Is it time to reinstate the Tommy Murphy cup?

Daniel Spillane looks at the gulf in class between Division 1 and the rest of the footballing country.

Since the Championship has begun we have witnessed on more than one occasion a county playing outside of Division 1 football league being decimated by their Division 1 opponent. Limerick, despite being tipped to give a headache to their opponents Cork, were left without anything to play for by the 2nd half of their game against their Rebel counterparts with a 3-17 to 0-8 defeat. Kerry have accounted for the challenges of both Tipperary and Waterford in the past week with a massive difference in score line in both games. And despite showing so impressively to gain promotion to Division 1 this season, Westmeath were whitewashed by a far superior Dublin outfit at HQ. What we must ask ourselves is the gulf in class between these top-tier teams and their opponents too big of a gap to bridge? On today’s Sunday Game, Colm O’Rourke was quoted as saying that the Derry V Down encounter was at best two contenders for a 2nd tier competition, where the best each team could hope to aspire to would be a provincial final or All Ireland Quarter. Looking at their League form, Derry are promoted to Division 1 for next year while they will take the place of relegated Down. If this is the case for these teams despite playing top-tier in the league, then what hope do teams from Division 3 or 4 have of success at championship level?

If we are to look at the final eight teams of the last 3 years, we may see some notable trends. Cork, Kerry, Dublin, Mayo, Kildare and Tyrone, all of whom are currently plying their trade in the elite division of the NFL, have reached at least the All Ireland quarter finals in the past 3 years. All Ireland champions Donegal and 2010 runners up Down have made it 2 of those 3 years, also featuring in Division 1 of the league. Smaller teams such as Limerick and Roscommon have managed to make it this far on only one occasion but were eventually overwhelmed by the time they have reached the final 8. It isn’t since 2008 that a weaker football county like Wexford reached the final 4 of an All Ireland series. And lest we forget, it was 2004 when Fermanagh, who have never even won a Provincial title never mind an All Ireland, were only a kick of a ball away from reaching an All Ireland decider, forcing a replay against Kerry only to succumb to the Kingdom by only 2 points on the second day out. Someone who would make such an outlandish prediction like that would be laughed at dismissively in this day and age.

The same year that Fermanagh were reaching the dizzying heights of an all Ireland Semi that the second tier Competition that was the Tommy Murphy Cup first took place. Again there are some notable trends of success for the teams that contested these finals of the cup from its Inception in 2004 until its cessation in 2008. The first final was contested between Sligo and Clare, and while the Banner men were victorious on the day, Sligo went on to more success. 3 years after their final defeat they won the Connacht title in a sensational win over Galway by only a point. They got the better of Galway again in 2010 before losing to Roscommon in the final. In 2005, Wexford lost to Tipperary, but 3 years later were in an All Ireland semi against Tyrone. Louth won the 3rd Tommy Murphy cup in 2006 and were in a Leinster decider come 2010, only to be robbed by a controversial decision by Referee Martin Sludden. Probably the most reliable evidence of a team’s evolution from winning a Tommy Murphy cup was Antrim, who after losing a final in 07 to Wicklow, got the better of the Garden County in the decider in 08. Developing from those 2 finals in 2009, they reached the Ulster final only to lose to then All Ireland Champions Tyrone.  Whether you agree or not there is a credible link between teams achieving success in the 2nd tier competition developing and performing to a new level against the better teams.

So would it be so bad if the Tommy Murphy cup was brought back into existence? Teams would still have championship football to play in August rather than June and a trophy to play for on top of it. Having another 3 or 4 games to play after the Sam Maguire series ends could hardly be detrimental to a team’s development and even if a manager did not want to take the Tommy Murphy cup seriously, it would give them a chance to have a look at younger players for the next season. In addition, wouldn’t it be great to think that there are players from weaker counties such as John Galvin of Limerick or Wexford’s Mattie Forde who may have Celtic crosses in their back pocket even if they weren’t as significant as one won while lifting Sam? Some might argue that youth development can lead to success at senior level as Roscommon and Cavan have shown recently, but then Galway have shown that it does not necessarily work all the time. The Christy Ring, Nicky Rackard and Lory Meagher cups are still in existence in Hurling and give every county a chance of success while not necessarily being up to Liam McCarthy standard, Maybe it’s time to do the same in football and reinstate the Tommy Murphy competition.