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Dundalk
Full nameDundalk Football Club
Short nameDFC
FoundedSeptember 1903; 120 years ago (1903-09)
as Dundalk G.N.R. A.F.C.
GroundOriel Park
LeagueLeague of Ireland Premier Division
WebsiteClub website

The History of Dundalk Football Club covers the period from the introduction of association football to the town of Dundalk, Ireland in the late 1880s to the end of the Double-winning season of 2018. The first Dundalk Association Football Club - 'Dundalk Rovers' - were formed in 1892 and ceased activity in 1914. The Dundalk G.N.R. club was formed as a works-team in 1903, but went through periods of inactivity before re-forming in 1919. Dundalk G.N.R. subsequently entered the Leinster Senior League in 1922 and were elected to the League of Ireland on 15 June 1926. The club changed its colours in 1928, then dropped its 'G.N.R.' moniker in 1929-30 becoming 'Dundalk Football Club'. Dundalk moved to their present home, Oriel Park, in 1936 and first entered European competition in 1963. Dundalk are the only remaining club in the League with works-team roots. In 2019 the club celebrates 100 years of unbroken participation in League football in Ireland.

This article is about the history of Dundalk Football Club. For an overview of the club, see Dundalk F.C.

Club History

Origins (1885-1926)

Records of organised association football in the Dundalk area between the late 1880s (when the game was introduced), and the end of the First World War, are patchy. The earliest reference to a Dundalk team playing in competition appears in the Belfast Newsletter of 2 October 1889,[1] stating that "Dundalk" had been drawn to play Newry Wanderers in the First Round of the Irish Football Association Irish Junior Cup – the third year of the competition. This Dundalk side was a team from the Dundalk Educational Institution (now Dundalk Grammar School), who had adopted the game under their principal Thomas A. Finch. Older references to 'Dundalk F.C.' and 'Dundalk Football Club' actually refer to the modern day Dundalk Rugby Club, formed in 1877.[2]

In 1892, a new team called "Dundalk" was formed. The Dundalk Democrat reported on a match that had occurred on Saturday 3 December 1892, which was the fifth encounter between Dundalk and the Institution 2nd XI, after four previous draws.[3] This Dundalk club became known as Dundalk Rovers and were the most established club in the town between about 1895 and 1909. They were runners-up to Bohemians in the 1896-97 Leinster Senior Cup Final[4] and were invited to enter the Leinster Senior League for the 1900-01 season in September 1900.[5] Rovers only stayed in the League for one season owing to the costs of travel and the reluctance of the Dublin clubs to travel north, but continued to compete in the cup competitions, losing out to St. Patrick’s of Inchicore in the Leinster Junior Cup Final of 1903.

Before the 1904-05 season commenced an attempt was made to amalgamate the clubs of the town under the 'Dundalk Association Football Club' banner in order to give the town a better chance at success in the cups.[6] The representatives of the 'Nomads' club insisted that the 'Rovers' moniker be dropped, to show that the club was to represent the whole town.[7] The amalgamated club reached the Leinster Junior Cup Final that season, being defeated by Shamrock Rovers,[8] but by the time the club was joining the first Dundalk & District League (DDL) in 1905-06 it was known as Rovers again, and formalised the name change the following year.

The DDL appears to have been inactive for the four season 1909-10 to 1912-13,[9] and Rovers were replaced by St Nicholas’s as Dundalk's representatives in the Irish and Leinster Junior Cup competitions in those same seasons.[10] Rovers returned, as did the DDL, in 1913-14 but that was their last season of competition before the First World War broke out. After they failed to fulfil an Irish Junior Cup tie with Dundalk G.N.R. in November 1914,[11] Rovers disappeared from competition until 1924,[12] by which time it was the Great Northern Railway side that had become the preeminent football club in the area.

G.N.R.
Dundalk G.N.R. colours 1903-1927

The Dundalk G.N.R. Football Club in existence since about 1885[13] was initially a rugby football club. But in September 1903 it switched codes to association football,[14] thus setting in motion its journey to becoming the modern day Dundalk Football Club. The new club initially competed locally in challenge matches, including against sides from British Army regiments garrisoned in the town, before becoming founder members of the inaugural Dundalk & District League in 1905-06 alongside Dundalk Rovers, Drogheda, St. Nicholas's, St Mary's College and Carrickmacross. After the 1906-07 season the club did not participate in competition again until the 1913-14 season and appears to have been inactive.

The DDL was dormant during the First World War, but Dundalk G.N.R. did compete in both the Irish Junior Cup and Leinster Junior Cup competitions of 1913-14, 1914-15 and 1916-17,[15] while another side, Dundalk Town, competed in the 1917-18 and 1918-19 competitions. In 1919 the founder of the Dundalk Town club, P.J. Casey (a future Dundalk F.C. committee member and League of Ireland Treasurer),[16] revived the Dundalk & District League and affiliated it with the Leinster Football Association. The Dundalk G.N.R. club re-formed too, and a victory over Dundalk Town in the Irish Junior Cup of 1919-20,[17] and an appearance in the Leinster Junior Cup Final the same season,[18] was a prelude to the G.N.R. team becoming the local scene's dominant side for the next three seasons.

Following the partition of Ireland and the creation of the Football Association of Ireland - after the Leinster F.A. split with the Belfast-based IFA - a new Free State League was formed. Subsequently, Dundalk G.N.R. successfully applied to join the Leinster Senior League (LSL) for the 1922-23 season[19] to replace sides that had stepped up to become members of the new Free State League, becoming the LSL's only side outside Dublin in the process. Ironically Dundalk G.N.R., while still in the DDL, had been the only club affiliated with the Leinster F.A. to object to the decision to split with the IFA in writing.[20]

Over the next four seasons the G.N.R. side recorded steady top-four finishes - coming closest to topping the table in 1925-26, in what would be the club's final season in the LSL. In June 1926 Dundalk G.N.R. were elected to the Free State League to replace Pioneers.[21][22] Nine clubs had already dropped out of the Free State League as it was entering its sixth season, so the challenge facing the new club was great. But Dundalk's unbroken participation in the League of Ireland was about to begin.

