next July.
The popular
and rightful Premier Division winners were Sligo Rovers, who recovered from the
departure of successful, boss Paul Cook, firstly to Accrington Stanley and now
to Chesterfield, not to mention the signing of former Newcastle trainee left
back Jeff Henderson, to win the title by a less than flattering 4 point margin.
Blessed with players such as Joseph Ndo, Romauld Boco, Pascal Millien, Rafael
Cretaro, Danny Ventre, Gavin Peers and Ross Gaynor, the Bit o’ Red clearly had
the best squad in the league and deservedly won the title. Their reward is a
place in Champions’ League qualifiers in July 2013.
Below Sligo,
as mentioned, were Drogheda United in second place, St. Pat’s in third,
Shamrock Rovers in fourth and Derry City in fifth. With the exception of the
Corinthians from the South Dublin County Council Halting Site, the other sides
will feel they’ve had a reasonable season. Below them Cork City will be happy
with sixth spot in their first campaign since promotion, while the impecunious
Big Club Bohemians did remarkably well with a squad full of teenagers to come
seventh, as well as banjoing the Shams 4-0 at home and 1-0 away. Shels were
only a point behind Bohs and Cork, which wasn’t a bad debut Premier League
campaign; though they’ll want to forget the stuffing Derry gave them in the FAI
Cup semi-final. UCD and Bray, though it is always referred to as a soccer town,
haven’t a pot to piss in financially and will be relieved to have stayed up.
Providing the
annual circus of the granting of licenses early in 2013 goes according to plan,
which it never does, the composition of the League of Ireland for next year
will see a 12 team Premier Division. Currently, it is suggested that this will
consist of the 10 teams mentioned so far, plus First Division Champions
Limerick. The identity of the twelfth and final team, regardless of the
outcomes of any last minute disappearances (Sporting Fingal or Galway United,
for example) or licensing issues, was allegedly decided on Friday 2nd
November, when 11th placed Dundalk (they were bottom after Monahan
United withdrew mid-season and had their record expunged) defeated 2nd
placed First Division outfit Waterford United (who’d defeated 3rd
placed Longford Town in a two legged play-off to get that far) by 4-2 on
aggregate, after a rather niggling 2-0 away win at the RSC. However, the huge
gap in my life on Friday nights that the ending of the League of Ireland season
has enacted is counterbalanced by news that Dundalk may not be out of the woods
just yet. Stories emerged, on the day Obama beat Romney so you may have missed them
that Dundalk (who were within days of going bust themselves) had created, by
dint of the fact that the winning goal was scored by Michael Rafter, who was
ineligible.
The case has
gone to the FAI for arbitration, with both clubs claiming a place in the First
Division could be a death blow for them. Meanwhile, Longford, Athlone, Finn Harps
and, amazingly considering Mick Wallace’s own financial affairs, Wexford Youths
wonder who else will be in the lower league with them, as joint wooden spoon
winners Mervue United and Salthill Devon (aka SD Galway) contemplate
withdrawing from senior football, merging or becoming a constituent part of a
re-launched Galway United. Of course there are no concrete proposals, but the
FAI’s Ned O’Connor did undertake an examination in to the issue of senior
football Corribside, producing a report you can read on line at http://www.fai.ie/images/stories/FINAL_REPORT.pdf
His recommendations are suitably vague and unhelpful -:
Given the population of Galway,
there should only be one Senior National League Club and at least two Galway
teams in a Connaught Senior League. In view of earlier comments about the
particular situation in Galway the timing of the introduction of a new
Connaught Senior League is crucial.
The options for a Galway based National
League club are (a) Galway United (b) New Galway club (c) Mervue United (d)
Salthill Devon and (e) merger of Mervue United and Salthill Devon.
In determining a preferred option
regard must be had to the criteria necessary for a successful Galway club. Such
criteria would clearly include the support and involvement of all of the
interests in Galway in a unified, focussed and coherent manner.
Of the options outlined, either A or
B offer the most potential. To achieve the widest possible support and involvement
I would recommend that the new Board should include nominees from the four
major stakeholders in Galway football, i.e. Galway League, GUST, Mervue United
and Salthill Devon / SD Galway. Such nominees need not necessarily be existing
members of any of the four stakeholder bodies. The Board should also include a
small number of local business / community interests and it would be preferable
to have an independent Chair.
It would also be desirable that the
question of the local creditors be addressed. A possible solution might be for
representatives from the old Galway United Board and the new Board to see what
offers, either in cash or kind, could be made to the creditors with a view to
maintaining some level of trust and credibility locally
As ever,
things are as clear as mud and likely only to get muddier as time goes on.
Perhaps the whole ludicrous situation is best summed up by a leader comment in Waterford
Today -:
Now starts the annual rumour mill that
always accompanies the close season, and goes such a long way to shortening the
gap to the opening game of next year. What division will that first game take
place in, the First, the Premier, or a single, combined one? Who's out, who's
in? How are the licences to be awarded? Will the coming months bring news to
lift the gloom after all? And all of this before ever a word on which players
are staying put or going where! For seasoned League of Ireland followers,
pre-season is a sport all of its own.
The first
crucial date is December 6th, when the opening round games in the
2013 Setanta Cup will be announced. Somewhat unbelievably, the location for the
draw is Stormont Castle. At times, cross border co-operation and Irish football
can be simply beyond parody. However, I’ll do my best to keep you informed of
the incomprehensible, labyrinthine developments in garrison games between now
and February 13th when the first legs will be played.
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