Forty years on – Cobh’s election to the League of Ireland helped bring the town together during one of its darkest hours 

If the 1980s were hard for Cork, things were worse for Cobh as the small island battled unemployment on a massive scale.

The metaphorical lighthouse grew dimmer and dimmer each passing year, as more and more people chose the boats in search of a better life.

By March 1985, the figure was touching at 1000 according to the Evening Echo. 

The effects were very real and according to Councillor Seanie O’Connor “the poor are getting poorer” as proposed charges for water supply and refuse collection were debated.

The town’s issues were well documented in local media, and how there were various community meetings in a bid to start a conversation that would lead to some sort of salvation.

Hope came from St Colman’s Park as Cobh Ramblers chose to move up to the League of Ireland 1985, as the club looked for a new challenge after nearly monopolising the local scene in Cork, in addition to winning two FAI Intermediate Cups in the early 80s.

“We had reached a point where our players wanted to try something new,” chairman John Meade told the Evening Echo in August 1985.

“And our supporters wanted to see something new. The opportunity to join the League was presented to us and we felt we had to join because we had done everything else.” 

The thing is, Cobh were facing daunting away trips to Sligo Rovers and League of Ireland newcomers Derry City. 

This meant money was needed and the people running the club got to work thinking about ways to raise capital.

“We have not done any projections on what it is going to cost us,” Meade explained.

“It is going to cost us plenty, but whatever it is we will have to pay it.” It was a stark answer to a question that was often answered with a reality check of one’s ambitions.

Cobh knew of the problems facing them, and the issues facing the town as a whole as they started to make the step up to the League of Ireland.

“In a sense everything is wrong now,” Meade explained.

“The club has been involved in a major outlay, the area is badly hit by the recession, there is so much unemployment in Cobh that money is scarce. 

"Our opposing teams in the League are in the worst possible positions geographically for us.” 

This was done at a time of great change at St Colman’s Park, something sparked by the cash injection following the club’s famous run to the FAI Cup semi-finals in 1983. 

The Ramblers journey that season is well documented, with the stories of a non-league side forcing three replays against eventual winners Sligo Rovers well-worn around the island, the aftermath is equally as interesting.

Their games were played at Flower Lodge and that helped attract a crowd totally over 20,000 people. 

This meant money and it helped the club earn £20,000 and other off the pitch manoeuvres helped but the board in a position where they could splash out on infrastructure around the ground.

Bob O’Keeffe, who looked after the pitch at Flower Lodge before that summer’s international soccer match between the Republic of Ireland and Spain, was drafted in to ‘renew’ their surface in Cobh. 

£15,000 was also spent on the social club at St Colman’s Park, which was done by Cliona Clayton, an interior designer.

This was done independently of the move to the League of Ireland, which brought a separate drive for financing. 

The volunteers came together under that shared umbrella, by organising events such as a car treasure hunt around the island, with the goal of getting money for the first team ahead of the new season.

Cobh harnessed the feel good factor and managed to take nine points from their first nine games, which put them into fifth place going into Christmas.

It was enough to build a foundation and out of that came a midtable finish, which they held during the 1986-87 campaign.

The Ramblers achieved promotion in their third year, which brought the whole project to a new level as it meant games like the derby with Cork City and champions Dundalk.

They only lasted a season, and the disappointment was very quickly replaced by a feeling of progress as the club were surviving.

40 years on, Cobh Ramblers remain in the League of Ireland and are challenging for promotion once again. 

They remain a community institution on the island, and a form of escape for people on a Friday evening throughout the summer.