Shelbourne F.C.
Shelbourne Football Club is an Irish professional football club based in Drumcondra, Dublin, currently playing in the League of Ireland Premier Division.
Overview
With its first name being associated with its more common nickname, Shels, the club plays its home matches at Tolka Park, in the Dublin suburb of Drumcondra. Founded in Dublin in 1895, Shelbourne F.C.'s colours are primarily red and white, with home jerseys being predominantly red though in the club's first season they wore sky blue and chocolate following an error with the kit order.In 1904, the club joined the Irish Football League, which was then an all-Ireland competition, before becoming one of the founding members of the League of Ireland in 1921, winning their first title in the 1925–26 season. Shelbourne have won the league 14 times and are one of just three clubs to have won both the IFA Cup and the FAI Cup.
In the 2004–05 European season, Shelbourne became the first Irish club to reach the third qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League. Their performances in European competition and former striker Jason Byrne being capped for the Republic of Ireland whilst with the club, gained Shelbourne international exposure.
The club lost their Premier Division licence for the 2007 season due to the club's debt situation. Although the club was saved, since then, Shelbourne had mainly played in the second tier of the League of Ireland with short stints back in the Premier Division in 2012, 2013 and 2020. The club was promoted back to the Premier Division in 2021 and have been competing back in the top flight since then, winning the Premier Division in 2024, and subsequently qualifying for the 2025–26 UEFA Conference League league phase.
History
Formation & IFA years: 1895–1921
Shelbourne Football Club was formed in 1895 in the Ringsend area of Dublin by a group of men led by James Rowan, a general labourer. The club took its name from the nearby Shelbourne Road. The club's first pitch was at Havelock Square just behind the north stand at the present day Aviva Stadium.Shelbourne's second season, 1896/97, was their first in competitive competition. Shelbourne played 28 matches, won 25, drew two and lost only one. Their goal tally was 109 for and 15 against. Shelbourne won the principal junior competitions, the Leinster Junior Cup and Leinster Junior League. The club decided to enter the senior ranks for the 1897–98 season and reached the Leinster Senior Cup final at their first attempt, only to lose to Bohemians. They also finished runners-up in the Leinster Senior League. The club won their first Leinster Senior Cup in 1899/1900, winning the competition again in 1901 and 1904. The club joined the Irish League for the start of the 1904–05 season.
The club made it to the final of the IFA Cup in 1905 but were beaten by Distillery. The following year Shelbourne defeated Belfast Celtic in the Cup Final 2–0 at Dalymount Park before a crowd of 7,000 thanks to a brace from James Owens and became the first Southern club to win the IFA Cup. According to a Dublin newspaper "Tar barrels and bonfires were blazing across Ringsend and Sandymount that night as the Irish Cup was paraded around the district". In 1906 Shelbourne player Val Harris became the club's first player to line out for Ireland. In 1906 Shelbourne won their fourth Leinster Senior Cup, the club also playing in a charity match against Bohemians the same year and raised more than 100 pounds to build a church in Ringsend. Shelbourne reached the IFA Cup Final again in 1907 and 1908 but were beaten on both occasions in replays against Cliftonville and Bohemians, respectively. In 1907 Shelbourne were also Irish Football League runners-up to Linfield. They won the Leinster Senior Cup again in 1908 and 1909. In 1909 Shelbourne were City Cup winners and finished third place in the Irish Football League, behind champions Linfield and Glentoran. In 1911 Shelbourne won the IFA Cup for their second time and went on to win the Leinster Senior Cup again in 1913 and 1914. In 1912, the club established the Shelbourne Sports Company, a limited public liability company with the specific aim of constructing a stadium of holding 25,000 spectators. It was wound up eleven years later without having achieved its goal. Shelbourne were 1914 Gold Cup runners-up, and then winners in 1915, were Leinster Senior Cup winners again in 1917 and 1919, and winners of the IFA Cup once more, in 1920, after the other semi-final was declared void as both of the teams involved were ejected from the competition, before Shelbourne's association with the Irish Football Association was to come to an end. The Reds semi-final win over Glenavon saw their home ground closed by authorities following crowd violence.