Year founded

The official year of formation of Dundalk Football Club is up for debate. Each of the following has grounds for consideration:

  • 1885 - the year the Dundalk G.N.R. football club was founded.
  • 1903 - the year the G.N.R. football club switched codes from rugby to association football.
  • 1919 - the year Dundalk G.N.R. was re-formed after a three-year hiatus and affiliated with the Leinster Football Association.
  • 1922 - the year Dundalk G.N.R. moved from junior to senior football by joining the Leinster Senior League.
  • 1926 - the year Dundalk G.N.R. joined the League of Ireland.

While both 1922 and 1926 have been quoted,[23] neither is now considered correct by club historians.[24] The true year of formation is either 1903 or 1919 - indeed, the Double win in 1979 was celebrated as having taken place in the club's Diamond Jubilee year.[25][26] The answer depends on whether the G.N.R. club formed in 1919 is considered a new club or a continuation of the old club despite appearing to have been inactive in the 1907-1913 and 1916-1919 periods. It is now accepted to be the latter by club historians,[24] giving a year of formation of 1903 - the year the G.N.R. Football Club switched codes from rugby to association football.[14]

League of Ireland early years (1926–1965)

Colours 1927-1939
Colours for 1939-40
'Home' colours since 1940

On 21 August 1926 the team, still known as Dundalk G.N.R. and under the management of Joe McCleery (ex-Belfast Celtic), travelled to Cork to face Fordsons in the opening match of the 1926-27 season. The 30-strong group of players, officials and supporters who travelled were treated to a tour of the Ford factory before the game. The result was a 2–1 defeat for the new boys in a match the Cork Examiner described as being "one of the best ever seen in Ballinlough",[27] Joey Quinn (one of three veterans remaining from the DDL days) with Dundalk‘s first ever League of Ireland goal. The club finished its first League season in eighth position. In order to grow the club beyond the restrictions imposed by being a works-team, its management committee decided to make it independent of the Great Northern Railway company and by the end of the 1928-29 season the club's "G.N.R." moniker had been dropped (that season's Leinster Senior Cup Final being the last occasion the club competed as "Dundalk G.N.R." formally).[28] The club was converted to a membership-based limited company – "Dundalk Association Football Club Limited" – on 25 January 1932,[29][30] This ownership structure survived until the end of 1965.

Playing their home matches at the Athletic Grounds near the centre of the town, and with English manager Steve Wright "doing everything except selling the programmes",[31] Dundalk managed to finish as runners-up in both the FAI Cup and the League in 1930-31 (setting a goals-per-game club record that still stands in the process), then became the first team outside of Dublin to win the League in 1932-33,[32] storming to the title ahead of Shamrock Rovers. Indeed, Dundalk were the first team outside Dublin or Belfast to win any national League title in Ireland since the inception of the original Irish League in 1890. The club would not win the title again for 30 years, managing three runners-up spots in the meantime - first to Sligo Rovers in 1936-37, then being pipped to the title by a point by Cork United in 1942-43 and again by Drumcondra in 1947-48. Finding the resources to sustain a League challenge was always difficult in the early decades, and it was the Cup competitions that the club looked to for success. In fact average attendances at home matches in the FAI Cup were double those in the League or Shield in these years.[33]

Due to the Athletic Grounds being a municipal facility shared with other sports, the club decided to move permanently to land made available on the Carrick Road in 1936, naming the new ground "Oriel Park". Dundalk won their first Dublin City Cup in the 1937-38 season, defeating Cork in the Final.[34] Then, after three previous FAI Cup Final losses, the club finally won its first FAI Cup in 1942 by defeating Cork United in the Final in Dalymount Park.[35] This success ended what supporters had come to see as a jinx – that Dundalk would never win a major Cup, given the three lost previous finals (as well as five Leinster Senior Cup final defeats) since Dundalk had joined the League. Five weeks later Dundalk were unofficially crowned "Champions of All Ireland", after defeating Shamrock Rovers in the final of the inaugural Dublin and Belfast Inter-City Cup.[36] The following September, in the new season, a second Dublin City Cup was added, with victory over Drumcondra in the Final.[37] Both the Dublin City Cup and the FAI Cup were won again in 1948-49 - the former by topping its new League format unbeaten;[38] the latter by beating Shelbourne in the Final,[39] to close out the 1940s.

The 1950s were a lean time for the club in the League. Player sales to English clubs had bankrolled the club in the late 1940s,[40][41] but these sales tailed off after the departure of Club Secretary Sam Prole to Drumcondra.[42] The management committee had tried to save money on expensive signings by focusing on improved coaching and playing standards, and hired five coaches from England between 1947 and 1955.[43] But none worked out and, struggling to make ends meet, Dundalk were regularly at or near the bottom of the table. But the club finally won the Leinster Senior Cup in 1950-51, beating St Patrick's Athletic at the death in the Final - in a game that was the first held in Ireland to use a white ball.[44] Dundalk then went on to win the FAI Cup twice more during the decade. The first, in 1951-52, by coming from 3-1 down in the Semi-Final Replay against Waterford to win 6-4 in Extra-Time,[45] then following that up with victory over Cork Athletic after another replay in the Final.[46] The second, in 1957-58, by going through the competition without conceding a goal, defeating Shamrock Rovers in the Final.[47] Inside-right Hughie Gannon broke his jaw in the process of scoring the only goal of that match and missed the celebrations, having to spend a week in hospital.[48] In between those two victories a first round defeat to Transport in 1954 was notable for being Dundalk's first defeat in an FAI Cup tie in Oriel Park, 18 years after the club moved to the ground.[49]

At the start of 1960 Dundalk were top of the League,[50] and though the side fell away in the latter part of that season, it lead to optimism at the club that the lean years might be behind it. With trainer Gerry McCourt (a veteran of the 1932-33 League winning side) having to manage a squad split between separate training bases in Dundalk and Dublin, the club won its first League title for 30 years in nerve-shredding fashion in 1962-63. In their final game away to Bohemians Dundalk had to come from two goals down to score twice in the last five minutes, securing a point. They then had to wait a full week for a fixture backlog to clear with Shelbourne, Cork Celtic and Drumcondra all in the hunt. All three faltered, confirming Dundalk as Champions.[51] Following that success Dundalk entered European competition for the first time, where they became the first Irish side to win an away leg of a European tie by beating FC Zurich 2-1 (in a 4-2 aggregate defeat) in the 1963-64 European Cup.[52] Dundalk couldn't manage to retain the title that season, finishing as runners-up to Shamrock Rovers, but did prevent Rovers achieving an unprecedented clean sweep of competitions by winning the season-end Top-Four Cup.[53] But after two seasons where the team had fallen away again, and with Oriel Park in need of significant investment, change was required.

