Drumcondra F.C.

Drumcondra

Full name	Drumcondra Football Club
Nickname(s)	Drums
Dissolved	Original Club 1972
Ground	Tolka Park, Richmond Road, Dublin 3. (Capacity: 9,680 (current))
Chairman	Sam Prole (1972)
League	League of Ireland
Home colours

Drumcondra Football Club was an Irish football club from Dublin. Based in Tolka Park, Drumcondra were elected to the League of Ireland in 1928. The Northside club won 5 League of Ireland titles before amalgamating with neighbours, Home Farm in 1972.

History

Prior to joining the League, Drums became the first non-league club to win the FAI cup in the 1926–27 season, completing an unlikely double by also lifting the Intermediate Cup along the way. Following election to the League however they would endure a twenty year wait before lifting their first title in 1948.^[1] During the 1950s Drums rivalry with Shamrock Rovers became the stuff of Dublin folklore as huge crowds gathered to see the Northside/Southside derby fixtures between the two clubs. During this halcyon period for Drums the early 1960s saw the Tolka Park side make history as the first League of Ireland side to register an aggregate win in European competition when they knocked Danish side B 1909 Odense out of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup (4-1 H,2-4 A) in the 1962–63 season. Although beaten 6-0 by Bayern Munich in the following round in Germany, they did restore pride with a 1-0 home win in the second leg. Drums also played Atlético Madrid (0-8 A,1-5 H), Nuremberg (0-5 A,1-4 H), Eintracht Frankfurt (0-2 H,1-6 A), and Vorwärts Berlin (1-0 H,0-3 A) in European competition.^[2]

At the end of the 1971–72 season the team amalgamated with Home Farm, Drums final league game in their own right being a 1-1 draw with Shelbourne at Tolka on 5 April 1972. It was announced by Brendan Menton Sr., Home Farm honorary secretary at the time, that the all amateur club had taken over the entire share capital of their professional neighbouring club, Drumcondra F.C. Promotion of amateur football was to remain the main aim.^[1] During the 1972–73 season the side played as Home Farm-Drumcondra however within a season the Drumcondra name was dropped and from the start of 1973–74 the side simply became Home Farm.

The name of Drumcondra lives on in the form of Leinster Senior League side Drumcondra A.F.C. who amalgamated with Drumcondra Athletic during the summer of 2008 to reunite the two factions who laid claim to the historical identity of the original club. They finished 2008–09 6th out of 14 clubs in Sunday Senior 1A (Third Level).

Drums colours were essentially blue and gold/yellow although in later years they did play in a sky blue strip. At various times they wore blue/gold hoops with white shorts before adopting a more modern continental style gold with a blue v neck and blue shorts in 1954.

Honours

• League of Ireland: 5

1948, 1949, 1958, 1961, 1965

• FAI Cup: 5

1927, 1943, 1946, 1954, 1957

• League of Ireland Shield: 4

1945–46, 1946–47, 1950–51, 1961–62

• FAI Intermediate Cup: 1

1927

Records

• Biggest League Win: 8-0 vs Sligo Rovers home, 22 January 1961.
• Biggest League Defeat: 1-9 vs Cork United home, 13 January 1946.
• Top League Scorer (season): 29, Dan McCaffrey, (1960–61).
• Top League Scorer (total): 96, Des Glynn (1948–56).

Season Placings

1928-29 - 4 1929-30 - 7 1930-31 - 11 1931-32 - 9 1932-33 - 10 1933-34 - 7 1934-35 - 9 1935-36 - 9 1936-37 - 6 1937-38 - 12 1938-39 - 8

1939-40 - 6 1940-41 - 6 1941-42 - 9 1942-43 - 3 1943-44 - 6 1944-45 - 4 1945-46 - 2 1946-47 - 2 1947-48 - 1 1948-49 - 1 1949-50 - 2

1950-51 - 3 1951-52 - 6 1952-53 - 2 1953-54 - 3 1954-55 - 6 1955-56 - 8 1956-57 - 2 1957-58 - 1 1958-59 - 5 1959-60 - 9 1960-61 - 1

1961-62 - 7 1962-63 - 3 1963-64 - 8 1964-65 - 1 1965-66 - 7 1966-67 - 8 1967-68 - 7 1968-69 - 9 1969-70 - 14 1970-71 - 14 1971-72 - 12

Notable former players

Ned Halpin Fran Brennan Ray Bushe Kevin Clarke Tim Coffey Tom Davis Tommy Donnelly Eddie Flynn, goalie for 1942-43 season FAI CUP and LFA Senior Challenge Cup wins. Karl Gannon Gerry Garvan Bobby Gilbert Eoin Hand Benny Henderson Peter Kavanagh Alan Kelly Robin Lawler Kit Lawlor Con Martin John O'Neill Gordon Smith Maurice Swan Paddy Goode Tom Davis,Peter Kavanagh and Con Martin were all dual internationals representing both the IFA and the FAI sides.

Notable former managers

• Billy Behan
• Christy Giles
• Amby Fogarty

Trivia

• Drums won the first ever FAI Intermediate Cup in 1927. It was then known as the FAI Qualifying Cup.
• Former Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern was an ardent supporter of the club during their existence.
• Drums' first game in the 1972/1973 season under the management of Home Farm was against Scottish team Hibernian. They lost 2-0 in Tolka Park on 22 July 1972.

External links

• Drumcondra FC Official Website
• Leinster Senior League Official Website

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Irish Times 20 May 1972
2. ^ "Irish Clubs In European Cups". rsssf.com. http://www.rsssf.com/tablesi/ier-ec.html. Retrieved 5 September 2009.