Building From The Bottom

The Last Word by Brendan White

(first published in the May 2010 Cork City FORAS Co-op programme)

Cork City FORAS Co-op began the season as the newest addition to the Airtricity League of Ireland. While technically true, it remains the Cork City of old to most of us. The hard work to get CCFC back to its old perch has begun, but this will take time, however.

The old Cork City FC were wound up in the high court in February after serious financial trouble, leading to one High Court battle after the other, which eventually led to the club being denied a Premier Division licence to participate in the Premier Division. Under the new name, Cork City FORAS Co-op, they applied for a First Division licence and were duly granted one. The club had however very little time to group together as the season arrived almost immediately. On the positive side, the decision to wind up Cork City was widely expected and some of the players had already been training together in preparation.

Mistakes need to be learned from, and the FORAS group have taken on the responsibility of ensuring this. FORAS, or Friends Of the Rebel Army Society, was set up “quite simply, to ensure the future of the club we support”, as it is put by themselves. They have taken it upon themselves to ensure that a senior football team compete from Cork. With chairman John O’Sullivan, along with Éanna Buckley and Kevin Mullen, who both worked with the old club and know the way the league works, they have the right people to ensure the club continues its existence and success.

The league’s newest club played their first ever league match in the Brandywell which finished 1-1. Davin O’Neill has the honour of scoring the club’s first goal. The club’s first home game ended in defeat to The Blues, but with a crowd of 4,401 turning up, showing that people in Cork would come out to support the team. Dubliner Tommy Dunne took over as manager, having been originally appointed assistant manager at the old Cork City. Appointing Greg O’Halloran as assistant manager, Dunne set about pulling a strong squad together. Graham Cummins and Davin O’Neill have 11 goals already this season, while defensively Dave Rogers and O’Halloran bring some much needed experience, alongside recent Republic of Ireland Under-23 call up Stephen Mulcahy. Cillian Lordan, Michael Devine and Dave Warren are also notable acquisitions for the club.

They collected just two points from their first three games, but three consecutive wins against Mervue United, Limerick and Longford Town sent City up the table. Further wins against Salthill and Wexford have left City in fourth place. 20 points collected from 12 games reveals an excellent return for a side expecting to be further down the table.

A negative for the new side has been its inability to beat the teams at the top of the table in Series One. Draws against Shelbourne and Derry City along with defeats to Waterford United and Monaghan United means that City sit nine points off top spot; however they are just two points off a promotion play-off spot. While some City fans may have expected them to struggle this season, most league followers have seen the strong squad built by Dunne and expect them to have a big say in the league this year. The fans may not expect instant promotion, with many admittedly just glad to have a team to support; there is no doubt that it is great to see Cork City FORAS Co-op in the league.

The rivalries between both our clubs have always been visible and was on display during the sides’ opening meeting at the start of the season. Though The Co-op are a new club on paper, they remain great rivals to the Blues, and this will no doubt continue for years to come.