Limerick Football Club was an association football club based in Limerick, Ireland who played in the League of Ireland and currently have teams competing in the underage National League of Ireland.
The first Limerick Football Club was founded in 1937 and has had a number of guises through its history, known at different times as Limerick, Limerick United, Limerick City and Limerick 37. Each manifestation of the club was the sole representative of senior football in Limerick city between 1937 and 2020.
Limerick won the League of Ireland title twice, in the 1959–60 and 1979–80 seasons, and the FAI Cup twice, in 1971 and 1982. They also won the League of Ireland Cup three times, 1975–76, 1992–93 and 2001–02. The club competed in European competitions on six occasions.
History
Foundation and early years Limerick got its first taste of senior soccer in the early 1930s when the Limerick District Management Committee (LDMC) arranged a number of friendly matches between senior clubs such as Waterford F.C. and Bray and a local junior selection. The success of these fixtures prompted the LDMC to form a senior side and attempt to gain entry to the Free State League. Their application was accepted in June 1937 and a Limerick senior team replaced Dolphin who had withdrawn from the league.Malone, Alice, Senior Soccer in Limerick, 1937-2008, Limerick Civic Trust Heritage & Folklore Archives, 2008. On 19 July 1937, a new, private company, Limerick Association Football and Sports Co. Ltd, was registered.
On 22 August 1937, Limerick played its first match. It was against Shamrock Rovers in the Dublin City Cup, a prominent competition that ran from the 1930s to the 1970s, and won 1–0. They ended the 1937–38 season in 10th place out of 12 teams, but managed to capture their first trophy when they beat Cork United 1–0 in the replayed final of the Munster Senior Cup at the Markets Field. During those early seasons, Limerick lined out in red-and-white striped jerseys and white shorts. When Waterford resigned from the league in 1941, the club purchased their blue jerseys and would wear blue and white for the next 40 years.
The 1940s saw Limerick make some big improvements on the playing field and they were twice runners-up in the League of Ireland (1943–44 and 1944–45), were beaten in two FAI Cup semi-finals (1942–43 and 1946–47) and were runners-up in the League of Ireland Shield in 1945–46. The latter was the forerunner of the League Cup, the third most important competition after the League and the FAI Cup. They won the Munster Senior Cup again in 1948–49. It was not until the 1950s that Limerick captured their first national title when they won the Shield in 1953.List of League of Ireland Shield Winners. Retrieved on 26 February 2008. They added to this when they captured the Dublin City Cup in 1958–59, beating Drumcondra in the final.
League of Ireland champions and FAI Cup winners Limerick captured their first League of Ireland championship in the 1959–60 season under the management of Limerick man Sonny Price, who had played for Limerick, Waterford and Glentoran.Sad passing of Ewan Fenton, great player, manager and personality. FAI Website, 3 April 2006. Retrieved on 22 April 2009. Although they lost their last match 3–2 to St. Patrick's Athletic on Sunday, 17 April 1960, they still managed to win the league by two points, ahead of Cork Celtic.FAI Past League Tables Retrieved on 22 April 2009. Unlike other years, when the majority of the sides were local, this team had a nucleus of Dublin-based players who supplied six to the panel, with five from Limerick, two from Cork and the remainder from junior circles.
The Limerick board decided they wanted to develop an all-local team and so they brought in Ewan Fenton, then aged 29, from Wrexham to implement their plan, starting for the 1960–61 season. He was an immediate hit with staff, players and fans and his quiet and undemonstrative personality ensured he became very popular. He also helped build on the success that Sonny Price had gained with the team and introduced a great number of talented local players to League of Ireland football.
Limerick lost FAI Cup finals in 1965 and again in 1966 to Shamrock Rovers before they finally captured the title in 1971, beating Drogheda United 3–0 in a replay. That team included Andy McEvoy, Richie Hall, Kevin Fitzpatrick, Al Finucane, Dave Barrett, Sean Byrnes, Tony Meaney, Joe O’Mahony, Hughie Hamilton and Paddy Shortt. Fenton also advanced the careers of other notable Limerick players such as Dessie McNamara, Gerry McCarthy, Mick Doyle, Dick O’Connor, Johnny Walsh, Pat Nolan and Ger Duggan. Limerick had captured a further two Dublin City Cups under Fenton, in 1967 and 1970.
Ewan Fenton left Limerick in 1967 to take up a managerial position at Linfield, and enjoyed considerable success with the south Belfast club, winning seven titles in three years. The early 1970s saw some turbulent financial times for Limerick coupled with diminishing fortunes on the field. Fenton returned as manager for the 1975–76 season and introduced a number of young players, without much success in the league, but won the League Cup that season, beating Sligo Rovers 4–0 in the final. Frankie Johnson took over as manager for the 1976–77 season and Limerick were beaten 2–0 by Dundalk in the FAI Cup Final, but this was again coupled with a poor league performance.
Limerick United (1977 to 1983) In 1977 the club changed their name to Limerick United. Other sources report that the name change occurred in 1979.
