Corcoran stays confident Setanta Cup has viable future after late reprieve

Milo Corcoran, chairman of the Setanta Sports Cup organising committee, is adamant the cross-border competition has a future after its 11th hour reprieve.

The former president of the FAI, and current board member, admitted at yesterday’s quarter-final draw for the 2014 instalment that the viability of the eight-year event was in jeopardy just two months ago.

Setanta had last year flagged their intention to relinquish their main sponsorship, but efforts by the FAI and IFA to secure a replacement backer proved fruitless. Adding questions to the continuation of the competition was the withdrawal on Monday of half of Northern Ireland’s four representatives — Linfield and Cliftonville.