Cash rich Ringmahon blind to the value of the FAI Cup

Liffey Wanderers 1-1 Ringmahon Rangers

Ringmahon Rangers progress to the second round of the FAI Cup after winning 4-3 on penalties.

I can imagine the joy on the bus on the way home from Dublin – looking forward to the draw, hoping to be drawn against one of the big guns.

What a wasted trip.

Ringmahon Rangers' decision not to fulfil their FAI Cup tie against Bohemians is one of the most bizarre situations I have seen in the game in a while.

The Cork club have said they were "treated unfairly and placed in an impossible position", citing logistical challenges, player availability and the difficulty of staging the match away from Ringmahon Park on a congested sporting weekend.

Their own pitch was reportedly deemed unsuitable, with St Colman’s Park in Cobh put forward as an alternative, while the 2pm kick-off would have clashed awkwardly with the All-Ireland hurling final at 3.30pm and the World Cup final later that evening.

I’m sorry, what? What did I just read there?!

They forget to mention the final round of the Open golf at Royal Birkdale is scheduled for that day as well and that would be a decent watch on the telly around the other sport!

The FAI Cup is not some pre-season friendly you can duck because the day is awkward. It’s the national cup competition.

It’s the competition that every junior and intermediate club should be dreaming of playing in, especially when the draw gives you a League of Ireland club with the history, profile and travelling support of Bohemians.

These are the days you make sacrifices for.

Every football person in the country is always making sacrifices.

Volunteers leave work early. Parents spend weekends driving around the country. Supporters burn annual leave and petrol money following their club. Players miss stag parties and family events to play in big games.

That’s the deal. That’s the unspoken contract you enter into when you decide to take football or any sport seriously.

Choosing not to go on the beer, not to sit in front of the television for a day of sport, or not to potentially travel to Croke Park as a spectator, is a fairly small sacrifice to pay in the second round of the FAI Cup.

The whole situation looks even worse because of the recent financial context around Ringmahon. Caoimhín Kelleher’s move from Liverpool to Brentford reportedly banked the club a considerable amount through a 20% sell-on clause.

That money is one of the great Irish football stories of recent times but, rightly or wrongly, this decision now gives the impression of a club so financially comfortable that it can pick and choose which obligations matter.

That may not be fair on every good person involved in Ringmahon Rangers. I have no doubt there are coaches, volunteers and parents there who have given years of service to the game.

No club reaches this point without good people doing thankless work. But football is perception as well as reality and the perception here is dreadful.

Bohemians, to their credit, appear to have tried to find a solution. It's reported that Bohs offered to host the game at Dalymount Park, cover Ringmahon’s travel expenses and give them the percentage share of the gate as if it were a home game for the Cork side. That’s not a small gesture. Not every club would offer that.

That’s a League of Ireland club trying to preserve the integrity of the competition and give the tie a chance to happen.

If Ringmahon still felt unable to play after that, then the problem was not impossible logistics. It was priorities.

There is a wider point here too. The FAI Cup matters because it connects every level of the game. It gives junior and intermediate clubs a stage. It gives League of Ireland clubs awkward games.

It gives communities a story. It gives players memories they will be talking about in clubhouses for the rest of their lives.

A walkover strips all of that away.

Bohemians lose a proper game. Their supporters lose a cup day. Ringmahon players lose the chance to test themselves against full-time League of Ireland opposition. The competition loses credibility.

And every club below the League of Ireland that would have crawled over broken glass for that fixture is left looking at it wondering how a club could let it pass by.

That is why this decision is so disappointing.

Ringmahon Rangers had an opportunity to celebrate one of the biggest days in the club’s recent history. They had an opportunity to show what the Kelleher money could help build. They had an opportunity to stand in front of the Irish football public and say: this is who we are.

Unfortunately, they may have done exactly that, and the perception isn’t great.

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