Shamrock Rovers Football Club (Irish: Cumann Peile Ruagairí na Seamróige) are a professional football club from Dublin, Ireland. They compete in the Premier Division of the League of Ireland and are the most successful club in Irish football history.[1] The club have won the League of Ireland title a record 16 times and the FAI Cup a record 24 times.[2] Shamrock Rovers have supplied more players to the Republic of Ireland national football team (62) than any other club. In All-Ireland competitions, such as the Intercity Cup, they hold the record for winning the most titles, having won seven cups overall.[3]
Shamrock Rovers were founded in Ringsend, Dublin. The official date of the club's foundation is 1901.[4] They won the League title at the first attempt in the 1922–23 season and established themselves as Republic of Ireland most successful club by 1949, winning 44 major trophies. During the 1950s, the club won three League titles and two FAI Cups and became the first Irish team to compete in European competition,[5] playing in the European Cup in 1957.[6]
They followed this by winning a record six FAI Cups in succession in the 1960s, when they were also one of the European club teams that spent the summer of 1967 in the United States, founding the United Soccer Association.[7] They won the first of four League titles in a row in 1983–84, after a long decline.
The club played at Glenmalure Park from 1926 to 1987, when the owners controversially sold the stadium to property developers. Shamrock Rovers spent the next 22 years playing home games at various venues around Dublin and on occasions, Ireland. They moved in to Tallaght Stadium prior to the start of the 2009 season after years of delays and legal disputes, during which time the club's supporters saved them from extinction.
Shamrock Rovers wore green and white striped jerseys until 1926, when they adopted the green and white hooped strip which they have worn since. Their club badge has featured a football and a shamrock throughout their history. The club have a relatively large support base and share an intense rivalry with Bohemian Football Club. On 26th August 2011 They became the first Irish side to reach the group stages of any European tournament by beating Partizan Belgrade 2-1 (aet) in the final qualifying round of the Europa League.[8]
Colours and badge
Foundation–1926
Until 1926, Shamrock Rovers wore green and white striped jerseys but following a suggestion by a committee member, John Sheridan, the club chose to adopt the green and white hooped strip. A close relationship existed between the club and Belfast Celtic and it was on account of this that the idea was formed.[86] The first game featuring the new jerseys was against Bray Unknowns in a FAI Cup match on Sunday, 9 January 1927 at Shelbourne Park. The Hoops lost the game 3–0 and senior members of the club considered abandoning the new strip.[87] Despite this loss, the team continued to wear green and white hoops and have done ever since. The 2007 season was the first season since the hoops were introduced that they were not continuous around the main body of the jersey. The style of the shirt sleeves has been changed on numerous occasions. The away colours of the club have varied over time. In the early 1980s, the club had a yellow away jersey. In the mid-1990s, a hooped purple jersey was adopted. The team currently uses an all black away strip.[88]
The club emblem features a football and a shamrock, and has done so throughout the history of the club. Minor alterations to the club badge have included changing the style of the shamrock and the width of the diagonal lines. In 2005, a star was added above the badge to signify the first 10 League of Ireland titles won by the club. After the takeover of the club by the supporters, black became the club's third official colour in recognition of the loss of Glenmalure Park. It was also decided that the number 12 would no longer be worn by any Shamrock Rovers player and instead would represent the club's supporters
Stadiums
Main article: Glenmalure Park
On 11 September 1926, Shamrock Rovers played their first game at Glenmalure Park, Milltown against Dundalk, having previously played at Ringsend Park, Shelbourne Park, Windy Arbour and a different pitch in Milltown.[90] The official opening took place on Sunday, 19 September 1926 as Belfast Celtic provided the opposition in an exhibition game.[91] When the Cunninghams acquired the club in the 1930s, the stadium was named Glenmalure Park in honour of their ancestral home in Glenmalure. They completed the stadium with the addition of terraces, one of which was covered. The stadium remained essentially unaltered from then until its demolition in 1990, excluding the destruction of a small terrace and the erection of floodlights in the 1980s. Its capacity was approximately 20,000 for most of its existence, its largest recorded attendance being 28,000, set against Waterford in 1968. Larger, unreported, attendances were present at the venue before then.[12]
In 1987, the Kilcoynes decided to sell the stadium to property developers, having recently purchased it from the Jesuits.[92] The last game at Glenmalure Park was an FAI Cup semi-final between Shamrock Rovers and Sligo Rovers on 12 April 1987.[93] The game saw a pitch invasion by supporters protesting against the sale of the stadium.[94] The next season, the supporters formed an association called Keep Rovers at Milltown and placed a picket on home games at Tolka Park, effectively bankrupting the club's owners.[95] They accumulated funds, through supporter contributions, in an effort to purchase the stadium but failed to match the offer of a property developer to whom the Kilcoynes eventually sold the site. After a lengthy appeals process, Glenmalure Park was demolished in 1990 to be replaced by an apartment complex.
[edit] Tallaght StadiumMain article: Tallaght Stadium
Tallaght Stadium in 2007In the 1990s, Shamrock Rovers were granted land in the Dublin suburb of Tallaght to build a new stadium.[96] On Thursday 30 March 2000, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern turned the sod at the site.[97] However, work on the stadium ceased in 2001 and in March 2005, South Dublin County Council announced that they were taking back the land that they had granted to the club, as the conditions of the planning permission had not been met.[98] A public consultation process was initiated in July 2005 and a resolution was passed in December 2005 to alter the stadium to accommodate senior GAA games while still having Shamrock Rovers as the preferred tenants.[99] This decision was subject to additional government funding. This funding was not made available and on 13 January 2006 the council voted to proceed with the original plan.
