A challenge in a league of its own

ONE is pleased to wish Fran Gavin and Noel Mooney a Happy Christmas and, with even more than the usual reflex festive cheer, a particularly prosperous New Year.

The two men have recently been installed to key positions in the new eircom League of Ireland. Gavin, formerly the General Secretary of the Professional Footballers’ Association of Ireland, is the new director of the League while former Cork City, Limerick and Shamrock Rovers ‘keeper Mooney has been appointed National Club Promotions Officer, with a brief which essentially boils down to reviving interest in the domestic game — or, to use the vernacular, putting more bums on seats.

At their first press conference in Merrion Square, the two men did a fine job of accentuating the positive and painting the picture of a league which can once more attain a status more substantial than the equivalent of a cult following in Irish sport.