Takeover and the Fox era (1966–1974)

Dundalk switched from being a membership-based company to a Public Limited Company in January 1966[54] and after the takeover the new board set about investing in both Oriel Park (which consisted of turning the pitch 90 degrees, building a new stand and adding facilities)[55] and the team. In 1966-67, under new player/manager Alan Fox,[56] Dundalk finally won the club's first League of Ireland Shield after 40 years,[57] in front of a record crowd of 14,000 for a domestic game in Oriel Park.[58] Fox's side followed up the Shield success by romping to the League title ahead of Bohemians by seven points[59] - a huge margin in the days of two points for a win and 22 games. This third League title brought the club's only League and Shield Double. To cap a memorable season Dundalk also won the Top Four Cup (the club's second and last before the competition was discontinued in 1974).[60] A semi-final defeat in the FAI Cup to Shamrock Rovers was the only slip-up that prevented a clean sweep of competitions. The club called it "the greatest year in the history of Dundalk Football Club".[61]

Early the following season Oriel Park tasted European football for the first time, hosting Vasas SC of Hungary under newly installed floodlights.[62] The town swelled with pride at what its club was achieving. But drama was to scupper the progress the club had made. Fox fell out with the board of directors during the trip for the return leg of the tie in Budapest and was suspended,[63] then reinstated.[64] But the damage to relationships was done and, with the team still being on track to retain the League, he was released on 7 March 1968.[65] Fox's final success at Oriel Park was the Dublin City Cup of 1967-68 – won that February.[66] Less than three weeks later Fox was lining out for Limerick against Dundalk in a bad-tempered clash that resulted in Dundalk's players and officials being smuggled from the Markets Field as Gardaí held back a mob.[67] Dundalk had led the League after 14 of the 22 matches but Fox's departure saw Dundalk stumble to a runners-up spot behind a Waterford side that would go on to win a total of five titles in six seasons. 1968-69 started with a Fairs Cup win over DOS Utrecht.[68] but saw the club continue to drift in the League - a fourth-place finish and a Dublin City Cup (the club's fifth and last before the competition was discontinued)[69] being all that the remnants of Fox's team could muster.

Just like ten years earlier, Dundalk entered the new decade at the top of the League. Future Ireland manager Liam Tuohy had taken over in the summer of 1969 after leaving Shamrock Rovers[70] and had made an instant impression with his tactical and organisational skills. But eight points from 12 games was a disastrous finish to the season and highlighted just how much trouble the club was in. Due to the debts from the reconstruction of Oriel Park,[71] and the hangover from the spending under Alan Fox, Tuohy was obliged to thin the squad and slash the wage bill. While successful at blooding young players, it was too much to build a side that could sustain a title challenge and Tuohy eventually quit almost three years to the day after joining the club, criticising a lack of local support in the process.[72] He rejoined Shamrock Rovers a week later.[73] In his three seasons Tuohy's sides won a Leinster Senior Cup in 1970-71[74] and the club's second and final Shield in 1971-72.[75]

Dundalk had to sell or release a number of players to survive after Tuohy left (such as Tommy McConville and future manager Turlough O'Connor).[76] As a result, the club slid down the League, with a young, inexperienced squad finishing second from bottom in the table in 1972-73. The club's worst season since the 1950s had brought the 'Fox era' to a close. To recover the situation a new board took over the running of the club and hired English player/manager John Smith.[77] After renegotiating the club's debts the new board were able to provide Smith with the funds to sign a number of new players. There was a fast start to the new season, and a Leinster Senior Cup win over Bohemians in a replay[78] (the first match in Oriel Park was the first time a Final in the competition had been contested outside Dublin in its 81-year history),[79] but Smith could only bring the club back to mid-table in a League still being dominated by the Munster clubs since Dundalk's previous League title, and he quit only two matches into his second season for a new job outside football,[80] paving the way for the appointment of Jim McLaughlin.

Jim McLaughlin era (1975–1983)

It was under McLaughlin, appointed player/manager on 20 November 1974,[81] that Dundalk were brought to a new level of success. Another mid-table finish that season hardly hinted that McLaughlin was about to lead the club to three League titles. Dundalk cruised to the first ahead of Finn Harps in 1975-76, clinching the title by beating Cork Hibernians at home in front of a packed Oriel Park.[82] McLaughlin followed that up with the club's first foray into Europe since the thrashing at the hands of Liverpool. In the European Cup Dundalk were drawn against PSV Eindhoven and were deemed unlucky to only draw the first leg in Oriel Park.[83] That match started an unbeaten run in Europe in Oriel Park of eight matches across the next five seasons under McLaughlin. League form was mixed for the next two seasons, and there were hints that McLaughlin might be let go in the summer of 1978,[84] but with renewed focus another title followed in 1978-79. It was confirmed in slightly more surreal fashion – with a win away to Cork Celtic (who were about to be expelled from the League) in front of 200 people;[85] while the trophy was presented in Oriel Park 48 hours later after a defeat to FAI Cup Final opponents Waterford.[86] 12 days later Dundalk defeated Waterford in that Cup Final, thereby completing the club's first League and Cup Double.[87]

After two seasons as runners-up McLaughlin's final title at Dundalk arrived in 1981-82, the League being sealed on the final day away to defending champions Athlone Town.[88] In addition to the Double, McLaughlin delivered two more FAI Cups – defeating Limerick United in the 1977 Final,[89] and Sligo Rovers in the 1981 Final.[90] To cap an unprecedented period of success in the club's history, McLaughlin's sides won two Leinster Senior Cups (1976-77[91] and 1977-78[92]), and two League Cups - beating Cork Alberts in the 1978 Final[93] (the club's first in the competition that had replaced the Shield) and Galway Rovers in the 1981 Final,[94] which is the club's only FAI Cup & League Cup Double. For many supporters the highlight of McLaughlin's reign was his Double winning side's 1979-80 European Cup run, where they narrowly missed out on qualifying for the Quarter-Finals - going down 3-2 on aggregate to Glasgow Celtic[95] in front of Oriel Park's record attendance.[96] An end of season slump in the 1982-83 season, in which Dundalk slipped to third and missed out on Europe, signalled that the team was entering a transition period. But McLaughlin shocked Dundalk's board and fans by resigning in June 1983, saying he needed a change.[97][98] He would replace John Giles at Shamrock Rovers a week later and go on to win three League titles in a row, with back-to-back League and Cup Doubles, while Dundalk were struggling to replace him. McLaughlin later won a domestic treble with his native Derry City, and was honoured with the Freedom of the City of Derry in May 2019.[99]

McLaughlin's trophy haul while at Dundalk: three League titles, three FAI Cups, two League of Ireland Cups and two Leinster Senior Cups.

