Football’s showroom of romance

Romance was in the air at Ford’s showrooms in Sandyford, Dublin on Tuesday but, despite the gleaming array of new and vintage motors on display, that special tingle had nothing to do with the lure of the open road or the magic in the night that Springsteen had in mind back when him and Mary were “pullin’ outta here to win”.

Nope, this was the romance of the cup, a notion which can struggle to escape the realm of cliché until the presence of living links with the storied past brings it all back to glorious life again.

Such was the case on Tuesday as the competition’s current sponsor Ford launched its quest to find the Greatest Ever FAI Cup Final, with a host of League of Ireland legends turning up at the event to renew old acquaintances and wallow in the memory of some of the most celebrated games in the history of domestic football.