- 9 teams will take part

- 4 teams from the eL and IL will qualify

- The holders of the 2008 Setanta Cup will also quality

- If the holders have already qualified, a play off will take place between a team from the eL and another from the IL

- It has not yet been decided what teams will make up this play-off

- Teams will be split into 3 groups of 3, teams playing each other on a home and away basis

- The 3 group winners and the best runner up of the 3 groups will qualify for the semi-finals

- Semi-finals may be played on a home/away basis

- There is speclation the competition may be played between August - November next year

- Prize money, across the board, will increase. Talk of €200,000 for the winners

They must have been thinking of ways to get us to compete like they did with shels

Setanta Cup should should have 8 teams from north and 8 from south. It should be home and away knockout, not groups. The old Blaxnit competitions had that format and drew huge crowds...

The group thing has been there since the Setanta Cup started - it hasn't caught the imagination.

Donie

Forget the home and away and just have it as a straight knock out cup competition. Winners decided on the night.

- The First Division champions no longer have a chance of qualification as the FAI League Cup winners will now go straight into the competition rather than having to face a play-off with the second tier champions.

Wexford Youths game even more costly than we'd thought?
Agree that it should just be a knockout competition, it hasn't captured the imagination.

If Irish League clubs are not guaranteed home games they won't enter the competition, thus home and away the best option IMO. I did an unscientific survey a few years back about an all-Ireland dimension to football and the biggest recurring gripe from players/fans/clubs up north was the amount of travel involved to play down here.

I reckon they'd be up for it on H & A, but the thoughts of IL clubs travelling to Cork or Waterford or Galway on a once-off ain't going to cut much ice with our northern brethren, with the possible exception of Linfield.

Donie

In the IL the furthest they would have to travel is probably one hour.

Linfield fans are the only ones who seem to like the novelty of away trips in the Setanta Cup.

i think donies idea of 8 teams from north and 8 from south and home and away knockout, not group is a great idea. having 3 groups of 3 and having 4 from each league is lessining the quality.if we get dunngannon swifts and portadown again i cant imagine there being huge crowds as people are bored and want to see better teams like glens or linfield

I would agree with donies idea of 8 teams from north and 8 teams from the south in a knockout competition which would be a lot more exciting than a group stage.The possiblity of a game finishing on the night would be great or else the match could be played over 2 legs.

would love to see youths beating a few il teams should they go on to win the league cup

Several of them will need parent's permission before travelling internationally!

i would only have 6 teams. winners of each league get a bye into the semi in either side of the draw and a 1/2 final for the other 4 clubs played over 2 legs.
Also play in on weekends. saturday evening or something.