Sporting Fingal FC (Rep of Ireland)
The Republic of Ireland, a country that has seen 40 clubs dissolve since the League of Ireland was first established back in 1922. 40 clubs may seem a lot, but trust me, it is small in comparison to other nations, besides, most of the clubs that went defunct here in Ireland were from County Cork and nearly all of them were linked somehow as ‘Phoenix clubs’, The rest succumbed to either financial difficulties, lack of fans and/or lack of immediate success. It’s a common theme in this book and around the world, clubs in other countries faced the same problems, whether they were established in the 19th century, the 20th century or even as recent as the 21st century. The club I am about to tell you about were only created in the 21st century. A project that was supposed to be long term with it’s vision, one that would bring a football club to a community that had none that represented it in the highest level of the game in Ireland. It is one of the fastest growing populations in Ireland. An area that has plenty of schoolboy football clubs in it, which proves it’s residence has the appetite for football. But as you will see, in many other stories I am about to tell, that isn’t enough to keep a football club alive. You need patience, a plan for when things don’t go right, to be prepared when things don’t your way and a long term vision. Putting all your eggs or hope into one rich man isn’t sustainable, well not for most clubs it isn’t. And that is what this club did. They didn’t learn from the past mistakes other clubs had made in the League of Ireland and therefore are one of the 41 clubs to become eligible to be known as a ‘Forgotten Club. The first club you will read about is Sporting Fingal FC. It’s a short and sweet story, but they had plenty of success writing it.
Sporting Fingal FC was founded in 2007, a project that was funded partly by the Fingal County Council and property developer Gerry Gannon. The idea was to bring League of Ireland football to the area of Fingal, an area that had no football club represent it, despite being the third most populated are in Ireland. The club’s colours were black and green, with the away strip white and green. The were granted permission to play at Morton Stadium, a venue that had been used previously by current League of Ireland club, Shamrock Rovers and former League of Ireland club and now defunct, Dublin City. Liam Buckley was appointed manager and director of football. The proposed plan was to make it a community club and to use the schoolboy clubs in the area to produce talent and give them a pathway to play League of Ireland football. The club itself was not expected to play in the League of Ireland in it’s first year and had applied to play in the A Championship, a league just below the first division, and one that would be mostly have amateur clubs competing in. However, Kilkenny City folded and became another casualty of Irish football, and they vacated the space for Sporting Fingal FC to fill in the First Division. And so, the club prepared for their debut season, signing players such as former Bohemians and St Patricks Athletic striker, Robbie Doyle, Peter Hynes and local and former UCD player Conan Byrne. Not much was expected of the new club and their League of Ireland debut came at Flancare Park, the home of Longford Town, who had just been relegated the previous season. A big crowd was at the game as the Longford fans had come out to support their club and try push them back to the Premier at the first time of asking. Only nine Sporting Fingal fans had travelled to the game (I know this because I was one of them) and they witnessed their side take a surprising lead when Peter Hynes 35-yard shot lobbed the goalkeeper. (It still remains one of the best goals I have seen at a live game). But that would be all the nine fans would be cheering about as Longford Town justified their tag as favourites and ran out 5-1 winners in the end.
That wasn’t to be the way things went for the rest of the season as the club ended up finishing 4th out of the ten clubs, winning seventeen, drawing eleven and losing eight. They had Robbie Doyle’s goals to thank for their success as he finished up the leagues top goal scorer on 16 goals that season. Dundalk were promoted as champions, one point clear of Sporting Fingal’s local rivals Shelbourne, a rivalry that most Shelbourne fans dismissed, stating that Sporting Fingal were nothing more than a ‘Franchise’, even nicknaming them ‘Sporting Franchise.’ Sporting got the better of the Shelbourne that season, winning one (2-1 at home) and drawing the other three games (1-1,1-1 and 0-0). Kildare County had come bottom of the first division that season and were supposed to be relegated to the A Championship, but because Cobh Ramblers had not been refused a First Division licence after being relegated from the Premier Division, they dropped down into the A Championship instead.