Turlough O'Connor era (1985–1993)

Traditional 'Away' colours - variant 1

Following two abortive seasons, during which former Ireland international John Dempsey was hired,[100] suspended[101] and fired[102] within an eight-month period, former Dundalk player Turlough O'Connor was appointed as manager of the club ahead of the League's split into two divisions in 1985-86.[103] O'Connor had been Jim McLaughlin's main managerial rival for League honours in the early 1980s, winning two League titles and three League Cups with Athlone Town. He now had to rebuild the team following the departure over the previous two years of almost all of the squad McLaughlin had left behind. But O'Connor quickly built a formidable squad of his own, and over the following eight seasons his Dundalk sides consistently finished in the Top Four. After winning the League Cup in 1986-87,[104] his first trophy as manager at the club, Dundalk finished as runners-up to Shamrock Rovers in both League and Cup, which brought European football back to Oriel Park for the first time since the defeat to Liverpool in 1982. The following season started with a visit from the mighty Ajax Amsterdam,[105] many of whose players would be in the Dutch squad that would win Euro '88, and ended with the club's second League and Cup Double - breaking four seasons of Shamrock Rovers hegemony. A televised 1-1 draw in the "emotion charged atmosphere of Oriel Park" against fellow title challengers St Patrick's Athletic sealed the League title,[106] with the Cup being won against Derry City.[107] Crowds estimated in the thousands welcomed the team back to Dundalk the night of the Cup Final victory.[108]

O'Connor won his second League Cup at Dundalk in 1989-90, with the club's newest rivals Derry City being beaten in Oriel Park on penalties[109] and another League title followed in 1990-91 in an end of season, winner takes all match in Turner's Cross against Cork City,[110] the winning goal being scored by cult hero Tom McNulty. Dundalk then spurned an opportunity to progress in the European Cup, when a 1-1 draw away to Honved was followed by a 0-2 home defeat. But the squad was ageing, and the team's low-scoring, safety first playing-style was growing unpopular with supporters as it became less competitive. After failing to challenge when defending the title in 1991-92, then missing out on a round-robin play-off for the title in 1992-93, and losing the 1993 FAI Cup Final to Shelbourne (in which nine of the squad were aged over 30), it was clear another rebuild was required. Dundalk started the 1993-94 season erratically – with thumping away victories being followed by defeats at home. After a home defeat to Monaghan United in October, during which he was abused by a section of the crowd, O'Connor resigned – a sour end to a successful reign.[111]

Turlough O'Connor left Dundalk with two League titles, one FAI Cup and two League Cups to his name.

Decline and relegation (1993–2002)

By the end of the 1992-93 season Dundalk Football Club was facing into severe headwinds - a new squad was required, Oriel Park needed upgrading, yet income was falling. A healthy surplus in 1989[112] became a serious deficit by 1993.[113] The growth of the new F.A. Premiership and its hugely successful tie-in with Sky Sports was already impacting attendances across the League of Ireland, and the Dundalk public, sated by two decades of success and unhappy with a conservative playing-style that contrasted badly with what people were seeing on their televisions, were only turning up for the 'big' games. So a poor 1993-94 season happened at the worst possible time. Dundalk had moved quickly to replace Turlough O'Connor with another former player - Jim McLaughlin protege Dermot Keely,[114] who had won a League, two FAI Cups and one League Cup under McLaughlin at Dundalk. But a thin squad struggled and missed out on the "Top Six" round-robin format that decided the title, with the result that the club played out the final third of the season in the meaningless Bottom Six round-robin in a near deserted Oriel Park.

The 1994-95 season had barely started when the long-feared financial crisis came to a crunch that October. Unlike the capital debt crisis that caused the club's decline in the early '70s, the issue was now one of cashflow - matchday revenue and sponsorship were nowhere near enough to match the club's operating costs. A number of local businessmen formed a new Interim Company to take over the club (and its debts),[115] saving it from bankruptcy. The club had flirted with extinction and had a paper-thin squad, yet against that background Keely steered Dundalk to a ninth League title, after more final day drama - when Dundalk defeated Galway United at home, then had to wait what felt like an eternity to supporters to hear that both Shelbourne and Derry City had failed to win, confirming Dundalk as Champions.[116][117] In 20 seasons between 1975 and 1995 Dundalk Football Club had won a combined total of 14 Leagues, FAI Cups and League Cups, and competed regularly in Europe. But even the 1994-95 title success could not halt the decline.

An indifferent start to the 1995-96 season was followed by a run that had Dundalk one point off the top halfway through the League program before Christmas, but it would be a long time before the club would be that high in the table again. A series of injuries, defeats, and an FAI Cup exit to Drogheda Utd, saw Keely quit - frustrated at being unable to strengthen his squad.[118] The club hired player/manager John Hewitt ahead of the 1996-97 season, but he was gone before March with the club stuck in the bottom three. Dundalk managed to survive a promotion/relegation play-off with Waterford United,[119] but it only prolonged the inevitable.