Founder Members of the League of Ireland: 1921–1929
Following the Anglo-Irish Treaty, Partition of Ireland and establishment of the Irish Free State, the League of Ireland was formed for clubs in the 26 counties of Ireland that had regained independence from the United Kingdom. The immediate cause of the split lay in a bitter dispute over the venue for the replay of an Irish Cup match in 1921 involving Glentoran of Belfast and Shelbourne. When the first cup match was drawn in Belfast, because of the Irish war of independence, the IFA reneged on a promise to play the replay in Dublin and scheduled the rematch again for Belfast. Shelbourne refused to comply and forfeited the Cup. Such was the anger over the issue that the Leinster FA broke away from the IFA and formed its own national association, the present-day Football Association of Ireland. Shelbourne became one of the original League of Ireland founder clubs along with Bohemians, St James's Gate, Jacobs, Olympia, Frankfort, Dublin United and YMCA.In the opening 1921–22 season, Shelbourne finished in third place behind winners St James's Gate and Bohemians. Shelbourne finished runners-up the following two seasons and won the 1924 Leinster Senior Cup. The Reds finished third in the league again in the 1924–25 season before winning the league for their first time the following season in 1925–26. They finished runners-up the following two years before winning the 1928–29 Championship.
Thirties: 1930–1939
Having failed to retain the title in 1930, Shels won their third league title in 1931 and were Leinster Senior Cup winners that same year. In 1934 the club got into a dispute with the Irish Free State F.A. when they looked for compensation after the FAIFS had arranged a match for the same day that Shelbourne had a match scheduled. In the row that followed, Shels resigned from the League and were then suspended from football for a year by the FAI. The club played no football during the 1934–35 season and spent the 1935–36 season in the Athletic Union League before being re-admitted to the League of Ireland for the start of the 1936–37 season. During the 1935–36 season a team called Reds United, made up of a number of Shelbourne players and backed by Shels personnel, competed in the League of Ireland and finished a respectable fourth. At the end of the season, they resigned from the League to make way for Shelbourne's return.The decade had a happy ending, though, as success in the FAI Cup finally arrived : it was in the 1939 Cup Final that the supposed curse was broken. Sligo Rovers who boasted Dixie Dean, the goalscoring legend of the Football League, were eventually beaten after a replay thanks to a long-range goal from 'Sacky' Glen. After so many attempts, the blue ribbon of Irish football made its way to Shelbourne Park for the first time. Official figures put the attendances at 30,000 and 25,000 for the first final and the replay respectively.
Forties: 1940–1949
As the euphoria of the first FAI Cup success wore off, the forties started slowly enough for the Reds, and it wasn't until 1944 that the league championship was won again — for a fourth time — along with the Shield. The title was clinched after an epic 5–3 win over local rivals Shamrock Rovers. Luck was reversed though in the FAI Cup Final as Rovers stopped the Reds from winning the treble. Shelbourne went down 3–2 but felt aggrieved that the referee only awarded them a penalty when it seemed a Rovers defender had handled the ball after it went over the goal-line, as the subsequent penalty was missed. The club issued a 48-page brochure to mark its golden jubilee in 1945. Shels won another Leinster Senior Cup in 1946.Another league title, however, was wrapped up on the last day in 1947 and was again secured against Shamrock Rovers.
The closing of the decade marked the end of an era. In April 1949, Shelbourne drew 2–2 against Waterford in what was the club's final competitive game at Shelbourne Park. The plan was that the club would build a new stadium in nearby Irishtown. The 1948–49 season also saw Shels win their seventh Shield and 14th Leinster Senior Cup.
Fifties: 1950–1959
In 1951, Shelbourne made it to the FAI Cup final where they met Cork Athletic who had already wrapped up the league. Tommy Carberry had scored in every round for the Reds and did so again in the final, played in front of over 38,900 fans, but it was only good enough to earn a replay which Athletic won. At the end of the 1950-51 season, the club travelled across the Irish Sea to play in the Festival Of Britain tournament. A sixth league title was won in 1953, and then in 1955–56 Shels played their only season in Irishtown Stadium. The ground, however, was far from complete despite a huge amount of voluntary work being carried out by supporters and offered no shelter for the fans from the elements. The following season Shelbourne were tenants across the bay at Tolka Park.During that season Gerry Doyle was appointed manager and a new era was being ushered in for the team. The FAI Youth Cup was won in 1959 and Doyle was true to his word, "if they're good enough, they're old enough" and six of the Youth Cup-winning team became first-team regulars. Amongst them was Tony Dunne who would be later transferred to Manchester United with whom he picked up a European Cup winners medal in 1968.