It was the second season that Sporting Fingal put their name in the history books of Irish football. Once again, expectations had been realistic and a play-off spot was the target, even with the challenge being made a little harder with the expansion of the First Division from ten clubs to twelve. It was a four-horse race as to who would win the First Division title and automatic promotion. There was no surprise that UCD, who had been relegated the season before were the favourites, along with Shelbourne who had been flirting with the idea of promotion back to the highest level for a few seasons. Waterford United were the other contenders, alongside Sporting Fingal. The Students piped Shelbourne to the title by just one point, with Sporting Fingal beating Waterford to third spot, ensuring that they would get the chance to gain promotion via the play-offs. The first game would be against local rivals Shelbourne, in a one-off game that would be played at Tolka Park, Shelbourne’s home ground. They were given home advantage as they had finished second that season. The game itself drew in an attendance of 1,632 and was played on the 10th of November 2009. Sporting Fingal took a 2-0 advantage into the half-time break with goals from Libyan International, Eamon Zayed (39th minute) and Shaun Williams, (41st minute) a player who has gone on to play for MK Dons, Millwall and Portsmouth since as well has earning three caps for the Republic of Ireland national team. Shelbourne hit back in the second half and pulled one back through the penalty spot. Shelbourne’s top goal scorer that season, McAllister converted the spot kick in the 72nd minute. It should have given Shelbourne the momentum, but Anto Flood saw red in the 73rd minute to make their task of equalising that little bit harder. Fingal held on to beat their rivals and book their place in the promotion/relegation match against the side who finished bottom of the Premier Division that season. That side was Bray Wanderers.
For the final, it was made into a two-legged affair, with Sporting Fingal getting home advantage in the first leg. On the 13th of November, the First Division side won the match 2-0 in front of a crowd of 740 at Morton Stadium. Goals from Stephen Paisley (51st minute) and Conan Byrne (67th minute) ensured they had a healthy advantage going into the second leg at the Carlisle Ground in Bray. The 16th of November saw the two sides meet again, and it was Fingal who took the lead in the second half, when Eamon Zayed scored in the 59th minute. With Fingal being 3-0 up on aggregate, the contest looked to be all but over, however, Bray came back fighting and Flood scored in the 83rd minute to the Seagulls a glimmer of hope. Sporting Fingal’s defence held out, and it looked to be a matter of time before the final whistle would be blown and they would be confirmed as a Premier Division side for the 2010 season. Bray, however, kept going and in the 91st minute, Chris O’ Connor scored to put Bray in front on the night and make it 3-2 on aggregate. But there wasn’t enough time on the clock for them to get an equaliser and in their desperation to get that third goal they were left open at the back, which Sporting Fingal exploited. In the 92 minute Robert Bayley scored to level the game 2-2 on the night and make it 4-2 on aggregate for Fingal, which meant the North Dublin side were promoted to the Premier Division in only their second season as a club. To add icing on the cake Conan Byrne finished top goal scorer that year with 21 goals. (Bray Wanderers ended up retaining their place in the Premier division for the 2010 season, as both Cork City and Derry City were expelled from the league. Cork City were expelled due to their holding company being wound up and Derry City were expelled due to them being found guilty of paying players illegally through a secondary payment method). You would think that was the best thing to happen to Sporting Fingal that season. Well, you would be wrong. Let me tell you what happened in the FAI Cup.
The 89th edition of the FAI Cup ended with one of Ireland’s newest clubs lifting the famous trophy. Sporting Fingal’s cup run started in the third round in an away tie against Cork side, Blarney United FC. The Munster Senior League side beat FC Carlow in the second round, to set up the tie with the First Division club. Sporting ran out 2-0 winners to advance into the fourth round to set up a tie against fellow First Division club Athlone Town. They took on the midland club at their home stadium, Morton Stadium. Once again, they didn’t find many problems and won the game, 4-1. The win set up a huge quarter-final tie against Shamrock Rovers, a game that nobody gave Sporting Fingal any hope in. But as they did in their league campaign, Fingal defied the odds and took Shamrock Rovers to a reply, after drawing the first game 2-2 at Morton Stadium. The replay was another tight affair and the two clubs couldn’t be separated within the 90 minutes, meaning the tie went to extra time. Unbelievably, Sporting Fingal scored the winner and knocked out one of the giants of Irish football. At this point, many thought Sporting Fingal’s name was on the trophy, however, they still had to navigate their way past Premier Division side, Bray Wanderers. Bray themselves were struggling with their league form but the cup was a different story for The Seagulls.
