St Patrick's Athletic F.C.

Football club infobox
clubname = St Patrick's Athletic


fullname = St. Patrick’s Athletic Football Club
nickname = Saints, Pat's
founded = 1929
ground = Richmond Park, Inchicore,
Dublin
capacity = 5,500 (3,000 seated)
chairman = Garrett Kelleher
manager = John McDonnell
league = FAI League of Ireland
season = 2007
position = 2nd, Eircom League
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leftarm1=FFFFFF|body1=FF0000|rightarm1=FFFFFF|shorts1=FFFFFF|socks1=FF0000
pattern_la2=|pattern_b2=_thinwhitesides|pattern_ra2=
leftarm2=002060|body2=002060|rightarm2=002060|shorts2=FFFFFF|socks2=002060

St Patrick's Athletic Football Club (Irish: "Cumann Peile Lúthchleas Phádraig Naofa") is an Irish football club playing in the FAI League of Ireland Premier Division. The club, founded in 1929, hails from the Dublin suburb of Inchicore and play their home matches at Richmond Park. Club colours are Red and White, and the club goes by the nickname The Saints. The current manager is John McDonnell.

History

St Patrick's Athletic F.C. was founded in 1929. The first season was played in Phoenix Park but in 1930 St Pats moved into Richmond Park. Known as the Saints or simply as 'Pats' the club quickly climbed up the junior and intermediate ranks of Irish football and by the end of the 1940s were established as the top non-League of Ireland side in the country. After winning the FAI Intermediate Cup in 1948 and 1949 moves were made by the League of Ireland to entice St Pats into their competition.

In 1951 the club was admitted, along with Cork side Evergreen United, to the senior ranks of the League of Ireland. St Pats made an immediate impact, winning the league championship at their first attempt. Two more league championship successes followed in 1954/1955 and 1955/1956. The club had to wait until 1959 before their first FAI Cup success, repeating the feat in 1961. Despite several appearances in the final since 1961 the Saints have so far failed to secure a third Cup win.

Many of the Pats players of that golden era are still recalled fondly today - Ginger O'Rourke, Harry Boland ('The Legend', 1926-2000), Irish international Shay Gibbons, Ronnie Whelan Snr. and Willie Peyton are players who contributed greatly during this era.

The early years of the club saw much movement as Pats played "home games" in venues such as Milltown, Chapelizod Greyhound Stadium and Dalymount Park. The club returned to its original home of Richmond Park, Inchicore in 1960 and stayed there until 1989. Another period in "exile" in the greyhound stadium in Harolds Cross followed before the club finally returned to Richmond Park in 1993.

St Pats struggled throughout the late 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s with only the odd cup final or young star emerging to brighten things for long suffering Pats fans. Among those players to emerge was Noel Campbell. Campbell spent a number of years with St Pats (gaining the first of his Irish caps) before moving to SC Fortuna Köln where he would play 8 seasons. Perhaps the brightest star to play for St Pats was Paul McGrath. McGrath was signed by Saints' manager Charlie Walker from junior side Dalkey United. Within a year he had won the PFAI Player of the Year award and earned himself a move to Manchester United.

The appointment of Brian Kerr as manager in 1986 was a major turning point in the fortunes of the club. Kerr worked on limited resources to create team capable of challenging the best. The championship was denied his team in 1988 on the final day of that season but two years later they were finally crowned Champions of Ireland and thus began a prolonged era of success which made St Pats the undisputed 'Team of the Nineties' in Irish Football, thanks to four championships in the decade. At the end of the 1988/89 season St Pats left Richmond Park for what the board of directors called "a short time" while redevelopment work was done.

Playing in Harold's Cross, Kerr's blend of young players (Paul Osam, Curtis Fleming, Pat Fenlon, John McDonnell) and experienced campaigners disregarded by other clubs (Damian Byrne, Dave Henderson) won the club's first league championship in 34 years on Easter Monday 1990. Most Irish football commentators expected the young Saints to dominate Irish football for some time. A series of takeover attempts saw the club thrust into turmoil and Kerr was forced to break up the team. In the summer of 1992 the club were hours away from extinction before a group of local investors raised £82,000 to save the club.

Having spent four years in Harold's Cross the club returned to a new look Richmond Park in 1993, their spiritual home in Dublin's Inchicore. Brian Kerr began the task of creating a winning setup once again. With the aid of a newly appointed Chief Executive, and former player, Pat Dolan and by the club's new Chairman, Tim O'Flaherty, the league trophy returned to Richmond Park in 1996.

