MORE with a whimper than a bang, the domestic competitive season begins tomorrow with the re arranged Shamrock Rovers Shelbourne League Cup tie, followed by a full round of matches this weekend. It's not exactly designed to have us bounding out of bed, opening the curtains, heralding a new dawn and shouting "Yippee, it's the League Cup."

Not that the competition isn't without its usefulness. Being regionalised, it cuts back on the clubs' expenses while ensuring three competitive matches prior to the forthcoming National League season.

With the increasing preponderance of friendlies against crosschannel opposition this need is not perhaps as great as it used to be. Furthermore, the regionalisation of the competition, divided as it is into six groups of four, has made it somewhat repetitive.

The competition's usefulness is often lost on the clubs themselves, who by common consent only start to take an interest in adding some silverware to their trophy cabinets if, hey presto they suddenly find themselves in the knock out stages.

One could see why some administrators sought to instil some life into the League Cup by awarding the winners with a place in UEFA's half baked Intertoto Cup. Alas, this idea proved completely baked - or should that be not baked at all? Nevertheless until such time as something else comes along, the League Cup seems destined to be with us in its current format.

The more one examines the structures of our season - the limp start which the League Cup ensures, that September nonentity otherwise known as the First Division Shield, the clash of the Premier Division's opening weekend with that of the All Ireland hurling final on the first Sunday in September, the inadequate competitive match practice of our Euro entrants - the more one has to accept that radical restructuring is required.

Too much tradition can be a dangerous thing. The hurling administrators have grasped the nettle by restructuring their winter league season and, indeed, their All Ireland format. Even in the absence of summer soccer, which has sadly yet to branch beyond bar room discussion, something even marginally different may have a radically positive effect.

Brian Kerr, manager of league champions St Patrick's Athletic, has been giving this matter considerable thought since their team's praiseworthy performance in the UEFA Cup last month, after which he gave his players another week off to compensate them for the four week gap between the FAI Cup final replay and Euro fare.

Like many of us, Kerr has grown even more suspicious of the summer football concept in light of the Olympics, the mother of all counter attractions to domestic sport of any hue. He thinks he might have a solution.

"If we're really serious about how our clubs do in Europe then we have to change things around. Talking to people in Slovan Bratislava, I think it might be worthy trying to emulate them, and that is to continue our season on until the end of June."

"Then the four clubs who qualify for Europe would only have three or four weeks to stay on in training for the European games. The other 18 clubs could take their customary summer break, when children are on holidays and so forth.

"The new season could then start in September some time, when the All Irelands and counter attractions such as the Olympics would be over. We could play for three months and then take a break in December and January.

"I could see some teething problems and some objections but this would give the pitches a respite during two of the harsher winter months. With most of the league still to run, most teams would still have plenty to play for when the season resumes in February.

Kerr's idea also takes into account the increase in the size of crowds at National League games in spring and early summer. The League might benefit from that trend by continuing on until June.

It certainly has its merits and is worth considering, as is his suggestion that the managers, chairmen and secretaries of all four clubs who played in Europe this (pre)season meet to compare notes and draw up a report.

. SK Brann, Shelbourne's Cup Winners' Cup preliminary round opponents, entertained Norwegian League and Cup holders Rosenborg in their biggest home game of the season on Sunday. They overcame a three nil halftime deficit, which threatened a repeat of their 10-0 mauling to the same opposition earlier this season, to earn a 3-3 draw.