Home Farm F.C.

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Home Farm
Leinster Senior League
(2000-)

Home Farm Football Club is an

1999 they played as Home Farm Everton before a split within the club led to the formation of Home Farm Fingal
(later Dublin City). The original Home Farm reverted to junior status.

Home Farm is perhaps best known for its youth system which has produced dozens of players who have gone on to play for clubs throughout the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom. In addition many have also gone on to represent the Republic of Ireland at international level.[1]

History

Formation

In the mid-1920s when Leo Fitzmaurice, the brother of Trans-Atlantic aviator

Northside Dublin. This league originally featured five teams – Drumcondra Road, Ormonde Road, Hollybank Road, Richmond Road and Home Farm Road. In 1928 the latter two, led by Don Seery and Brendan Menton Snr respectively merged to form Home Farm Football Club. Menton later became president of the Football Association of Ireland while Seery was the father of Ronan Seery, the founder of Dublin City. The new club began to play their home games at Griffith Avenue playing in black and gold stripes. However this was only because their first set of shirts were purchased at a jumble sale and these were the only colours available. By the next season, the colours were changed to blue and white hoops.[2][3]

Academy Club

Home Farm soon established a reputation for developing schoolboys into senior international footballers. In 1936 when they won the Free State Minor Cup, the team included

Liam Whelan, one of the legendary Busby Babes and among the victims of the Munich air disaster
, made the same journey.

During the 1960s Home Farm produced twenty full internationals including, among others,

Guinness Book of Records for their match winning sequence of 79 games between 1968 and 1971.[6]

League of Ireland

In

Brendan Menton Sr. and Don Seery, finally got a chance to field a senior team in the League of Ireland when they merged with Drumcondra. Drums were £6,000 in debt and regularly propping up the league table. After almost 20 years in charge, Sam Prole sold the club to the junior team down the road. As part of the deal Home Farm also gained Tolka Park as home ground. Home Farm also agreed to keep the famous Drums name alive by playing under the name Home Farm Drumcondra but, after just a year, they infuriated the Prole family by reverting to the name Home Farm.[5]

In 1975 Home Farm won the

European Cup Winners Cup, playing against French side, RC Lens
. They drew 1–1 at home but lost the away leg 6–0.

Despite this cup success, their performances in the League of Ireland were poor and between

1987, when they were relegated to the League of Ireland First Division, they never finished higher than ninth.[8] Lack of league success, however, did not stop the club continuing to produce players like Ronnie Whelan. During the 1980s Whelan became an established player at Liverpool and was a key member of the Republic of Ireland team under Jack Charlton
.

Home Farm Everton

In Home Farm linked up with

1995–96 season Home Farm Everton finished third in the First Division and then beat Athlone Town in a promotion/relegation play-off and returned to the League of Ireland top division. During the subsequent season Steve Archibald briefly played for the club. However, after a poor performance against Derry City, Archibald was allegedly told to "eff off home" by then manager Dermot Keely.[9] After just one season back in the top division, they were relegated. Keely subsequently guided the club to success in the League of Ireland First Division Shield in 1998. The club continued to play as Home Farm Everton until 1999.[10]

Split

Home Farm FC crest

In 1999 when the sponsorship deal with

Leinster Senior League
.

Home Farm U14s

Despite the decline of Home Farm's senior team, the U14s continued strongly, playing regularly in the Dublin and District Schoolboy League.

During the 1990s under coach Paddy Hilliard they went unbeaten for five years and under Gerry Garvan they were unbeaten for a further three years between 1999 and 2002. Along the way they won the Schoolboys FAI Cup twice.[6][11] In 2002, Garvan took his team to play a Celtic youth team in Glasgow and Darren O'Dea scored twice as Home Farm won 2–0. O'Dea, Diarmuid O'Carroll, Gary Walsh and Gareth Christie were already being tracked by Celtic youth development officer, Tommy Burns, and all four were subsequently offered contracts. In addition Ipswich Town became the latest English club to recognise Home Farm's potential and they signed up goalkeeper Shane Supple, defender Michael Synnott and midfielder Owen Garvan. Another member of the team Chris McCann signed for Burnley.[1][12]

Sponsorship deals

Leeds United

In January 2000 Home Farm announced an arrangement with

Gary Kelly, Ian Harte, Stephen McPhail and Alan Maybury. Under the arrangement, Leeds provided technical support to the Home Farm coaching team, led by Liam Tuohy and Home Farm featured the Leeds crest on their shirts.[13][14] Another player who was on the books of both clubs as a junior goalkeeper was Nicky Byrne, later to find success as a singer with Westlife
.

Renault

In February 2005 Home Farm unveiled a €1 million sponsorship deal with several groups, most notably Renault Ireland.

