Has the Railway Cup competition disbanded?

[blanketattack]

I've heard no mention of it all year. Is it gone for good?

[screenexile]

In Limbo . . .

http://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-football/high-time-gaa-moved-to-get-railway-cup-back-on-track-2461096.html

IT'S with as much enthusiasm as this column can muster that it lines up in full support behind Noel Walsh in his renewed efforts to prevent the Railway Cup competitions being shunted off the GAA calendar.

Having been dropped this year and with no plans to stage them in 2011, they are very close to the end of the line, which makes it's important for those who believe in them to unite behind Walsh when he storms the corridors of power.

Incidentally, the first essential is to retain the Railway Cup title, rather than the bland, generic 'inter-provincial' tag.

Walsh, a former Munster Council chairman and Presidential candidate, is no misty-eyed veteran who talks nostalgically of when the Railway Cup finals drew crowds of 45,000 to Croke Park on St Patrick's Day while being gently reminded that times are different now.

Walsh was a leading activist in the campaign to end the protectionism which automatically kept Kerry and Cork on opposite sides of the Munster SFC draw up to the early 1990s. He would later become one of the main advocates for lifting the ban on rugby and soccer at Croke Park. So under no circumstances could Walsh be described as a traditionalist.

Opening up the Munster championship boosted Limerick, Clare, Tipperary and Waterford considerably, giving them a whole new incentive and, as for opening Croke Park, the value to the GAA has been obvious over the last four years.

project

Preserving the Railway Cups has been Walsh's pet project in recent years, a task that has grown increasingly difficult as powerful forces from Central Council and the provincial councils (with the exception of Ulster) seek to find a retirement home for the venerable old competitions.

In fairness, their motives are genuine, if unconvincing. They cite the collapse of public interest, a questionable level of commitment among some players, the difficulty of fitting the competition into an already congested fixtures list and the expense involved as a combination of circumstances that warrant the placing of the cups in the Croke Park museum.

So how valid are those reasons and can they be worked through?

Granted, the big crowds of the 1950s-60s will never be revisited but does a competition have to rely on the size of the attendances for its survival? If so, League of Ireland soccer and All-Ireland League club rugby would have collapsed a long time ago. Indeed, in rugby's pre-professional days, attendances at most inter-provincials were smaller than what the Railway Cups, even in their current troubled state, would attract today.

Besides, it's up to the GAA to devise means of attracting the public and even if that involves free admission to Railway Cup games, so what? Wouldn't it be a nice end-of-season gesture?

As for player commitment, it has waned in some provinces (although not Ulster) but then the competition has been thrown around the calendar like a delinquent that nobody wants to house. For all that, the majority of players still favour its retention.

As for the congested fixtures excuse, it's complete nonsense, certainly in the final quarter of the year. How do most inter-county players spend their time from mid-October until the new year? A tiny minority, which reduces week by week, are involved in the provincial club champion-ships while the rest remain idle. Any wonder that so many turn to soccer and rugby?

Playing the Railway Cups off over two weekends wouldn't solve that problem but it would provide an outlet for some players.

The cost should not be an issue. The Railway Cup is the only competition that provides players with a chance to represent an entity outside club or county in hurling and Gaelic football (International Rules is a hybrid game) so balance sheets should not be allowed to interfere with it.

Far from culling the Railway Cups, the GAA should use its collective intelligence to reinvigorate them. However, the will has to be there and, frankly, there has been little evidence of that over many years.

The Railway Cups have a committed patron in Martin Donnelly, a persistent advocate in Noel Walsh and genuine backing from lots of big names including Mickey Harte and Joe Kernan.

Now, more than ever, those who support the competitions need to impose themselves because the noose is tightening. One quick tug at Congress next April and it could all be over.

A final thought. Sky Sports had live coverage last night of a soccer game between Brentford and Charlton in the semi-final of the southern section of the Johnstone's Paint Trophy. Now, if a contrived competition like that can draw live coverage, surely it would be easy to attract TV interest for GAA games involving many of the best players in their provinces.

Let the battle intensify -- SAVE THE RAILWAY CUPS!

- MARTIN BREHENY

[Hardy]

Ah I was a few paragraphs into that before the penny dropped and I dropped down to the last line for a check. Sure enough. A few minutes saved from my life, which I'll use to give my head a shake here and wonder why it's "the first essential" to retain the Railway Cup title. How can that matter? I couldn't bring myself to read on to find out if he offers an explanation for this extraordinary nostalgia about railways.

The Railway Cup is the ultimate dead horse and the annual flogging doesn't even raise a stink any more because there's not even any flesh left on the bones.