A new generation of footballing heroes emerged in Pats colours with greats such as Eddie Gormley, Paul Osam and Ricky O'Flaherty together with exciting young stars such as Colin Hawkins and Trevor Molloy and thousands flocked to Inchicore for Friday nights under the floodlights in Richmond Park. When Kerr resigned to take up the Director of Coaching job with the FAI, the good work was continued by Pat Dolan and then Liam Buckley installed as manager. The glory continued as further league championships were secured in 1998 and 1999 which led to European qualification and a creditable 0-0 draw with the famous Celtic at Celtic Park, the club lost the return leg in Tolka Park, Dublin but the away draw was a major boost for Irish football against such a famous club in the world game. The club however suffered a humiliating setback in the same competition one year later when they lost 10-0 on aggregate to Zimbru Chişinău.

Into the new millennium the success continued. St. Pats won both the League Cup and Leinster Senior Cup in 2000/01. Controversy dogged the club in the 2001/02 season due to player registration irregularities. The club had 9 points deducted due to fielding an ineligible player (Paul Marney) in their first 3 games of the season, but this decision was revoked upon arbitration, on 22 March 2002. They then had 15 points deducted for playing Charles Mbabazi Livingstone in the first 5 matches of the season in spite of not having registered him until 12 September 2001. St. Pats argued that they did not intentionally seek to gain advantage as the player was registered correctly the previous season, there was nothing underhand about it. An FAI arbitration panel would reject the Saints appeal of the point deduction and to this day the Saints still contest that they are the rightful league champions. That season also saw St. Patrick's come close to merging with fellow League of Ireland club St. Francis F.C. This move was greeted with anger by club supporters and although St. Francis went out of business (and therefore the league) the merger never happened.

New Club Chairman Andrew O'Callaghan was appointed in the summer of 2002 and has worked to modernize the club and face the new challenges of UEFA licensing and ground development. St. Pats made Irish footballing history in 2002 by becoming the first club to progress in the Intertoto Cup with a victory over Croatian team NK Rijeka over two legs - the club were eventually knocked out of the competition only on away goals to K.A.A. Gent of Belgium.

The club marked its 75th anniversary in 2004. In 2005 the club where forced to investigate the idea of sharing a new stadium in Tallaght with Shamrock Rovers in order to comply with the FAI's wish for Dublin clubs to ground share. The move was met with furious protests by the club's supporters and a group calling themselves 'Pats for Richmond' was set up to organise demonstrations. In July 2006 St. Pats signalled their intention to stay in Richmond Park by purchasing the Richmond House pub (also known as McDowell’s} for use as an official clubhouse. Unfortunately the club lost yet another FAI Cup Final in December 2006 and their hunt for their 3rd victory in the elusive competition continues. In early 2007 the club was purchased by wealthy property magnate Garrett Kelleher. After a number of months of negotiations, Kelleher finally announced himself as Chairman of St Patrick's Athletic on 19 July 2007. [cite web | author=stpatsfc.com | year=2007 | title=Board Appointments at St Patrick's Athletic FC | url=http://www.stpatsfc.com/news.php?id=1657| work= [http://www.stpatsfc.com/news.php?id=1657 stpatsfc.com] | accessmonthday=20 June| accessyear=2007] One of his first acts on taking over St Pats was to appoint ex manager Brian Kerr as director of football. It was widely reported in Irish newspapers that Kelleher was preparing to spend €50 million on upgrading St. Pats' Richmond Park home.

Community

The club motto is "Ni neart go cur le chéile" (as Gaeilge). It translates to "No strength without unity". St Patrick's Athletic is strongly linked with Inchicore and the local south west Dublin community. The club operate schoolboy teams at every age group from under 10 to under 18. They also play in the eircom League Under 21 league, having won it several times recently. In the past St. Patrick's Athletic Ladies played in the Dublin Women’s Soccer League (the de facto Ladies League of Ireland), winning the league championship in 1997. Many of that team won international honours and in 1998 Emma Byrne and Ciara Grant were transferred to Arsenal. Although the senior ladies side no longer exists, there are several girls’ sides within the club.

Overall European record

Record by competition

European Cup/UEFA Champions League:

Intertoto Cup:

Current squad

"As of September 2008"

On Loan

Fs player | no=| nat=Cameroon | pos=MF | name= Joseph Ndo "(on loan to Shamrock Rovers)"Fs player | no=| nat=Ireland | pos=DF | name= John Frost "(on loan to Sporting Fingal)"Fs player | no=| nat=Ireland | pos=GK | name= Brendan Clarke "(on loan to Sporting Fingal)"

Honours

*League titles: 7
**1951-52, 1954-55, 1955-56, 1989-90, 1995-96, 1997-98, 1998-99
*FAI Cups: 2
**1959, 1961
*League Cups: 2
**2000-01, 2003
*FAI Super Cup: 1
**1999
*FAI Intermediate Cups: 3
**1947/48, 1948/49, 1952/53ref|1
*FAI Junior Cup: 1
**1940/41
*FAI Youth Cup: 1
**1944/45
*League of Ireland Shields: 1
**1959/60
*Dublin City Cups: 3
**1953/54, 1955/56, 1975/76
*Leinster Senior Cups: 6
**1948ref|2, 1983, 1987, 1990, 1991, 2000ref|3
*LFA Presidents Cups: 6
**1952/53, 1953/54, 1955/56, 1971/72, 1990/91, 1996/97

Notes

* Won by the club's reserve side.
* Won as a non-league side
* Last ever winners

Notable players

"Current players excluded. Some players spanned several decades, they are placed in the decade they made their debut for St Patrick's."

