It was announced today that the Setanta Sports Cup will not be held in 2015. The parties involved were unable to reach an agreement on fixture dates for the competition.
Chairman of the cup committee Milo Corcoran hopes that a solution will be found next year.
Over recent months, we have been trying to find dates that can work for the broadcaster, the IFA clubs and the FAI clubs. Unfortunately, despite the best of intentions, it has not been possible to do so, even if I felt we were close to achieving agreement with all of the clubs required at one stage.
Despite the setback, I believe this competition has a lot to offer. It is my hope that with time over the coming year, we will find a solution in 2016. I take this opportunity to thank Setanta Sports for their partnership and support for the competition, and all of the clubs who have made efforts to work together.
The cross-border cup between League of Ireland teams and Danske Bank Premiership teams was first held in 2005. Brian Quinn of Setanta said that the differing season schedules, summer for the League of Ireland and winter for the NIFL teams, was making the competition increasingly difficult to organise.
Picture credit: Ray Lohan / SPORTSFILE