Eoin Hand arrived as player-manager from Portsmouth for the 1979–80 season and guided the club to its second League of Ireland Championship. Tony Meaney scored a penalty in the ultimate game, a 1–1 draw against Athlone Town, to finish one point ahead of Dundalk. Hand was still in charge when Limerick won the FAI Cup again in 1982, defeating Bohemians in the final at Dalymount Park. This marked Kevin Fitzpatrick's final game in goal after 22 seasons.
Limerick City (1983 to 1992) Pat Grace, owner of the Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) franchise in Ireland and the main League of Ireland sponsor, joined Limerick United in April 1981 and was appointed chairman. Grace claimed to have been invited to join by the Markets Field club in order to help them address financial issues, with a majority shareholding promised in return, but this did not transpire and affairs at the club began to deteriorate after the FAI Cup win in 1982. Grace set up a separate club named Limerick City in early 1983 then, in April, resigned as a director from Limerick United and began to recruit Limerick United's players. Limerick City also attempted to replace the club in the League of Ireland and, with the league appearing reluctant to block their main sponsor's team from doing so, Limerick United went to the High Court at the beginning of the 1983–84 season. United succeeded in winning the case and obtained an injunction against the league replacing them. The ruling reinstated Limerick United to the League of Ireland and prevented City from taking their place.
The same year, Grace had another legal setback in the High Court when, following a dispute with KFC over ingredients, he had to change the name of his franchise as well as the name on the league's sponsorship. Meanwhile, Limerick United continued to experience financial hardship and fielded a team consisting entirely of amateur players for the first game of the season, losing 9–0 to Bohemians at Dalymount Park on 2 October 1984. The game was declared void by the league's committee and was replayed later in the season. On 9 October, the Limerick City players picketed the Markets Field for the home game against Waterford and succeeded in preventing the match from being played. The squad – all former United players – sided with Grace in the dispute, claiming that wages had not been paid on time until his involvement. While Limerick United admitted to missing payments, first team manager Mick Webb claimed Grace had failed to fulfil his obligations while chairman of Limerick United.
Soccer in the city was suspended for eight weeks pending a decision on the matter, resuming when Pat Grace won his appeal and the original High Court ruling was overturned. Grace changed the name of the club to Limerick City and also changed the colours from blue and white to yellow and green. Concerned about a legal battle over the renamed club's right to play at Markets Field, Grace entered into discussions with Old Crescent RFC in November 1983 about the purchase of in Rathbane. In their first season as Limerick City, the club won the revived League of Ireland Shield for the first time since 1953 and beat Cobh Ramblers to win the Munster Senior Cup. The Shield competition was won on 22 April 1984, after Limerick beat UCD on penalties, in the last game played at the Markets Field before the club's departure to Rathbane.
Move to Hogan Park The club moved out of the Markets Field to a new home at Hogan Park in Rathbane for the start of the 1984–85 season. This move ultimately proved to be unpopular with the fans and heralded a decline in the club's fortunes. The 1985–86 season saw the League of Ireland divided into two divisions for the first time – the top tier Premier Division and the second tier First Division — with Limerick City competing in the Premier Division. Billy Hamilton was brought in as player-manager in 1987. Hamilton had enjoyed considerable success as a player at Burnley and Oxford United and played in two World Cup finals with Northern Ireland. He stayed at Limerick for two seasons, finishing as the league's top scorer and guiding the club to a third-place league finish in his second season in charge.
However, the only trophy won during that period was the Munster Senior Cup in 1988 and Hamilton resigned in September 1989 with owner Pat Grace leaving shortly after. He was replaced by a new board of directors, with Fr. Joe Young as chairman. Towards the end of the 1989–90 season, the club took out a loan from the FAI. Although the loan was repaid to the association, by September 1990 Limerick City were seeking new investment with the future of the club reportedly at risk. While the club made it to the final of the League Cup in February of that season, they lost the match 2–0 to Derry City. At the end of the 1990–91 season, Limerick City were relegated for the first time in their history.
Young decided that, in order to return to the Premier Division, the club would need to appoint a new manager. An occasional West Brom fan, the chairman contacted their former assistant manager Sam Allardyce, who thought the offer was a wind-up from one of his teammates. After a tour of Limerick, Allardyce was appointed as player-manager for the 1991–92 season. He immediately brought Limerick City back to the top flight by winning the First Division. Fr. Joe Young and the new board changed the club's name back to Limerick F.C. and the kit colours back to blue and white.
Return of Limerick F.C. (1992 to 2005) Allardyce remained at the club, scoring three times in 23 appearances, until 1992 when he left to take up a coaching role at Preston North End. Limerick finished a respectable sixth in the Premier Division the following season and also won the League Cup, beating St Patrick's Athletic in the final. Relegation was to follow the next season and a long period of mediocrity and disappointment was to follow.
Financial problems plagued the club and they had to rely on the goodwill of a local junior side, Pike Rovers, for a home ground for the 2000–01 season. Fr Joe Young departed as chairman and the new chairman, Danny Drew, took the club back to Rathbane in an attempt to revive their fortunes. The 2001–02 season saw another League Cup victory, this time over Derry City in the final, but no improvement in the league followed over the coming seasons.