Setanta cup gone?

**adamd164** · 09/11/2013, 11:36 AM

Around the time of this year's Setanta cup, Milo Corcoran said that the organizing committee were hopeful of getting in a new main sponsor and that setanta would still broadcast games if one was found.

Would love to be wrong but the deafening silence since then suggests this hasn't transpired? The draw is usually in December.

**avvenalaf** · 09/11/2013, 12:32 PM

Hear Roy Keane is coming on board and the name is being altered to The Setanta O'Halpin trophy.

**SeanDrog** · 10/11/2013, 12:42 PM

As a competition it failed to capture the imagination (unfortunately).

**CityRebel** · 10/11/2013, 1:11 PM

Originally Posted by SeanDrog

As a competition it failed to capture the imagination (unfortunately).

If they played the matches on Friday nights it'd make a big difference to mid-week.

**SeanDrog** · 10/11/2013, 1:18 PM

Fully agree , but they didn't (big mistake IMO)

**citybone** · 11/11/2013, 12:18 AM

Just merge both League cups (they mean feck all anyway) Regionalise the early rounds but don't use the border as a cut off, use the 12 Irish league sides, 19 League of Ireland clubs next season and one other team (Maybe Monaghan united?). Get EA Sports to sponsor it. (It would have more interest in the Current league of Ireland League cup).
So in the first round have 4 regions of 8 teams each, Second round of 2 regions with 8 teams in each and have the Quarter final a open draw.
As a Cork City fan i do like the competition but the distance is a hindrance especially for the early rounds.
Possible first round clash's Dundalk vs Warrenpoint, Derry vs Coleraine, Sligo vs Ballymonard. Try to keep teams from the same division apart as much as possible (Due to having small league's we play the same teams too often).
Cant see there being a competition in 2014 unfortunatly.

**A face** · 11/11/2013, 12:21 AM

It was a great competition because it was great prize money, even for just getting into it, better than League Cup and FAI Cup early rounds anyway. It was a chance to play different teams/players and you didn't have to travel to the depths of eastern Europe for it either. It was great to have something that replaced the old Blaxnit Cup as well.

**NeverFeltBetter** · 11/11/2013, 12:27 AM

Shame. Great idea, just hard to get over some of the inherent problems, biggest in my opinion being dominance of LOI. It's expansion damaged its "prestige" or whatever you want to call it too.

**citybone** · 11/11/2013, 7:11 AM

Originally Posted by NeverFeltBetter

Shame. Great idea, just hard to get over some of the inherent problems, biggest in my opinion being dominance of LOI. It's expansion damaged its "prestige" or whatever you want to call it too.

The Dominance was a problem alright, The Irish league sides didn't seem to want to take it seriously at least not since the prize money decreased. As for the Prestige, We were fighting for the spot at the end of the 2012 season cos we wanted it. A lot of travel for Cork but good motorway makes it as easy as a trip to Dublin was 10 years ago or Sligo/Derry nowadays.

When Bray played Lisburn, that was prob not the highlight of the competition but im sure the Bray fans must have enjoyed the experience. I know some people suggested welsh league sides and after looking into that i dont think its great but maybe if there was one welsh team, three Irish League sides and 4 League of Ireland sides it might be good.

I suggested two versions of the competition in this tread already lol. I just like playing different team's as in not always League of Ireland teams. Playing new teams is interesting.

**toffeejay** · 13/11/2013, 7:47 PM

Don't see what Welsh sides would bring, they might be able to compete but in terms of interest there are only two sides who have a good fan base, Bangor and Rhyl, but even they only get about 500 a game.

A combined League Cup would be the way to go (I always thought England and Scotland should do this as well).

**Charlie Darwin** · 13/11/2013, 8:01 PM

Welsh teams are a complete no-goer. Sure the Pro 12 rugby games with Welsh sides, the likes of Ospreys even wouldn't bring more than a couple of dozen fans and they average like 10,000 at home. Bala Town wouldn't have a hope.

**toffeejay** · 13/11/2013, 8:19 PM

Worst still if it was just one club it would always be TNS and they have 0 fan base.

