Details of the inaugural Setanta Cup were agreed at a meeting between Ireland's two football associations and the six clubs involved yesterday in Dundalk where it was announced that the winners of the competition will receive €150,000 in prize-money.
The tournament will comprise two groups of three clubs who will play each other on a home and away basis with the two group winners progressing to the final. It will kick off on March 15th with the final scheduled for May 21st, almost certainly at a Dublin venue unless two Northern clubs are involved.
In total the competition will involve 13 games, at least 10 of which will be screened live by Setanta, which will provide sponsorship of around €1.6 million over the next four years.
The six clubs - Shelbourne, Cork City, Longford Town, Linfield, Glentoran and Portadown - will be drawn into groups on January 27th when the full schedule of games will be finalised. Each group will include two teams from one side of the border and one from the other and the opening game will be a cross-border affair.
Meanwhile, Noel O'Connor's second spell as manager of Limerick began last night when he returned to the club he had led to League Cup success before leaving to work with Pat Dolan at Cork City.
The club also announced that it is to return to Rathbane - their home from 1984 until 2001. The consortium which recently took control of Limerick have signed a 100-year lease on the ground and more funds have been made available for immediate improvements at the ground which, club officials are confident, will meet the FAI's licensing requirements.
"I'm delighted about it all," said O'Connor last night. "Obviously we can't get carried away because there is an awful lot of work to be done around the place but Danny Drew (the leading figure in the controlling consortium) shares my determination to field a team here capable of drawing big crowds from a soccer-mad city."
Waterford United manager Alan Reynolds has granted a transfer request from Kevin O'Brien who became frustrated by the lack of first-team opportunities at the RSC last season.
Shelbourne players feature extensively in the PFAI's shortlist for player of the year as well as the organisation's team of the year, both of which were unveiled yesterday, with the club contributing three candidates for the award and six of the 11 named in the Premier Division side.
Owen Heary along with leading goalscorer Jason Byrne and versatile defender Jamie Harris all make the shortlist for the player of the year award with Cork City's Kevin Doyle, Declan O'Brien of Drogheda United and Gary O'Neill of Dublin City completing the list.
Oddly, Harris doesn't make the association's team of the year but Dave Rogers, Stuart Byrne, Steve Williams and Ollie Cahill do. Bohemians are the only other club to have more than one player with Kevin Hunt and Bobby Ryan included while not a single Cork City player makes it.
The first division team is dominated by players from the three promoted clubs - Finn Harps, UCD and Bray Wanderers.
NOMINATIONS FOR PREMIER DIVISION PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Jason Byrne (Shelbourne), Kevin Doyle (Cork City), Owen Heary (Shelbourne), Jamie Harris (Shelbourne), Declan O'Brien (Drogheda United), Gary O'Neill (Dublin City).
YOUNG PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Sean Dillon (Longford Town), Liam Kearney (Cork City), Darryl Murphy (Waterford United).
PREMIER DIVISION TEAM OF THE YEAR: Steve Williams (Shelbourne), Owen Heary (Shelbourne), Sean Dillon (Longford Town), Dave Rogers (Shelbourne), Steven Gray (Drogheda United), Kevin Hunt (Bohemians), Stuart Byrne (Shelbourne), Bobby Ryan (Bohemians), Ollie Cahill (Shelbourne), Jason Byrne (Shelbourne), Daryl Murphy (Waterford United).
NOMINATIONS FOR FIRST DIVISION PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Willie Doyle (UCD); Kevin McHugh (Finn Harps), Trevor Vaughan (Dundalk).
FIRST DIVISION TEAM OF THE YEAR: Chris O'Connor (Bray Wanderers), Colm Tresson (Bray Wanderers), Jonathan Minnock (Finn Harps), Ray Kenny (Kildare County), Shane Bradley (Finn Harps), Tony McDonnell (UCD), Tom Mohan (Finn Harps), Stephen Fox (Bray Wanderers), Colm Heffernan (Sligo Rovers), Kevin McHugh (Finn Harps), Willie Doyle (UCD).
