[caption id="attachment_67666" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Shamrock Rovers' Sean Gannon tries to keep pace with Aaron Greene of Sligo Rovers during the FAI Cup quarterfinal at the Showgrounds. "]
The town of Sligo has been a hotbed of soccer for decades. The GAA may be popular in rural parts of the Yeats county but the Bit o' Red is tops in the town. The so-called "garrison game" has survived in the North West through thick and thin. There were a few occasions in recent years when it looked like the club would fold, but they have continued their policy of bringing in managers and players from England and right now they have one of the strongest squads in the League of Ireland and play attractive football.
As they head into Sunday's FAI Cup Final against Shelbourne at Dublin's Aviva Stadium, Sligo fans will be happy that their Liverpool-born manager Paul Cook last week turned down an offer to take over as manager of Scottish club St Johnstone. But no doubt other Scottish and possibly English clubs will come calling for this popular manager. How a town the size of Sligo can support this kind of outlay is amazing. I used to work with a Sligo man, a gentle soul, but one who loved his soccer. He was a proud man when Sligo won the League of Ireland championship for the first time in 1977 and even prouder when their captain Tony Fagan finally lifted the FAI Cup for the first time in April 1983 after beating Bohemians 2-1 on a damp afternoon at Dalymount Park. Buoyed by that success Sligo won the Cup again in 1994 when they beat Derry and took the famous Cup for a third time after overcoming old rivals Shamrock Rovers in a penalty shoot-out at the Aviva 12 months ago.
This is Sligo's third final appearance in a row as they also got to the final in 2009 and coincidentally the last team to play in three finals in-a-row were Shelbourne ('96, '97, '98) their opponents on Sunday. Since Shels last won the Cup in 2000 the club has gone downhill, they lost all their best players, spiritual leader Ollie Byrne and were relegated to the first division due to financial irregularities. Tolka Park their home ground, once a homely little stadium, is now in bad shape, but the Dublin Reds struggle on and while they could do with a helping hand similar to what Shamrock Rovers got from South Dublin County Council in Tallaght, the club has thankfully survived. What Shels really wanted this season was promotion back to the premier division after five years in the first division and they got it last week, when beating Finn Harps 4-0; getting to the Cup Final is a bonus. Anything can and often does happen in a Cup Final, but I fancy Sligo to retain the trophy.
KERR BOWS OUT
Former Republic of Ireland manager Brian Kerr will not after all get to face his former employers in the 2014 World Cup qualifying campaign. Last week Kerr confirmed that he was leaving the Faroe Islands after two and a half years in charge and when The Republic play the Faroes next year Kerr will not be in the opposition dug out. The 58 year-old Dubliner, who had great success at under 16 and under 18 level with The Republic, fell out with FAI CEO John Delaney and no longer has any involvement with the association. He did very well with the Faroes, guiding them to a win over Estonia and a draw with Northern Ireland in the Euro 2012 qualifying campaign. Kerr's father Frankie was born in Belfast and he has naturally been linked with the current vacancy in Northern Ireland following the resignation of Nigel Worthington last month. If Kerr doesn't get the Northern Ireland job he might fancy his hand with a club in the lower divisions in England.
IRISH TEAMMATES ARE BACK TO BEING RIVALS
After the hype of the Rugby World Cup, our international players have had a short holiday, but they will be back in action this weekend in the Rabo Direct Pro12 League. The Rabo Direct is the new name for what was originally the Celtic League and later the Magners League. Then the following weekend the Heineken Cup gets under way and sure it will be Christmas before we know it. The big game this Friday is the first meeting this season of Leinster and Munster, a game being billed as "Fever in the Aviva 2." Despite the undoubted camaraderie at international level among the Irish players, there is no doubt that when red meets blue the sparks fly. When they were at their best a few years back Munster held the advantage in this provincial battle, but in recent seasons Leinster have held the upper hand and in 'Fever in the Aviva 1' in October last year they won 13-9. After a poor end to last season Munster needed to re-build, but that rebuilding process has not been helped by several injuries and I think that the Leinster will win on Friday night.
CUNNINGHAM TAKES CHARGE IN GALWAY
Anthony Cunningham is the new manager of the Galway senior hurlers, taking over from John McIntyre, who resigned in September. Cunningham was on the last Galway team to win the MacCarthy Cup in 1988 and earlier this year lead the Galway under 21 hurlers to All-Ireland success. Cunningham will bring his under 21 selectors Tom Helebert and Mattie Kenny with him to the senior ranks. He has also had success in football management and he led Roscommon club St. Bridgid's to three county titles and he is currently in charge of Westmeath club Garrycastle, who recently won the Westmeath senior championship. He is likely to continue with Garrycastle as long as they are involved in the Leinster club championship.
Meanwhile no news yet of a new football manager in nearby Roscommon. The word is that the Rossies will go for a local to replace Fergal O'Donnell.
In Fermanagh the County Board has brought in former Down football manager Pete McGrath to help them find a manager to replace John O'Neill, who quit last month. Among the names in the frame are: former Fermanagh manager Dominic Corrigan and former Derry manager Paddy Crozier.
PR FIGHTER POSES THREAT TO KATIE
It now looks like the biggest threat to boxer Katie Taylor winning gold at the London Olympics next year will be a boxer with the same initials, Kiria Tapia. The 21 year-old from Puerto Rico, who beat US No 1 Queen Underwood at the recent Pan American Games, gave the Bray boxer a tough fight in the semifinals of the World Championships in Barbados last year.
WEXFORD WANT MINOR SUCCESS
Wexford hurling has been in the doldrums in recent year and it's now 26 years since their Minors won the Leinster title. Now the County Board has turned to two of their 1996 heroes to try and bring success to the county at under 18 level. Martin Storey, who captained Wexford when they last lifted the MacCarthy Cup in 1996, is the new manager and one of his selectors will be the '96 manager Liam Griffin.
BIG SMOKE THINK BIG
The London GAA Board is willing to handle a bill of approximately €20,000 so that their footballers can play in the FBD Connacht League next year. While welcoming London, the Connacht Council said they are not in a position to provide monetary assistance as all the competing teams look after their own financial affairs for the pre-season tournament which is run off in January before the start of the National Football League campaign in February. However, Connacht has helped London cut down on their travelling expenses by grouping them with Sligo and Sligo IT and Galway and NUIG. That way London will have only two trips to Ireland and can play two games on each weekend, one on a Friday night and another on a Sunday afternoon. The prize for the winners is a trip to New York in the fall and wouldn't it a great for the GAA if London was to make it to the Big Apple next year or in future years.
