HISTORY OF THE CLUB
Full History of Dunboyne AFC
Dunboyne soccer club...beginning. Around this time fifty years ago, the world and Dunboyne were somewhat different places than today. Covid-19 ( and that is the only time it will be mentioned from here on in ), mobile phones, Facebook, Love Island, Wheelie Bins, Digital cameras, Donald Trump, undetectable hairpieces, Remote TV controls, McDonalds, a Pope in the Park, a statue of Sean Boylan, …they were all unheard of. So were Beechdale, Kilbrena, Woodview Heights, all the halls belonging to the Hamiltons, Lutterells, Plunketts and Sadliers, Millfarm .....And God knows where else. There was no community centre, no supermarket in Toms field nor houses in Dick Riley’s field, no St. Peters College, no trains up and running again,...and sometimes no water or electricity. ...and there was no soccer club....
PURCHASE OF LAND ON SUMMERHILL ROAD AND SUBSEQUENT DEVELOPMENT
(Extract Credits to Harry Coogan who did enormous work in the preparation of the plans, submissions etc. at the time)
One of the most important events in the history of the club happened in 1993. In 1993 Dunboyne AFC purchased 12.5 acres of land at Summerhill Road Dunboyne. Since 1970 the Club had played on land belonging to our Former Taoiseach’s fathers land
(Mr. Joe Bruton) The plan at the time was to develop a club house including dressing rooms, referees room, toilets and showers and a pitch complex to facilitate the growing number of teams to be catered for.
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At that time the club catered for 60 adult members and 80 schoolboys. Now the total membership is at 600. Members may be interested in the initial development costs which are outlined below:-
Land Purchase IRP 34,000
Deposit 2/5/1993 IRP 1,000
Credit Union Loan IRP 28,000
Bank Savings Account IRP 5,000
Credit Union Repayment fixed at IRP 745 by 12 months for a period of 5 years = IRP 44,700
Solicitors Fees and Stamp Duty on Land = IRP 2,245
Total Cost of Land Purchase =IRP 46,945
Cost of works carried out at 21/10/1993
D Grey Heavy Plant Operators 1,000
Stone and sand 162
Bury Electric Cable 675
Repair Water pipe and install water tap 80
L Hogerty Deep Plough and sowing grass seed 573
Purchase of Grass Seed 9 Sports Quality) 1,200
Total IRP 3,690
Building Costs
121 Square Metres @ IRP 385 IRP 46,585
Cost of Car/Coach Parking area
Entrance + Site Works + Landscaping (to Planning Approval Conditions) IRP 6,500
Cost of Purflow Sewerage System IRP 8,500 + VAT IRP 9562
Architects Fees IRP 500
Cost of ESB to Club Building IRP 1,400
Total IRP 64,547
Summary
Land IRP 46,945
Land Preparation IRP 3690
Building Costs IRP 64547
Total IRP 115,183
Committee at the time of the Land Purchase
President: Paddy Mulreid
Chairman: Tommy Coogan
Secretary: Jimmy Maguire
Treasurer: Derek Buggle
Committee
Harry Coogan- Liam Knox- Mark Hughes- Dave Berrigan- Ray Murray -Ray Whelan
Jake Robinson- Walter Moran- Ray King- Frank O Reilly and Sean Henry.
Long standing members will enjoy this picture of our senior 1986 squad.
Back Row, L-to-R: Packie Dowdall, Sean Ruane (St Peter’s teacher), Brendan Reilly, John Ryan, Sean Hobbs, Noel Whelan,
Front Row, L-to-R: Jim Watters, Cormac Dunne (Dunboyne Sports and Leisure), Bernard Smith RIP, Paddy King, Peter McTiernan, Paul Finn
The following are some articles contributed by current and past members of the club.
We would welcome further contributions to our history page and if any wishes to include an article about their teams past achievements or any other stories or anecdotes about the club please forward them to waltermoran73@yahoo.co.uk or any of the committee members.
BEECHDALE BOYS
Schoolboys soccer started in Dunboyne in the summer of 1994. Informal games on a Saturday and/or Sunday morning on the green in Beechdale were put on a more organised basis by the parents (Fred Colley, Conor Moen, John McDonnell and John O’Reilly) of some of the children taking part. Over the course of the following weeks the weekly number of participants grew steadily. When schools re-opened that September there was a dramatic increase. The first “formal” teams were at U8 and U9 age groups in the Brenfer North Dublin League. Indeed the U8 team won the league that year in their first season!
The various administration, coaching/training and match organisation duties were divided up between the people mentioned above, who between them looked after the duties of team managers, club committee, league representatives and fundraising activities.
