Setanta Cup Final

[dcfcsteve]

Well given that circumstances have changed then yes....that tends to happen when things change.

The game was only acknowledged for Turners Cross 15 days ago.

About one week into that 15 day period, it became clear that the work to the stadium would not be finished in time. If it was clear 7 days ago that there wasn't enough time, it should've been clear 15 days ago - as I doubt much changed in the intervening week.

The final should never have been allocated to a ground for which there was even a slight chance it wouldn't be ready.

The final is now being played in front of its lowest ever attendnace in a building site of a stadium where oen team has been deliberately given home advantage and two-thirds of the attendance. Setanta may as well just give Cork the cup winners cheque and save everyone the travelling.

The choice of venue for this year's final has been nothing short of a monumental fcuk-up, and has the potential to knacker the entire competition. Serious bollockings needs to be doled out over this avoidable and self-inflicted fiasco.

[micls]

The game was only acknowledged for Turners Cross 15 days ago.

About one week into that 15 day period, it became clear that the work to the stadium would not be finished in time. If it was clear 7 days ago that there wasn't enough time, it should've been clear 15 days ago - as I doubt much changed in the intervening week. .

What? Steve you really need to start looking up facts before posting.

The work that needs to be done on the St Annes for it to be open could STILL be ready in time, if it were allowed.

Our owner agreed to bring his own people in and get it done.

Another builder with NO connection to CCFC offered on radio today to go in start and get the work done by Saturday FREE OF CHARGE.

The MFA refused.

Yes this was a major **** up, but not one that was or could have been known a week ago given that all that needs to be done is the rubble cleared a bit fenced off and a path laid. The FAI were stupid to trust the MFA, yes but its in no way surprising that CCFC and its fans expected until yesterday that the work would be done

Im not gonna read the rest of the post because the above is completely off the mark.

[EalingGreen]

The MFA refused...

...The FAI were stupid to trust the MFA

If, as you say, the remedial work to the stand could have been achieved on time, why haven't the FAI told the MFA to sort it?

Who controls whom?

This all comes back to my main objection, which is not so much the (unfair/incompetent) decisions themselves which have been taken, as the process by which they've been arrived at, along with the motives and personalities of those who are taking them.

In particular, I am less concerned by Setanta, both because they are a commercial organisation and also because they are putting the money up.

But the FAI has neither such excuse and they appear at best to be complacent, or at worst colluding with (even directing?) a process which risks so alienating the IFA and Northern clubs, that the entire competiton may be in jeopardy.

At least some of the media in NI are reporting this. Are their counterparts in the Republic doing so? Is pressure being put on the FAI and Setanta down there? Or are people unaware/not bothered?

[ifk101]

But the FAI has neither such excuse and they appear at best to be complacent, or at worst colluding with (even directing?) a process which risks so alienating the IFA and Northern clubs, that the entire competiton may be in jeopardy.

There's no conspiracy theory here and the competition is/was in jeopardy long before this farce.


At least some of the media in NI are reporting this. Are their counterparts in the Republic doing so? Is pressure being put on the FAI and Setanta down there? Or are people unaware/not bothered?

Very few care about LOI football.

[adamd164]

The choice of venue for this year's final has been nothing short of a monumental fcuk-up, and has the potential to knacker the entire competition.


Complete b*llocks. No team will pull out of this competition while Setanta are putting up 30k for qualifying and up to 150k for winning the thing.

Glentoran and Linfield can huff and puff all they like, they'll be back next year, mark my words.

[Steve Bruce]

Complete b*llocks. No team will pull out of this competition while Setanta are putting up 30k for qualifying and up to 150k for winning the thing.

Glentoran and Linfield can huff and puff all they like, they'll be back next year, mark my words.

Linfield might be in next years competition, but if you think the 30k is what is going to keep us in it, then your sadly mistaken. 30k is pittence.

[mandrake]

I think the venue decision will affect future IL involvement in setanta cup. To give team such an advantage is a disgrace.



why , we DROGS played in belfast last year, not the easiest place to go to (football wise) and won so i dont think you have an argument there.

[adamd164]

Linfield might be in next years competition, but if you think the 30k is what is going to keep us in it, then your sadly mistaken. 30k is pittence.
Right, off with you then. Close the door on the way out.:)

[mandrake]

The game was only acknowledged for Turners Cross 15 days ago.

