Association football in the Republic of Ireland

Kilkenny locals playing a football match.

Association football, more usually known as football or soccer, is the team sport with the highest level of participation in the Republic of Ireland (with five-a-side games being included).^[1] It is also the third most popular spectator sport overall with 16% of total attendances at sports events, behind only Gaelic football (34%) and hurling (23%).^[2] The national governing body for the sport is the Football Association of Ireland, who run the national football team and the League of Ireland, which is the top level of the sport in the country. The term "football" is used interchangeably in Ireland between Soccer/Association football and the country's national sport Gaelic football.

In its earliest days, association football was largely confined to the city of Dublin and its surrounding county.^[3] Gradually it became more widespread throughout the country, to the point where in the modern day there are clubs in all of the counties of Ireland. Currently, average league attendances at matches in the League of Ireland is around 2,000.^[4] Many of the country's top players move to leagues outside of the country, particularly the English Premier League, which is one of the reasons why significant numbers of locals follow clubs in that league.^[5]

The sport is played at all levels in the country. A strong boost^[6] for the sport in the country was the national side's performance in the 1990 FIFA World Cup where they reached the quarter-finals, their best achievement to date.^[7]

History

Although the sport was being played in Ireland in the 1860s, it was mainly based in Ulster and it was not until the 1880s that the game spread to other areas of the country. The Leinster Football Association was formed in 1892 as the game became more popular in the area. Clubs from outside the Belfast area thought that the IFA favoured Ulster based clubs and when the IFA reneged on a promise to play the IFA Cup final replay in Dublin and instead scheduled the match for Belfast a meeting of southern associations and clubs was arranged and on June 1 1921, the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) was formed in Molesworth Hall in Dublin. The League of Ireland was established in 1921, with eight teams taking part. St. James's Gate F.C. won the first title, and they were also winners of the first FAI Cup, then called the Free State Cup, in 1922. In 1923, the FAI was recognised by FIFA as the governing body of the Irish Free State^[8] under the name Football Association of the Irish Free State (FAIFS) and at the 1924 Olympics, the Irish Free State made their international debut. On May 28 at the Stade Olympique, they beat Bulgaria 1-0, with Paddy Duncan scoring the team's first ever goal. As a result of this they qualified for the quarter-finals. ^{[9] [10]} On June 14 1924, the Irish Free State made their home debut against the United States, who had embarked on a brief European tour after competing in the same Olympics. Ed Brookes scored a hat-trick in a 3-1 home win at Dalymount Park. ^[11] The Irish Free State did not play their next game until March 21 1926. This was an away game against Italy which they lost 3-0. In subsequent years the status of the Olympic Games football competition was downgraded and as a result this game is widely regarded as the Irish Free State's first official game.^{[citation needed]}

The 1930s saw the erosion of Dublin's dominance in the league. During the 20s, Bohemians, St James's Gate, Shelbourne and Shamrock Rovers had a monopoly over the domestic game, but Dundalk and Sligo Rovers both won championships while Cork F.C. and Waterford collected FAI Cups as football spread to the provinces. The Second World War curtailed international matches between 1939 and 1946, but league football went ahead with Cork United F.C. dominating, winning four titles between 1940 and 1945. On the international front, England won a match at Dalymount Park 1-0, but Ireland got their revenge three years later when they became the first 'foreign' side to defeat England on English soil. Ireland won the Goodison Park encounter 2-0.

In 1950, FIFA directed both the FAI and IFA to pick players only from within their own boundaries rather than picking players from all over the island. FIFA also ruled that the FAI's team would be known as the Republic of Ireland with the IFA's side being called Northern Ireland. Up to that point, both Associations referred to their teams as 'Ireland'. The Dublin based clubs reasserted their dominance with only Cork capable of challenging their dominance. 1958 saw a League of Ireland side enter European competition for the first time with Shamrock Rovers going out 9-2 on aggregate to Manchester United in the first round of the European Cup.

In the 1960s Waterford United became one of the league's most successful clubs as they won three titles during the decade, though Shamrock Rovers were the team of the 60s. The Hoops won six FAI Cups in a row during the 60s, a feat that has never been repeated. In 1969 the FAI decided to appoint a national team manager instead of a team of selectors. Mick Meagan became the first manager. They still failed to win any of their qualifiers for the 1970 World Cup. Ireland finished bottom of their qualification group for the 1972 European Championship, ending Meagan's tenure as manager. Liam Tuohy briefly replaced him. Johnny Giles became the Republic of Ireland's first ever player-manager before the 1976 European Championship qualifiers, but the side again failed to qualify. During the qualifiers for the 1980 European Championship, the Republic of Ireland took on Northern Ireland in an historic first ever meeting between the two sides. A 0-0 draw at Dalymount Park was marred by rioting in Dublin on the day of the match. Domestically, no team really dominated as the popularity of the game began to diminish. The major achievement was Dundalk's progress to the last 16 of the European Cup in 1979 when they eventually went out to Glasgow Celtic.

The domestic game went from bad to worse during the 1980s with clubs all over the country struggling for finance. Shamrock Rovers were forced to sell their home, Glenmalure Park, while St Patrick's Athletic were forced to move out of Richmond Park towards the end of the decade. On the field, Shamrock Rovers were again the team to beat as they won a record four titles in a row, though provincial clubs Athlone, Dundalk and Derry City also claimed titles. The 1990s saw an improvement for the game domestically. Facilities at grounds throughout the country improved, and, the standard of football was also excellent. Shelbourne and St Patrick's Athletic dominated the decade, winning four league titles between them, with Shelbourne also winning three FAI Cups.