After caretaker-manager Eddie May changed his mind about a permanent contract on the eve of the 1997-98 season, the club turned to Jim McLaughlin (who had retired from management and joined the board of the club) to come out of retirement and try and turn things around.[120] Alongside club stalwart Tommy Connolly, McLaughlin managed to deliver a safe mid-table finish, which was finished off with a televised final day victory over Shelbourne that handed the title to St Patrick's Athletic. But the financial issues reared their head again and, the night of a morale-boosting victory over defending champions St Patrick's Athletic at the end of November in the 1998-99 season, the whole squad was transfer listed to try and save money.[121] The squad being shorn of players seemed to galvanise those left behind, who managed a mid-season rise up the table. But an end of season collapse meant the club dropped from the top-tier for the first time since joining the League. Relegation was confirmed following a home defeat to UCD 20 years to the day after the club had won its first Double - a sad end to McLaughlin's illustrious management career.[122]

Dundalk were leaving the old millennium and entering the new in the First Division. With a supporters' Co-Op due to take over the club,[123] some optimism had returned and initial expectations were of an immediate return to the top flight. But the reality of life in the lower tier kicked in and a losing battle with the League and Kilkenny City that reached the High Court[124] was one of the first hurdles to trip up the Co-Op. Under a new manager - former player Martin Murray - and with a lot of new players, the club was promoted as First Division Champions in 2000-01.[125] But the club was automatically relegated again the following season from 10th place, due to a decision to reduce the number of teams in the Premier Division from 12 to 10,[126] which immediately put a strain on the Co-Op's plans to grow the club. Nonetheless Dundalk picked themselves up to win a ninth FAI Cup a week later in a shock victory over Bohemians in the Final.[127] The size of the crowd brought to Tolka Park, and the post-match celebrations, were a sign that the Town was beginning to fall in love with its football club again.

Promotion and upheaval (2003–2012)

Traditional 'Away' colours - variant 2

After being relegated again Dundalk languished in the lower reaches of the First Division for the next four seasons.[128] But after the club was taken back into private ownership under Gerry Matthews, Dundalk finished second under manager John Gill in the 2006 season, securing a play-off tie against Waterford United, who had finished second from bottom in the Premier Division. Despite winning the two-legged play-off[129] Dundalk were still denied a place in the 2007 Premier Division, with Galway United, who had finished third in that season's First Division, selected ahead of Dundalk and Waterford to be promoted (see 2006 IAG Report).[130] On the opening night of the 2007 season Dundalk celebrated their 2,000th League match in the League of Ireland with a 3-2 victory over Finn Harps in Oriel Park. But Dundalk could only manage to finish in a play-off position, then lost the play-off to Finn Harps,[131] who went on to be promoted. The following season Dundalk won promotion back to the Premier Division after yet more final day drama where they thrashed Kildare County in Kildare, then had to wait to hear the result of the match between Shelbourne and Limerick 37. Shelbourne, Dundalk's challengers, conceded an injury time equaliser[132] to send Dundalk up as Champions – to rapturous scenes in Kildare among players, staff and a new generation of supporters craving success, as news of the draw in Tolka Park filtered through.[133]

Controversially John Gill, the manager for the previous three seasons, was let go after winning the First Division title.[134] Back in the Premier Division Dundalk managed three mid-table finishes and qualified for the 2010-11 Europa League. But with a revolving door of managers, results deteriorating, and owner Gerry Matthews' decision to end his investment and exit the club,[135] the subsequent financial crisis during a disastrous 2012 season threatened to end the club's 109-year existence altogether.[136] Matthews put the club up for sale[137] and, with the assistance of a Supporters Trust, the club was taken over by local businessmen Andy Connolly and Paul Brown (owners of official sponsors Fastfix Ltd), and Dundalk subsequently managed to remain in the top flight by beating Waterford United in the promotion/relegation play-off.[138]

Stephen Kenny's golden era (2013–2018)

'Away' colours (Fyffes variant) 2012-2014
'Away' colours (G.N.R. Retro) 2015-2016

With the takeover complete and the club saved, the new owners turned to Stephen Kenny - out of work since being sacked by Shamrock Rovers - to become the new manager.[139] Kenny set about rebuilding the squad, with only four of the 32 players who made League appearances in 2012 retained. Kenny had a limited budget but a clear idea of how he wanted to shape his team. He focused on signing unheralded players from outside the top clubs and players who had been released, for example Richie Towell,[140] who had been released by Glasgow Celtic, and Stephen O'Donnell,[141] who had considerable success at Shamrock Rovers but was considering leaving the game. When the 2013 season started neither supporters nor pundits were sure what to expect, and Dundalk failed to win any of the first five home matches. But with Kenny's team clicking into gear as his ideas took hold, they rose up the table to the most unlikely of title challenges, eventually finishing second - three points behind St Patrick's Athletic.

Kenny kept the nucleus of the side together and made some more shrewd additions for the following season and Dundalk went on a charge to the top of the table, including dishing out a thrashing to defending champions St Patrick's Athletic in Richmond Park.[142] Kenny went on to guide the club to its first League title since 1995 after final day drama yet again, with Dundalk defeating title rivals Cork City 2-0 in Oriel Park.[143] Dundalk also won that season's League Cup,[144] the club's first League and League Cup Double. The 2015 season saw Dundalk cement their dominance of domestic football, cruising to the club's third League and FAI Cup Double,[145] three short years after a financial crisis that had threatened its existence. Dundalk went on to complete a Three-in-a-Row League title with two games to spare in 2016,[146] and made history the same season by being the first Irish club to gain a point,[147] and then to win a match,[148] in the Group Stages of European competition. But Cork City prevented Dundalk completing a 'Double Double' when they defeated Dundalk in the last minute of extra-time in the 2016 FAI Cup Final, 48 hours after the side had returned from Russia following a Europa League match against Zenit St Petersburg.

After the exertions of the Europa League run and the departure of some key players, Dundalk wobbled the following season, yet still defeated Shamrock Rovers to lift the League Cup.[149] But the team's European exploits in 2016 had attracted interest from abroad, and a consortium of American investors, backed by sports-investors Peak6, completed a takeover of the club in January 2018.[150] Kenny's side reasserted itself as 'Ireland's Number One' in 2018, winning another League and Cup Double - the second under Kenny and fourth in the club's history - breaking points-total and goals scored-total records in the process.[151][152] To some shock but no surprise, Kenny resigned in November 2018 to take up an offer from the FAI to become the Republic of Ireland U21 manager.[153]

Stephen Kenny's personal Roll of Honour at the club from 2013 to 2018: four League titles, two FAI Cups, two League of Ireland Cups and one Leinster Senior Cup.

