Loughshinny United

About Loughshinny United

The club has come a long way since June 10th 1974 when George ToIan chaired the inaugural meeting in the C.Y.M.S. Hall. The official title then was St. Brendans A.F.C.. Francis Ferguson was elected treasurer. Also on that committee were Liam Matthews, Christy Fanning, Pauric Rogan, Seamus Ferguson, Seamus McGee and Jay Kenny. On the 5m May 1979 at the Iveagh Grounds the first trophy was captured by the club when they defeated Johnson Mooney and O’Brien in a five nil rout to lift the Bendal Cup. Ciarán Rogan bagged a brace that day. That side was managed by Liam Matthews. The then secretary was Christina Corr, one of the few ladies to hold such a position in 1979. Twenty five years later secretarial duties were still a female bastion in Loughshinny. Deirdre Ferguson ably assisted by Carmel Fanning performing those duties.

The late 1980’s saw a major step forward for the club when managed by the mercurial Gerry Butler they gained Intermediate status. This was, and still is, a magnificent achievement for a side based in a village the size of Loughshinny. Their finest hour to date came on July 26th 2003 when proud Manager John Fullam prepared his squad for League of Ireland side Galway United in the first round of the F.A.I. Cup. Loughshinny had disposed of Donegal’s Fanad among others to qualify to compete for Irish soccer’s most prestigious trophy. Though they lost two nil that Saturday evening, this was a definite statement of ambition for a club that is clearly going from strength to strength.

To celebrate their 3Oth anniversary a black tie dinner dance is being held at the Carnegie Court Hotel in Swords on Friday June 18. Eamonn Dunphy was an honorary guest at the gala.

Club relied on managers who came in to bring in new players as the size of the village and local players dwindled. A few changes happened after Liam Kelly tenure ended when he moved to Glebe North in balbriggan. The bad years came in with others at the helm saw Loughshinny slip through the intermediate leagues in the LSL eventually finding their feet in the Saturday divisions. Nicknamed 'Los Galacticos' by other rivals due to the players at their desposal for this period. Rory O'Connor future LSL top scorer for 3 years running and an Irish Amatuer and Junior International, Colum Wilde and Brendan Carberry were the local talent at the time and gained 3 promotions on the spin with Edward 'Doc' Doherty at the helm. More players eventually left and the club moved out of the LSL leagues. The club made a return to the LSL in the 21/22 season and are playing Sunday football. Things are looking up once again with club Legends John Spencer as manager and his assistant Colum Wilde.