Shamrock Rovers F.C.

This article is about the men's football club. For the women's football club, see Shamrock Rovers Ladies F.C.

Shamrock Rovers
Full nameShamrock Rovers Football Club
Nickname(s)Hoops, Rovers
Founded1899; 125 years ago (1899)
GroundTallaght Stadium
Capacity10,500[1][2]
ChairmanCiaran Medlar[3]
Head CoachStephen Bradley
LeagueLeague of Ireland Premier Division
2024League of Ireland Premier Division, 2nd of 10
Websitehttp://www.shamrockrovers.ie
Current season

Shamrock Rovers Football Club (Irish: Cumann Peile Ruagairí na Seamróige) is an Irish professional football club based in Tallaght, South Dublin. The club's senior team competes in the League of Ireland Premier Division and it is the most successful club in the Republic of Ireland.[4] The club has won the League of Ireland title a record 21 times and the FAI Cup a record 25 times.[5] Shamrock Rovers have supplied more players to the Republic of Ireland national football team (64) than any other club. In All-Ireland competitions, such as the Intercity Cup, they hold the record for winning the most titles, having won seven cups overall.[6]

Shamrock Rovers were founded in Ringsend, Dublin. The official date of the club's foundation is 1899.[7] They won the League title at the first attempt in the 1922–23 season and established themselves as Republic of Ireland most successful club by 1949, winning 44 major trophies. During the 1950s, the club won three League titles and two FAI Cups and became the first Irish team to compete in European competition,[8] playing in the European Cup in 1957.[9]

They followed this by winning a record six FAI Cups in succession in the 1960s, when they were also one of the European club teams that spent the summer of 1967 in the United States, founding the United Soccer Association.[10] They won the first of four League titles in a row in 1983–84, after a long decline.

The club played at Glenmalure Park from 1926 to 1987 when the owners controversially sold the stadium to property developers. Shamrock Rovers spent the next 22 years playing home games at various venues around Dublin and on occasions, Ireland. They moved into Tallaght Stadium prior to the start of the 2009 season after years of delays and legal disputes, during which time the club's supporters saved them from extinction.

Shamrock Rovers wore green and white striped jerseys until 1926 when they adopted the green and white hooped strip that they have worn ever since. Their club badge has featured a football and a shamrock throughout their history. The club has a relatively large support base and shares an intense rivalry with Bohemian Football Club and St Patrick's Athletic. On 25 August 2011 Rovers became the first Irish side to reach the group stages of either of the top two European competitions by beating Partizan Belgrade in the play-off round of the Europa League.[11][12]

  1. ^ Tallaght Stadium Archived 7 March 2010 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 7 January 2012
  2. ^ Echo.ie Archived 6 March 2019 at the Wayback Machine, 12 October 2018
  3. ^ "Club Directory". Shamrock Rovers Football Club. Retrieved 19 November 2022.
  4. ^ "Shamrock Rovers Club Information". League of Ireland. Archived from the original on 4 March 2010. Retrieved 2 February 2009.
  5. ^ "Roll of Honour". Shamrock Rovers Football Club. Archived from the original on 17 March 2009. Retrieved 2 February 2009.
  6. ^ "Irish Football Club Project – North vs. South – Past Winners". Archived from the original on 15 April 2009. Retrieved 13 April 2008.
  7. ^ "A Brief History of Shamrock Rovers by Robert Goggins". Shamrock Rovers Football Club. Archived from the original on 21 February 2011. Retrieved 2 February 2009.
  8. ^ "FAI History: 1930 – 1959". FAI. 5 June 2009. Archived from the original on 22 March 2016. Retrieved 26 January 2010.
  9. ^ "Rovers invited to Munich commemoration". RTÉ Sport. 28 January 2008. Archived from the original on 18 January 2012. Retrieved 2 February 2009.
  10. ^ "The Year in American Soccer – 1967". Archived from the original on 2 November 2008. Retrieved 2 February 2009.
  11. ^ "Brave battlers reach the group stage". UEFA. 25 August 2011. Archived from the original on 3 October 2011. Retrieved 26 August 2011.
  12. ^ "Partizan 1–2 Shamrock Rovers (agg 2–3)". RTÉ Sport. 25 August 2011. Archived from the original on 14 December 2011. Retrieved 30 August 2011.