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Sporting Fingal (Irish: Cumann Peile Fhine Gall) is a semi-professional, Dublin based football team competing in the FAI First Division. Former Shamrock Rovers manager Liam Buckley is the club's manager while former Arsenal player John Devine has been appointed head coach.
[edit] History
Eoghan Corry's book of Irish soccer quotes identifies the (possibly) oldest reference to domestic soccer in Ireland from 1698 when John Dunton, an English traveller in the country, writes of the Irish: 'They do not play often at football, only in a small territory called Fingal near Dublin where the people use it much, and trip and shoulder very handsomely'. [1]
The club was founded in 2007 and was officially launched on 11 February 2008. [2] The club was expected to play its first full season in the new FAI "A" League, however they are now known to have taken the place of Kilkenny City in the FAI First Division, with Kilkenny moving instead to provincial league competition.[3] They began their first ever season away to the previous years FAI Cup finalists Longford Town, and are expected to end the season away to Wexford Youths - another newly formed Eircom League side.
[edit] Developing Soccer in fast-growing suburbs
The concept for the club was effectively created by Fingal County Council as part of a long-term development plan for Soccer in Fingal.[4] Recent interviews with Council official John O'Brien show that placing a team in the league of Ireland was always the ultimate goal, while in the early years a concentration on the grassroots and the building of a centre of excellence (or soccer academy) to the north of Swords would be the first steps. However, the plan was accelerated by at least a couple of years with the sad demise of Kilkenny City from league status giving Sporting Fingal the opportunity to apply for membership.[5]
While there are 55 soccer clubs in the area the progression of players to higher levels tends to go outside the area and the potential for a locally based semi-professional team is stronger than many other towns in Ireland because Fingal's current population is around one-quarter of a million.
The Council sought commercial backers for the club. However, the commercial backers had to be willing to accept that the club would be run on a non-profit basis for a number of years while it establishes itself. The consortium of backers are Twinlite Developments (a property development company), Keelings (a fruit and vegetable distributor) and Anglo Irish Bank Corporation PLC. Each of these commercial entities seem to be willing to back the club on the basis of Corporate Social Responsibility having made large profits from the growth and developing economy of the Fingal area.
[edit] Current squad
[edit] On loan
[edit] References
[edit] External links
Liam Buckley
FAI First Division
