Cork City FC could fall behind as popularity of other sports booms on Leeside 

Cork sport is a large term that takes in the hurlers competing in front of 80,000 spectators at Croke Park and an underage athletics tournament held at MTU.

Nevertheless, there is a simple unified vision involving a desire to see local athletes do well. 

The idea is enough to excite and bring out thousands of people regardless of the time of year, like the recent fixture between Munster and Gloucester at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh and the Cork hurlers against UCC in the Mardyke, where every spot around the ground was filled four or five deep

Bandon native Jack Crowley topped the scoring charts for Munster with three conversions in front of a crowd exceeding 35,000, a venue most associate with GAA at the turn of spring into summer.

That night was one of many for the wider Cork sports world, a term so big it was once used by this newspaper as a title for a magazine published on a Friday ahead of that weekend’s action.

Cork City were regularly featured, during various eras, from the promotion-winning campaign under Tommy Dunne in 2011 to the trophy-laden spell under John Caulfield.

The Rebel Army are in a very different place now after experiencing their third relegation in five years, as they deal with the appointment of a sixth permanent manager in seven years.

Ger Nash is the latest name to leave Turner’s Cross, with the coach’s departure announced on the day before Christmas Eve. The Kildare native was only joined in May, to act as the successor to Tim Clancy, with City rooted to the bottom of the Premier Division.

The manager was determined to turn things around, as he talked of a rebuilding job and the need to stop the yo-yo cycle that has become the norm since the first bout of relegation in 2020.

Nash worked alongside David Meyler, and together they oversaw a run to the FAI Cup final that ended in a defeat to a double-chasing Shamrock Rovers side at the Aviva Stadium. 

It was a heartbreaking finish to the campaign, despite memorable victories over Waterford FC and St Patrick’s Athletic on the way to Dublin, and it was followed by the confirmation of a number of departures from Turner’s Cross.

REBUILD

It was put down as the start of the rebuild, with further proof being the signings of players like Niall O’Keeffe from Cobh Ramblers and Hans Mpongo from Finn Harps. Then came the announcement and the question of 'what now' as the club gets ready for yet another First Division campaign chasing an immediate return to the top flight of the Irish football pyramid.

The wider problem is that doesn’t grab the imagination in the same way as dining at the main table.

There will be a Cork derby, however, against a Cobh Ramblers team targeting promotion, in addition to meetings with Treaty United and Kerry FC. This guarantees some level of excitement, especially if there are strong away crowds for games at St Colman’s Park and the Markets Field.

This won’t sustain strong crowds throughout a 36-game season spread out across nine months, especially when the bulk of the action takes place during the height of summer and the All-Ireland championships.

That period, between May and July, is when push comes to shove and the wider Cork sporting world will have a choice to make at the weekend as it will come down to choosing a match at Turner’s Cross or an afternoon at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh.

The hurlers will have two championship matches during that period, while the footballers are expected to have some sort of season in the race for Sam Maguire.

Munster Rugby are also doing well, and are at the top end of the URC table given their run of form to date, which means conversations about playing more matches at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh given the financial incentive over the venue’s capacity compared to Thomond Park.

There’s also been cases with various Champions Cup games going to Dublin, much to the annoyance of supporters in Cork and Limerick. This was during the start of the Munster Hurling Championship, when everyone is looking for tickets and a way to get to away matches.

All the while, inflation is rising and life is getting more expensive. That just heightens the choice of where to go at the weekend.

Meanwhile, Cork City are trying to restart in the basement, without the lights and allure of the Premier Division.

What happens over the next few years could define a generation of sports fans looking to do something at the weekend, and where they go at the weekend.