Dr. McKenna Cup

Dr. McKenna Cup

Founded	1927
Region	Ulster (GAA)
Number of teams	12 (9 counties, 3 universities)
Current champions	Derry (11th time)
Gaelic Life Dr. McKenna Cup 2009

The Dr McKenna cup is a gaelic football competition played between counties and universities in the province of Ulster. It is the secondary gaelic football competition based in Ulster behind the Ulster Senior Football Championship, and the fourth most important inter-county competition in which Ulster counties take part, behind the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, the Ulster Championship and the National Football League.

The 2010 edition of the competition is known for sponsorship reasons as The Barrett Sports Lighting McKenna Cup

Since 2007 the McKenna Cup has been sponsored by the Gaelic Life newspaper.^[1] The competition was once a prestigious one, but in recent year's the focus of the competition has changed; it has been used by some county teams as a pre-season "warm up" competition.

Some managers use it as an opportunity to try out new and young panelists, to see if they will be part of the manager's plans for the National League and Championship.^[2] The addition of university teams has also changed the nature of the competition, but the generally high recent standard of Ulster football, combined with the variety in motivation has led to a less prestigious, but nonetheless intriguing competition.

Origins of the Dr. McKenna Cup

Antrim manager Liam Bradley (left) with Armagh manager Peter McDonnell (right) at the launch of the 2009 competition

The cup was donated to the Ulster Council in 1924 by the Most Rev. Dr. McKenna with the first tournament being played in 1927.^[3]

When Bishop Patrick McKenna, Bishop of Clogher presented the McKenna Cup to the Ulster Council in 1925, he was one of only a small group willing at that time to be publicly associated with the GAA in Ulster. Ireland in the 1920s was slowly emerging from war, unrest and change.

When the Ulster Council sought donors for trophies there wasn’t a queue to their door with offers. From 1923 the council were actively looking for a donor for their senior championship and in 1925 the treasurer of the council proposed the establishment of a second competition to prepare teams for the championship.

Two loyal GAA stalwarts came to the council’s rescue in 1925. JF O Hanlon, owner of the Anglo-Celt newspaper presented a trophy to BC Fay, secretary of the Council. It was decided to use the trophy for the Ulster senior championship and it was first presented to Cavan who won the 1925 Ulster championship. Treasurer O’ Duffy was successful in securing a trophy from the bishop of Clogher and the new cup was presented to Council in 1925 although it was not until 1927 that the competition got underway.

The inaugural competition was won by Monaghan, defeating Donegal in the final. Monaghan are the most successful team in the tournament with 13 wins. Fermanagh, with four wins, are the least successful of the county teams. The McKenna Cup is, to date, Fermanagh's only inter-county title.

The competition was not staged in 2001 and 2002, but was resurrected in 2003.^[4]

Current Champions

The 2009 champions are Donegal. 2009 saw Queens University Belfast become the first university side to reach the McKenna Cup final.^[5]

Format for the 2009 edition

Action from the 2009 group game between Cavan (blue) and Queens University Belfast (green)

The competition is a group-based tournament of twelve teams, with three groups of four. Each group includes a University team, and three inter-county teams. Each team plays three matches, with two points acquired for a win, one for a draw, and no points for a loss. The winners of each group, plus the best runner-up, qualify for the semi-finals, and the winners of the semi-finals play each other in the Final in Belfast, in February.

Summary of the 2008 edition

In 2008, the competition was compacted entirely into the month of January. This led to several considerations for all participants, because the students in the university teams had exams in January, while the county teams, who would not have played together for up to six months, had to play three matches in a week. In spite of this, the university teams seemed to have a slight advantage, causing several upsets early in the competition.^[6][7]

The Addition of the Universities

Action from the 2009 group game between University of Ulster, Jordanstown (UUJ) (blue) and Fermanagh (green)

Until the early 2000s, the competition was purely an intercounty competition, but the Ulster counties allowed the two main Universities in Ulster, Queen's University,and the University of Ulster and St Mary's University College (a college of Queen's University). The stipulation of this was that University teams will get first choice for any player who is eligible to play for both the University team and the county team.

The University teams have, naturally, emerged as among the weaker teams, but are by no means the 'whipping boys' of the competition, having beaten teams such as Antrim in 2007,^[8] and the added experience against playing teams of such a high standard is expected to be beneficial to the University teams in the principle Gaelic football competition for Irish universities, the Sigerson Cup. This initiative seems to be bearing fruit, given that the 2007 Sigerson Cup final was contested by Queen's University and University of Ulster - historically, universities in the south of Ireland have dominated.

Recent developments

From 2007, the games were broadcast live on Irish language channel, TG4.^[9] This, along with the fact that attendances are in the region of 20,000 for the later matches,^[10] suggests that the tournament is held in higher esteem than its counterparts in other provinces, such as the O'Byrne Cup.

