Survival of the fittest as the show begins
The anticipation is traditional and accompanies the start of every new campaign when, at least on paper, all are equal, the players fresh, the pitches pristine and the supporters have dreams and songs to sing.
But the nervousness is a new feature of the domestic game, being one born not of concern about how a team might perform on the pitch but about how a club will get by off it. In the wake of the heavy financial turbulence of last season and against the backdrop of a deepening economic crisis, there are well-founded worries about the state of Irish football and its ability to withstand the gathering storm. Opinion seems to be divided between those who think the game is already up and those who, whilst not wildly optimistic, reckon it can survive and over time thrive. But all seem to accept things could get worse before they get better.
After both Cork City and Drogheda United flirted with extinction last season, the conventional wisdom now is that there could be one or more casualties in the top flight this term. Slimming-down is the order of the day, in terms of budgets, personnel and even the number of clubs in the Premiership.
But, for this weekend at least, the focus for the top 10 will be strictly on the pitch with defending champions and cup holders Bohemians setting the ball rolling tonight away to newly-promoted First Division champions Dundalk at Oriel Park (7.35).
Adding further spice to the occasion will be the meeting of Bohs boss Pat Fenlon and the man he replaced at Dalymount Park, Sean Connor, while the presence on the plastic pitch of such outstanding talents of the League of Ireland as 2008 Player of the Year Owen Heary and the returning George O’Callaghan suggests RTÉ viewers should be in for a lively first night.
While Bohs are understandably the bookies favourites to claim back-to-back titles, they can expect stiff competition from, amongst others, Derry City and Cork City. The Leesiders are not in action until tomorrow night when they play Sligo Rovers at the Showgrounds but Derry have a great chance to put down an early marker when they host embattled Drogheda United (7.45).
SOMEWHAT unlucky not to add the FAI Cup to their League Cup success last season, Derry begin the new campaign minus two of their most stellar individual talents, with the apprentice Niall McGinn having followed the master Pat McCourt to Scotland. Liam Kearney comes up from Cork to add his trademark zip on the flanks but faces a late fitness test if he is to make the starting line-up tonight. Regardless, Stephen Kenny’s side should still have more than enough about them to cope with the efforts of an almost unrecognisable Drogheda United side who, as their new manager Alan Mathews puts it, are effectively “starting from scratch.”
In Dublin, new St Pats boss Jeff Kenna will be putting his managerial mettle to the test against his old club Galway United while Shamrock Rovers travel beyond the city limits to take on Bray Wanderers at the Carlisle Grounds.
Going into a season of so much uncertainty, it won’t just be green and white eyes watching closely as Rovers, with their own examinership rite of passage long behind them, prepare to open the doors of Tallaght Stadium for the first time. That historic moment is still a week away but if Michael O’ Neill’s team can get a bounce from the infectious buzz enveloping the club’s new era, they could prove real dark horses as well as giving the entire game here a welcome shot in the arm.
Tallaght might just be the one place where the anticipation is not tinged with nerves but, for the rest, it’s not just the physios who will tell you that survival of the fittest is the appropriately Darwinian theme of the year.
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