Imokilly pull out of the Cork Premier SFC

IMOKILLY have become the latest team to pull out of this year’s McCarthy Insurance Group Cork Premier SFC Divisional/Colleges section.

Following Beara’s withdrawal on Wednesday, Imokilly have now followed suit when they informed the Cork County Board on Friday afternoon that they did not have enough players to compete in the 2024 competition.

Imokilly were due to play their opening game of the championship against Avondhu next Thursday in Fermoy at 7.30pm.

This leaves just two teams in the shape of Muskerry and Avondhu remaining in the unseeded section with those teams now playing in the final. That game is down for Thursday, June 13 in Glenville at 7.30pm. The winners will progress to the seeded section where Carbery, Duhallow and UCC await.

The news of Imokilly’s withdrawal is disappointing considering they had been very competitive over the last couple of seasons with a nice blend of youth and experience in their team. 

The East Cork division had a brilliant 1-14 to 0-12 opening round win over a strong Muskerry side last year with Aghada’s Aaron Berry shining with 1-3. It was Imokilly’s first championship win since 2009. The team in red and white went down valiantly to Duhallow in the last four of the unseeded section on a scoreline of 2-15 to 1-9. Duhallow would go all the way and reach the semi-finals of the championship proper.

In the year before, Imokilly also had two games under their belt. They were well beaten by Carbery in the first round of the unseeded section, 2-18 to 1-10. Cabery would reach the quarter-finals of the championship proper. Imokilly were edged out by Avondhu in a cracker of a semi-final in the unseeded section, 2-15 to 1-17.

It might be difficult to comprehend, but the Imokilly footballers were once the kings of the county. For a division that is widely recognised as a hurling hotbed, the East Cork division won the top-flight football championship on Leeside in 1984 and again in 1986.

But, it’s a different sporting landscape now and Imokilly have fallen on hard times but there was a feeling that they were heading in the right direction again especially after solid showings in the 2022 and 2023 championships.