The game was played at Morton Stadium on the 25th of October 2009 and those who attended were given goals straight away. Fingal took an early lead with Eamon Zayed scoring in the 4th minute and he doubled the advantage seven minutes later in the 11th minute. Alan Kirby sent the home fans into raptures as he made it 3-0 on the day in just the 22nd minute. Sporting Fingal went into the break in complete control and had one foot in the final. The second half was a much cagier affair, with Fingal just looking to keep their three-goal advantage. Bray huffed and puffed but only broke the deadlock on the 74th minute through Gary McCabe. It didn’t give the visitors much time to reduce the deficit and in the end Sporting Fingal punished them as they took more risks. Robert Bayley all but ended the tie in the 82nd minute when he made it 4-2. Bray did reply once more through John Mulroy, but it proved to be no more than a consolation. Bray also ended the game with ten men, when Chris Deans was shown a red card in injury time. Their first half dominance was enough to put Sporting Fingal into their first FAI cup final, in only their second season into existence. Not only was the famous trophy on the line, but qualification for next seasons Europa League would be granted to winner of the cup. The club that stood in their way was Premier Division club, Sligo Rovers, who had defeated Waterford United in the other semi-final.
The west of Ireland club were over whelming favourites to lift the cup at Tallaght Stadium on the 22nd of November. The game itself was played in poor weather conditions and both sides found it difficult to create many chances, It remained 0-0 at the break, with the First Division side holding their own. But in the 57th minute it seemed as though the game would be going according to script as Sligo took the lead through Eoin Doyle. It could have been easy for Sporting Fingal to play out a heroic defeat, but they decided to go for it, and their courage was rewarded in the 85th minute when they were awarded a penalty. Colm James put the spot kick away which set up for a frantic final five minutes. Both clubs went for it but it was the underdogs who snatched it late on when Gary O’ Neil scored in the 90th minute to send the Fingal fans mental. The game was attended by 8,105, with most of them being Sligo Rovers fans, however they were left travelling back to the west of Ireland empty handed as Sporting Fingal won the game and the cup. Along with promotion to the Premier Division that season and winning their first bit of silverware as a club, they now had the Europa League to look forward to. Things could not have looked better for Ireland’s newest club. However, as quick as they got their success, their demise came quicker, and the signs were starting to show at the start of the 2010 season.
Half way through the 2010 season, Sporting Fingal were to play a European tie in the Europa League against Portuguese Primera side, Maritimo. On July 15th, 2010, the club travelled to the Estadio de Madeira to make their European debut. It was a game that nobody expected the Irish club to win, but as usual Sporting Fingal surprised everyone. With the new signing of experienced striker and Republic of International, Glen Crowe, Fingal felt confident, and it showed. The away side took a surprising lead on the 33rd minute when Crowe scored. Maritimo, a side that competed against European giants like Benfica, Porto and Sporting Lisbon in their domestic league, struggled to breakdown the Irish side and it looked as though Sporting Fingal would pull off one of the greatest European results a League of Ireland club had ever produced. That was until the 78th minute when Maritimo finally found the net through former Portugal under 21 international, Esteves, equalised. The home side seemed to find another gear after that and took the lead in the 85th minute through Algerian International, Abdelmalek Cherrad. 2-1 away from home would still be a fantastic result, however, Sporting Fingal were not content with that and on the 87th minute the equalised through Lorcan Fitzgerald. It looked like Fingal were going to come away with a historic European draw until heartbreak in the 95th minute when Maritimo’s Brazilian forward, Tcho scored the winner to give the Portuguese side the advantage in the tie. The second leg, which was played at Dalymount Park, the home of Bohemians FC due to Morton Stadium not being up to UEFA standards. The tie took place on the 22nd of July 2010 in front of 2,150 fans. But whatever hope Sporting Fingal thought they had of over turning the first leg defeat was quickly extinguished when Maritimo took the lead in the 20th minute when Alonso put away a penalty to make it 4-2 on aggregate to the Portuguese side. It remained 1-0 going into the break and Fingal had chances to reduce the deficit but failed to hit the net. It was the Portuguese side who scored again in the 67th minute to all but end Sporting Fingal’s European campaign when another Brazilian, Marquinho scored to make it 2-0 on the night and 5-2 on aggregate. It would have been a harsh score line on Fingal, but they didn’t give up and a late surge saw Eamon Zayed score two quick fire goals, the first coming in the 81st minute and the second in the 89th minute to make it 5-4 on aggregate and leave Fingal needing only one goal to bring the tie to extra time. The League of Ireland pushed but with their desperation to get an equaliser, they left themselves open and Maritimo took advantage and caught them on the break. Kanu, (No not the former Arsenal man, but again another Brazilian), scored in the 95th minute to end the tie at 6-4 to the Portuguese side. Sporting Fingal went out but could take confidence going into their debut season in the League of Ireland Premier Division and expectations where at an all time high for the club.
