Ford, long term partners of the FAI and sponsors of the FAI Cup have looked to the tradition of the competition in devising a new social media push around the naming of the Greatest Ever FAI Cup Final.
A list of the top ten best finals has been determined with the help of Irish media and League of Ireland fans have been urged to vote for their favourite ever final at facebook.com/fordireland.
Ford is in its seventh year as sponsor of the cup but the link goes back much further with a works team having won the 1926 final under the banner of Fordsons.
The promotion is smart in a number of ways for highlighting the tradition and Irish heritage of Ford alongside that of the teams who have been selected as having played a part in the rich tapestry of the competition.
Those who cast a vote will be entered into a free draw for fuel vouchers and a HDTV. The Ford Ireland Facebook site has 45,000 fans at present, and the competition is also being well promoted to the 75,000 fans on the FAI Facebook page as well as those of the ten clubs who feature in the ten finals.
The very first game on the poll was the 1935 final, a seven goal thriller between Bohemians and Dundalk, with the Gypsies coming away winners in the joint highest scoring final to date. The next match on the list was Shamrock Rovers’ 3-2 comeback win over Cork Athletic in 1956. Rovers were 2-1 down with only 12 minutes to go, before they sealed an injury time win which sparked wild scenes amongst the Dubliners’ supporters.
Miah Dennehy became the first player to score a hat trick in the 1972 final as Cork Hibernians ended Waterford’s hope of a double with a memorable 3-0 win. 1983 was the turn of Sligo Rovers as Harry McLoughlin ended his sides’ cup hoodoo with a 2-1 win over Bohemians.
The following year, saw one of the biggest upsets in the competition’s history as UCD triumphed over Shamrock Rovers in 1984. The student’s needed a replay, which they won 2-1. 1990 saw Bray Wanderers as Cup champions as John Ryan’s superb hat trick ended St Francis’ hopes with a 3-0 win at a packed Lansdowne Road.
The 1996 finale saw Shelbourne come from behind to defeat St Patricks Athletic 2-1, with the winner coming from Stephen Geoghegan. A decade later it was the turn of Derry City as St Pats were again on the losing side of a special encounter, this time in an extra time thriller, as the Candystripes won 4-3.
2008 was a game that had goals, controversial penalty calls and the drama of a shootout to decide the destination of the Cup, which went to Bohemians as they overcame Derry 4-2 on penalties following a 2-2 draw after 120 minutes.
The final game on the shortlist was a very entertaining 0-0 draw between the two Rovers’, Sligo and Shamrock, in front of 36,000 fans at the Aviva Stadium in 2010. The best was kept till last as Sligo keeper Ciaran Kelly saved an incredible four from four penalties.
