Clonee Utd History

Club History

Attention, open in a new window. PDFPrintE-mail

 

Founded in June 2006, Clonee United Football Club was formed through the amalgamation of two Dublin 15 based clubs -   Casta Celtic & Little Pacers F.C.    While the club is still only in the early stages of it's development by comparison to many of our more illustrious neighbours in the Dublin 15 area, it's important to remember where the club has come from.

Today, Clonee United F.C. is proud to have 2 Senior teams, 3 youth teams, 7 Junior teams & 2 kindergarten teams running. For a fledgling club only coming into its third season, the response to the call for soccer in the area has been enormous.


The original Clonee United committee on the club's opening night June 2006 -

From left to right - Davy Byrne, Matt McGoldrick, Ian Johnson, Yvonne Beauchamp, Elaine Swift, John Bassi & Mick Byrne.
Missing from photo are Karen McDermott & Colm Kinsella.  
Casta Celtic
Casta Celtic were formed in 2002 with the inaugural committee consisting of Ian Johnson, Norman Gearon, John Bassi, Aidan Kelly, Gary Davis and Denis O'Mahony. In the first year the club entered Division 1A (Saturday) in the Amateur Football League under the guidance of manager Norman Gearon. It was a great learning experience for the team - although it only won five games all season, the foundations for the future of the club had been created.

The second season by comparison was an unbelievable success, with the team going undefeated for the season - winning 16 games & drawing in two. Although this run should have been enough for any team to win a league, another club in the league, Darndale Celtic, finished with the exact same results as Casta. Darndale prevailed in the playoff final, winning 5-2.

While the season ended on a disappointing note, it had also seen the introduction of a second senior side due to growing numbers of players. The team played in Division 2 (Saturday) and were managed by Aidan Kelly. They achieved mid-table success for the last 3 years and only through some unlucky defeats they could have brought more silverware to the club. They also reached the Semi finals of the Loftus Cup in their 3rd year under the management of Alan O'Connor.

The summer of 2004 saw the introduction of a new (and the current United manager) Sean O'Brien. The 1st team had gained promotion to Division 1 Saturday. Under the stewardship of O'Brien, the club went on to claim it's first piece of silverware, edging out Kilmore Boys to win the league by 4 points, with a record of 16 wins, 3 draws and only 3 defeats. This led to promotion to the Premier Saturday Division where the team finished third in 2005/06, also reaching the quarter finals of the Amateur and Harding Cup. The team also reached the final of the Maher Cup but unfortunately lost out to Celtic Park 1-0 in a closely fought encounter.

Little Pacers F.C.
Littlepacers were formed in 2000 with a group of kids just kicking ball, getting some exercise & having fun! As the fun progressed and the coaches saw some potential in the team they had, they started training in Dunboyne Community Centre every Saturday morning. Set up & organised by Davy Byrne and Gerry O' Hara, they trained there for two years.

In 2002 they entered the Brenfer North Dublin School Boys/Girls League. The interest grew and as soon as one team was ready to leave the hall, it seemed there were kids queing to get a place. Kindergarten Soccer in Dunboyne Community Centre was a success & each year the club grew with more teams entering the league. In 2005 our Under 9s run by Derek O' Brien and Ray Barden won the Brenfer Shield, and in this year they won also their league.

Before the amalgamation in 2006 Littlepacers had eight teams from Under 7s to Under 17s - Littlepacers have come a long way since 2000. What started out as a few neighbours trying to keep the kids occupied of an evening, had become so much more.