In 2008 it was made up of the 8 lowest ranking league teams (unless they got to their Provincial Final) and previously was based on elimination from the early round of the respective Provincials. So, if they brought it back as it was in its last year then Antrim would be the only Ulster representative in it.

Of the 5 Tommy Murphy cups played for I think Antrim were only in 3 of them, losing the semi final once, losing finalists once and winners once (and current holders).

Offside_Rule (Antrim) - Posts: 4058 - 01/06/2015 11:17:58    1730781

Louth won the Tommy Murphy Cup in 2006. It was played before the All Ireland semi-final between Dublin and Mayo. It was great day out to have the final on before the semi-final.

OLLIE (Louth) - Posts: 12224 - 01/06/2015 11:34:22    1730802

Not to bang on about it but it was managers of the counties involved that said it required a route back into championship. It was possible to allow the winner only or both finalists back into the qualifiers.

legendzxix (Kerry) - Posts: 7884 - 01/06/2015 14:29:00    1730931

I remember the final between Antrim and Wicklow. It was a cracking game of football.

s goldrick (Cavan) - Posts: 5518 - 02/06/2015 21:31:07    1731716

s goldrick - both of our finals with Wicklow were good games. In 2007 it went to Extra Time and we were 1 point up as the clock went in to added time and we allowed Wicklow to run and pass the ball all the way up the field and they got a goal with pretty much the last kick of the game to win by 2 points (1-17 to 3-13). The following year it was a 3-12 to 1-15 victory for ourselves in another high scoring game of open football.

Offside_Rule (Antrim) - Posts: 4058 - 03/06/2015 14:02:15    1731957

2 really good games indeed offside, the defeat was hard to swallow for a while more so because of the nature of it as you pointed out

bumpernut (Antrim) - Posts: 1852 - 03/06/2015 15:28:32    1732017

Correct me if im wrong. Only ever 3 ulster counties in it. Antrim a few times and cavan and fermanagh once so no to winning it every year as my granny could beat antrim, fermanagh have never won anything (not counting 4 mckenna cups in 85 years) and cavan are at the point now where they are to good to be involved in it

DoireCityFC (Derry) - Posts: 1580 - 03/06/2015 15:39:52    1732026

It never caught the imagination really, I think partly down to timing as there was quite a wait after your exit from the championship, The team that took it serious generally won it. Most county players just went back to clubs though and were not seen again until the following season

Barrowsider (Carlow) - Posts: 1596 - 03/06/2015 15:44:38    1732028

catchturnscore
County: Longford
Posts: 17

1730673 GaryMc82 (Derry) yes three times they have caused the odd shock against Derry! As you saw again today no chance of causing an upset in leinster. The point is that in a Tommy Murphy cup situation that odd upset could be built on against the lesser teams from any of the province's including Ulster. It must happen as today's debacle helps no body least of all the people trying to get our better players to join the county set up. And yes I accept that Cavan ,Derry etc would have put it up more to the Dubs today but putting it up to the is a long way from actually beating them.

Well I can rhyme off numerous reasons why Derry couldn't get motivated to play Longford in a Qualifier, but In some ways I'm actually flattered that Longford take so much pride in this achievement. Could Longford beat Derry in the Provincial Championship though? I doubt it really. A proper analytical look at Derry after losing so narrowly to Donegal, provides a few reasons for a lacklustre performance against Longford.

The Dubs are not unbeatable, however the sides in Leinster often give them that allure. Dublin are a well drilled, well funded outfit, who are as close to being Professional as any outfit in Ireland.
Meath should be able to run Dublin close every year, but somehow have drifted far off the pace.
Laois are a solid footballing outfit, and generally perform fairly well despite lacking the resources and population of Kildare or Meath.
Kildare have deteriorated since Kieran McGeeney's departure, and are further of the pace than Meath.
Westmeath have gone downhill at a rapid pace in the last 2 seasons, with double relegations.

Is the Issue purely that Dublin are far too good, or that other big guns in Leinster have failed to mount a serious challenge. Yes structural changes or tweaks may be required to the Leinster Championship, however serious questions need to be asked as to why the likes of Meath and Kildare are so far off the pace, despite considerable resources or funds being spent in Kildare in particular.

Dublin are so good, because they are extremely well funded and well organised. They learned from other top sides, and have applied those learning's to great effect to underage development and senior training techniques.

GaryMc82 (Derry) - Posts: 3017 - 03/06/2015 17:22:00    1732084