The demise of any season is a time of mixed and fluctuating emotions.
It is, in a sense, irrespective of the indigenous circumstances that abound, a time of retrospection and regret, because the passing of time is rarely conducive to an elevation of one’s spirits.
What has happened to your dreams over the past season? Your own thoughts are perhaps private and personal, but by virtue of the fact that you are perusing this contribution I would presume your affections, if not your hopes and dreams, are amalgamated with Irish professional football.
For the eircom League it has been a strange and unsettling season, a season of great contradiction. Normally contradictions captivate me.
I accept that most people would prefer to meander through life avoiding trouble and retaining tight control of their own future, but I must admit to possessing a penchant for drama and predicament. How boring life would be, how dull and unimaginative we would become if life remained obvious.
Life is designed to ask questions and expect answers; it is the essential reason why we are here in the first place. The challenges we encounter in life are there primarily to cultivate an ethos of calm inner surveillance as opposed to the very modern attitude of self-absorption, an increasingly prevalent and worrying aspect of our society. Too many of us are prone to seeking the easy option.
We find solace in the achievements of those on television or in the pages of magazines rather than becoming an integral and genuine element of those who are part and parcel of our immediate world.
For example, it is easy to be a Manchester United fan or a Real Madrid supporter. The certainties aligned to clubs of this nature are I accept, attractive, but in reality they are not a dutiful alignment to the true spirit of sport. They are also light years away from the decidedly insecure personalities pertinent to Irish football clubs.
This is exactly why I have enormous respect for Irish football supporters. No matter who you support in this country of ours, the start of each season induces in every single individual an inordinate degree of doubt and indecision.
Our domestic league is living proof of the sweet mystery of contradiction.
The product on the park remains attractive but the operations off the pitch became bogged down in a combination of naivety, selfishness and misplaced ambition.
The metamorphic transition to full-time football has in many ways convulsed those running our game with a nonsensical willingness to pay highly inflated salaries. Managers cannot remain unscathed either. Too many of the 'gaffers' in the league have been willing travellers on the journey to pecuniary discomposure.
Indeed, some have even been the courier that dictated the route and the expensive accoutrements gathered along the way.
The contradictions converged last week in a manner unique to Irish professional football.
The so called 'betting scandal' was a proverbial storm in a teacup, a scenario I am convinced generated more by gossip and innuendo than actual evidence.
It hastened more intemperate publicity to the league, while at the same time the impressive achievement and atmosphere produced at the Belfield Bowl by the Galway United players and supporters underlined just how good the potential is for the club in the west.
I watched the FAI Ford Cup semi-final in Terryland Park and the vital league game there against Finn Harps and I was hugely impressed with the attendance figures and the passion engendered.
Last Friday, I was again moved by the wonderful support shown by the Galway fans. These three games demonstrated quite convincingly that with a good manager and team, and solid administration behind the scenes, there is indeed serious potential for full-time football in Galway.
The FAI Ford Cup in the RDS on Sunday afternoon is a very attractive affair. The colourful and ebullient Derry City fans will set the scene perfectly and with the Bohemians supporters equally well known for their clear and unequivocal support for their team, the Dublin 4 venue should experience something very special.
The contrast in style offered by the teams is fascinating too. The studious and sometimes casual-looking approach of the Candystripes can be deceptive. The ever-alert Mark Farren is one of the few strikers in the league who has the sharpness of mind, and the fleetness of foot, to get behind the almost impenetrable Bohemians back four.
However, I do believe that each and every Derry player will have to perform to his maximum before they can even begin to contemplate taking the trophy home.
For their part, the Gypsies are motivated, strong and very well organised. While I have to admit to wishing that the new eircom League champions were able to exert a more imaginative style of football onto the domestic landscape, I do admire the single-minded and assiduous characteristics they have so consistently demonstrated throughout this season.
If Bohs perform to their capabilities they will win. They owe themselves a victory over Derry to set the record straight for the season and this will be where their main factor of motivation will lie this weekend.
However, it is worth stressing that Derry do possess a notable cup tradition in recent years. This may turn out to be of some relevance in a competition that often unleashes moments of mayhem and high drama.
