The Road to Wembley
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A few weeks ago we paid homage to the obscure magnificence of the League Cup, a
competition that we football nerds celebrate for precisely the same reasons that most
other people happily ignore it. It is small and imperfectly formed but, like the strange bloke
who sits on his own in the pub muttering to himself, it can reveal hidden depths if given the
time of day. The FAI Cup is an altogether different beast.
The FAI Cup stands at the centre of the bar spinning yarns and making the folks laugh. The men's voices drop an octave and, without consciously doing so, they tighten their stomach muscles, aware that an unforgiving light of comparison has just been switched on. Women sit as close as they dare, a keen smile playing across their lips, ordering the kinds of drinks that come with straws and silently wishing that their man had that kind of charisma. There'll be a row before the night is out.
Come next November the Aviva Stadium will be heaving with domestic dignity as the proud finalists take to the stage for an experience that few ever get to taste. But we should remember that, while the glass and the steel and the towering stands of the Aviva lie ahead, all great tournaments start in a field.
It might surprise people to know that the opening salvoes of the 2011 FAI Cup have already been fired. The first round took place a few weeks ago with Glebe North overcoming Drumcondra and Bangor Celtic winning out over Bluebell United, both after a replay. Featuring only these two ties, the first round had a preliminary feel to it but this weekend sees the arrival of round two and a more complex web of challenges. Twenty two teams will lock horns in eleven games that will be taking place across the nation, many of which you will not hear about unless you actively go looking for them.
You see the FAI Cup has not yet put on its glad-rags. The real stars of the show, the League of Ireland teams, are not yet involved and won't be until the start of June when the third round is due to be played. But at some stage over the coming weeks the third round draw will be made and football fans all over the country will hear that Shamrock Rovers or Derry City have been paired with New Ross Celtic, or Douglas Hall, or Greystones FC. And we will briefly wonder who these teams are and how they got here.
Well, this is your chance to be among the privileged few who know perfectly well how these unlikely unions came to pass. Last night Rockmount played New Ross Celtic at Whitechurch, the first of the weekend's FAI Cup second round games. But if, like me, you missed Roy Keane's alma mater taking on the descendants of the one-time King of Leinster, Dermot MacMurrough, then fear not. Saturday and Sunday are awash with beautifully pitched Cup ties, the winners of which will enter the draw for the third round alongside the big boys.
As you read this I'll be high tailing it down the M8 in a decrepit Peugeot 106 screaming “Let me through, I'm a football correspondent!” at the surrounding traffic. I will be aiming the wagon in the direction of St Coleman's Park where Cobh Ramblers, another stepping stone on His Royness's path to world domination, take on Dublin side Cherry Orchard. The Orchard, meanwhile, have their own glittering alumni to be proud of, being the starting point for players such as Dave Langan, Andy Reid, Keith Fahey and Willo Flood.
Trips to the Ramblers seldom disappoint. Apart from the fact that finding the ground starts your evening off with a glowing sense of achievement, there is always the possibility that you might run into Roy himself, a frequent visitor on his trips home. If he is there he will be found minding his own business on the far terrace, available for viewing but only, like the lions that can be seen prowling about the nearby Fota Wildlife Park, from a safe distance.
St Coleman's Park is one of Ireland's genuine sporting treasures. Perched atop the hill into which the town of Cobh was carved it is, depending on your point of view, like a miniature version of a proper ground, or a very big version of a subbuteo stadium. There are neat covered stands down one touchline and behind the far goal, with a narrowing terrace squeezed in along the far side. Behind the near goal is a friendly clubhouse and the impression given is that it was lifted by the fetlocks from somewhere in the smarter regions of the Blue Square conference and dropped into as unlikely a place as could be imagined. If there were rules about what it takes to be recognised as a football supporter then a trip to Cobh Ramblers would be compulsory.
On Sunday I will be staying closer to home. A ten minute walk from where I grew up, and where my parents still live, is an unremarkable field just off a country road that threads it's way around the back roads of Carrigaline. Known to us children of the eighties as the Wembley pitch (named after a mysterious team that used to play there) this is now the home of Avondale United and how appropriate that my first weekend of FAI Cup football should take me to such an evocatively named place.
Neither Avondale nor Wembley before them came from Carrigaline and how they came to play there is a puzzle as yet unsolved. But play there they do and it is a venue that Limerick's Pike Rovers will first have to find if they are to have any hope of hosting a marquee club in round three. Assuming they manage to discover it's whereabouts Pike will have to park their team bus up against the hedge like the rest of us and they should count themselves lucky if they get through the gate without being charged a fiver.
And that's the way it should be. This competition may well end up at the gleaming Aviva with vestal virgins padding about in the corridors bearing grapes and pomegranates but here, in the trenches of the early rounds, we measure our authenticity by the depth of the mud and the number of cattle visible from the touchline.
I feel privileged to be returning to a spot where we used to play day long games of 'us lot' against 'you lot', dodging among the cow pats as we dreamed of ourselves as football legends. But wherever you find yourself this weekend, whether it be Wembley or Cooke Park or Killinarden, remember that these are the days on which Cup Final day are built. These are the fields of dreams.
