Cabinteely Boys FC

were founded in 1967 but the history section of their website traces the lineage back a few decades further and recalls the celebrated international Peter Farrell playing for a previous incarnation of the club in front of crowds that may occasionally have topped the 5,000 mark.

Those were underage games, the level where the current club has made its mark. Now, though, Cabinteely have become the newest members of the SSE Airtricity League and Pearse Toale, chairman of the senior set-up, says he anticipates crowds in the “low, low hundreds”.

Same approach

He admits it will be “a challenge . . . but we are well structured and well run as a schoolboy club and we hope to bring that same approach to the senior team”.

The club has 54 teams in all and the hope is that the League of Ireland will be the destination for some of those graduating from the schoolboy setup.

Having spoken to some who have been down this road before, Cabinteely are aware of the potential pitfalls. “We intend to run things very prudently,” says Toale. “The team will be required to be self-financing.”

Eddie Gormley is assembling a squad that will, for the moment, be completely amateur, and mainly drawn from elsewhere, although he anticipates "at least two" home-grown Cabinteely players to be involved, a number that, all going well, will increase over the coming years.

“We’re bringing through some good players,” says the former St Patrick’s Athletic midfielder, “and the hope would be to bring them into the senior set-up over time.”

The reaction from many outsiders is sceptical. However, John O’Sullivan, formerly of Foras and centrally involved in the running of Cork City, Athlone Town and Limerick in recent years, sees logic to the plan. He suggests that entering teams in the elite under-17 and under-19 leagues could give Cabinteely an edge when it comes to attracting the best young players, who ultimately may end up going to England for lucrative fees.

Certain level

“The rewards could be big if it really worked out for them,” he says. “If they let a 16-year-old go to

Shamrock Rovers

now, they would be entitled to €500 for each year he has been with them. If they are a league club and a player goes to a club of a certain level in England, that figure is €60,000.”

Toale says he is aware of these implications and the “small part” they might play in the overall financial structure but insists the idea is about “a pathway for players” rather than any notion that the club might actually turn a profit.