St Francis F.C.

St Francis F.C. is a football club from Dublin, Ireland. Founded in The Liberties,[1] St. Francis currently play in John Hyland Park Baldonnel, close to Clondalkin, a suburb in west Dublin. They played in the League of Ireland from the 1996–97 season until the end of the 2000–01 season.[2] They currently play in the Leinster Senior League and operate a number of schoolboy and women's teams.[3] The club wear green and white hooped shirts.

History

Early years

St Francis was founded by John Hyland and friends in 1958 initially as a schoolboy club. In 1968, the first adult side was introduced as St Francis joined the Athletic Union League, winning division 2A in their first season. In their second season St Francis won the FAI Junior Cup, the highest honour for junior sides. The club progressed into the intermediate ranks and soon become one of the top teams at that grade, winning the Leinster Senior League 1989. The following year St Francis became the first non league side to reach the FAI Cup Final in over 50 years before finally losing to Bray Wanderers.[4][5] Their fairytale story, combined with the final moving to Lansdowne Road saw a crowd of over 33,000 [6] witness the historic final.

League of Ireland years

They continued to be one of the top non league sides and when in preseason 1996 St. James's Gate were expelled from the League of Ireland, the league invited St Francis to apply along with two other clubs to take their place.[7] The clubs first senior game was drab drawn tie against Longford Town in the League Cup. Their first League of Ireland game ended in a defeat to Waterford United 4-0 on 11 October 1996.

St Francis struggled to make an impact in the League of Ireland First Division. Both their traditional Liberties home and their adopted home of Clondalkin are areas which St Patrick's Athletic claim many fans from, and St Francis's crowds were small, even by first division standards. In their 5 seasons in the league, St Francis never finished out of the bottom three. After finishing bottom for the 3rd time in the 2000–01 season, director Alan Duncan approached St. Patrick's Athletic with a view to merging. St Pats managing director Pat Dolan was receptive to the idea and 2 weeks before the 2001–02 season, St Francis withdrew from the league.[8][9] A hurriedly arranged joint press conference was called to announce the arrival of the 'Dublin Saints' after the proposed merger was revealed on a website. St. Pats fans were outraged as their club announced plans to call the club St Patrick's Athletic including St Francis F.C. In a meeting with St Francis supporters, Duncan spoke of his wish that the new club be officially renamed the Dublin Saints. As the season progressed, the merger talks broke down and the merger never materialised. Pats did use John Hyland Park for some friendlies and for underage games, but the ground was never in their possession as it was held in trust for use by St Francis only.

After the League of Ireland

St Francis did not field an adult team in 2001–02. However they regrouped and subsequently re-entered the Leinster Senior League.

References

  1. ↑ O'Riordan, Neil (7 February 1998). "Mahon's last link with the cup glory days". The Sun. Retrieved 8 October 2009.
  2. ↑ "Club History (St Francis Football Club)". St Francis F.C. Retrieved 2009-10-16.
  3. ↑ http://www.stfrancisfc.ie/teams
  4. ↑ Ball, Peter (12 May 1990). "The Irish miracle of St Francis". The Times. Retrieved 8 October 2009.
  5. ↑ Ball, Peter (14 May 1990). "Bray crush dream of bold St Francis". The Times. Retrieved 8 October 2009.
  6. ↑ "Club History (St Francis Football Club)". Stfrancisfc.ie. Retrieved 2009-10-16.
  7. ↑ Walsh, Denis (22 September 1996). "Progress, but it may well cost St Francis dear". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 8 October 2009.
  8. ↑ Reid, Robert (4 July 2001). "Saints alive". The Sun. Retrieved 8 October 2009.
  9. ↑ O'Riordan, Neil (26 June 1998). "Boss Pete quits after 18 years". The Sun. Retrieved 8 October 2009.

External links