And so to the future.....

Well that's it. As we wave goodbye to the Under-21 set-up, we prepare to say hello to the brand new 'A' Championship for 2008. It's probably fitting that the last ever Dr. Tony O'Neill Under-21 League should be won and so permanently held by UCD as 'The Doc' was such a huge presence in the game here and did so much for young players. I'm sure he was smiling down on Belfield Park last Thursday night.

The eircom League of Ireland 'A' Championship will kick off at the same time as Premier and First Divisions and will be broken into 2 sections. Each section will contain 10 teams giving each team 18 matches, then breaking into knockout stages, similar to the outgoing Under-21 set-up. There will also be a pre-season shield similar to the one played for at Under-21 level this year.

It is essentially going to be the reserve league so it will be an open-age competition. The 'A' Championship will be made up of every Premier Division Club, 4-5 First Division Clubs and some new Clubs making up the balance.

Don't forget the new Under 20 league

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Don't forget the new Under 20 league

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Didn't forget it, just didn't mention it. Up until 2007 the Under-21 League acted as a Reserve League with age limitations. The 'A' Championship is the new Reserve League from 2008 so I only mentioned that as being the direct replacement for Under-21.

Anyone know where I can see a list of all the team who've won the U21 League ?

I guess this sub-forum will have to die/morph, along with the leagues themselves !

AFAIR:

2000: Pats
2001: Waterford
2002: Cork
2003: Cork
2004: UCD
2005: UCD
2006: Salthill Devon
2007: UCD

Sounds about right. Pretty much memorised it at this stage, what with having had it so long in the past few years!

I assume this forum will become the U-20 forum.

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Originally Posted by Schumi

AFAIR:

2000: Pats
2001: Waterford
2002: Cork
2003: Cork
2004: UCD
2005: UCD
2006: Salthill Devon
2007: UCD

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Good work by UCD there. Though I suspect the scholarship has helped in attracting decent U21 yr old players.

Did the league only start in 2000 ? What was there before it ?

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Originally Posted by dcfcsteve

Good work by UCD there. Though I suspect the scholarship has helped in attracting decent U21 yr old players.

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Of course. There's plenty of good young players at other clubs though.

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Did the league only start in 2000 ? What was there before it?

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I'm not sure, that's all the winners that are on the cup as far as I remember. I imagine there was a reserve league, with no age restrictions, beforehand.

Reserve league was before it. 21s league took over from it, and is now kind of giving way to it. Standard FAI logic.

No reason any other club can't offer scholarships to attract decent U-21 players. (And some do). No reason to suspect anything - the scholarships are clearly a main reason we've done so well in the competition. That, and the fact that it's more important to us than it is to many other clubs.

The Reserve League was first formed for the 1970/71 season and was known early on as the League of Ireland ''B'' Division. Before that League of Ireland Reserve teams played in the provincial senior Leagues pertinent to their locations i.e. Dublin and East Coast clubs played in the Leinster Senior League , Cork, Limerick and Waterford clubs ( if they had reserve teams) played Munster Senior League etc.

Do the teams who won U21 trophies this year get to keep them ? Will City get to keep the Enda McGuill ? :D

Who was Enda McGuill anyway ? :confused:

Anyone have a list of the U21 Cup winners/finalists since 2000 ? Maybe I should've paid more attention to the wee league before now..... :o

We keep the Dr Tony O'Neill Cup perpetually now.

Enda McGuill seems to have been secretary of Dundalk in the 70s - don't know why he was chosen for this Cup though.

Also couldn't tell you who won the Cup - Bray beat Pat's one year, and we never made the final. That's all I remember.

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Originally Posted by pineapple stu

Enda McGuill seems to have been secretary of Dundalk in the 70s - don't know why he was chosen for this Cup though.

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He was top man in the League of Ireland for a good time too, and generally regarded as one f the best administrators we've seen

Enda McGuill was a Dundalk club official and long serving League of Ireland official too.
He also ran an insurance business and one of his daughter's married Barry Kehoe the Dundalk and Drogheda legend (R.I.P.)