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St Francis F.C.

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St Francis F.C.
Image
Full nameSaint Francis Football Club
NicknameThe Saints
Founded1958
GroundJohn Hyland Park
Baldonnel
LeagueFAI National League Leinster Senior League
Websitewww.stfrancisfc1958.ie

St Francis Football Club is an Irish association football club originally based in The Liberties in Dublin. They play in the FAI National League. They played in the League of Ireland First Division from 1996–97 until 2000–01.[1][2][3] They also currently play in the Leinster Senior League and operate a number of schoolboy and women's teams.[4] The club wear green and white hooped shirts.

History

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Early years

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St Francis Football Club was founded in the Liberties by John Hyland in 1958.[5][6] Initially a schoolboy club, the first adult side was introduced in 1968 when St Francis joined the Athletic Union League, winning Division 2A in their first season.[7] In their second season St Francis won the FAI Junior Cup, the highest honour for junior sides. The club progressed into the intermediate ranks and soon become one of the top teams at that grade, winning the Leinster Senior League four times. In 1989–90 St Francis became the first non-League of Ireland side to reach an FAI Cup Final in over 50 years before finally losing to Bray Wanderers.[6][8] Their fairytale story, combined with the final moving to Lansdowne Road saw a crowd of over 33,000 witness the historic final.[9][7]

League of Ireland years

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St Francis continued to be one of the top Leinster Senior League sides and, when St. James's Gate pulled out of the League of Ireland First Division ahead of the 1996–97 season, St Francis were invited to take their place.[1][10] The invite was received a fortnight before the season began and the club's first senior game was a drab drawn tie against Longford Town in the League of Ireland Cup. Their first League of Ireland game ended in a 4–0 defeat to Waterford United on 11 October 1996.

St Francis struggled to make an impact in the League of Ireland First Division. Both their traditional Liberties home and their adopted home of Clondalkin are areas which St Patrick's Athletic claim many fans from, and St Francis's crowds were small, even by First Division standards. In their five seasons in the league, St Francis never finished out of the bottom three. After finishing bottom for the third time in the 2000–01, director Alan Duncan approached St. Patrick's Athletic with a view to merging. St Pats managing director Pat Dolan was receptive to the idea and two weeks before the 2001–02 season, St Francis withdrew from the league.[citation needed] A hurriedly arranged joint press conference was called to announce the arrival of the Dublin Saints after the proposed merger was revealed on a website. St. Pats fans were outraged as their club announced plans to call the club St Patrick's Athletic including St Francis F.C.. In a meeting with St Francis supporters, Duncan spoke of his wish that the new club be officially renamed the Dublin Saints. As the season progressed, the merger talks broke down and the merger never materialised. Pats did use John Hyland Park for some friendlies and for underage games, but the ground was never in their possession as it was held in trust for use by St Francis only.[11][12]

Leinster Senior League

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St Francis did not field an adult team in 2001–02. However they regrouped and subsequently re-entered the Leinster Senior League.

FAI National League

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In December 2025, St Francis were announced by the Football Association of Ireland as one of the 15 founding member clubs to take part in the inaugural FAI National League season starting in 2026 as the new third tier in the Republic of Ireland football league system.[13][14][15][16]

Current Squad

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As of 8 October 2026

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK Image IRL Mark Smith
2 DF Image IRL Evan Farrell
3 DF Image IRL Daragh Ellison
4 DF Image IRL Harry McEvoy
5 DF Image IRL Seamus Curley (captain)
6 MF Image IRL Conor Behan
7 MF Image IRL Rory Garvey
8 MF Image IRL Sean McManus
10 MF Image IRL Jamie Gray
11 FW Image IRL Babtunde Animashaun
12 GK Image IRL Mark Devereux
13 FW Image IRL Darren Williams Oshun
No. Pos. Nation Player
15 DF Image IRL Keelan Walsh
16 DF Image IRL Zach Donohue
17 DF Image IRL Abdulrahman Bouderbala
18 MF Image IRL Luke Scanlon
19 MF Image IRL Dylan Stack
20 GK Image IRL Alfie O'Brien
21 MF Image IRL Janabi Amour Jr.
22 FW Image IRL Jack Savage
23 MF Image IRL Lasha Baramidze
29 FW Image IRL Daniel Hickey
30 FW Image MDA Kevin Croitoru
34 GK Image IRL Colin McCabe

John Hyland Park

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St Francis play their home games at John Hyland Park in Baldonnel, close to Clondalkin.

Honours

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Source:[17][18]

References

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  1. 1 2 Walsh, Denis (22 September 1996). "Progress, but it may well cost St Francis dear". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 8 October 2009.
  2. ↑ "Treaty United, St Francis and Yola FC set to apply for LOI First Division licences". The42.ie. Retrieved 11 April 2025.
  3. ↑ "Club History (St Francis Football Club)". St Francis F.C. Retrieved 16 October 2009.[permanent dead link]
  4. ↑ http://stfrancisfc1958.ie/team/mgl [dead link]
  5. ↑ Seagrave, David (26 February 2021). "St Francis hopeful despite LOI setback | The Liberty". www.theliberty.ie. Archived from the original on 25 February 2024. Retrieved 19 December 2025.
  6. 1 2 Ball, Peter (12 May 1990). "The Irish miracle of St Francis". The Times. Archived from the original on 16 June 2023. Retrieved 8 October 2009.
  7. 1 2 "Club Story - St Francis Football Club". www.stfrancisfc1958.ie. Retrieved 11 April 2025.
  8. ↑ Ball, Peter (14 May 1990). "Bray crush dream of bold St Francis". The Times. Retrieved 8 October 2009.
  9. ↑ "In the summer of 1990, an Irish team made a memorable run to the latter stages of a competition as an underdog". RTE Sport. 13 May 2020. Retrieved 13 May 2020.
  10. ↑ Farrell, Gerry. "The Lost Clubs: St James's Gate". Archived from the original on 9 August 2024. Retrieved 18 July 2026.
  11. ↑ "Club News : Saints Alive? St Francis 'merge' With Pat's". www.stpatsfc.com. Retrieved 19 December 2025.
  12. ↑ "St Pats to merge with St Francis". rte.ie. 3 July 2001.
  13. ↑ "15 clubs confirmed for new FAI National League". www.fai.ie.
  14. ↑ "FAI National League to feature at least 15 clubs". 19 December 2025 – via www.rte.ie.
  15. ↑ Casey, Gavan (19 December 2025). "FAI confirm initial 15 clubs that will form new National League from 2026". The 42.
  16. ↑ "Format for inaugural FAI National League season confirmed". Irish Independent. 20 May 2026.
  17. ↑ "FAI Junior Cup Winners". stadium.aviva.ie. Archived from the original on 16 June 2018. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
  18. ↑ Mark Herbert, Donie Butler (1994–95). FAI Yearbook & Diary 1995. Dublin: Sportsworld Ltd.
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53°18′10.5″N 6°25′49.8″W / 53.302917°N 6.430500°W / 53.302917; -6.430500

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