Dundalk F.C. in European football

Main article: Dundalk F.C. in European football

Honours & Records

Main article: List of Dundalk F.C. records and statistics

Former players & personnel

Former players

See also: Category:Dundalk F.C. players

Former managers

See also: Category:Dundalk F.C. managers

The anatomy of Dundalk: a history in 15 stubs

The works teams

A works-team, or factory-team, is a sports team created and run by a business. Dundalk F.C. were founded as the works-team of the Great Northern Railway (Ireland) in 1903. When the club joined the League of Ireland in 1926, it was one of four works-teams in the 10-team League - the others being Jacobs, St. James's Gate and Fordsons. Another railway works-team - Midland Athletic of the Midland Great Western Railway - had already come and gone from the League. By 1944–45 only Dundalk were left. Another side, Transport (representing CIÉ), joined the League in 1948–49 but, after they failed to be re-elected for the 1962–63 (Dundalk's second championship winning season), Dundalk were left as the only surviving club in the League with works-team roots. Dundalk F.C. outgrew the G.N.R., becoming a membership-based limited company in 1932. The works themselves became Dundalk Engineering Works Ltd in 1958 with the demise of the G.N.R.(I).[154] Employment at the works dwindled over the subsequent years and the company eventually went into receivership, with the loss of the remaining 300 jobs, in 1985 - at a time when unemployment in the town had reached 26%.[155]

Samuel Robert Prole

Sam Prole (1897-1975) was the Secretary of Dundalk F.C. from 1928 until 1952. In his role at the club he had a reputation for doing whatever it took to "keep the show on the road".[156] Prole was a Great Northern Railway employee from Dublin[157] who joined up to fight in World War 1, before moving to Dundalk to the G.N.R. Works on his return home. He played with the re-formed football club from 1919 until a broken leg ended his playing career in 1923. Prole had already joined the management committee of the club by the end of his playing days, and it was his driving ambition that saw the club step up into the Leinster Senior League and later the Free State League.[158] Without his efforts - in particular in the player transfer market - it's unlikely that the club would have survived its early years in the League.[159][40] Prole was also a long-term member of numerous FAI and League of Ireland committees throughout his career as a football administrator,[160] including serving as Chairman of the FAI Council (forerunner to the role of 'FAI President'), and it was he who lead most of the efforts during the 1930s and 1940s to reconcile the FAI and the IFA after the split of 1921.[161] He was also an advocate for the betterment of the League and Irish football as a whole. For instance he was calling for a close season for the League in winter and playing into the summer as early as 1937,[162] and was critical of RTÉ in FAI meetings in 1965 for scrapping its soccer highlights show and the broadcaster's lack of publicity for its replacement.[163]

During his years at Dundalk he was the G.N.R. 'Works Manager’s Chief Clerk'. After retiring from the G.N.R., and because Dundalk was still a membership-based club, he decided it was time to strike out on his own. So he joined the board of Drumcondra in February 1953,[42] before taking the club over from the Hunter family with his sons. Over the following 19 years they had considerable success. But, after a period of decline, Drums agreed to be taken over by Home Farm in 1972,[164] ending the Prole family's association with the club. Sam Prole vacated the role of Chairman of the FAI Council the same summer, bringing his 50-year career as a football administrator to a close. He died in 1975.[160]

Eddie Carroll

Eddie Carroll (died 1975) was Dundalk's first star player. From Bessbrook in Northern Ireland, he joined the club from Dundee Utd for Dundalk's second League of Ireland season and, over the following two seasons, he scored 75 times in 65 appearances - including a hat-trick on his debut, the first by a Dundalk player in the League.[165] Nominally a centre-forward, he was reputed to have played in every position including goalkeeper at least once for the team[166] Following a dispute with the club, after an argument with Dundalk's first Irish international Bob Egan, he left for Newry Town,[167] then joined Dolphin, but returned in 1932 for Dundalk's first League winning season.[168] Now playing as a right-sided winger he still chipped in with another 37 goals in 101 appearances, including becoming the first player to score four goals in a League of Ireland match.[169] He left again early in the 1935-36 season to return to Dolphin, who went on to win their only League title that season. He had one more short stint at Dundalk in 1937 as a player, scoring one more goal, and trained the team's Dublin-based players until 1940. He holds the club record for most goals scored in the League of Ireland Shield and the joint-record with Jimmy Hasty for most goals scored in the Leinster Senior Cup.

Billy O'Neill

William 'Billy' O'Neill (1916-1978) holds the club record for the most Ireland international caps while at Dundalk, earning 11 caps between 1935 and 1939. O'Neill (whose father was the first secretary of the G.N.R. Association Football Club when it first formed in 1903) made 330 appearances for Dundalk between 1934 and 1944. Despite starting out as a full-back, he scored 16 goals in 20 games when pressed into service at centre-forward in his debut season, including a hat-trick in his first match in the position.[170] He also scored in all four rounds of the 1934-35 FAI Cup, including in the 4-3 loss to Bohemians in the Final.[171] But he would play most of his career at right full-back, which was also his position in the Irish team. His first cap came aged just 19 in a defeat to the Netherlands in December 1935 (a game that also featured Dundalk's Joey Donnelly), after which 'Socaro' of the Irish Press wrote: "The score at the end was 5-3 - but for that small margin thanks, in the most lavish terms, are due to O'Neill, our right full back... [He] was brilliant."[172] The outbreak of World War 2 cut short O'Neill's international career when he was just 23 years old. A 1-1 draw away to Germany was his 11th and last cap in Ireland's final match before the war, a game that saw two Dundalk full-backs play (the other being Mick Hoy).[173] By the time Ireland played again he had already retired from football, aged 28. O'Neill never won a League title at Dundalk, but did receive winner’s medals in the club's first four cup victories, including the 'jinx' breaking FAI Cup victory of 1942.[35] His record with Ireland: won 5; drew 4; lost 2.

All-Ireland Champions!

Following the split between the Belfast-based IFA and the Dublin-based Leinster Football Association, who founded the FAI in 1921, both associations claimed to be the representative body for football on the island of Ireland. Both competed as “Ireland” on the international stage and both selected players from both jurisdictions for matches (the FAI until 1946 and the IFA until 1950. This situation had partly arisen because the four UK associations (the self-styled Home Nations) had withdrawn from Fifa between 1920 and 1946.

Despite the split, there were numerous attempts at reconciliation. Dundalk’s Sam Prole lead many of these endeavours on principle,[161] but also because competing against Northern sides was felt to be in Dundalk’s interests commercially. With the onset of World War 2 the League of Ireland and particularly the Irish League were suffering financially due to a lack of matches, and administrators from both associations agreed to the creation of a cross-border competition - the Dublin and Belfast Inter-City Cup.[174] It was the first time there had been formalised all-Ireland competition since the partition of Ireland and the first ‘true’ all-Ireland competition, given that the original Irish League only contained two teams from outside what became Northern Ireland - Bohemians and Shelbourne of Dublin.

