The 2004 eircom League Cup kicks off on bank holiday Monday with holders St Patrick's Athletic beginning the defence of their title at home in a Dublin derby clash with Premier Division new boys Dublin City (3pm).

THE names represent a strange amalgam between a culture that is as old as the Blasket Islands themselves and a comparatively new fashion — Rattoo Rovers, Asdee Rovers, Lenamore Rovers, Tralee Dynamos and Killarney Celtic to name but a few.