Gareth Maher

 

It may still be plagued with problems, but the League of Ireland is starting to learn from its mistakes as it continues to move forward.

Most domestic leagues are lucky if they are only hit by one scandal every few years. In Ireland, everything comes tumbling out at the same time. From players betting on games to clubs operating dual contracts to winding-up orders being issued, it all tends to happen in the one season on Irish shores.

However, changes have been made to ensure the same problems do not crop up again. The Football Association of Ireland (FAI) are dragging some clubs away from their old habits to help the league move on as a whole.

Of course, this takes time and the results won’t be instantly recognisable to casual onlookers, but the work being done behind the scenes is helping to keep the League of Ireland alive.

For the 2010 season, which kicked off in March, the FAI brought Airtricity onboard as a new title sponsor. While it fuelled many wind and energy-related headlines in the Irish media, it is a link-up that is hugely positive.

On the football side of things, there has also been a lot to trawl through in the off-season as over 90 per cent of players who featured in the league last year were out of contract.

So the majority of clubs made drastic changes to their squads as some of the best players in the league were free to choose where they wanted to play their football. This has resulted in almost every team being strengthened and should make for a more competitive league.

With Cork City slipping into extinction in February, a new club was formed by the supporters group FORAS and they were awarded a licence to play in the First Division under the name of Cork City Foras Co-op.

It was crucial that there was still a club in Cork as they have a passionate fanbase, which was highlighted by the superb attendance figure of 4,400 that turned up for their first home game of the season.

Cork have been joined in the second tier by Derry City, who started over with a new board after they were expelled from the league last year. Both teams have been tipped to battle for promotion in what is a very open First Division.

But most of the attention is sure to be on the Premier Division as Bohemians go in search of their third straight league title, while Shamrock Rovers and newly-promoted Sporting Fingal attempt to spoil things for their Dublin rivals.

All of the ingredients are there for this to be one of the most exciting seasons in the history of the League of Ireland. The only question is: can the same old problems be avoided?

The early signs suggest that they can, but no one will be rushing to make any bold predicition on this being a scandal-free year. Experience has taught us not to be so hasty in that regard.osses), remains a bit of an open question.

 

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