The national game received a huge boost when the Republic, under Jack Charlton, qualified for the 1988 European Championship—their first ever major finals—where they won their first game 1-0 against England. This was followed by qualification for the World Cup in 1990, 1994 (where they beat Italy) and 2002. However, the 2002 Roy Keane Saipan incident, when the team captain Roy Keane went home (or was sent home) before the start of the 2002 World Cup after a public quarrel with manager Mick McCarthy over the facilities and preparation for the tournament, had far-reaching effects on the sport in Ireland. The FAI commissioned a report from external consultants Genesis, into its World Cup preparations. The "Genesis Report" agreed with many of Keane's criticisms, finding that the FAI structure was not conducive to good planning and making a range of recommendations. Brendan Menton resigned as FAI General Secretary at this time, and the media linked the two events, though Menton denied this. A second Genesis report, this time produced by the FAI but disingenuously called "Genesis II" (or the "White Paper"), in 2005 recommended a radical overhaul of the League of Ireland and led to the appointment of an assessment group.^[12] A joint implementation committee made major changes to the league, including merging the league with the FAI, changing the management structure and revamping the league structure.^[13]

Shelbourne dominated the game during the early years of the 21st century, but after winning the league in 2006 they were demoted to the First Division for financial irregularities. The League of Ireland in 2007 was won by Drogheda United F.C.—their first ever league championship. They subsequently collapsed due to financial mismanagement and overspending.

League system

The Republic of Ireland football league system is formed of the League of Ireland and the A Championship. The League of Ireland was established in 1921. The League of Ireland consisted of one division up to 1985, when it split in to the Premier Division and First Division. In 2008, the A Championship was introduced below the league as a preparatory division for entry in to it. The league season runs from March to November. Another change undergone by the league has been the introduction of professionalism into some clubs. Clubs were previously semi-professional. These changes were mainly made in an effort to better performances in European competition by League of Ireland clubs. The improvements provided by professionalism, particularly in fitness, produced significantly better results in European competition, but proved to be unsustainable, with the vast majority of the clubs involved suffering severe financial collapses. In 2006 the FAI completed a merge with the League of Ireland. This merge involved changes to league format which were to be gradually introduced over the next three years. The changes included the introduction of the A Championship which would provide non-league and amateur clubs a chance to win promotion to the First Division which, up to that stage, had no clubs actually relegated. Clubs who finished in last place had to re-apply for league membership, however. The league has received more media coverage in recent years. At the moment, two channels (RTÉ and TG4) show live matches and/or highlights of Premier Division games.

Divisions

The Premier Division currently contains 10 clubs. The 10 clubs play each other four times which gives a total of 36 matches each. The bottom placed club will be relegated to the League of Ireland First Division and the team who finishes in 9^th position will enter a promotion/relegation playoff with a First Division qualifier. The League of Ireland First Division was introduced in 1985. At the moment there are 12 clubs in the First Division with teams playing each other three times. The A Championship was introduced in the 2008 season as a new third tier, below the League of Ireland. The division is split into 2 separate groups competing independently of each other.

Provincial leagues

Each province in the country (Ulster, Munster, Leinster and Connacht) run a league. These leagues are amateur leagues, though, and clubs cannot be promoted to the League of Ireland. Some of the top clubs in these leagues do compete in the FAI Cup, however. These leagues do not gain much media coverage certainly on a national level.

Local amateur soccer

Many counties in the country run a local league. These leagues do not provide promotion to provincial leagues but are still run. An example of one such league is the North Tipperary District Soccer League which is run in North Tipperary. This particular league contains four divisions and also a youth division.^[14]

Cup competitions

The FAI Cup is the national cup competition of the country. It was first run in 1922. The tournament has a straight knockout format with non-league and junior sides competing in the first round before the league clubs join in the second round.

The League of Ireland Cup is the other main cup in the country. It was first held in 1974. This tournament's format has changed over the years. Previously it had group stages in the opening round but it now is straight knockout but clubs are divided into regional groups in the opening rounds. All 22 league clubs take part with the addition of 2 non-league clubs in order to bring the number up to 24.

League of Ireland clubs also compete in the Setanta Cup. This competition is played between clubs from both the League of Ireland and the Irish League in Northern Ireland. Four clubs from both sides of the border take part. League of Ireland clubs can qualify by finishing in the top two places in the Premier Division, winning the FAI Cup or winning a playoff held between the League of Ireland Cup winners and First Division champions. The competition, itself, is has two groups of four with the top two progressing through to the semi-final stage. This tournament was first played in 2005.

Munster also run a cup for all clubs located in Munster including league clubs.

Each of the provincial and local amateur leagues also run cup competitions for their league clubs.

Defunct cup competitions include:

• Texaco Cup
• Blaxnit Cup
• Dublin City Cup
• Dublin and Belfast Intercity Cup
• FAI Super Cup
• League of Ireland Shield
• Leinster Senior Cup
• Top Four Cup

Qualification for European competitions

Republic of Ireland national team

The Republic of Ireland's first competitive international finished in a 1-0 victory against Bulgaria on 28 May 1924 in the Olympics. They have never won any major international competitions and had never qualified for a major tournament until 1988. Since then they have enjoyed relative success qualifying for three of the last five World Cups. The furthest they reached was the quarter-final in 1990.

Women's game

Women's soccer is not very widespread in the Republic of Ireland. There is currently no national league in place, although, there are regional leagues including the Dublin Women's League. There is a national team also which compete on an international basis. They are currently attempting to qualify for the European Championships in Finland in 2009.

Stadiums used for football in the Republic of Ireland

Thomond Park and the RDS Arena have been used as soccer venues during the construction of the Aviva.

References and notes

External links

• FAI History
• League of Ireland History