Garryowen Football Club

""'Rugby team
teamname = Garryowen

| fullname = Garryowen Football Club | union = IRFU, Munster Branch
nickname =
founded = 1884
ground = Dooradoyle, Limerick
capacity = ~1000
coach = ru|IRE Paul Cunningham
chairman = | country

countryflagvar = rugby
competitions = All-Ireland League
pattern_la1=_whiteshoulders|pattern_b1=_whiteshoulders|pattern_ra1=_whiteshoulders
leftarm1=87ceeb|body1=87ceeb|rightarm1=87ceeb|shorts1=FFFFFF|socks1=87ceeb

Garryowen Football Club, usually referred to as Garryowen, is a rugby union club in Limerick, Republic of Ireland, founded in 1884. It takes its name from the Garryowen area of Limerick. The word Garryowen - "the gardens of John" - relates to the association in the 12th century between St. John's Church and the Knights Templar whose house in Limerick was dedicated to St. John the Baptist.

Garryowen are one of the top teams in the AIB League. Former Ireland coach Eddie O'Sullivan played for the club in the 1980s.

A "garryowen" is a very high up and under kick (named after the rugby club) designed to put the opposing team under pressure, by allowing the kicking team time to arrive under and compete for the high ball.

The Limerick side can boast such former players as Keith Wood, the former Irish international hooker;Tony Ward, former Ireland outhalf and Lion, Pat Whelan, former Ireland hooker and later Ireland manager, Philip Danaher, former Ireland centre and Richie Wallace, Ireland winger and former All-Ireland League (AIL) top-try scorer. Richie's brother David also played for Garryowen, Munster, Ireland and the Lions and was a member of the Munster team which won the Heineken European Cup in 2006.

Having won the league title in its second and fourth year (1992, 1994), Garryowen have been somewhat unfortunate of late, having reached two finals and a number of semi-finals only to fall just short. However, 2007 proved a spectacular year for the Limerick side, seeing them finally re-take the AIL crown after their years of disappointment and also the Munster senior and AIL cups in what is an unprecedented clean sweep of all domestic competitions in Irish club rugby.

Prior to the All-Ireland League the major competition was the Provincial Munster Senior Cup. Garryowen have won this competition 36 times, more times than any other club. Garryowen won the trophy nine times in a row between 1889 and 1898 and have the distinction of having played in the first final in 1886 and the 100th final in 1986.

Also known as the 'boys in blue' or "the sky blues", Garryowen's kit consists of a blue and white jersey (varying in design) with a five pointed white star, said to represent the five medieval parishes of Limerick, on the breast, white shorts and blue socks.

Honours

*AIL Division 1 (3): 1992, 1994, 2007
*AIL Cup: 2007
*Millennium U20 Cup: 2000
*Munster Senior Cup (36):1889-91, 1893-96, 1898-99, 1902-04, 1908-09, 1911, 1914, 1920, 1924-26, 1932, 1934, 1940, 1947, 1952, 1954, 1969, 1971, 1974-75, 1979, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2007
*Munster Senior League (13): 1904-10, 1925, 1946, 1954, 1982-83, 2001
*Munster Junior Cup (7): 1910, 1955, 1970, 1976, 1978, 1993, 2007
*Munster Junior Plate (2): 1987, 1999
*Munster 2nds League (6): 1976, 1981, 1997,1999, 2000, 2004
*Munster U20 League (6): 1985, 1988, 1991, 1995, 1997

External links

* [http://garryowenrugby.com Official website]
* [http://www.aib.ie/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=AIB_Sports/SP_Homepage&Section=RG&SubSection=rgLT AIB League tables]