The FAI Cup stands at the centre of the bar spinning yarns and making the folks laugh. The men's voices drop an octave and, without consciously doing so, they tighten their stomach muscles, aware that an unforgiving light of comparison has just been switched on. Women sit as close as they dare, a keen smile playing across their lips, ordering the kinds of drinks that come with straws and silently wishing that their man had that kind of charisma. There'll be a row before the night is out.
Come next November the Aviva Stadium will be heaving with domestic dignity as the proud finalists take to the stage for an experience that few ever get to taste. But we should remember that, while the glass and the steel and the towering stands of the Aviva lie ahead, all great tournaments start in a field.
It might surprise people to know that the opening salvoes of the 2011 FAI Cup have already been fired. The first round took place a few weeks ago with Glebe North overcoming Drumcondra and Bangor Celtic winning out over Bluebell United, both after a replay. Featuring only these two ties, the first round had a preliminary feel to it but this weekend sees the arrival of round two and a more complex web of challenges. Twenty two teams will lock horns in eleven games that will be taking place across the nation, many of which you will not hear about unless you actively go looking for them.
You see the FAI Cup has not yet put on its glad-rags. The real stars of the show, the League of Ireland teams, are not yet involved and won't be until the start of June when the third round is due to be played. But at some stage over the coming weeks the third round draw will be made and football fans all over the country will hear that Shamrock Rovers or Derry City have been paired with New Ross Celtic, or Douglas Hall, or Greystones FC. And we will briefly wonder who these teams are and how they got here.
Well, this is your chance to be among the privileged few who know perfectly well how these unlikely unions came to pass. Last night Rockmount played New Ross Celtic at Whitechurch, the first of the weekend's FAI Cup second round games. But if, like me, you missed Roy Keane's alma mater taking on the descendants of the one-time King of Leinster, Dermot MacMurrough, then fear not. Saturday and Sunday are awash with beautifully pitched Cup ties, the winners of which will enter the draw for the third round alongside the big boys.
As you read this I'll be high tailing it down the M8 in a decrepit Peugeot 106 screaming “Let me through, I'm a football correspondent!” at the surrounding traffic. I will be aiming the wagon in the direction of St Coleman's Park where Cobh Ramblers, another stepping stone on His Royness's path to world domination, take on Dublin side Cherry Orchard. The Orchard, meanwhile, have their own glittering alumni to be proud of, being the starting point for players such as Dave Langan, Andy Reid, Keith Fahey and Willo Flood.
Trips to the Ramblers seldom disappoint. Apart from the fact that finding the ground starts your evening off with a glowing sense of achievement, there is always the possibility that you might run into Roy himself, a frequent visitor on his trips home. If he is there he will be found minding his own business on the far terrace, available for viewing but only, like the lions that can be seen prowling about the nearby Fota Wildlife Park, from a safe distance.
St Coleman's Park is one of Ireland's genuine sporting treasures. Perched atop the hill into which the town of Cobh was carved it is, depending on your point of view, like a miniature version of a proper ground, or a very big version of a subbuteo stadium. There are neat covered stands down one touchline and behind the far goal, with a narrowing terrace squeezed in along the far side. Behind the near goal is a friendly clubhouse and the impression given is that it was lifted by the fetlocks from somewhere in the smarter regions of the Blue Square conference and dropped into as unlikely a place as could be imagined. If there were rules about what it takes to be recognised as a football supporter then a trip to Cobh Ramblers would be compulsory.
On Sunday I will be staying closer to home. A ten minute walk from where I grew up, and where my parents still live, is an unremarkable field just off a country road that threads it's way around the back roads of Carrigaline. Known to us children of the eighties as the Wembley pitch (named after a mysterious team that used to play there) this is now the home of Avondale United and how appropriate that my first weekend of FAI Cup football should take me to such an evocatively named place.
Neither Avondale nor Wembley before them came from Carrigaline and how they came to play there is a puzzle as yet unsolved. But play there they do and it is a venue that Limerick's Pike Rovers will first have to find if they are to have any hope of hosting a marquee club in round three. Assuming they manage to discover it's whereabouts Pike will have to park their team bus up against the hedge like the rest of us and they should count themselves lucky if they get through the gate without being charged a fiver.
And that's the way it should be. This competition may well end up at the gleaming Aviva with vestal virgins padding about in the corridors bearing grapes and pomegranates but here, in the trenches of the early rounds, we measure our authenticity by the depth of the mud and the number of cattle visible from the touchline.
I feel privileged to be returning to a spot where we used to play day long games of 'us lot' against 'you lot', dodging among the cow pats as we dreamed of ourselves as football legends. But wherever you find yourself this weekend, whether it be Wembley or Cooke Park or Killinarden, remember that these are the days on which Cup Final day are built. These are the fields of dreams.
About Simon O'Gorman
Simon O'Gorman began reporting for Extratime in 2010. He remembers Milltown and Flower Lodge and, back in the mists of time, saw Diego Maradona play at Lansdowne Road. He now lives in Co Kildare and … View Full Profile