This second vote was challenged by a local Gaelic Athletic Association club, Thomas Davis who wanted the 13 January 2006 vote declared illegal thus forcing the county council to build the GAA stadium. Thomas Davis claimed that the capacity of the stadium (initially 6,000, ultimately 10,000) would not be affected by the change, the other parties involved disputed this and argued that the capacity would be reduced.[100] Requests under the freedom of information act to both South Dublin County Council and the Department of Sport showed that Thomas Davis had not submitted any plans showing that capacity would not be affected.[101]
Thomas Davis GAA club instituted judicial review proceedings in the High Court in May 2006.[102] Their main argument was that the decision of the council on 13 February 2006 to revert to the original plans for the stadium, which did not include a senior GAA pitch, was unlawful.[103] Their submission on the technical point was accompanied by cultural arguments that 'the youth of Tallaght will be restricted to a diet of Association football' and that a soccer-only ground would place the 'applicant at a severe disadvantage in attracting the youth of Tallaght to the club, the sport and the GAA culture.[104] The stadium, however, with the original design, could accommodate junior GAA games as the pitch used at this level fits within the stadium's dimensions. It was only senior GAA games that would not have been facilitated.[105]
The then Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, John O'Donoghue, consistently supported the government decision to support the stadium with soccer pitch dimensions,[106][107] and claimed that the GAA were stalling the project which he believed they had no need for on top of their own site in Rathcoole.[108] On Thursday, 14 December 2006 the Football Association of Ireland pledged financial assistance for the Hoops’ High Court battle involving Thomas Davis.[109]
The judicial review began on 20 April 2007 and concluded on 14 December 2007.[110] In the High Court decision Mr. Justice Roderick Murphy found in favour of South Dublin Co. Council and Shamrock Rovers.[111] South Dublin Co. Council were correct in their 13 February 2006 vote to proceed with the stadium as originally planned. An application by Thomas Davis for leave to appeal this decision to the Supreme court was refused by Judge Murphy on 25 January 2008. Building commenced on the stadium on 6 May 2008.[112] Shamrock Rovers played their first 'home' game in over 20 years in the stadium in March 2009.
Supporters and rivalries
The majority of Shamrock Rovers supporters originate from the Southside of Dublin,[119] but the club attracts fans from across the city and country. Since their foundation, the club have maintained a proud Irish identity,[120] and their supporters reflect this in the flags and banners they display.[121] Their support base contains a number of clubs dedicated to supporting the team at away games.[122] It also contains an ultras group, the SRFC Ultras,[123] who produce choreographed displays of support at games.[124] They have connections with other European groups including supporters of Roma, Hammarby and Panathinaikos.
Until the 1970s, Glenmalure Park regularly hosted attendances in the region of 20,000 people,[125] but as the majority of the Irish public turned its back on Irish football,[27] those numbers declined and despite winning the League of Ireland four times in succession in the 1980s, the attendances for the period averaged approximately a quarter of that figure.[126] The sale of the stadium contributed to a further decline in support. During the homeless years, particularly those spent on the Northside, attendances continued to fall with the exception of those recorded during the club's residence at the RDS, which included an opening attendance of 22,000.[48] Prior to the relocation to Tallaght, the club's support base had been reduced to a hardcore group of over a thousand people. It currently includes approximately 2,700 season ticket holders.[127][128][129]
Throughout their history, Shamrock Rovers have shared many rivalries of differing importance and intensity. The oldest such rivalry is that shared with Shelbourne, formed on the basis of the clubs' foundations in Ringsend. It remains as a secondary rivalry of similar importance to the local derby contested with St. Patrick's Athletic. During the 1950s and 1960s, the club's principal rival was, the now defunct, Drumcondra. In the 1970s, they were replaced as the major club on the Northside by Bohemians.[130] Since then, the relatively minor rivalry that existed between Shamrock Rovers and Bohemians has developed into a classic rivalry, producing intense games and large attendances.
Shamrock Rovers have a long history in European competition.[138] They were the first Irish side to enter European competition,[139] and featured regularly in the 1960s and 1980s. The club have had some relative success in recent years with victories in the Intertoto-Cup and the Europa League.[79][140] Throughout their participation they have beaten teams from Luxembourg, Cyprus, Iceland and Germany, and were the first Irish club to beat teams from Turkey, Poland and Israel. Their first victory in the UEFA Champions League came in a 1-0 victory in the 2011-12 Qualifying Phase against FC Flora Tallinn at Tallaght Stadium.
Their biggest win was a 7–0 aggregate victory (3-0 away, 4-0 home) over Fram Reykjavik in the UEFA Cup first round in September 1982, which remains a record for League of Ireland clubs in European competition.[141]
On Thursday, August 25th, 2011, they became the first Irish team to qualify for the UEFA Europa League group stage when they defeated Partizan Belgrade 2-1 after extra-time in Serbia, for a 3-2 aggregate victory
(Thanx to Wikipedia for all of the above lol)
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