**Longfordian** · 13/11/2013, 8:21 PM

Originally Posted by Charlie Darwin

Welsh teams are a complete no-goer. Sure the Pro 12 rugby games with Welsh sides, the likes of Ospreys even wouldn't bring more than a couple of dozen fans and they average like 10,000 at home. Bala Town wouldn't have a hope.

Some may recall we played a Welsh team in Europe once. Ahem. Anyway they brought about 5 fans over for the first leg if that.

**Charlie Darwin** · 13/11/2013, 8:29 PM

Originally Posted by toffeejay

Worst still if it was just one club it would always be TNS and they have 0 fan base.

I have it on good authority they were dancing on the streets of Total Network Solutions the night they hammered Bohs 4-0

**luiz** · 13/11/2013, 8:31 PM

I went to a number of Setanta Cup matches this year, including an away game where Portadown played Drogheda. I couldn't notice that people were unnattracted, even the Northern Irish supporters. The game between Shamrock Rovers and Linfield for example, had an insanely big crowd, attention, atmosphere, better than any match I have ever seen in Ireland, including the european competitions. There seems to be appetite for this type of competition among the crowd, and the costs aren't much bigger than playing a regular league game (at least for LoI clubs. Might be different if welsh teams were invited, as it might involve a plane trip. 4 hours more flattening your bum in a ferry doesn't seem what a team worried about fitness would do). Everything is easier said that done, but takes an enormous amount of incompetence and indiference to ruin a competition like this.

Since there are already two suggestions, what I would do is a format more or less like this: 4 Loi and 4 IL sides. LoI sides in group A, IL sides in group B, teams play only the teams in the other group once, two games home and two games away for each. A semifinal between the first and second of each group, and then the final, avoiding adding yet 2 more Drogheda X Shamrock Rovers clashes.

**Charlie Darwin** · 13/11/2013, 8:37 PM

Originally Posted by luiz

The game between Shamrock Rovers and Linfield for example, had an insanely big crowd, attention, atmosphere, better than any match I have ever seen in Ireland, including the european competitions.

Yeah, great atmosphere. I think it was James Chambers who said on twitter after the game that it's the kind of atmosphere players dream of.

Agree with your suggestion about trying to keep as many games as possible between teams from different leagues. It's gotten very boring the last couple of years with LOI sides dominating.

**Dodge** · 14/11/2013, 11:25 AM

The draw was set up to keep that from happening. Can't be helped if LOI sides kept winning.

**dundalkfc10** · 14/11/2013, 4:28 PM

Originally Posted by luiz

I went to a number of Setanta Cup matches this year, including an away game where Portadown played Drogheda. I couldn't notice that people were unnattracted, even the Northern Irish supporters. The game between Shamrock Rovers and Linfield for example, had an insanely big crowd, attention, atmosphere, better than any match I have ever seen in Ireland, including the european competitions. There seems to be appetite for this type of competition among the crowd, and the costs aren't much bigger than playing a regular league game (at least for LoI clubs. Might be different if welsh teams were invited, as it might involve a plane trip. 4 hours more flattening your bum in a ferry doesn't seem what a team worried about fitness would do). Everything is easier said that done, but takes an enormous amount of incompetence and indiference to ruin a competition like this.

Since there are already two suggestions, what I would do is a format more or less like this: 4 Loi and 4 IL sides. LoI sides in group A, IL sides in group B, teams play only the teams in the other group once, two games home and two games away for each. A semifinal between the first and second of each group, and then the final, avoiding adding yet 2 more Drogheda X Shamrock Rovers clashes.

Same when we played Linfield a few years back, The atmosphere and excitement regarding both home and away ties (apart from the PSNI and Guards making us all have to leave from Oriel and getting escorted in and out of Belfast, if you didnt do this you didnt go to the game) Was 2 of the top 10 games Ive watched Dundalk in the last 17/18 years

**citybone** · 14/11/2013, 6:28 PM

the better supported Welsh clubs would be about the mid table in Northern Irish attendance. If they have 6 teams from the north again make it IL +1 Welsh+ 6 LOI. I think it would help the welsh league crowds for this anyway. But the 4 IL + 4 LOI makes sense but the 6 LOI teams made the fight for 6th spot more interesting. Top 4 is European spots already.