In the early days all matches were played on the green area in Beechdale, thanks to the support of Beechdale Residents Association, who gave permission to play the matches on the green. Thanks is also due to Dave Berrigan, who looked after all the goalposts and nets etc. in his garage, just beside the “pitch”.
As with any venture of this nature, finance is always an issue, maybe even a problem. Apart from the weekly/annual player subscriptions collected, our early and regular sponsors were Billy O’Dwyer (O’Dwyer’s pub), Sean Nealon (Brady’s pub).
As the number of teams grew so did the need for playing areas. Over the course of the next few years soccer was played in Dunboyne Athletic club, inside the running track. One of the highlights of that era was a cup match between our 1st and 2nd teams in the U10 age group, a real local derby.
Many thanks to the Athletic club for their generosity at that time. Games were also played on the pitch between Beechdale and Chestnut Grove.
The club was very successful in the early years in winning various leagues, cups etc. and also in having numerous players picked on the Brenfer NDSL representative teams.
The next and logical step was the amalgamation with the senior club and the results can be seen today in the weekly participation numbers in the various games and summer camps etc.
SENIOR 1st TEAM – 2000 to 2020
The start of the new Millennium saw the club win Mullion Cup, which turned out to be the last trophy won by Dunboyne in the AUL (Athletic Union League) before the club decided to transition to the LSL (Leinster Senior League) for the 2002/2003 season.
Dunboyne started their LSL life in Senior 1B, the 4th tier of the Intermediate leagues. After 3 difficult seasons, the club lost its Intermediate status when suffering relegation to Major. The next 4 seasons were spent in the Major League before Dunboyne regained its place in the Intermediate leagues with promotion in the 2008/2009 season. It didn’t take the club long to once again gain promotion as just 2 seasons later Dunboyne were promoted to Senior 1A, the 3 rd level of the Intermediate ladder.
The 2011/12 season saw Dunboyne reach its first Cup final in the LSL however experience told in the final as St. Francis came out victorious to win the Gilligan Cup. They say you have to lose one before you can win one and that proved to be correct as the following season Dunboyne were crowned the 2012/2013 Noel Ryan Cup Winners when coming from behind to secure a late 3-2 victory against St. Josephs Boys just as the game
looked set for extra time.
Two year later, although no silverware was won, you could arguably say the 2014/15 season was the most successful season for Dunboyne in the LSL. A good run saw Dunboyne reach the 4th round of the FAI Intermediate Cup before being defeated by Tolka Rovers in front of a massive crowd up the Summerhill Road.
By reaching this stage of the Intermediate Cup Dunboyne qualified for the FAI Senior Cup for the first time in the clubs’ history. An away game against Killester United stood between Dunboyne and a tie against League of Ireland team Cobh Ramblers. Killester defeated Dunboyne and went on to beat Cobh 3-0 before reaching the quarter-final of the cup which went to underline that LSL clubs could mix it with their LOI counterparts. A win in Dunboyne’s final league game of the season would have seen the club win the league but a bitterly disappointing draw meant Dunboyne missed out on winning the league but importantly still gained promotion to the second level of Intermediate Football, Senior 1, and the highest level any club in Meath has reached.
After 3 seasons in Sunday Senior 1, the club suffered its first relegation in 13 years as we were demoted back to Senior 1A. The following season saw Dunboyne reach another cup final when they reached the 2018/19 Lummy O’Reilly Cup but lost out to a talented Lucan United team. The club suffered another relegation the following season in what was a Covid interrupted season. The following season never got started due to the pandemic lockdowns but as things start to get back to normal Dunboyne will be looking to have a successful season as they start life in Senior 1B for the 2021-22 season.
FAI / AVIVA CLUB OF THE YEAR 2009
Dunboyne had been chosen as the AVIVA Club of the Month winners for March and along with the other seven monthly prize winners were invited to Monaghan to take part in the AVIVA Club of the Year competition.
All eight clubs had already gone through a rigorous selection process and were chosen from a large number of entrants to reach the Club of the Year stage. In Monaghan the clubs then decorated a specially designed booth showcasing themselves to the FAI and the family of football, they were also asked to make a brief presentation to the AVIVA Club of the Year jury panel where they explained why they would be worthy winners of the award.
The competition for this year’s award was of an extremely high standard with Salthill Devon, Skerries Town, Tullamore Town, Cootehill Harps, Firhouse Carmel, Esker Celtic and Strand Celtic also represented. After extensive deliberations Dunboyne AFC were selected as the winning club.
