Reality Bites

Every Game An Away Game by Bluebeard

(first published in the June 2011 Salthill Devon match programme)

Our new triumvirate will want a good win tonight to gather momentum to take into the game in Cork next week, building on that first win a fortnight ago against Ross Celtic in the Cup. Salthill fans may be sore at mention of the Cup after their recent brush with Sheriff. We know that pain – Wayside Celtic are still dirty words for many Blues fans. Not so long ago, Salthill were one of the potential banana skins themselves. They got to the third round in 1987, but exited before they had the chance to take the fine scalp of any of the League teams.

After two seasons in the A Championship, they became one of those fine scalps, as Kildare County’s collapse just before their playoff game promoted them. A tough first year was crowned by beating Cobh in the relegation playoff, and so they continue to learn the lessons of senior football. As any observer of Irish football would acknowledge, structure is possibly the single most important key to survival, especially in recent years: Salthill seem to have the basics in place in Drom, and can boast the best underage set up in the West, if not one of the best in the country. Their senior boss is ‘Skee’ McGee, a goalscoring legend, not to mention former Blues player. Being a big noise in Galway football since 1977, they will survive, as even the loss of the League of Ireland team would affect only one branch of their activities.

What should ultimately guarantee Salthill’s place for another year is the passing of Sporting Fingal. Their collapse so close to the start of the season caused the awkward situation of an uneven First Division. So while Finn Harps, Wexford and Salthill are in what would ordinarily be a precarious position, the worst that they can finish is 11th. There is a greater need to even up the number in the First Division and promote someone to fill the 12th spot, than to remove a team; currently none of the A Championship teams bidding for promotion are in the top three of their pool, and therefore ineligible. That will be a relief for the three, as this is the last year of the A Championship, ending a straightforward route back into the League after this.

The spectre of relegation as a partner to a two division system was first invoked in the 1985/86 season, which was completed 25 years ago this Summer. The League was expanded to 16 in 1984, with the advent of Cork City version 1, and Longford – a bogey side for us ever since! The following season, six new clubs – Bray, Cobh, Derry, Kilkenny (née EMFA), Monaghan and Newcastlewest (initially as Newcastle United) were added, and the bottom four of Drogheda, Harps, Longford and Sligo were relegated. Since then the Premier Division has been composed of either 10 or 12 teams, the First carrying the balance of the 22 teams.

There was never any great impetus to put equal numbers in both divisions, rounding the League up to 24, which seems odd until one looks at the situation more closely. During the 25 years preceding the two division system, the League expanded and contracted frequently, between 10 and 16 teams, with six different clubs crashing out of existence (three from Cork alone), and Sligo taking a year out at one point too. In the 25 years since, one might expect the safe harbour of a second tier to have made things easier, but no fewer than 10 clubs have popped, been expelled, or “amalgamated” into others. Add to this the issues relating to the Cork, Derry and Limerick clubs that now no longer exist, but were replaced by a similar clubs with different management. Looking at those ten teams, Salthill’s line of succession is not strong: Newcastlewest gave way to St James’ Gate, in turn expelled and succeeded by St Francis, who withdrew to be replaced by Kildare, who didn’t survive 2009. It would be easy to say that the problem is lack of success, but of the last five collapsed clubs, three (Sporting Fingal, Cobh and Dublin City) played their final games in the Premier Division.

There has been argument for incorporating the remaining A Championship clubs into the League. But putting licensing issues aside momentarily, we would still have the problems of a 25 team League, meaning uneven fixture lists. Should we hope for one more collapse, and then proceed with two divisions of 12?

Some, on the other hand, suggest a return to a single tier, often suggesting 16 teams. As things stood at the time of writing, that would eliminate, among others, Athlone, Wexford and Harps – three teams having a poor season, but that have undoubtedly offered something over their time in the League – while some clubs that others may feel offer less would be retained. A 20 or 22 team single division would probably cut meaning out of most games early on. Another solution that is often suggested is the possibility of an All Ireland League, but that does not seem particularly realistic either, not least because of European considerations.

So what is the answer – how can we make the League better? We may be certain there is no magic bullet solution, as no doubt it would have been deployed long ago if there were. While the problem is not simply structure, could a radical change improve things significantly? If so, would it be palatable to either the clubs or the fans? And if it didn’t work immediately, would we be brave enough to give it time?