The latest on the Tom Creedon Cup

Like the divisions/colleges section in the top tier championships, with withdrawal of teams dominating the storyline, the Tom Creedon Cup has also been a hot topic this year.

It has been a huge pity that this famous competition in memory of former Macroom and Cork footballer Tom Creedon, hasn’t been able to get properly going this season but it has been under pressure in recent years mainly down to the condensed nature of the campaign. 

The final was done and dusted last season on Saturday, August 26. It won't be the case this year. Knocknagree won the title for the first time as a big crowd flocked to the Castle Grounds in the heart of Macroom as the Duhallow side comfortably saw off the hosts.

There were just six entries into the Tom Creedon Cup this year, with just two games played to date. Macroom easily dispatched Glanmire on a scoreline of 2-21 to 0-11 while Adrigole got the better of Naomh Abán in a cracking encounter as it finished up 1-13 to 0-14. Both of those matches were played at the end of May with no further progress made since.

The two semi-finals were Boherbue v Adrigole and Macroom and Ilen Rovers. Unfortunately, despite Adrigole’s win over Naomh Abán, the Beara club had to concede to Boherbue in the last four largely down to injuries and the condensed nature of the split season nowadays.

The other last four contest is down to be played in two weeks’ time on Friday, August 23 in Macroom at 7.30pm. Whether that match definitely goes ahead remains to be seen with Macroom and Ilen Rovers after losing their respective opening group matches in the McCarthy Insurance Group PIFC. If both sides were to lose a second time out next weekend, would both want to face off with so much on the line for both in the final group outing?

Last year there were eight teams entered into the Tom Creedon Cup but it’s getting harder and harder to find space for everything these days with the split season. Club league fixtures are after taking on their own significance, and for dual clubs, 18 weeks on the bounce playing games with only a few weeks to recharge the batteries before championship.

There is no doubt the poor weather we experienced for many months at the start of this year contributed to a backlog of league fixtures for clubs and that did make it difficult to squeeze in the Tom Creedon Cup fixtures where there wasn’t such a problem 12 months previous. Before the split season came in, it was mostly ran off before the league got underway. 

Many people have been in touch with the scribe over the past few weeks asking what is the latest with the Tom Creedon Cup. It means a lot to a lot of people. The crowd that was present at the 2023 decider between Knocknagree and Macroom showed how much people are behind this competition. John Fintan Daly expressed his delight after guiding his team to a first Tom Creedon Cup title last year.

“It’s brilliant to win this trophy,” the Knocknagree manager said after seeing his side prevail 0-12 to 0-6.

“The late Tom Creedon was a legend. I am old enough to remember him playing for Macroom, Muskerry and Cork. He was a brilliant player and I think this year marks 40 years since he passed away so it was very appropriate that Macroom reached the final. We are honoured to win this trophy.” 

The long term future of the competition that has been going since 1985 is unclear, but it has been a great success over the years.