A Short History of County Carlow Football Club
The game of “Rugby Football”, which we all love, has
a long and distinguished history. Its introduction is universally
attributed to William Webb Ellis, who, in 1823, as a student at
Rugby College in Warwickshire, picked up the ball and ran. This
historic event may well have had an Irish connection in that it has
been suggested that young William may have been born in Ireland. The
authenticity of this suggestion can not be confirmed but what has
been verified is that he spent many summer vacations with his
relations in Clonmel, Co. Tipperary. During these periods he was
introduced to the game of “Caid” – a primitive form of Gaelic
Football - which may have influenced his decision to pick up the
ball and run.
The first rugby club in the world was Guy’s Hospital
in London. Not much later, Trinity College, Dublin was founded in
1854 and as such is the oldest club in Ireland and the second oldest
club in the world. County Carlow Football Club was founded in 1873
by Col. Horace Rochford of Clogrennan, who became the first
President. It predates the IRFU by a year and was the eighth club to
be founded in Ireland after Trinity College (1854), Trinity
Wanderers (1860 – now defunct), NIFC (1868 – now defunct), Queen’s
University (1869), Wanderers (1870), Lansdowne (1872) and Dungannon
(1873). Currently Co. Carlow is the sixth oldest existing club in
Ireland, the fourth oldest in Leinster and the oldest provincial
club in Ireland. The initial clubs were all football clubs without
the name rugby, as at the time, rugby was the only football game
played with gaelic football and soccer following later. This is a
unique distinction for the club and the members can feel very proud
of the honour of the “Football Club” status.
The club had many homes, especially in the early
days. These included the Rectory Field, Tiny Park, Burrin St.,
Granby Row, the College Field, Doyles Paddock, Haughtons Field, the
Showground’s, the Tennis Club and the Cricket Club. Finally in 1968
they moved to their current grounds at Oak Park.
The venue and opponents in their first match is
unclear but in the early days the matches were infrequent, with
Trinity, Wanderers and Kingstown being the most frequent opposition.
The first match against Kilkenny did not take place until 1899 and
the same ritual was again repeated in 1999 when the team travelled
by train to celebrate Kilkenny’s centenary year in the usual
liquid/rugby tradition.
The club played unofficially for the first quarter
of a century, but eventually joined the Leinster Branch in 1899 when
they were proposed by Wanderers and seconded by Lansdowne. They won
their first trophy in 1904 when they were the first provincial side
to win the Leinster Junior Cup (later to be known as the Provincial
Towns Cup). According to the Leinster Branch records, Co. Carlow FC
went on to win the Junior Cup on three subsequent occasions, 1912,
1913 and 1922. Carlow were also unofficial winners in 1919.
The Provincial Towns Cup was won on 12 occasions,
1929, 1931, 1933, 1957, 1961, 1965, 1977, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996 and
1997 when they also won the Leinster League Division 1. The latter
win earned the club a place in the play-offs to become a Senior Club
in which they played Connamara Blacks, Midleton and Omagh. They won
the play-offs and Co. Carlow became a Senior Club for the first time
in the 1997/98 season, playing in Division 4 of the AIL League. As a
result, Leslie Dowley became the first representative of County
Carlow Football Club on the Leinster Branch and the clubs admission
to senior status was proposed by John West (Trinity) and seconded by
Rory Barry-Duke (Suttonians). Five years later Leslie Dowley was
succeeded by Stuart Bayley who will have the honour of being the
first President of the Leinster Branch to represent our Club in
2011.
In their first year as a Senior Club, they won
Division 4 of the AIL League and were promoted to Division 3. They
subsequently gained rapid promotion through the leagues and played
Division 1 rugby for the first time in the 2001/2002 season. This
was a phenomenal achievement and unequalled by any other junior
club. County Carlow FC played Division 1 rugby for 4 years but after
a number of poor years they are back in the Leinster League for the
2010-2011 season. As a junior club they first played in the Leinster
Senior Cup against Trinity in 1976 and as a Senior Club they went on
to win the trophy back-to-back in 2003 and again in 2004.
The Senior side is not the only side to have success
on the rugby field. The Second XV has won the Provincial Seconds Cup
on 6 occasions while there has been 4 victories in the Anderson and
5 in the Dunne Cup. There have also been 25 trophies won at underage
level confirming the clubs commitment to youth rugby.
Co. Carlow Football Club is a family orientated
club, drawing much of its support and playing strength from the
local community. The level of continuous involvement is exemplified
by the Oliver family (all named James) who have provided four
generations of players to the club, 2 captains and three presidents.
Jim Oliver Jnr. also captained the Leinster Junior XV when the first
Intro-provincial against Munster was played in Oak Park in 1967. The
fifth Jimmy Oliver is still too young to don the black and amber but
already has the distinction of being the grandson of two past
presidents.
Leslie J. Dowley
A full history of the club has
been compiled by Mr. Tom O’Brien and is available in hard back from
the club Honorary Treasurer for €25.00 per copy.
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