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FAI Futsal Cup

FAI Futsal Cup
Organising body Football Association of Ireland
Founded 2007
Region  Republic of Ireland
Current champions Blue Magic
Most successful club(s) Eden (5 wins)
Blue Magic (5 finals)

The FAI Futsal Cup is a cup competition organized by the Football Association of Ireland for futsal teams based in the Republic of Ireland. The winners qualify to represent the Republic of Ireland in the UEFA Futsal Cup. The competition was introduced in 2007 and the inaugural winners were Shamrock Rovers. The 2007 tournament was referred to as the Eircom U21 Futsal League and the 2008 and 2009 tournaments were referred to as the Futsal League of Ireland or the FAI National Futsal League. Since 2010 it has generally been referred to as the FAI Futsal Cup.

The FAI Futsal Cup was originally awarded to the winners of the Eircom U21 Futsal League, a tournament featuring futsal teams attached to clubs playing in the League of Ireland U21 Division. The competition was officially launched at Dublin City University on 13 February 2007 with a reception attended by, among others, Packie Bonner. Eights clubs from the U21 Division, including Bohemians, Bray Wanderers, Drogheda United, Dundalk, Monaghan United, Shamrock Rovers, St Patrick's Athletic and UCD entered the inaugural tournament. These eight clubs first played in a league stage featuring a single round of games. The top four from this stage – UCD, Shamrock Rovers, Bohemians and Bray Wanderers – then qualfied for a final four tournament played at the National Basketball Arena. In the final, with a team coached by Dave Campbell and featuring Ciarán Kilduff and Dane Massey, Shamrock Rovers defeated UCD 4–2. St Patrick's Athletic won the second tournament in 2008 and Cork City, with a team featuring Kevin Long, were winners in 2009. Long was one of several future Republic of Ireland internationals who featured in the early tournaments. Others included David Meyler (Cork City), Séamus Coleman (Sligo Rovers) and James McClean (Derry City). Former Republic of Ireland international, Gary Kelly, played for Drogheda United in the 2008 tournament. Other players to feature included Gary McCabe and Jay O'Shea, both of whom played for Bray Wanderers.


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