Tyrone ineligibility crisis of 2007

Tyrone caused controversy in 2007 when they fielded four players who had already been selected by University teams. The official rule is that Universities have first choice on players, so in effect, they were fielding ineligible players. Tyrone manager, Mickey Harte claimed it was the players own decision to choose to play for the county team over their University. Tyrone were docked two points as a punishment, but this did not effect their progression into the semi-final stage.^[11]

Although Tyrone won the final, beating Donegal by 2-09 to 0-05, Tyrone were stripped of their title for fielding the ineligible University players in the match. The players had not been listed on the official team sheet, which was another breach of the rules.^[12] However, Tyrone's victory was reinstated upon appeal.^[13]

Competing teams in 2008

Action from the 2009 semi-final between Queens University Belfast and Down (red)

The counties-

• Antrim
• Armagh
• Cavan
• Derry
• Donegal
• Down
• Fermanagh
• Monaghan
• Tyrone

The universities-

• Queen's University of Belfast
• St Mary's University College
• University of Ulster, Jordanstown

2009 competition

The draw for the 2009 McKenna Cup was made in the Armagh City Hotel, Armagh on Wednesday 11 November 2008.^[14] The competition will start on the weekend of 3 and 4 January 2009.^[14] In addition to weekend matches, some games will be played midweek, so the competition is completed before the start of the 2009 National League in early February.^[15] Television broadcaster TG4 has pledged to screen a minimum of four live games from the competition.^[14] The winners of Group B will play the winners of Group C in the semi-finals, while the Group A winners will face the best runners-up up of the three groups.^[14]

Draw

Group A	Group B	Group C
University of Ulster, Jordanstown (UUJ)	St Mary's University College	Queen's University of Belfast
Fermanagh	Tyrone	Armagh
Derry	Monaghan	Antrim
Donegal	Down	Cavan

Roll of honour

Team	Winning Years
Monaghan (13 wins)	1928, 1932, 1934, 1935, 1937, 1948, 1952, 1976, 1979, 1980, 1983, 1995, 2003
Down (11)	1944, 1959, 1961, 1964, 1972, 1987, 1989, 1992, 1996, 1998, 2008
Cavan (11)	1936, 1940, 1943, 1951, 1953, 1955, 1956, 1962, 1968, 1988, 2000
Derry (11)	1947, 1954, 1958, 1960, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1974, 1993, 1999, 2011
Tyrone (9)	1957, 1973, 1978, 1982, 1984, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007
Armagh (8)	1929, 1938, 1939, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1986, 1990
Donegal (8)	1963, 1965, 1967, 1975, 1985, 1991, 2009, 2010
Antrim (6)	1941, 1942, 1945, 1946, 1966, 1981
Fermanagh (4)	1930, 1933, 1977, 1997

See also

• O'Byrne Cup
• Dr Lagan Cup
• Ulster Senior Football Championship
• Sigerson Cup

References

1. ^ Rodgers, Alan (7 November 2008). "Gaelic Life renews sponsorship for the McKenna Cup". Gaelic Life: p. 5. http://www.nwipp-newspapers.com/GL/free/316306980341253.php. Retrieved 19 November 2008. ^{[dead link]}
2. ^ Heaney, Paddy (12 November 2008). "Orchard to pilot new approach in McKenna". The Irish News: p. 62. http://www.irishnews.com/appnews/597/5776/2008/11/12/602715_363265370226Orchardto.html. Retrieved 12 November 2008. 
3. ^ Ulster GAA
4. ^ Mullan, Bernie (2003-01-10). "Cup a quiet start to Moran's third stint". Belfast Telegraph. http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/imported/gaa-cup-a-quiet-start-to-morans-third-stint-13644422.html. Retrieved 2008-10-04. 
5. ^ Woods, Ciaran (23 January 2009). "Class of '09 comes good!". Gaelic Life: p. 7. 
6. ^ Students give Harte’s side an early season lesson. Hogan Stand. http://www.hoganstand.com/Tyrone/ArticleForm.aspx?ID=87488. Retrieved 2008-01-12 
7. ^ Kenny Archer (2008-01-12). Uncertain McKenna future for colleges. Irish News. http://www.irishnews.com/page.asp?catid=597&subcatid=5776&sid=577323. Retrieved 2008-01-12 
8. ^ "Antrim 1-8 1-14 UUJ". BBC News. 21 January 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/northern_ireland/gaelic_games/6285019.stm. Retrieved 1 May 2010. 
9. ^ Hoganstand.com - GAA Football & Hurling
10. ^ "McKenna Cup in sponsorship boost". BBC News. 30 October 2006. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/low/northern_ireland/gaelic_games/6100490.stm. Retrieved 1 May 2010. 
11. ^ "Red Hands lose McKenna Cup points". BBC News. 24 January 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/northern_ireland/gaelic_games/6295781.stm. Retrieved 1 May 2010. 
12. ^ "Tyrone stripped of McKenna Cup". BBC News. 15 March 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/northern_ireland/gaelic_games/6453131.stm. Retrieved 2007-03-18. 
13. ^ "Tyrone reinstated as Dr. McKenna Cup Champions". BBC News. 21 November 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/northern_ireland/gaelic_games/7105208.stm. Retrieved 3 January 2010. 
14. ^ ^{a b c d} Heaney, Paddy (12 November 2008). "Cup has winning mentality". The Irish News: p. 64. http://www.irishnews.com/appnews/597/5776/2008/11/12/602704_363252110617Cuphaswi.html. Retrieved 12 November 2008. 
15. ^ "Champions to face off in McKenna Cup". Hogan Stand. 12 November 2008. http://www.hoganstand.com/ArticleForm.aspx?ID=103539. Retrieved 12 November 2008. 

• Official sponsor website