About one week into that 15 day period, it became clear that the work to the stadium would not be finished in time. If it was clear 7 days ago that there wasn't enough time, it should've been clear 15 days ago - as I doubt much changed in the intervening week.

The final should never have been allocated to a ground for which there was even a slight chance it wouldn't be ready.

The final is now being played in front of its lowest ever attendnace in a building site of a stadium where oen team has been deliberately given home advantage and two-thirds of the attendance. Setanta may as well just give Cork the cup winners cheque and save everyone the travelling.

The choice of venue for this year's final has been nothing short of a monumental fcuk-up, and has the potential to knacker the entire competition. Serious bollockings needs to be doled out over this avoidable and self-inflicted fiasco.

er how many times did youwin the league cup at home

[brendy_éire]

er how many times did youwin the league cup at home

Twice in the past two years. The League Cup final venue is decided with a coin flip. It's not ideal, but at least the process is transparent. (IMO, it should be two legs)

[pete]

Twice in the past two years. The League Cup final venue is decided with a coin flip. It's not ideal, but at least the process is transparent. (IMO, it should be two legs)

Is the coin toss conducted in public? :confused:

[thischarmingman]

Is the coin toss conducted in public? :confused:

No, but it is conducted in the presence of representatives from each club.

[EalingGreen]

There's no conspiracy theory here and the competition is/was in jeopardy long before this farce.

I'm not alleging a "conspiracy" of the type whereby e.g. people in the ROI conspire deliberately to "do down" NI football.

But it does look to me that in furthering their own interests, certain individuals or organisations in the ROI are risking alienating irrevocably those others in NI who should be their equal partners in this whole venture.


Very few care about LOI football.
I daresay that is true. But the media do care for controversy - it sells, after all. And a good old (cross-border) row about who is responsible for screwing up etc should certainly be controversial. :eek:

[EalingGreen]

Right, off with you then. Close the door on the way out.:)

If Linfield don't enter next year, I suspect the Glens won't either.

Tell the people at Setanta to make sure and turn the lights out...
:rolleyes:

[micls]

If, as you say, the remedial work to the stand could have been achieved on time, why haven't the FAI told the MFA to sort it?

Don't think the FAI could force the MFA to do anything but they certainly havn't put on enough pressure

[EalingGreen]

Don't think the FAI could force the MFA to do anything but they certainly havn't put on enough pressure

Who is actually paying for the upgrade of Turners' Cross? Who owns it? And who put up the money to buy it?

Besides, even if the FAI cannot force the MFA to sort out the ground in time, could they not award the Final to another ground?

[OneRedArmy]

I'm not alleging a "conspiracy" of the type whereby e.g. people in the ROI conspire deliberately to "do down" NI football.

But it does look to me that in furthering their own interests, certain individuals or organisations in the ROI are risking alienating irrevocably those others in NI who should be their equal partners in this whole venture.I'd argue that by continuing to play in a tinpot competition like the Country Antrim Shield the Northern clubs are equally guilty of furthering their own interests.

Until the respective associations get rid of the League Cup and widen the competition, the Setanta will be a poor relation.

[pete]

Who is actually paying for the upgrade of Turners' Cross? Who owns it? And who put up the money to buy it?


The MFA (amateur body of committee blazers) own Turners Cross & Cork City rent it for home games. Money put into it in recent years has come from a variety of sources including Government sports capital grant, National Lottery, FAI, gate receipts from Sunderland v Cork City friendly (CCFC just provided the team & did not run the event) which paid for new turnstiles. The grants in recent years were given on the basis that the ground is made available to CCFC (or maybe just an LOI team).

[EalingGreen]

I'd argue that by continuing to play in a tinpot competition like the Country Antrim Shield the Northern clubs are equally guilty of furthering their own interests.


Eh? By contesting the CAS, NI clubs/IFA may be "furthering their own interests" (somewhat debateable, in fact), but this is hardly at the expense of teams in the ROI.

Likewise, when FAI teams contest their own League Cup, then that is not doing NI clubs/IFA any harm.

You forget that the FAI and IFA are supposed to be equal partners in the Setanta Cup. Yet certain influential individuals both in FAI and Setanta itself do not seem to recognise this, and so are acting in an entirely selfish way, to the detriment of the IFA, and by extension, to the possible future of the Setanta Cup itself.


