Soccer Podcast: The Noel Mooney Interview — Will the FAI show League of Ireland the love?

Former Cork City players Neal Horgan and Darren Murphy interview FAI General Manager Noel Mooney about the League of Ireland's future.

When Neal and Noel were roommates in their Cork City days, they shared frustrations about the FAI's lack of vision for the national league.

Neal calls it 'neglect', Noel prefers 'lack of love'.

Neal's anger hasn't abated. But what is going to change? And will Noel Mooney be around to supervise that change?

He makes his case why Minister Shane Ross is wrong to want him to return to UEFA.

And he shares some fascinating insights into the League's turbulent history, including how an IRFU style central contracts solution was on the table, before the Vantage Club ticket scheme collapsed and recession hit.

Mooney also recalls his Cork City days when he lodged with club legend, the late Noelle Feeney, for three years.

He says selling tickets for Cup finals he was playing in gave him a feel for what a community club should be. And was just the education that prepared him for a career at Uefa.

By the end of an enthralling chat, Horgan's rage at what he sees as years of betrayal by the FAI may not quite have subsided. But he and Mooney are on the same page when they insist the League must now become the FAI's priority.