Potential return of senior soccer mooted

Soccer news

The Cavan-Monaghan Underage League is aiming to be in a position to field an adult senior team in three to four years, according to chairman Darren Smyth.

The CMUL currently fields teams in the national Airtricity League at U14, U15 and U17 levels but the league has recognised the need to provide adult senior football.

“There was a partnership with Monaghan United and the CMUL for a couple of years there and, to be honest, it didn’t work out,” he said.

“There is an U19 Airtricity league but we aren’t in a position in our league to put a team into that because we don’t have a league that runs up to that age group.”

The Airtricity League underage teams are classified as elite and it is hoped they will be given the green light to return to on-field training in the near future.

“In our time we have produced good players like Aaron McCabe, Aaron McCarey, Oisin McEntee (pictured above), Jake Doyle-Hayes and Colin McCabe but with no senior football in the area, it’s very hard to give the young players an end goal,” said Smyth.

“You get to a certain point and it’s a case of ‘where do we go now?’.

“If you’re an exceptional player, you can go across the water or maybe play with a League of Ireland club.

“We have goals and we are under directives from the FAI in that we have to be seen to be progressing all the time.

“We have plans that in maybe two years we will have an U19 team and in a further three to four years, a senior team in the Monaghan-Cavan area.”

See next week for more.