Until the respective associations get rid of the League Cup and widen the competition, the Setanta will be a poor relation.
Cart before horse. There are serious flaws in the SC as it stands. In particular, the IFA/NI clubs appear seriously p1ssed off. This needs to be put right before anyone can even think of expanding the SC, for unless it is, there might not even be a SC in future.

If these problems can be resolved and the competition put back on a stable footing, then it might be worth considering expansion. Only then will it be the right time, however, to consider clearing the respective fixture schedules, in order to allow extra SC games.

[EalingGreen]

The MFA (amateur body of committee blazers) own Turners Cross & Cork City rent it for home games. Money put into it in recent years has come from a variety of sources including Government sports capital grant, National Lottery, FAI, gate receipts from Sunderland v Cork City friendly (CCFC just provided the team & did not run the event) which paid for new turnstiles. The grants in recent years were given on the basis that the ground is made available to CCFC (or maybe just an LOI team).

So it may well be that only a small proportion of the money to purchase and redevelop TC came from the MFA itself. Yet even though they are affiliated to the FAI, who put up at least some of the money, they (MFA) cannot be instructed on such a matter by the FAI?

Perhaps the constitutions of the FAI and MFA, or the relative ground contracts etc, don't allow for this. But I cannot believe that a quiet word from the FAI into the ear of the MFA about future games and grants etc, could not have "persuaded" them to sort out the new stand in time, or else release the FAI to stage the game elsewhere.

[placid casual]

If Linfield don't enter next year, I suspect the Glens won't either.
Tell the people at Setanta to make sure and turn the lights out...
:rolleyes:


In which case setanta will hopefully tell all the nordie teams to go fook themselves and have the competition amongst the top 8 in the Eircom League.
Maybe then....THEN Rovers can qualify for the competition!!

what is it they put in the water in the 6 counties that turns each and everyone into a complete whinge bag ?!?
witness the whingein of the hardy hars against the gypolata's?
if they werent playing the filthy mongrels i'd shout from the rooftop's for the opposition in the years FAIlure Cup.

[Krstic]

For Glens fans, if the Glens had reached last years final (which was to be held in Belfast) and been playing Cork in the Final, would you have agreed to switch the final to Dublin in order to make it fairer for Cork?

Hardly Likely.

[Krstic]

In which case setanta will hopefully tell all the nordie teams to go fook themselves and have the competition amongst the top 8 in the Eircom League.
Maybe then....THEN Rovers can qualify for the competition!!

what is it they put in the water in the 6 counties that turns each and everyone into a complete whinge bag ?!?
witness the whingein of the hardy hars against the gypolata's?
if they werent playing the filthy mongrels i'd shout from the rooftop's for the opposition in the years FAIlure Cup.


As much as this is equally an attack on Derry, I find myself agreeeing with you

[tiktok]

The MFA (amateur body of committee blazers) own Turners Cross & Cork City rent it for home games. Money put into it in recent years has come from a variety of sources including Government sports capital grant, National Lottery, FAI, gate receipts from Sunderland v Cork City friendly (CCFC just provided the team & did not run the event) which paid for new turnstiles. The grants in recent years were given on the basis that the ground is made available to CCFC (or maybe just an LOI team).

Cork City also paid €32,000 for the seats at the St.Anne's end and €8,000 to tarmac the area around it. So €40k of the money spent thus far has come directly from the club, also it's worth noting that the MFA were able to draw down the lottery money and grants that they have in large because they have Cork City as an anchor tenant.

[EalingGreen]

In which case setanta will hopefully tell all the nordie teams to go fook themselves and have the competition amongst the top 8 in the Eircom League.

Sure. In fact, why not go the whole hog and rename it something like, say, The League Cup? :rolleyes:

Maybe then....THEN Rovers can qualify for the competition!!

Who?

what is it they put in the water in the 6 counties that turns each and everyone into a complete whinge bag ?!?

Yawn.

witness the whingein of the hardy hars
Who?

the gypolata's?
Who?

the filthy mongrels
Who?

i'd shout from the rooftop's
"Shouting from the rooftop's" [sic] is a very short step from howling at the moon...:rolleyes:

[EalingGreen]

For Glens fans, if the Glens had reached last years final (which was to be held in Belfast) and been playing Cork in the Final, would you have agreed to switch the final to Dublin in order to make it fairer for Cork?

Hardly Likely.
Possibly, possibly not - it's a bit hypothetical. But if it were switched to Dublin, we couldn't have complained too loudly. (If nothing else, this year has proved that no-one listens to our complaints anyway.)

