FAI announce new cross-border competition

The new north-south competition, the Setanta Cup, will be the most lucrative competition ever in domestic football with the winning team earning €150,000, the FAI announced today.

At a meeting in Dundalk today between the competing clubs, the FAI and IFA, the structure of the competition as well as the dispersion of the €325,000 prize fund were discussed, which begins on March 15th.

Shelbourne, Cork City and Longford Town will be the eircom League’s representatives in the first incarnation of the competition. Glentoran, Linfield and Portadown will be Northern Ireland’s representatives.

A draw on January 27 will split the clubs into two groups of three with every club playing their group rivals in home and away fixtures. The two top teams will then meet in a one-off final on May 21. Sponsors Setanta TV will be showing ten of the 13 matches live.

The overall winner will receive €150,000, six times the amount available to the winner of other domestic competitions, with the rest to be split based on each club’s performance in the competition.