West Cork Masters - History
Welcome to the West Cork Masters web site's historical section. Read a brief history (displayed at he bottom of this page) or select from the following list of available links:
Welcome to the West Cork Masters web site's historical section. Read a brief history (displayed at he bottom of this page) or select from the following list of available links:
LINKS
Masters Team of the Year - First ever West Cork Masters Team of Year (2015)
League Tables Archive - Archive of all previous season's league tables
Cup Archive - Archive of all previous season's Cup tournament results
Shield Archive - Archive of all previous season's Shield tournament results
2012 Archived News, Reports, Photos - 2012 West Cork Masters review
2011 Archived Website - 2011 West Cork Masters (Over33's) website
2009 & 2010 Archived Website - 2009 & 2010 West Cork Masters (Over33's) website
BRIEF HISTORY
The
formation of the first ever West Cork Masters (Over33’s) Soccer League, Cup and
Shield competitions to be run throughout the summer months was announced
in Clonakilty in May 2009.
Diarmuid Keohane
and Noel O'Donovan, members of Ardfield AFC - who ply their trade in the
West Cork League – came up with the idea of a new soccer competition to
fill the void during the summer months until the West Cork League
returns in August. There was definitely a huge appetite for summer soccer with the earlier success of Clonakilty AFC’s indoor Over35’s League and
Samba Cup competitions underlining how many former West Cork League players were still active throughout the region.
Noel O'Donovan and Diarmuid Keohane
FLEDGLING
The
fledgling Masters league was initially targeted at the 35+ age group
but it was agreed after a series of meetings that clubs would have a
better chance of regularly fielding full squads if the age limit was
dropped to 33. The organisers hoped clubs would approach the tournament
in a serious manner but that games would still be played in a friendly
and fun environment.
Teams entering the 2009
league and knockout cup competitions were drawn from the Ardfield,
Clonakilty AFC, Clonakilty Town, Rosscarbery FC, Skibbereen, Drinagh
Rangers, Courtmacsherry and Dunmanway Town West Cork based clubs. The
league initially concentrated on clubs within a short travelling
distance in its inaugural season due to increase in transport costs.
KICK OFF
The
big event kicked off on Tuesday evening May 26th 2009 – the night
before the Champions League Final – before reverting to a regular
Wednesday night slot for the remainder of the summer. All playing rules
were covered under the WCL & FAI rulebook. Games were tentatively
scheduled to kick off at 7.30pm and to be one hour (30 minutes a side)
in duration.
Squads were to be made up of 11
outfield players with 5 ‘rolling substitutes’ i.e. a substitute can
replace an outfield player once cleared with the match official
throughout the 60 minutes. The West Cork Referees also came on board to
officiate at each league and cup fixture throughout the inaugural
campaign.
SPONSORS
O'Brien’s
Bar in Rosscarbery kindly agreed to sponsor the Over33’s League and
Bernard Hayes Travel sponsored the Over33’s Cup. A Cut Above Salon in
Clonakilty sponsored the Over33’s Shield Competition.
The
Over33 Soccer League proved so successful in its first year that the
competition looks set to become an annual event. Increased coverage of
the summer league has since helped attract more clubs and in turn
additional sponsorship to meet the administration and running costs.
LEAGUE ORIGINALLY SPONSORED BY: O'BRIEN'S BAR, ROSSCARBERY
CUP ORIGINALLY SPONSORED BY: BERNARD HAYES TRAVEL, CORK
SHIELD ORIGINALLY SPONSORED BY: A CUT ABOVE SALON