[BennyCake]

The McKenna cup was dead a few years ago, until it was given a proper time slot. The universities were added, but I think Tyrone and Mickey Harte have alot to do with raising it's profile. Harte took the competition seriously, and other counties followed. Armagh and Tyrone drew 13,000 to a semi final a few years ago. There was 10,000+ at Down and Armagh on a wet Saturday night in January. So dont give me this dead horse thing.

Players take pride playing for their province, just as the lads do playing in the Rules series. The GAA don't want it and use the excuse of poor attendances to dismiss it. But theyve let it die by putting games on at inappropriate times, and played in the arsehole of nowhere. Give it a proper stage and promote it well and it will draw the crowds.

[Hardy]

I think you have the cart and the horse arse about face there. They started playing it in the arsehole of nowhere because people stopped going to Croke Park to watch the finals and to the major provincial venues to watch the semi-finals.

I have no problem with playing the railway cup. If the players want it (though I'm not convinced they do), then play it. Just spare us the annual whinging because nobody wants to watch it. You can't make people like something against their wills and in these days of unprecedented choice, sports followers are only interested in proper competitive competitions.

The Railway Cup doesn't matter because only in Ulster and, to a lesser extent in Connacht is there any loyalty to the concept of the province. Nobody in Leinster or, as far as I know, in Munster can get excited enough to shout for a provincial team. Likewise for the players, so the result is exhibition stuff and people just aren't interested and no amount of lecturing by Breheny or his like will make us feel bad about that.

[Rossfan]

I wouldnt think many people in Connacht are even remotely interested in the Railway cup or in shouting for a Connacht Team.
No one from Ros is going to get excited about a load of Galway/Mwr/Sligo/Leitrim lads assisted  by 2 or 3 of our lads. Similar with the other 4 Counties.
Connacht played a RC game a few years ago in Kiltoom and the "crowd" was less than 100.
Comparing it to the McKenna cup is irrelevant as that competition is for County teams and people are interested and passionate about their County teams.
The Railway has been dying since RTE TV came in  to beingand started showing games , live and esp the highlights  back in the 60s.
There was no need any more for people to go to the Railway cup to see the top players in action.
Doesnt matter if you played it in mid July It's DEAD , a relic of the rare oul times - like porter coming down the canals which oul lads used to tell me  was the best ever drink etc . They are all dead now as well.

[fearglasmor]

All been said below, it was of its time and that time has passed. There are better things to put resources into.

[ck]

The railway cup should be run off inside a week like the international series. double header in croke on a Wednesday night and then the final on a Sunday. It has mass appeal if marketing correctly

[Farneylawd2011]

What i always believe is that the railway cup should be first.And the best players out of the four teams be picked after to be put forward to the international rules team.

How it should be done is two weeks after the all Ireland final the '' railway cup'' should be played.
After that 2 weeks of trainning and in the middle of November the International rules.

[Rossfan]

The railway cup should be run off inside a week like the international series. double header in croke on a Wednesday night and then the final on a Sunday. It has mass appeal if marketing correctly

It has NOT.  That's the problem with it for the last 40 years.
A few years ago  they put the 2 finals on in Croke Park, charged a€tenner in , gave out thousands of free tickets to Foreign Nationals in  Dublin yet there were barely 10,000 there.
Maybe if they had womens teams playing topless ?

[BennyCake]

There's no pleasing some people. You want the Railway cup scrapped, and you want the Rules scrapped. Maybe we should just get rid of the National League as well?!

[donegal_abu]

I think we should give the railway cup another go 

[Orchardman]

Actually I would love to the see the national league scrapped benny!

Does no one else find it annoying that when it comes to a national leagie final teams go out of their way to play it down, and the captain seems nearly embarassed when lifting the cup to no cheer? A competition like that is not worth dam all, it's shadow boxing. It's the same when a big team wins the provincial championship, like tyrone the last few years, or kerry. The only answer is combine the league and championship. Anyway guys, i'm off topic.

Yes, i think railway is a great concept and would love to see it going well. But on the other hand, i can't moan. I have never bothered to go to it, so that say's it all. The gaa did make big effort in croke park 2 years ago with free tickets and f**k all turned up. Was live on rte though and turned out a great game. Remember dara and tomas o'se turning up for it to get a clip at old dick clerkin for revenge!

[Eamonnca1]

All I seem to hear is that the club schedule is congested. If the national league were scrapped wouldn't that solve that problem? 

One thing that struck me a while ago was the sheer number of competitions in the GAA.  I used to look at the headlines in the morning and see stories about things like a "Waterford Crystal Cup" and I'd think "That's nice, what's the Waterford Crystal Cup?"  Couldn't find a thing about these competitions on gaa.ie so I had a look on wikipedia.  Not much there either so I created this page for reference.  Is it just me or is that a lot of competitions?