Cherry Orchard F.C.

Cherry Orchard Football Club is an Irish football club in Dublin known locally as "the Orchard". The club is linked with Manchester City. Their main local rivals are Crumlin United, for whom Robbie Keane played at schoolboy level. The club plays at Le Fanu Park (known locally as "The Lawns") in Ballyfermot. The club currently has teams in the Dublin & District Schoolboy League and Leinster Senior League.

Cherry Orchard FC was formed in 1957 in the Ballyfermot area of Dublin,^[1] the club catering then for adult players, with its home ground being Le Fanu Park, known as The Lawn, and entered the Leinster Alliance League for a time before joining the Leinster Junior League.

The club enjoyed some success there, including a Sheeran Cup win, before moving to the Athletic Union League in the mid-1960s. They quickly established themselves in the AUL, but the big prizes in the junior grade eluded the Orchard until the 1980-81 season. Then the club won the FAI Junior Cup, the AUL Premier League and the Liddy and McDowell Cups.

Further FAI Junior Cup successes followed in 1985, 1986, 1987, 1990 and 1991 and, with the League title having already been captured on four occasions, the club decided to move to the Intermediate grade in 1992.

In their first season in the Leinster Senior League, the Orchard gained promotion to the top division, which it won a year later. Four more League titles have followed, as well as cup successes and in 1998, the FAI Intermediate Cup.

The League title was captured again in the 2006-07 season, when Joe Somerville was in charge.

Past Players

• Keith Fahey
• Willo Flood
• Brian Launders
• Noel Hughes
• Mark O'Brien^[2]
• Alan Quinn
• Andy Reid
• Conor Sammon
• Jon Daly
• Enda Stevens
• Glenn Whelan

References