Celtic Cup?

Guys was just talking with a mate who said the Wales fa..FAW are trying to organise a celtic cup in 2009 with Eire, Scotland Wales and N.Eire

I know people recently here were talking about who would beat who among us and Scotland etc so hopefully we will find out.

I thing this would make the FAI a lot of money

More here: http://www.football365.com/story/0,1...442264,00.html

Players wont go for it. Cant see it happening tbh

It's in the Guardian today too.

All the senior players mightn't need to play but maybe more of the fringe t0ssers who were too busy starting their 6 week holidays to go to the US could be bothered. A competitive friendly with fans actually having something to get excited about rather than a proper friendly is far more appealling and probably more beneficial too, if used right.

As this is a club-based suggestion, it's already being discussed on the Eircom League forum : http://foot.ie/showthread.php?t=63849

It's a Setanta initiative - not an FAW one, who aren't even considering it and have left it to the Welsh Premier League to ponder over.

P.S. Where the fcuk is N.Eire.......?!?

Different thing steve.

The expansion of the Setanta Cup is for club sides and the moves are being made by the IFA

The lads here are talking about the Celtic Cup for national sides, and thats being led by the FAW

Originally Posted by Dodge

Different thing steve.

The expansion of the Setanta Cup is for club sides and the moves are being made by the IFA

The lads here are talking about the Celtic Cup for national sides, and thats being led by the FAW

My mistake - thanks Dodge.

Though where he fcuk is N.Eire.......?

Originally Posted by dcfcsteve

My mistake - thanks Dodge.

Though where he fcuk is N.Eire.......?

Donegal I'd have thought ....didn't know they were competing on their own these days mind. More feckin seperatists -jaysis between them, the corkonians with their Peoples Republic of more-tired-than-Wassup and Jackie Healy Rae inspiring the cantonisation of large chunks of the country ...where'll it end at all?

The french canadian cousins on the other side of the line'll be smelling their own armpits wondering why they weren't invited.

Originally Posted by dcfcsteve

Though where he fcuk is N.Eire.......?

Ealing Green will love that one, suprised he hasn't started spouting yet. Probably in mid process of writing a thesis on the topic.

Meant to say by the way ...I'm uncomfortable with the idea of this hypothetical 'Celtic Cup' on a few fronts.

*Setanta Cup notwithstanding, I'd have a reasonable concern that a regular fixture between us and NI might attract a motivated gobsh1te element to smear the rep of both sets of supporters.

*The competetive edge notwitstanding -I'm not sure what real footballing benefit there would be to any of the four sides involved. The vast majority of the players involved play each other in the same domestic league anyway.

*UEFA might have a thing or two to say about parrallel mini-tournaments being run alongside their qualifiers for Euro/WC finals and then possibly deflecting from those finals.

Originally Posted by dcfcsteve

My mistake - thanks Dodge.

Though where he fcuk is N.Eire.......?

What Steve? You dont have a sense of humour?

god lads ye all loved the N.Eire thing ...so I have just wrote to big Ian in stormont suggesting he take the name on board

Originally Posted by Lionel Ritchie

Meant to say by the way ...I'm uncomfortable with the idea of this hypothetical 'Celtic Cup' on a few fronts.

*Setanta Cup notwithstanding, I'd have a reasonable concern that a regular fixture between us and NI might attract a motivated gobsh1te element to smear the rep of both sets of supporters.

*The competetive edge notwitstanding -I'm not sure what real footballing benefit there would be to any of the four sides involved. The vast majority of the players involved play each other in the same domestic league anyway.

*UEFA might have a thing or two to say about parrallel mini-tournaments being run alongside their qualifiers for Euro/WC finals and then possibly deflecting from those finals.

Fair points, but the friendlies we do play are all lacklustre affairs anyway. A competitive edgge / local derby edge may add some urgency.

Agree totally about the further exposure to the same type of football.

The timing is August & February. Can't see this deflecting from interest in "those finals".

I only think there's merit in something like this if it's done to give experience to fringe players but in a more meaningful context than a US trip. That said, it sounds a bit gimmicky and it's down to our management and players to make the best of the friendly calendar which they should be able to do without a local mini tournament.

Originally Posted by Stuttgart88

The timing is August & February. Can't see this deflecting from interest in "those finals".

...but assuming this mini-tournament would only get "friendly" status ...what do we do if, as in our current qualifying campaign, two of the four end up in the same group? I can't see that being tolerated by anyone ...UEFA, FIFA, other teams in the group ...never mind the potential damage to gate receipts from "burn out" factor.

Then we'd just ditch it.

Anyway, I've gone off the idea. More important things to think about on a Friday afternoon!

God, the clock is ticking along slowly today.

Originally Posted by livehead1

Ealing Green will love that one, suprised he hasn't started spouting yet. Probably in mid process of writing a thesis on the topic.

Calm down. It ["N.Eire"] was clearly a typo, esp coming from Bwagner, who seems to me the type to try to stick to the subject without the need to score petty points. Unlike some.

Ok instead of meaningless friendlies all the time, every two years we play Scotland , Northern Ireland and Wales , for a revival of the Old Home Championships( which England pulled out of in 1984 in a strop cause they were having a hard time beating Northern Ireland ) The games could be played during International Friendly dates. And the games would be a bit more competitive as national pride would be at stake. Maybe we could get Magners to sponsor it.... Two Celtic Cups one Cider anyone?

Now fly in the Ointment... what anthem for the Wee North?

Although crowds at many of the matches had dropped in its latter years, I know I and a lot of other NI fans enjoyed the old Home Championships - esp when we won it twice in its last four years!

Therefore, I'd be all for giving this new tournament a go. Having it every two years (i.e. non-Euro and WC years) seems sensible, since international fixture congestion seems to be the biggest hurdle.

With the Home Championships, they tried a couple of different formats. Traditionally, the games were slotted in throughout the season, but latterly when interest etc began to die off as the Euros, WC and club football assumed ever greater importance, they changed this to try and refresh things.

Games came to be played over an eight day period at the end of the season, culminating with the Wales/NI game on the final Friday and England/Scotland the following afternoon.

Although players, managers etc sometimes complained about fatigue, or that it had a "fag-end" feel to it, I personally preferred it, since it had a proper "finals" feel to it i.e. you didn't have to wait two or three months for the next game.

Therefore I quite like the proposal to keep this end of season format. Indeed, I would go a step further and have one city hosting the event over an eight or nine day period. You could have the two "semi-finals" on the opening Friday evening and Saturday afternoon (or Saturday and Sunday), with the third place game on the following Friday evening or Saturday afternoon and the Final the following day.

That way, you could rotate it, say Cardiff in 2009, Glasgow in 2011, Dublin in 2013 and Belfast in 2015 (if we ever get a bloody Stadium built by then!). I quite like the idea of fans from the different countries congregating in one city either for the whole week, or travelling in/out for one or both of the two weekends.

Of course, there is always the possibility of aggro beween different sets of fans (esp. you-know-who ), but that is liable to happen no matter what format is chosen; in the end, we've got to "bite the bullet" and deal with it if this tournament is going to happen.

Bring it on, I say!

Originally Posted by CollegeTillIDie

Now fly in the Ointment... what anthem for the Wee North?

No, we're all right, we've got one, thanks

unfortunately for some it will no longer be a 'home championship' with our inclusion.

maybe some day you'll have an anthem of your own instead of that of your colonial masters