The Cork Athletic Union League, also known as the Cork AUL, is an

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

league featuring amateur and junior clubs from

County Cork County Cork () is the largest and the southernmost Counties of Ireland, county of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, named after the city of Cork (city), Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster ...

. Its top division, the Premier League, is a seventh level division in the

Republic of Ireland football league system The Republic of Ireland football league system is a series of association football leagues in Ireland. Traditionally, leagues have been classified as either senior, intermediate or junior. These classifications are effectively national, provinci ...

. The Cork AUL is currently sponsored by

Murphy's Irish Stout Murphy's Irish Stout (often simply Murphy's) is a stout brewed at the Murphy's Brewery in Cork, Ireland. It is owned and distributed by the Dutch brewer Heineken International. Flavour profile It is brewed to be less heavy and less bitter t ...

. It is affiliated to the

Munster Football Association The Munster Football Association (MFA) is the governing body for association football in the Irish province of Munster. It is affiliated to the Football Association of Ireland and is responsible for organising the Munster Senior Cup and the Mu ...

. Clubs in the Cork AUL also compete in the

FAI Junior Cup The FAI Junior Cup is a cup competition organized by the Football Association of Ireland for junior association football clubs from the Republic of Ireland. The inaugural winners were Brideville. The competition's most successful club is Fairvie ...

. Three

League of Ireland The League of Ireland is a national association football Sports league, league consisting of professional clubs in the Republic of Ireland and Derry, Derry City in Northern Ireland. It is governed by the Football Association of Ireland. It was ...

clubs –

Cobh Ramblers Cobh Ramblers Football Club (CRFC) is an Irish football club. The club, founded in 1922 and elected to the League of Ireland in 1985, hails from Cobh, County Cork and play their home matches at St. Colman's Park. The club's colours are clare ...

Cork Hibernians Cork Hibernians F.C. was an Irish football club based in Cork. They played in the League of Ireland between 1957 and 1976 and, from 1962, played their home games at Flower Lodge. In 1971, they were League of Ireland champions. The club was di ...

and Albert Rovers – were originally members of the Cork AUL.

History

Inaugural season

The Cork Athletic Union Football League, originally known as the Cork City and County Athletic Union Junior League, was founded in

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country i ...

. Its founding members included two future members of the

and Albert Rovers and the inaugural champions, Mortonville. The other eleven original members were Maymount Rovers, Prospect Rovers, Grattan, Ballinllough, Clapton Celtic, Green Rovers, Blackrock, Mountview, Marine Services, Cork Spinning and Ladyswell Brewery.

Munster Senior League

In addition to

and Albert Rovers joining the

, a number of current Munster Senior League clubs were also originally members of the Cork AUL before switching from junior to intermediate football. Five of the Cork AUL's most successful clubs – Temple United,

Kinsale Kinsale ( ; ) is a historic port and fishing town in County Cork, Ireland. Located approximately south of Cork (city), Cork City on the southeast coast near the Old Head of Kinsale, it sits at the mouth of the River Bandon, and has a populatio ...

, St. Mary's, Wembley and Castleview – all subsequently joined the MSL. Other clubs to switch from the Cork AUL to the MSL include Avondale United, Mallow United, Tramore Athletic,

College Corinthians College Corinthians A.F.C. is an List of association football clubs in the Republic of Ireland, Irish association football club based in Douglas, Cork. Their senior men's team play in the Munster Senior League Senior Premier Division. They also ...

, Ringmahon Rangers, Everton and Rockmount.

League Pyramid

The Management Committee decides the number of divisions and number of teams in each division. No club may have two teams in any one division of the league. A system of promotion and relegation applies in all divisions and is decided by the Management Committee before the start of each season. The below format has been agreed for the 2024/25 season. Sources:

Cup competitions

In its inaugural season, 1947–48 the Cork AUL featured three league cup competitions, the City Challenge Cup, the Saxone Cup and the Miniature Cup. The Cork AUL's main league cup is the AOH Cup which was presented to the league in 1951 by the

Ancient Order of Hibernians The Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH; ) is an Irish Catholic fraternal organization. Members must be male, Catholic, and either born in Ireland or of Irish descent. Its largest membership is in the United States, where it was founded in New Yo ...

. Clubs in the Cork AUL also compete in the

. In 1973–74 St. Michael's of Tipperary won the competition while playing in the Cork AUL. Six other Cork AUL clubs – Castleview, Blackrock, Douglas, Everton, St. Mary's and Temple United – have all been finalists. Between 1961–62 and 1965–66 Cork AUL clubs were runners-up in four out of five seasons.

Representative team

The senior Cork AUL representative team competes in the Oscar Traynor Trophy against other representative teams of similar junior leagues. They have won the competition on two occasions, in 1965–66 and again in 2008–09. They were also runners-up in 1994–95. ;FAI Oscar Traynor Trophy

2015–16 clubs

List of winners by season

List of winners by club

References

{{Sport in Cork City Association football in County Cork 7 Association football leagues in Munster Sports leagues established in 1947 1947 establishments in Ireland Association football in Cork (city)