Grangevale team up with Business League for a new adventure

The Cork Business League has recently added Cork AUL long-serving outfit Grangevale FC to its growing list of new teams for the new season.

Having enjoyed notable success in league and cup in recent seasons, the Grange-based club made the momentous decision to join the fast-growing and popular former Shipping League following a raft of player withdrawals over the last two seasons.

Eight players departed as a result of emigration and work commitments during the course of last season. Following the departure of goalkeeper Ryan Kennedy and established striker Billy Tabb during the early part of the summer, the committee decided that the best course of action was to give the club a new direction which would possibly attract new signings as well as enhance its sponsorship with local businesses including its main shirt sponsor, Dennehy’s Health & Fitness.

Team manager, Diarmuid O’Neill, takes up the story. 

"We had a good look at the situation at the end of last season and despite finishing a credible fourth in our first season in the AUL Premier Division, our form after Christmas fell away as our panel dwindled due to a number of factors. The loss of three key players from the previous season’s Premier A winning team was compounded by a number of long-term injuries. 

"The league’s top scorer from the year before, Billy Tabb, was out for over four months with a few more missing in the key matches to stay in contention with the leaders. 

A strong start to last season put us top for almost four months but realistically we would not be able to maintain that in what is probably Cork’s Premier Division."

The committee met with the Cork AUL in the interim explaining its decision to move to another league and thanked all present for its 59-year tenure stretching back to the 1960s. 

In retrospect, it was surprising that the AUL didn’t do more to keep such an established club within its ranks. The club first made approaches to the MSL hoping to keep the name Grangevale in use and hoped an application could be made to enter one of its lower divisions. 

However, the door was firmly shut on the basis of the club being a stand-alone team, without an underage section, on the day before the deadline.

A transfer to the Business League was the only option left open and was acted upon immediately by secretary Damien Lynch who expressed his delight at the move. 

"We have to be very happy with our decision which was tough to make at the time but now is proven to be the correct one. The league is the perfect fit when you consider what it has to offer to any new prospective newcomer. 

CLOSE

"It has a dynamic committee with its secretary Peter Travers so accommodating to our needs. There is very little travelling involved as all teams are within the radius of the city with an enhanced number of all-weather playing facilities available. 

"Its website is on par with senior League of Ireland clubs while it has the added attraction of having all its cup competitions broadcast live on Facebook by Full Time Productions." 

Head coach Diarmuid O’Neill was also drawn to the proposition of the league entering the Oscar Traynor Trophy competition for the second year in a row. 

"It's great to see a league reward its clubs by offering its players the opportunity to play for its representative team. I know this cannot be done without a huge financial outlay but it does give the best players an opportunity to display their talents on the big stage." 

And so, as Grangevale embark on a new adventure it has to look no further than its guiding lights for many years, the late and much loved Donie Cronin and Dave Williamson, for the inspiration they received to make the difficult decisions they made in the past to keep their beloved club in football.