In the competition’s first season, six of the 10 League of Ireland sides were matched up with all six Irish League sides in a two-legged knockout format. Dundalk defeated Glentoran in the first round,[175] Distillery in the second, and Belfast Celtic in the semi-final - all northern sides. Dundalk then defeated Shamrock Rovers in the final to become Irish football’s first ‘All-Ireland Champions’.[36] The competition survived until the end of the decade, but a combination of factors (the failure to resolve the split, the withdrawal of Belfast Celtic from the Irish League, and the entrenchment of sectarianism in the Northern game) saw it discontinued.

Jimmy Hasty

One of Jim McLaughlin's first tasks at Dundalk was to play in a Dundalk-Drogheda selection for the Jimmy Hasty benefit match in Oriel Park on 13 December 1974.[176] A favourite of Dundalk supporters, Hasty had been murdered in a sectarian shooting near his home in Belfast on 11 October.[177]

Jimmy Hasty (1935-1974) signed for Dundalk in November 1960,[178] making a scoring debut against Cork Celtic at Oriel Park[179] then, five weeks later on St. Stephen's Day, he scored the only goal in Dundalk's second ever Leinster Senior Cup Final win.[180] Hasty had only one arm, having lost his left arm in a factory accident aged 16. But his reputation as a goalscorer, who had learned to use his disability to his advantage on the pitch, had attracted Dundalk Director Jim Malone. When Malone saw Hasty play for Newry Town he was so confident in Hasty's ability that he paid him a signing on fee with a personal cheque, vouching for him in front of a sceptical board. But Hasty instantly became a star, with spectators flocking to grounds all over the League to see him play.[181][182] By the time Hasty left the club in 1966, he had won League, Top Four Cup and Leinster Senior Cup medals. He was also joint top-scorer in the 1963-64 season and had assisted the first goal and scored the second in the famous match in Zurich - the first away victory by an Irish side in European competition.[52] Over six seasons he made 170 appearances, scoring 103 goals (59 goals in 98 League appearances). His final goal in the League of Ireland came in February 1967, when he scored for Drogheda against Alan Fox's Dundalk side that would go on to win the League that season.[183] In recent years Hasty has been the subject of documentaries on both RTÉ[184] and BBC.[185]

Brian & Tommy McConville

Brian McConville (1943-1978) and Tommy McConville (1946-2013) were Dundalk stalwarts, local men who between them managed exactly 800 appearances for the club. Brian joined the club from junior football in 1964, but left during the 'Fox era'. He returned under Liam Tuohy during the lean years of the early 1970s and won Shield and Leinster Senior Cup medals. He left again when John Smith took over, but, at 32, was invited back by Jim McLaughlin and became a key member and captain of the squad that won the League in 1975-76 and FAI Cup in 1977. He died suddenly of a heart attack a short time after returning home from a match in Richmond Park at the end of January in the 1977-78 season.[186] A benefit match for his wife and four young children was held at the end of March that year, in which a John Giles XI played a Jim McLaughlin XI in front of an enormous crowd in Oriel Park.[187]

Brian's younger brother Tommy is the club's record holder for appearances. In total he spent part or all of 17 seasons at Dundalk between 1964 and 1986. In that time he won all the honours available in the Irish domestic game for the club, played in Dundalk's golden period in European football (including the match against Glasgow Celtic where he famously missed a late chance to win the tie[95]) and was voted SWAI Personality of the Year in 1982.[188] Due to the debt crisis of the early 1970s Dundalk had to sell McConville to Waterford,[76] where he also picked up League and League Cup medals as well as five of his six Irish caps. But he returned to Oriel (via Shamrock Rovers) ahead of McLaughlin's first League-winning season, after McLaughlin persuaded the board to raise the transfer fee form their personal funds.[189] He went on to become a mainstay of the McLaughlin era before leaving at the end of Turlough O'Connor's first season in charge to become player/manager at Finn Harps.[190] He died in 2013 aged 67, in Dundalk, after a long illness.[191]

Three little birds

The 'McLaughlin era' was marked by the untimely deaths of three Dundalk players. In addition to Brian McConville's death aged 35 in January 1978, Seán McLoughlin died at the age of 21 in August 1976, and Liam Devine died at the age of 29 in October 1980. McLoughlin, who had been signed by Jim McLaughlin a year earlier and had become a key figure in central midfield alongside fellow Derryman Seamus McDowell, was killed in a car accident in his native Derry.[192] He had been due to play for Dundalk in a friendly against Italian champions Torino on the same night, but had requested the night off. The highlight of his season at the club was a two-goal salvo against Cork Celtic the previous February,[193] which had wowed the home crowd and sent Dundalk top of the table, and on their way to McLaughlin's first League title as manager.

Liam Devine had been diagnosed with terminal cancer in March 1980, a few weeks after being injured in what would turn out to be his final match. On 2 September 1980 a Dundalk Selection played a Soccer Writers 'Team of the Year' XI in a benefit match for him and his family.[194] He died five weeks later.[195] Devine had been signed by McLaughlin from Shelbourne ahead of the 1978-79 Double-winning season, and was Dundalk's goalscorer in the infamous European Cup tie against Linfield in Oriel Park the following season.[196] He was an ever present in the side right up until falling ill, and was extremely popular at the club, so the shock of his diagnosis and his absence from the pitch[197] contributed to a mid-season wobble that saw Dundalk slip to a runners-up spot behind eventual League winners Limerick United.

Barry Kehoe

Barry Kehoe (1962-2002) was called the most talented footballer to come out of Dundalk in half a century.[198] He made 251 appearances for the club during the 1980s, scoring 40 goals from midfield. Barry was given his debut by Jim McLaughlin and was an ever-present in the 1981-82 League winning side. But in 1983, aged just 20, he was diagnosed with cancer, yet he fought his way back to fitness to become a key member of Turlough O'Connor's side that won the League and Cup Double in 1987-88. But within 12 months illness had struck again, with Barry requiring both heart surgery and additional chemotherapy. In response Dundalk and the FAI granted him a Special Testimonial,[199] in which a Jack Charlton Selection of Irish internationals played Barry's own selection in Oriel Park on 5 June 1989 in front of 6,000 supporters.[200] Barry recovered from illness again, and went on to play League football with Drogheda Utd until 1996. He also became a successful businessman in Dundalk. Kehoe died in October 2002, aged 40.[201]

Dundalk Football Club continues to honour his memory, naming the club's annual summer academies for children the 'Barry Kehoe Summer Camp'.

