Statistics give a flavour of the contrasting fortunes of Connacht and Ulster football in the Railway Cup. Tomorrow at Sligo's Markievicz Park the provinces meet in the final of the bedraggled old competition for the first time in 16 years. In the 31 years since Connacht last won the title, their northern counterparts have managed 12 wins, including a dominant stretch of six successive titles from 1989.

It may be derided as of no great interest to the public and of generating no more than lip-service amongst many players but the Railway Cup isn't a bad barometer of a province's standing. Just as Ulster's heyday both presaged and went hand-in-hand with the dominance of its counties in the All-Irelands of the early 1990s, so Connacht's improved status was reflected in Galway's landmark triumph two years ago.

Back in 1969 when Connacht last won the competition, Dermot Earley played midfield. He was winning his second medal, the first having arrived in 1967 when he was 19. From then on, despite unfailing enthusiasm for the competition he was to suffer defeat in six more finals.

His career spanned the days when the final played to reasonable crowds at Croke Park and those later times when the numbers on the terraces dropped towards matching those on the pitch.

"I considered the whole thing of representing your province to be fantastic, a huge honour. I came in just after Galway had won the three-in-a-row and in 1969 there were still traces of those teams. I partnered Jimmy Duggan at midfield. He played in the 1966 All-Ireland and I knew him well from colleges' matches: he played for Jarlath's and I played for St Nathy's in Ballaghaderreen. It was a great experience to play with him having been so used to opposing him.

"There was an interest in the Railway Cup into the 1970s. Then it stopped. By the time I played my last final in 1984, it had been moved out of Croke Park. There was quite an interest but nothing compared to what I remembered from my early days playing and being brought as a young boy."

Connacht's stock matched the competition in its free-fall. Shortly after Earley's retirement, the province won its last match for 11 years. Looking back he sees the whole process as incremental and not really noticeable at the time.

"There were games we should have won - I remember Colm McAlarney getting a goal in the last minute at Croke Park to seal a match we might have drawn."

He believes that Connacht is second only to Ulster in its sense of provincial identity but that regional allegiances have been eroded - not, he suggests, primarily because of the rise of the club championships, but because of growing identity with the county.

"Television has been a factor in creating an allegiance like that attracted by soccer clubs in Britain. When I played there weren't the same numbers of flags and county colours at matches or the same amount of discussion and analysis afterwards. Rivalry has increased and I believe all that has affected the provinces."

Earley's son Dermot made his debut last week for Leinster in the Railway Cup. Happy as he is with his son's achievements, there is a definite attachment to Connacht in tomorrow's final.

"I'd love if they won it," he says.

Tomorrow's Railway Cup final will be broadcast live on TG4.