Athlone Town A.F.C.
 | |||
| Full name | Athlone Town Association Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Town | ||
| Founded | 1887 | ||
| Ground | Athlone Town Stadium, Lissywollen, Athlone | ||
| Capacity | 5,000 (2,500 seated) | ||
| Chairman | John Hayden | ||
| Manager | Dario Castelo | ||
| League | League of Ireland First Division | ||
| 2023 | League of Ireland First Division, 5th of 10 | ||
| Website | Club website | ||
|
| |||
Athlone Town Association Football Club (Irish: Cumann Peile Bhaile Áth Luain) is an Irish football club from Athlone who are playing in the League of Ireland. The club is the oldest in the League as it was founded in 1887.[1] First elected to the League of Ireland in 1922, they play their home matches in Lissywollen, their new stadium which opened in 2007. The club's colours are blue and black. Away kits vary from year to year although orange and black has been worn most recently.
History
1920s
Athlone first competed in the League of Ireland in the
Athlone Town won the FAI Cup, their first domestic success in 1924, beating Fordsons. Dinny Hannon scored the only goal of the game, as Athlone went through the whole competition without conceding a goal.
Hannon was one of five Athlone Town players chosen to represent the Irish Free State at the 1924 Paris Olympic Games. The other players were Tommy Muldoon, Frank Ghent, John Joe Dykes and Paddy O'Reilly.[2]
Domestic success and European competition
The club finished second in the league in the
Athlone won their first league title in the
In the
In 1985 six new clubs were elected to the league, increasing the league's participation to 22. As a result, the current two division (Premier and First) structure was adapted with Athlone Town in Premier Division. In 1987 the club finished last and were relegated to the First Division. Their stay there was short, finishing top of First Division the following season, gaining promotion to the Premier Division. The club remained in the top flight until the
Athlone Town again gained promotion to the Premier Division in the
Relegation
The club were once again relegated in 1996, narrowly missing out on promotion in 2001 by one point to Monaghan United.
Since 2001 Athlone have finished each season in the bottom half of the first division. In that time eight different managers have been appointed. In 2007 the club moved from
On 15 December 2008, the club held an emergency E.G.M. with supporters stating that they were in financial difficulties. Part finance had been raised and the club worked towards raising the rest. The club received funds through the patron scheme with over 350 fans contributing.
On 27 September 2013, Athlone clinched the First Division title with a 1–0 win over Waterford United.
In 2014, Athlone Town had a bad campaign in the
In September 2017 the FAI banned goalkeeper Igors Labuts and midfielder Dragos Sfrijan for 12 months after a UEFA investigation found "clear and overwhelming betting evidence" of fixing of Athlone's 29 April match against Longford Town in the 2017 League of Ireland First Division.[4] The Professional Footballers' Association of Ireland said the decision was based on "half-baked innuendo".[5]
In 2018, a dispute over ownership of Athlone Town Stadium arose.[6][7][8]
In November 2020, Athlone Town lost 11-0 to Dundalk F.C. in the FAI Cup semi final, a new record for the biggest win from a team in the history of the competition[9]
There are many youth teams, ranging from u13 boys' to u17 women's team.
The club currently plays in the League of Ireland First Division.
