The Dundalk GNR were located at the Athletic Grounds in Armagh and competed in the Dundalk and District League from 1905 until 1914, although media coverage remained patchy. Sports coverage was re-instated in the local media in 1919, with the Dundalk and District League re-established in time to start a competition during the 1919–20 season. Included among the teams was a selection representing the Dundalk GNR. The club were also partaking in the Newry League at the time, but political change was to affect this. Following the formation of the Football Association of the Irish Free State (FAIFS, now the FAI ) in Dublin to govern football in the Irish Free State the control of footballing matters in Northern Ireland was left to the Irish Football Association (IFA).
The Dundalk GNR were not involved in the fledgling Irish Free State Senior League (later to become the League of Ireland), which kicked off at the start of the 1921–22 season. It involved only Dublin-based clubs; all of which has stepped up from the Leinster Senior League. This ultimately opened the way for the Dundalk GNR to move up to the Leinster Senior League. They were the only club from outside of the capital to compete in the 1922–23 season. Their first game was played on 7 October 1922 against Inchicore United and ended in a 2–1 loss. Nevertheless, the club established itself in the top rank, and a third-place finish in the 1925–26 season paved the way for the club’s election to the ten-team Free State Senior League at the expense of Pioneers F.C., and ahead of Bendigo F.C. and Drumcondra; the two clubs that had headed the Dundalk GNR in their final season in the Leinster Senior League. Within four seasons, the club had moved from the Dundalk and District League, through the Leinster Senior League, and were ready to establish themselves in the elite Irish Free State Senior League, which included the likes of Shelbourne, Bohemians and Shamrock Rovers. The club, still known as the Dundalk GNR, and continuing in the black and amber kit from their pre-War origins, travelled to Cork to face Fordsons in their opening match on 21 August 1926. The match ended in a 2–1 defeat.
The club were renamed Dundalk F.C. in 1930 and became the first provincial team to win the league title in 1932–33. The club has an unbroken membership of the League of Ireland, a record shared with only two other members from that time; Bohemians and Shamrock Rovers. The club moved to their current home venue, Oriel Park, in 1936. In the 1970s and 1980s, the club had an impressive record in European competition at home, going undefeated for five years, playing against top opposition in the form of PSV Eindhoven, Hajduk Split, Celtic, Porto and Tottenham Hotspur. With almost fifty trophy-wins, including nine league titles, one First Division title and having contested fourteen FAI Cup finals, the club has one of the most successful histories in League of Ireland football. Almost one hundred of the club's players have gained representative honours for Ireland and the League of Ireland.
Since 1999, and in conjunction with Irish League side Linfield of Belfast, the club has been engaged in a peace and reconciliation programme, known as the Dunfield Project, which through the medium of football is facilitating the coming together of young people from the Dundalk and Belfast communities. In 2002, the club won the FAI Cup for a ninth time. The club operated as a co-operative, with teams competing from school-boy level in Dublin-based leagues to girls and ladies teams, along with the first-team for a period until August 2006, when they were taken over by local business man Gerry Mathews. Dundalk celebrated their 2000th league game against Finn Harps on Thursday 8 March 2007 in Oriel Park to a crowd of 3000 spectators.
A local rivalry is shared with Drogheda United, their Louth neighbours, who entered the League in 1975.
On 15 November 2008 Dundalk won promotion back to the Premier Division, after some controversy in 2006
.Despite the fact that Dundalk FC had won what they perceived to be, or believed should have been, the annual promotion/relegation Play-Off, and what would have been a promotion/relegation game in any other normal season, in November 2006, they were one of the teams omitted from the 2007 Premier Division and were, instead, chosen to play in the First Division. Dundalk, however, argued that they had a right to compete in the Premier Division following their Play-Off victory over Waterford United. "What was the point of the league taking our players and fans all the way down to Waterford if it counted for nothing?", questioned one official, while reports in the local and national press described the decision to exclude Dundalk from the Premier Division as "scandalous" and "an injustice". However, as far as the FAI and The Independent Assessment Group (IAG) were concerned Dundalk's protests had no real weight, their contention was that the 2006 play-offs had never been billed as a promotion/relegation fixture, but rather as a means to determine which teams were to be positioned in 12th and 13th place within the overall standings for the 2006 season.
Dundalk's traditional colours are white jerseys (from which they get their nickname; the Lillywhites) and black shorts. However, this has not always been the case. Whilst playing under the auspices of the GNR the club played in a black and amber-striped kit until 1927 when the team adopted a strip of white shirts, with blue shield (Coat of Arms of Dundalk) and navy blue shorts. The GNR moniker was dropped two seasons later and the team was renamed Dundalk F.C. in 1930.
The club's crest features three mythical martlets. The design is an adaptation of the heraldic symbols of Dundalk town's coat of arms, which also depict red marlets on a predominantly white shield.. The original blue shield depicting three 'Crows', as they were referred to in the local press, was adopted when the club changed their colours in 1927.
In February 2005, the club announced a major programme for a complete revamp of Oriel Park, which included the conversion of the pitch to an all-weather surface. Dundalk are the first Irish club to make such a conversion and the first club in the world to use the licensed FIFA 2-star surface for competitive league games. Further upgrades have taken place to the main stand, changing-areas and bar facilities. . At the start of the 2007 season, fans of the club were delighted to see the developmental work done on the stadium over the close-season before the season's kick-off. A new roof was installed on the main stand and covered terracing was introduced along the opposite side of the pitch. Since the late 1990s and until recently Dundalk have played their home games on Thursday nights.
Dundalk's crest
The current Dundalk home jersey
No comments:
Post a Comment