Back to domestic action and Fingal were more than holding their own in the Premier Division. They finished a respectable 4th out of the ten clubs competing, winning sixteen, drawing fourteen and losing six, the fewest of any side in the league that year. They also gained qualification for the 2011 Europa League. They even managed to remain unbeaten against the eventual champions, Shamrock Rovers, in the four games they played against them, drawing three and winning one. But it was at the end of the 2010 campaign, in November 2010, when worrying signs started to show that Sporting Fingal were in trouble. In fact, it was worrying times for everyone in the Republic of Ireland. There was an economic crash and many had been hit heavily financially, with property developers going bust. One of those people was the joint owner, Gerry Gannon, who could not fund the Sporting Fingal project anymore and had to pull out altogether. It left Fingal with no real fincial stability, with their attendances still ow to keep them finically independent. The Fingal County Council were not prepared to invest anymore money into the club, concluding that their money would be better spent elsewhere due to the financial crisis that was going on at the time. Attempts were made to try keep the club going, but in the end, they were in vain and in February 2011 the club announced they could no longer pay their players wages. The final straw seemed to be the club’s withdrawal from the Setanta Cup, a tournament that was played between the League of sides in the Republic of Ireland and the Northern Ireland Premier Division sides from Northern Ireland. The club were due to play Lisburn Distillery but failed to compete in the tie. Their withdrawal saw them replaced by UCD. A few days later it was announced that would not be applying for a League of Ireland licence and therefore pulled out of the league altogether. Their were suggestions that they would go and compete in the A Championship but those plans never materialised and Sporting Fingal FC were gone from the footballing world in a professional capacity. The club continued to be represented in the Powerchair football and Futsal, even winning the 2010-11 Futsal FAI Cup but in regards eleven side football, they only lasted three seasons.
Sporting Fingal is a club close to my heart. A club that represented my area, the place I grew up and so to see them just vanish, even after the success they had over such a short period of time, still hurts. I could probably write a whole book about the away days me and my friends went on, travelling around the Republic of Ireland to watch the team play, visiting towns and stadia, that without the creation of Sporting Fingal, I and my friends would probably have never known existed. But the best part of the whole three years was the memories we made. To this day, me and my friends still talk about some of those away trips, on cold Tuesday nights in the lashing rain in a stadium that only had around 150 other fans, yet we sang, chanted, laughed, and watched our team, our club, play the game we love. One of my friends even got a Sporting Fingal tattoo, something that he regrets now. The area they represented, Fingal, is such a huge area in regards population that it still amazes me to this day that a football club doesn’t represent it in the League of Ireland. Three attempts have been made, Sporting Fingal, Dublin City who came before them and another club who applied for a division one licence for the 2021 season, Dublin County, but were turned down in favour of Limerick side, Treaty United. Will there be a fourth attempt? I think so, but lets hope lesson’s have been learned from Sporting Fingal FC’s mistakes