Martin Lawlor

Just ten matches short of Tommy McConville's club record for appearances of 580, Martin Lawlor (born 1 March 1958) holds Dundalk's club records for: longest unbroken service (14 seasons, 1977-1991), League appearances (400), FAI Cup appearances (56), League Cup appearances (56), most League winner's medals (5), joint-most FAI Cup winner's medals (3), and most League Cup winner's medals (3). Lawlor is also the only player to have been a member of both Jim McLaughlin's and Turlough O'Connor's Double-winning sides. He was honoured with a testimonial against Chelsea in 1986,[202] and in match programme notes written by former colleague Dermot Keely (who would later be his final manager at Dundalk) he was called "the best left-full in the League" and a "credit to football". His brothers Mick and Robbie, and his father Kit, also played for Dundalk.

Dunfield

In 1999, 20 years after the violence that had marred their European Cup tie in Oriel Park,[196] Dundalk and Linfield started a 12-month cross-border youth football project called ‘Dunfield’, which was largely funded by Co-operation Ireland as part of its reconciliation efforts in the aftermath of the Good Friday Agreement.[203] The clubs, who had always been on good terms going back to the 1920s, even after the events of 1979,[204] ensured the project was so successful that it was extended for another 12 months in 2000.[205]

Martin Murray

Martin Murray (born 6 October 1958), is one of only four men to both win honours with Dundalk as a player and later return to lead the club to trophy success as manager (the others being Gerry McCourt, Turlough O’Connor, and Dermot Keely). Murray made 218 appearances for the club in six seasons between 1984 and 1990 (usually in the playmaking midfield role), scoring 29 goals. He won League, FAI Cup and League Cup medals under Turlough O’Connor and was Irish Independent ‘Sports Star of the Week’ for his performance in the 1988 final against Derry City.[206] However, for his whole playing career of over 20-years, Murray had coped with a faulty aortic valve, diagnosed when he was 19 and a player at Everton. At the end of his playing career he had the required surgery,[207] and turned to management after he recovered. Following a season with Crusaders in Northern Ireland, he took over at Dundalk going into the club’s second season in the First Division.[208] At the first time of asking he won promotion for the club as First Division Champions.[209] Stepping back into the Premier Division with a blend of local players and experienced pros proved too challenging the following season, with three clubs being relegated automatically - Dundalk missing out on safety by a solitary point.[126] But the club was on a memorable cup-run, and, having dispatched Shamrock Rovers on a 4-0 scoreline in Oriel Park in the Semi-Final to delirious scenes,[210] Murray lead Dundalk to the club’s ninth FAI Cup win over a Bohemians side managed by Stephen Kenny - only a week after relegation had been confirmed.[127] Murray resigned early the following season and stepped away from the League of Ireland.

2006 IAG Report

Dundalk being excluded from the 2007 Premier Division was as a result of the FAI implementing the recommendations of the Independent Assessment Group, which used a point-system consisting of off-field metrics as well as results from the previous five seasons to decide which teams should make up the top-tier. Dundalk were rated joint-eighth for the 'off-field' criteria but suffered on the 'on-field' metric used and failed to make the 12-team cut. Reports in the local and national press described the decision to exclude Dundalk from the Premier Division as "scandalous" and "an injustice".[211][212]

That results from 2002 and 2003 could be used to deny the club promotion to the 2007 Premier Division infuriated many Dundalk supporters and proved to be the final straw for one particularly disgruntled fan, who entered the former headquarters of the FAI at Merrion Square, doused the reception area with petrol and threatened to set it alight. After a tense hour-long stand-off, the situation ended peacefully when the manager, John Gill, spoke with the fan and persuaded him to end his protest.[213] Dundalk's owner, Gerry Matthews, met with the FAI and members of the IAG committee and subsequently acknowledged that the club were "happy to move on".[214] Within three seasons Cork and Drogheda had gone into administration, Longford had been relegated on the back of failing to produce accounts, Derry and Cork had been relegated due to their holding companies going bankrupt, while Galway (who outscored Dundalk on the off-field criteria 389 - 348) would subsequently withdraw from the League of Ireland altogether in 2011 due to financial difficulties.

Circus

The period between Dundalk's return to the Premier Division in 2009 and the ownership crisis in 2012 was marked by a number of embarrassing incidents for the club. In May 2009 defender Dave Rogers was sacked by the board for dropping his shorts in front of visiting St. Patrick's Athletic fans in Oriel Park after being sent off.[215] Rogers won an unfair dismissal case, costing the club a 'five-figure' sum.[216] Less than a year later the club was again forced to pay out following another unfair dismissal case, with a former marketing manager winning €40,000 at an Employment Appeals Tribunal.[217] In July 2010 Neale Fenn, who had been signed from Bohemians at the start of the season,[218] approached the club and requested that his contract be cancelled as he wished to retire from the game "for the good of his family". He also requested that his registration be returned to allow him play a "little bit of football". Dundalk manager Ian Foster agreed to Fenn's request, only for Fenn to sign for Shamrock Rovers four days later.[219] Dundalk got a degree of satisfaction when Fenn and Shamrock Rovers visited Oriel Park in September and were thrashed 5-1, Fenn's replacement Matthew Tipton scoring a hat-trick on the night.[220]

Pitch battle

During Stephen Kenny's reign a legal dispute arose between the new owners of the club and the previous owner, Gerry Matthews, over the lease of Oriel Park. After the transfer of the club to the new company Dundalk Town FC Limited in 2012, Matthews' company held onto the ground lease and retained ownership of the Youth Development Centre (YDC), built in 2010. This prevented the club's new owners from carrying out any more than basic maintenance at the ground and also meant that the YDC remained unused. Matthews sought €250,000 from the club for the lease and the YDC, threatening to demolish the latter for scrap if there was no agreement.[221] In addition some €430,000 in development levies remained owed to Louth County Council,[135] which the new owners stated they should not be liable for. The dispute, which also involved the Casey family, as the situation was in breach of the terms of the lease, dragged on for over three years. It was eventually resolved in early 2017 and the club regained control of the ground lease.[222]

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See also

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