Salthill Devon FC
To Galway we go for the first time, and a club that was
founded back in 1947 under a different name that they are known as today.
Salthill Crusaders were a club that played in the local leagues in the West of
Ireland, until their name changed in 1950 when they became Salthill Athletic.
They continued to play amateur level until 1977, when merging with another
amateur side, Devon Celtic, they became what we know they are called today,
Salthill Devon FC.
Between the years, 1981 until 2000, Salthill Devon played
in the Connacht Senior League. They along with six other clubs that included,
Mervue United, Ballina Rovers, Tuam Celtic, Castlerea Celtic, UCG and Sligo
Rovers reserve team founded the CSL. It wasn’t until the 1990-91 season that
Salthill Devon went on to win their first CSL title, It remains their only
title in their history of that league, although they did finish runners-up on
three separate occasions. The club were much more successful in the Connacht
Senior Cup, winning it on four occasions, with three of their triumphs coming consecutively,
starting with their first trophy lift in 1989-90, then again in the 1990-91
edition and for a third time in the 1991-92 season. Their latest triumph came
in the 2009-10 season.
The club were always a respected amateur side, but the talk
of the Galway side of taken a step up in class was always ongoing. The first
step the club made was to join the newly formed A Championship in 2008. The
competition was mainly contested by reserve or ‘B Team’s of already established
League of Ireland clubs, however, Salthill Devon were joint by Castlebar
Celtic, FC Carlow, Mervue United, Tralee Dynamos and Tullamore Town as
independent senior clubs.
The first season saw Salthill finish bottom of the league,
only winning three of their fourteen games. Bohemians B team won the league,
with Finn Harps B finishing runners-up. It meant third placed Mervue United
gained promotion. In fact, it was only them and Salthill Devon who coud do so,
so technically it was who finished the highest between the two Galway clubs as
to who would be promoted.
The 2009 season saw Salthill Devon play in Group One, and
this time they topped the group. It set up a play-off final against the winners
of Group B who were Shamrock Rovers B. Shamrock Rovers B won the game, 1-0,
however they could not gain promotion as B teams were not permitted to play in
the League of Ireland at the time. It meant a play-off beckoned for Salthill
Devon against the bottom side of the First Division, who were Kildare County.
But the game was never played, as Kildare County disbanded, which meant
Salthill gained entry to the League of Ireland First Division without kicking a
ball.
The 2010 season saw Salthill struggle to jump up to their
new level, and they finished bottom of the First Division, only winning three
games all season. It meant it was now themselves who had to play in a
relegation play-off against the A Championship winner, who were Cork based
side, Cobh Ramblers. It was a two-legged affair, with the first leg played on
November 2nd, 2010 at St Coleman Park, the home of Cobh Ramblers.
The Galway side won the game, 1-0, thanks to a first half goal from Mikey
Gilmore.
With a one goal advantage and an away goal, Salthill were
favourites to win the tie and remain in the First Division. That’s exactly what
happened, when they beat Cobh, 2-1 on November 6th, at their home
ground, Drom Soccer Park. Goals from Robbie Porter and Ciprian Straut made sure
the Galway side would have a second season in the League of Ireland.
But the 2011 season didn’t see any progress made on the
pitch, and the club ended bottom of the league once again, winning only two
games all season. However, there was no relegation play-off to be played this
time, with nobody looking to make the jump up to the First Division. It meant a
third season beckoned for the Galway men and the hope was they would at least
avoid finishing bottom for the third season in a row.
The 2012 season saw a name change for the club, and they
were now known as Salthill Devon Galway, or SD Galway for short. While they won
more games in this campaign than the previous two (They won five this season)
they still finished rock bottom. No relegation play-off took place this season
and so a fourth season came.
The 2013 season would prove to be the clubs last at League
of Ireland level, as they finished bottom once again. But it was a decision by
the FAI, to only allow one club from Galway to represent the county at League
of Ireland level. It meant that alongside Salthill’s withdrawl, Mervue United
also saw themselves withdraw fro the league, leaving just Galway United to
represent in the League of Ireland. It was agreed that the two clubs who
withdrew would provide players fro their youth teams for Galway United going
forward.
And that was the end of Salthill Devon FC’s participation
in the League of Ireland. The club went back to playing in the Galway &
District League and continue to do so. The project of trying to establish more
than one football club in Galway failed, despite the county being one of the
bigger Counties in Ireland. It proves the case that sometimes there just isn’t
enough room for everyone.