The goal is promotion, but route to Division 1 is quite tricky

JOHN Cleary has been beating the same drum for a while now – Cork need to get back into Division 1 of the national football league.

As interim manager in the summer of 2022, Cleary remarked after the All-Ireland quarter-final loss to Dublin: ‘The idea is to get up to the top of Division 2, and then maybe ultimately try and get into Division 1. The next level that Cork needs to get to is that.’

After the Rebels’ All-Ireland quarter-final exit to Derry in July 2023, the Cork boss insisted: ‘The first thing we need to do is to get back to Division 1.’

Speaking to this paper earlier this month the Castlehaven man, again, cut straight to the point: ‘Promotion to Division 1 is definitely a goal this year. You want Cork to be playing Division 1 football.’

The benefits of playing the top teams regularly in the top tier are obvious – and that needs to be the next step in Cleary’s Rebels’ revolution. Look at the Division 1 line-up this year: Ulster champs Derry, All-Ireland winners Dublin, Connacht champions Galway, Munster kingpins Kerry, Mayo, Monaghan, Roscommon and Tyrone. The four All-Ireland semi-finalists from 2023 are all in Division 1 this term. Six of the eight quarter-finalists slugged it out in the top division; the outliers are Armagh (relegated from Division 1 last season) and Cork, who have not graced Division 1 since being relegated in 2016. 

That’s NINE seasons outside Division 1. There was also the relegation to Division 3 for the 2019 campaign, but with Cleary at the wheel, the outlook is brighter. Even the most pessimistic Cork football fan must agree that the 2023 season saw progress, it was two steps forward in the All-Ireland series as the Rebels beat Louth away, Mayo in Limerick and then Roscommon at home to qualify for the last eight against Derry in Croke Park; that’s where the journey ended, but there was enough to suggest Cork are moving forward. 

Beating top teams, like Mayo and Roscommon, back to back felt like a turning point for this Cork team. It had been a while since the Rebels took a championship scalp of a higher-ranked team, before Derry proved a step too far. In the aftermath of the defeat to the Ulster side, Cleary again identified the benefits of regular competition against the elite in Division 1, as well as building a stronger panel to withstand the hustle and bustle of the season. The Cork boss is reasonably pleased with how this season’s McGrath Cup panned out as he used his bench to give fringe players important minutes.

‘We used an awful lot of players in the McGrath Cup so it was great from that point of view,’ Cleary remarked after the shoot-out win against Kerry last weekend. ‘We need a panel of 24 or 25 going into the league. We need fellas to put up their hands and the guys on the fringe of the panel did that (against Kerry). It gives us better options heading into the league.’

The law of averages suggest Cork will need a deep panel in this Division 2 campaign if they are to reach their target: promotion. Already without Cathail O’Mahony (quad) for the entire league, as well as Sean Powter (hamstring), Thomas Clancy (calf), Killian O’Hanlon (hip) and Steven Sherlock (calf/thigh) for the trip to Donegal this weekend, it highlights the need for options. 

From the 20 players who featured against Derry last summer, 12 played in the McGrath Cup win against Kerry – Daniel O’Mahony, Tommy Walsh, Maurice Shanley, Rory Maguire, Matty Taylor, Colm O’Callaghan, Ian Maguire, Brian O’Driscoll, Eoghan McSweeney, Ruairi Deane, Chris Óg Jones and Conor Corbett. That’s a good starting base for the league; a consistent selection, in theory, can help create more consistency, and this is where Cork fell down last season, moreso in the league and certainly in the Munster championship. 

‘For us, it’s all about having the best possible team out there because our championship depends on it,’ Cleary told the Star this year. ‘You need to have a good league campaign to get into the Sam Maguire series. So every county will be aiming to do well in our division and it’ll be ultra-competitive from day one.’

Consistency will be key to Cork’s promotion push in Division Two, starting with a daunting trek north to Ballybofey this Sunday; remember, Donegal beat Kerry at home in the opening round of Division 1 last season, and they are back under the guidance of Jim McGuiness, again. The following weekend, February 4th, Cork are away to Louth in Ardee, a ground where the Rebels lost in last season’s league campaign. These opening two games will shape Cork’s league before back-to-back matches against the two teams promoted from Division 3, Cavan and Fermanagh. Kildare (home) and Meath (away) are next up before the Rebels finish at home to Armagh on March 23rd. 

While promotion is the target for a Cork team determined to build on 2023, it’s far from straightforward, with four games away from home (two in Ulster, two in Leinster). Given the Rebels decided against engaging in any media duties this week ahead of their league opener, they will want to do their talking on the pitch against Donegal on Sunday.