'Tales from the Summer Cups’ will be recounted with book launch

Past players and supporters of junior football and those who remember the famous Summer Cups are in for a treat with the launch of a new book next week. 

‘Tales from the Summer Cups’ will be launched in The Station House Hotel, Letterkenny on Monday, November 7 at 8pm.

 Johnny Joe McCollum, a member of the Letterkenny Heritage Group, had the original idea for the book during lockdown in 2021 and he has now compiled an array of stories and many photos of that golden era of Donegal football starting in the 1940s right up to the late 1980s.

The Kennedy Cup in Moville was probably the most lucrative in the early 1960’s with a prize fund of £2,000 to be won, drawing teams from Donegal, Derry, Belfast, as far away as Dublin, Galway and there was even a team from Carfin in Scotland. 

In later years the Buncrana Cup had a prize fund of €5,000 for teams who reached the final stages before it finally ceased in 1995. 

For many players it was practically a full-time occupation playing in Summers Cups in places such as Letterkenny, Ramelton, Milford, Kerrykeel, Rathmullan, Convoy, Buncrana, Moville, Derry, Omagh and as far away as Castledawson.

Some players were on the field at least three or four times a week and some of the competitions also attracted top senior players on both sides of the border during their off-season.

Celtic and Manchester United great Paddy Crerand played in the Moville Kennedy Cup, as did several other English and Scottish players of note.

Fr Willie McMenamin recalls playing against Paddy Crerand in a seven-a-side final at the Cranford Sports. Crerand was in a star-studded line-up that also included John McCole of Leeds United but that didn’t bother the local men who won the decider in some style.

Buncrana Hearts were the Buncrana Cup winners in 1993

Former Finn Harps captain Jim Sheridan and former Manchester City skipper Jobby Crossan will be the special guests for the book launch. Everyone is welcome to attend.