1950s
*flagicon|IRL Shay Gibbons
*flagicon|IRL Fergus Crawford
*flagicon|IRL Ronnie Whelan
*flagicon|IRL Harry Boland
*flagicon|IRL Ginger O'Rourke
*flagicon|IRL Willie Peyton
*flagicon|IRL Joe Haverty
*flagicon|IRL Dinny Lowry
*flagicon|IRL Tommy Dunne
*flagicon|IRL Tommy "Longo" White

1960s
*flagicon|IRL Ray Bushe
*flagicon|IRL Dougie Boucher
*flagicon|IRL Jackie Hennessy
*flagicon|IRL Mick O'Flynn1970s
*flagicon|IRL Noel Campbell
*flagicon|IRL John Minnock
*flagicon|IRL Jackie Jameson
*flagicon|Ireland Alfie Hale
*flagicon|ENG Gordon Banks
*flagicon|SCO Neil Martin1980s
*flagicon|IRL Synan Braddish
*flagicon|IRL Dave Henderson
*flagicon|IRL Curtis Fleming
*flagicon|IRL Paul McGrath
*flagicon|IRL Paddy Dillon
*flagicon|IRL Mick Moody
*flagicon|IRL Damien Byrne
*flagicon|IRL Mark Ennis
*flagicon|IRL Eamon O'Keefe

1990s
*flagicon|IRL Eddie Gormley
*flagicon|IRL Ricky O'Flaherty
*flagicon|IRL Martin Russell
*flagicon|SCO Ian Gilzean
*flagicon|IRL Paul Osam
*flagicon|IRL John McDonnell

2000s
*flagicon|UGA Charles Livingstone Mbabazi
*flagicon|IRL Trevor Molloy
*flagicon|IRL Kevin Doyle
*flagicon|IRL Darragh Maguire
*flagicon|IRL Colm Foley

Records

*St. Pats Full League RecordP 1551 W 622 D 418 L 510 F 2284 A 2121 Pts 1879

"Statistics are correct up to 02/08/2007"
"Above points tally is the amount of points earned in real terms. In most seasons the league used a 2 pts for a win system"
"If using a straight 3 points for a win, 1 for a draw system, St. Pats would've earned 2284 points"

*Record League Points Tally 73 in season 1998/99 "(33 games)"
*Record League Goals Tally 62 in season 1954/55 "(22 games)"
*Record League Victory 8-0 (h) v Limerick 10 December 1967
*Record FAI Cup Victory 5-0 (a) v St James Gate F.C. 25 February 1994
*Record Goal scorer Aggregate Shay Gibbons 108 goals
*Record Goal scorer Season Shay Gibbons 28 goals in 1954/55

*Players capped at full international level whilst with club
**
**
**
**
**
**
**
**

*Players who have won League Player of the Year Awards whilst with the club
**PFAI Player of the Year
***1981-82 Paul McGrath
***1987-88 Paddy Dillon
***1989-90 Mark Ennis
***1995-96 Eddie Gormley
***1998-99 Paul Osam
**PFAI Young Player of the Year
***1997-98 Colin Hawkins
***2007 Mark Quigley
**FAI National League Player of the Year
***1998 Colin Hawkins
***1999 Paul Osam

*Players who have topped the League's scoring charts whilst with the club
** 1951/52 season - Shay Gibbons - 26 goals
** 1952/53 season - Shay Gibbons- 22 goals
** 1955/56 season - Shay Gibbons - 21 goals
** 1989/90 season - Mark Ennis - 19 goals
** 1998/99 season - Trevor Molloy - 15 goals

ee also

* - past and present
* - past and present
*Football League of Ireland

References

External links

* [http://www.stpatsfc.com/ St Patricks Athletic FC Official Website]
* [http://www.saintsforum.net SaintsForum.net (Discussion forum for Saints fans)]
* [http://www.fai.ie/staticarticle.asp?hlid=244026 St Patrick's Athletic on FAI.ie]
* [http://www.rte.ie/sport/2006/1129/stpatsath.html St. Patrick's Athletic FAI Cup history]