The aim of the investment was to establish the club as a major soccer academy on a European scale. It was planned for the money to be invested in the club over the following three years. The Irish Department of Sports, Arts and Tourism, the Irish Youth Foundation and the club president, Tony O'Reilly also contributed to the fund.

Renault Ireland chairman Bill Cullen, the driving force behind the deal, and O’Reilly are former Home Farm players. As part of the arrangement Home Farm jerseys featured the Renault logo alongside the club's distinctive crest. [15][16]

Portsmouth

In 2009, Home Farm agreed a deal with Portsmouth F.C.[17] which has led to Carl Walshe and Chinedu Vine joining Portsmouth as first year scholars.

Notable former players

Dual Ireland internationals
Republic of Ireland internationals
Republic of Ireland under-21 internationals
League of Ireland XI players
Ireland national rugby union team internationals
Other internationals
Managers
Celebrities
Sports officials
See also: Category:Home Farm F.C. players

Notable former coaches/managers

See also: Category:Home Farm F.C. managers

European record

Season Competition Round Opponent Home Away
Aggregate
1975–76
European Cup Winners' Cup
 1R France Lens 1–1 0–6 1–7

Honours

  • Leinster Senior League 2
    • 1960–61, 1963–64
  • FAI Cup: 1
    • 1974–75
  • League of Ireland First Division Shield: 1
    • 1997–98
  • Leinster Senior Cup
    : 1
    • 1963–64
  • FAI Intermediate Cup
    • Winners: 1962–63, 1966–67, 1967–68: 3
    • Runners Up: 1965–66, 1969–70: 2
  • FAI Junior Cup
    • 1954–55: 1
  • FAI Youth Cup
    • Winners: 1935–36, 1936–37, 1943–44, 1947–48, 1950–51, 1951–52, 1961–62, 1964–65, 1967–68, 1982–83, 1984–85: 11
    • Runners Up: 1937–38, 1953–54, 1964–65, 1966–67, 1975–76, 1979–80, 1983–84: 7
  • FAI Under–17 Cup
    • Winners: 1984–85, 1990–91, 1991–92: 3
    • Runners Up: 1980–81, 1983–84, 1985–86, 1988–89: 4
  • Milk Cup
    • Winners 1988: 1

[18]

References

  1. ^ a b "Former Farm hands seize chance". Irish Independent. 14 February 2006. Retrieved 23 June 2009.
  2. ^ "Home Farm FC History". Archived from www.homefarmfc.ie the original on 18 November 2007. Retrieved 27 January 2009. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
  3. ^ "eleven-a-side.com". eleven-a-side.com. 2 August 2002. Archived from the original on 24 November 2016. Retrieved 23 June 2009.
  4. ^ "Carey and O'Flanagan international debut". Soccerscene.ie. 7 November 1937. Retrieved 23 June 2009.
  5. ^ a b Michael Nugent (30 September 2007). "bionicbohs.com". bionicbohs.com. Retrieved 23 June 2009.[permanent dead link]
  6. ^ a b "a2zsoccer.com". a2zsoccer.com. 26 September 2007. Archived from the original on 5 January 2009. Retrieved 23 June 2009.
  7. Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Archived
    from the original on 25 May 2015. Retrieved 23 June 2009.
  8. Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Archived
    from the original on 21 February 2008. Retrieved 23 June 2009.
  9. ^ Is that Schu? (29 August 2007). "Steve Archibald". Irish Independent. Archived from the original on 3 August 2012. Retrieved 23 June 2009.
  10. Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Archived
    from the original on 3 June 2009. Retrieved 23 June 2009.
  11. ^ "FARM DREAM TEAM BEATEN". a2zsoccer.com. 26 September 2007. Archived from the original on 27 May 2008. Retrieved 23 June 2009.
  12. ^ www.timesonline.co.uk
  13. ^ Shape up (6 January 2000). "independent.ie". Irish Independent. Retrieved 23 June 2009.
  14. ^ "rte.ie". rte.ie. 5 January 2000. Retrieved 23 June 2009.
  15. ^ Trailer park (22 February 2005). "independent.ie". Irish Independent. Archived from the original on 4 August 2012. Retrieved 23 June 2009.
  16. ^ "eleven-a-side.com". eleven-a-side.com. 22 February 2005. Retrieved 23 June 2009.[permanent dead link]
  17. ^ "Pompey team up with Home Farm". portsmouthfc.co.uk. 23 February 2009. Retrieved 5 July 2009.
  18. ^ Mark Herbert, Donie Butler (1994–95). FAI Yearbook & Diary 1995. Dublin: Sportsworld Ltd.

External links

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