| Full name | Cork City Football Club |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1938; 88 years ago (1938) |
| Ground | The Mardyke |
| League | League of Ireland |
Cork City Football Club was anIrish association football club based inCork. After replacingCork F.C., they played in theLeague of Ireland between1938 and1940. The club folded in 1940 and were in turn replaced in the League of Ireland by a new club,Cork United.
Shortly afterCork F.C. folded, an emergency meeting was held to form a new club. Two potential names were proposed – Cork Celtic and Cork City. During the 1920s both of these names had been used by teams playing in theMunster Senior League. A team named Cork City also finished asMunster Senior Cup runners up in 1924–25. Initially, however, the Cork F.C. name was retained as the new club were given permission to complete Cork F.C.'s fixtures from the1937–38 League of Ireland season. They eventually finished second last in the league. New colours were also adopted – a strange combination of red, yellow and black hooped shirts.[1][2][3][4]
By1938–39 the new club had settled on the Cork City F.C. name. The club also managed to recruit some professional players includingHugh Connolly,Willie Ross, Jim Foley, Jimmy Turnbull andTom Davis. The club also enjoyed some moderate success. They reached the final of theDublin City Cup. In the semi-final on 31 August 1938 they defeatedShamrock Rovers 7–0, a result which remains Rovers' biggest ever defeat. However, in the final Cork City lost 6–0 toSt James's Gate. They also won the 1938–39Munster Senior Cup, defeatingLimerick 4–0 in the final atThe Mardyke with Turnbull scoring a hat-trick in the final.[5][6][7][8][9][10]
For the1939–40 season Cork City managed to recruit two formerCork F.C. players,Owen Madden andBilly Millar, as well as two emerging players,Jackie O'Driscoll andBilly O'Neill. However it later emerged that Billy Millar had signed for Cork City while he was still technically contracted toShelbourne and the club were subsequently fined by theFootball Association of Ireland. LikeCork F.C. a few seasons earlier, Cork City began to struggle to raise travel costs for away games inDublin and the fine received over Millar did not help. Then on 21 January, Cork City played Shelbourne and were unable to pay the visitors their 20% share of the gate money. On Sunday, 28 January 1940 atThe Mardyke, Cork City played what transpired to be the last match in its short history. City defeatedBohemians 2–1 with O’Neill scoring both goals. Under threat of suspension from the league, Cork City were dissolved on 13 February 1940. However history repeated itself and a new club,Cork United, was immediately formed and they were given permission to complete Cork City's league fixtures.[11][12][13]
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Billy O'Neill (8) –1938–39
Jimmy Turnbull (8) –1938–39; scored hat-trick inMunster Senior Cup final.