Soccer in the Republic of Ireland
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Association football is often known as both football and soccer in the Republic of Ireland, sometimes to avoid confusion with gaelic football (one of the country's national games). Although football is not the national game of the Republic of Ireland it is one of the most popular sports in the country.
However, for many years, soccer was largely confined to Dublin and a few provincial towns. In some towns the game had been started by British Army teams, leading to the derisory nickname the "garrison game". Soccer was played in relatively few schools: middle-class schools favoured rugby union while others, especially those run by the Christian Brothers, favoured Gaelic Games. From the late 1960s, soccer began to achieve more widespread popularity. Minister Donagh O'Malley began a new program of state-funded schools in 1966, many with soccer pitches and teams. The Gaelic Athletic Association's ban on members playing "foreign" games was lifted in 1971. RTÉ television, founded in 1962, and British television on cable from the 1970s, broadcast soccer regularly. Above all, the increasing success of the international side from the late 1980s gave increased television exposure, more fans, and more funds to the nations's football association, the FAI.
Despite low match attendances at domestic league games, many people have an interest in the English FA Premier League. Soccer is played at all levels, with children playing it on the street, teenagers playing in local clubs, and even middle-aged men playing it with co-workers on a regular basis. The national body in the Republic is the Football Association of Ireland (FAI).
The domestic league is the FAI National League. Some of the major teams include Cork City F.C., Shelbourne F.C., Bohemians, and Derry City F.C., who are actually from Northern Ireland but play in the Republic's leaue. Due to the small size of the domestic game, most of Ireland's top footballers, such as Damien Duff and Robbie Keane, play in the leagues of larger European countries, particularly in England and Scotland. This is one of the reasons why Irish people tend to support foreign clubs such as Manchester United, Celtic, Liverpool. Rarely does a player from the Republic's domestic league make the national team - the most recent of these being Jason Byrne in 2003.
On the international stage, the Republic of Ireland - despite never winning a major tournament - have qualified for three World Cups and one European Championship in the past.
Recently, aided by the Northern Ireland peace process and the easing of sectarian tensions on the island as a whole, the Setanta Cup was set up by its sponsors, television channel, Setanta Ireland, which is an all-island knock-out style tournament featuring eight teams, four being from the FAI National League and four from the Irish league of Northern Ireland. Despite fairly low turnouts for each juridictions leagues, the Setanta Cup drew relatively successful gate receipts and its 2 year existence has had one winner from the North and one from the South.
