Cabinteely FC have been enjoying a positive 2017 SSE Airtricity League First Division campaign. Currently sitting fifth in the table, Pat Devlin’s troops are just two victories away from bettering their total 2016 points tally, which would also equ
Cabinteely FC have been enjoying a positive 2017 SSE Airtricity League First Division campaign.
Currently sitting fifth in the table, Pat Devlin’s troops are just two victories away from bettering their total 2016 points tally, which would also equal their best-ever number of LOI wins. What’s more, the club’s continued marketing prowess has once again caught the eye.
Promotion to the Premier Division remains an outside shot with just one club going up come the end of October, but the south Dublin side have rarely been perturbed by slim chances. After all, when they initially entered the second tier on the League of Ireland ladder back in 2015, many sceptics questioned how they would cope at a higher level.
Despite Devlin recently confessing that they are a ‘work in progress,’, they are continuing to prove the doubters wrong in their third campaign.
On the field, they have been highly impressive, losing just twice in their last eight matches across all competitions. Scoring goals and playing with an expressive, gung-ho style “Cabo” have thrown down the gauntlet to the rest of the division and are so far reaping plenty of rewards.
Bringing in Jason Byrne, the League of Ireland’s second-highest marksman of all time behind Brendan Bradley, might have seemed more like a way to sell shirts and boost the club’s social appeal than anything else, but it is proving a great decision by the club a few weeks in.
Arguably the most experienced active player across either division, Byrne’s mastery, coolness under pressure and know-how has been key, and is sure to be increasingly influential in the dressing room as the weeks roll by. The expert goal-scorer has already netted his first strike for the club and grabbed all the headlines for his outrageous assist against Longford Town.
It will also be vital that Kieran ‘Marty’ Waters, who has five to his name this term, continues netting because securing a good league finish will not simply be something to fondly reflect on for Cabinteely – it will be a benchmark to build on in 2018.
That’s precisely what this club is all about – looking at ways to improve themselves and actively pursuing the best means to achieve that.
That’s reflected everywhere you look in the club. It’s in their impressive underage set-ups from U8s all the way up to U19s, their willingness to stand together as a group, their desire to retain their hard-fought LOI status by playing proactive football and their plan to achieve promotion by 2020.
Of course, it would be tantamount to sin to ignore their prowess across platforms like Twitter and Facebook, but again that isn’t carried out purely for show. There’s a real purpose behind it. When it comes to the modern age where technology, sharing and fan engagement means so much to clubs, they are the outright leaders.
Organising friendlies against rock band Muse, crafting the most ingenious tweets, attracting fans through the turnstiles with various discounts or even their impressive midweek announcement of a friendly against Anthony Hudson’s New Zealand side a week before FIFA Confederations Cup duty are all innovative ways the club have successfully built momentum, created buzz and got people talking.
Who knows – one day, if they keep aiming for the right targets and believing in themselves, they might just swap their status as social media champions to title champions. For now, though, they’ll satisfy themselves with inching towards improvement, something that a home win against Waterford FC tonight would help accomplish.
Trevor Murray