European record
Overview
| Competition | Matches | W | D | L | GF | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| European Cup | 4
|
0
|
1
|
3
|
7
|
14
|
| UEFA Cup | 4
|
1
|
2
|
1
|
4
|
5
|
| TOTAL | 8
|
1
|
3
|
4
|
11
|
19
|
Matches
| Season | Competition | Round | Opponent | Home | Away | Aggregate
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1975–76 | UEFA Cup
|
1R |  Vålerengen
|
3–1 | 1–1 | 4–2 |
| 2R | Milan
|
0–0 | 0–3 | 0–3 | ||
| 1981–82 | European Cup
|
1R |  KB
|
2–2 | 1–1 | 3–3 (a) |
| 1983–84 | European Cup
|
1R |  Standard Liège
|
2–3 | 2–8 | 4–11 |
Honours
- League of Ireland: 2
- FAI Cup: 1
- League of Ireland Cup: 3
- 1979–80, 1981–82, 1982–83
- Leinster Senior Cup (association football): 3
- 1969–70, 1987–88, 1991–92
- LFA President's Cup: 1
- 1983–84
- Tyler Cup: 1
- League of Ireland First Division: 2
- League of Ireland B Division: 2
- 1968–69, 1983–84
- FAI Junior Cup
- 1934–35, 1937–38: 2
- FAI Youth Cup
- 1983–84: 1
Players
- As of 15 February 2024
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
|
|
Coaching and medical staff
| Position | Staff |
|---|---|
| Director of Football | Michael O'Connor |
| Head Coach | Dario Castelo |
| Coach | Emmett Egan |
| Kitman | Lee Bolger |
| Chairman | John Hayden |
| Vice Chairman | Martin Collins |
| Club Secretary | David Dully |
| Club Finance Officer | Joey Boland |
| Physio | Mark Quaerney |
Former managers
 |
Billy Young (1969)- Mick Dalton (1970)
- Amby Fogarty (1974–76)
Trevor Hockey (1976)- Tommy Carroll (1976–77)
- Seán Thomas (1977–79)
- Turlough O'Connor (1979–85)
- Padraig O'Connor (1987–89)
- Mick Leech (1990–91)
- Pat Devlin (1991–92)
- Michael O'Connor (1992–95)
- Tony Mannion (1995–96)
- Dermot Keely (1996)
- Terry Eviston (1996–97)
- Liam Buckley (1997–98)
- Jimmy Greene (1999–00)
- Liam Buckley (2000–02)
- Aaron Callaghan(2004)
- Stephen Kelly (2004–05)
- John Gill (2005)
- Michael O'Connor (2005–07)
- Dermot Lennon (2007–09)
- Brendan Place (2009–10)
- Mike Kerley (2011–12)
- Padraig Moran (2012)
- Roddy Collins (2012–13)
- Mick Cooke (2014)
- Keith Long (2014)
- Eddie Wallace (2014–15)
- Alan Mathews (2015–16)
- Colin Fortune (2016–17)
Ricardo Monsanto (2017)- Ricardo Cravo (2017)
- Roddy Collins (2017–18)
- Aaron Callaghan(2018)
- Terry Butler (2018–2019)
- Adrian Carberry (2019–2021)
- Paul Doolin (2021)
- Martin Russell (2022)
- Dermot Lennon (2022–2023)
- Gordon Brett (2023)
References
- Leinster Junior Cup. However, for the real date of birth we must refer to our esteemed local paper the Westmeath Independent, which in its issue dated 8 January 1887 stated 'We are in a position to announce that O.R. Coote Esq., Larkfield is organising a club under Association rules and already a large number of young men of the town have become members...')
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link - ^ Carey, Tadhg (2009). When We Were Kings – The Story of Athlone Town's 1924 FAI Cup Triumph. Athlone: Tadhg Carey. p. 9.
That five of the winning team – Paddy O'Reilly, Tommy Muldoon, John Joe Dykes, Denis Hannon and Frank Ghent – would make history as the first Olympians to compete for the new Irish Free State later that same year in Paris only added to the fairytale.'
- ^ "'It came on BBC News: 'In Ireland today, a team of postmen, butchers and bakers drew 0-0 with AC Milan". The 42. 17 September 2020. Retrieved 3 November 2023.
- Independent.ie. 5 October 2018. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
- ^ "Athlone players banned for 12 months by FAI". RTÉ.ie. 7 September 2017. Archived from the original on 8 September 2017. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
- ^ Carolan, Mary (19 February 2018). "Athlone Town Football Club secretary seeks to remove Athlone Stadium Ltd as trustee on property". The Irish Times. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
- ^ Managh, Ray (30 August 2017). "Athlone Town FC wins right to draw down Government grant". The Irish Times. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
- ^ "Dully v Athlone Town Stadium". vLex.com. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
- The42. 29 November 2020.
- ^ "FAI Umbro Youth Challenge Cup Previous Winners". www.fai.ie. 2 February 2016. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
- ^ "FAI Junior Cup Winners". stadium.aviva.ie. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
- ^ Mark Herbert, Donie Butler (1994–95). FAI Yearbook & Diary 1995. Dublin: Sportsworld Ltd.
- ^ Lynch, Frank (1991). A History of Athlone Town F.C: The First 101 Years. Athlone: Arcadia.