Anyhow, you're hardly comparing like-with-like. For one thing, such a game in Belfast would not have been at our home ground, but at Windsor.
For another, capacity would not have been restricted to a paltry 4,200. (WP holds 15,000 seated, plus another few thousand standing)
Cork fans would have been allocated as many tickets as they could possibly want, so if they were outnumbered 3:1, it would only be because they didn't have enough fans willing to travel.
Plus there would have been plenty of tickets for any neutrals who wanted to go along.
And you would never have had the situation whereby Cork fans had paid out for travel and accommodation etc, then later found that their promised tickets were no longer available.

So all-in-all, even in Belfast, a final between Cork and the Glens would have been a much better - and fairer - option.

P.S. Had the Final been between Derry and the Glens, Derry fans have posted here that they would have accepted it in Belfast (Windsor). Yet it seems that Setanta had already determined it would have been at the Brandywell, come what may.

[Candystripe]

I have to say, I really enjoyed reading your replies there Ealing Green ;)

[micls]

Who is actually paying for the upgrade of Turners' Cross? Who owns it? And who put up the money to buy it?


The MFA have a long term lease on the ground.

Confusion over who owns it now, it was a Canadian family possibly now the FAi...dunno tbh.

Grants are paying for the upgrades because City are there


Besides, even if the FAI cannot force the MFA to sort out the ground in time, could they not award the Final to another ground?

Not by the time they bothered to check if it was actually ready...they just took the MFA's word for it til 2 days ago

[corkboy360]

Twice in the past two years. The League Cup final venue is decided with a coin flip. It's not ideal, but at least the process is transparent. (IMO, it should be two legs)
No ordinary joe soap see's this flip though:cool:

[balls]

lads have 2 spare tickets for setanta cup final in donie forde stand. anyonewant em p.m. me before 10a.m. tomoro morning. they have to be collected in mitchelstown tomorow. face value

[AnnaghRed]

I hope the Glens turn up, win the game, bank the cheque, then tell Setanta and the FAI to shove the competition up their arse.

Am itching to renew my subs to see this game, but won't because of the **** they've made of this final :mad:

[A face]

Cant wait for this now. Should be a great game

[Réiteoir]

think i'll watch the Stanford Twenty/20 Cricket instead

[A face]

think i'll watch the Stanford Twenty/20 Cricket instead

Each to their own ;)

[kingdomkerry]

Is there a stram for this.

[holidaysong]

Glentoran 1-0 up. Can't find a live stream for the game anywhere.. :(

[The Lilywhites]

eircom.net if you have eircom broadband.

[holidaysong]

Unfortunately not..

[Ambaiste!]

Glentoran 1-0 up. Can't find a live stream for the game anywhere.. :(

Same here, watched most of the others on justin.tv but no luck this time.

[holidaysong]

Same here, watched most of the others on justin.tv but no luck this time.

Yeah, I got the Drogheda - Glentoran semi online but not the final, very odd.

[Lionel Ritchie]

1-1 now.

There's a smattering of gobsh1tes in the Glens support methinks. Hope they behave themselves later win or lose.

[irishultra]

2-1...Kearney.

[irishultra]

ALL OVER!!!!

CORK WIN.

look not a great game but a cup final so its always going to be scrappy.



KEARNEYS reaction is truly what football is all about.

[passinginterest]

"we were f**kin excellent in the second half"

:)

[irishultra]

hahahah...was that dan murray. I thought he was English?


edit: sorry ye i thought since he was MOTM he was being interviewed but it was Murphy.

[superfrank]

Congrats to Cork.

[Rambling Along]

Ian Stokes once again proved why he's the worst referee in the league!
Never a free-kick for Glentoran's and Danny Murphy should have been booked for his handball in the 1st half when he caugh it as it was going out but wasn't.

Why was the garda on the pitch in the 1st half trying to tackle the Glens player???

[Graemerz]

Hope the Glenmen have a lovely journey home. Ooops. So close. :)

[Réiteoir]

Team with massive home and fan advantage wins now devalued Cup Final shocker

Wonder if Stangmore Park or Clandeboye Park will be as welcoming for next year's final should they make it out of the IFA section.

Would only be fair ofc

[A face]

Team with massive home and fan advantage wins now devalued Cup Final shocker

Yup, we won .... its great isnt it? ;)