Transport FC

This next club comes from my own country, but it’s not one that most on this island will know of or remember. This maybe because of the lack of success they had while playing in the League of Ireland, despite participating for no less than fourteen years. They also weren’t short of having players represent Ireland at a senior level, with eleven players putting on the Red and white of their club colours whilst also pulling on the famous green jersey of the Republic of Ireland They, like so many football clubs back in the day, were formed from a works team, and therefore that’s how they got their name, which on its own stands out to be a little bit of a strange one for a football club. There is also a debate as to whether this club was another Dublin club, or a Wicklow based club as they played in stadia in both counties. Of course, I am talking about Transport F.C, a club that still plays its football today in the Leinster Senior League at amateur level here in Ireland. But let’s travel back into the past to see what this club was like when it played at the highest level and what drove them out of the League of Ireland once and for all?

Founded in 1935, by the Coras Iompair Eireann, a company responsible for most of the Republic of Irelands transport, the club competed in the Leinster Senior League. They won their first bit of silverware in the 1946-47 season, winning the LSL title. This prompted them to join the League of Ireland the following season, with the league being expanded from eight to ten teams. Sligo Rovers were the other club to re-join after an eight-year absence. The club played at the Carlisle Grounds and finished a respectable 5^th place in their debut season in 1948-49, winning five, drawing eight and losing five. The club also played in two of the highest scoring games that season, beating Limerick 6-2 but also losing to Cork Athletic 6-2. They were also on the end of the biggest defeat that season, losing 5-0 to Waterford. It was a season that saw Drumcondra win back-to-back titles. It also saw one of Transports players share the top scorer award that season. Bernard Lester notched up twelve goals to share the accolade with three other players, Eugene Noonan of Waterford, Patrick O’Leary of Cork Athletic and Brendan Carroll of Shelbourne. However, their second season wasn’t as good in regards their league form and the club finished 8^th out of ten, winning just four games, drawing six and losing eight. They did however beat Shamrock Rovers away, 2-1 and thrashed Bohemians at home, 5-0. Jimmy Duggan finished Transports top goalscorer that season with nine goals. But that wasn’t to be the highlight of the season.

The club would go on to win their first and only major honour in League of Ireland, winning the FAI Cup and they had to do it the hard way. On their way to the final they beat the likes of Bohemians, Waterford, and Sligo, before meeting the best team in the country at the time, Cork Athletic. The Cork side had been crowned back-to-back champions and so were heavy favourites going into the final. However, Transport did not make it easy for them and brought the final to not only one replay, but two. Both the first game and the second game ended 2-2, until the third game when Transport won 3-1 and lifted the cup at Dalymount park in front of a crowd of more than 20,000. It would prove to be the highlight of the club’s career in the League of Ireland.

The 1950-51 season saw a slight improvement in regards the league with the club finishing a place higher than the previous season, 7^th out of ten, winning five games, drawing four and losing seven. There was no repeat of their cup heroics from the previous season.

The 1951-52 season saw the league expanded once again, this time to twelve clubs, with Cork side Evergreen United joining alongside Dublin side St Patricks Athletic, who unbelievably went on to win the title in their debut season. Transport didn’t fair as well and finished 9^th out of twelve, winning seven, drawing three and losing twelve games. Bernard Lester once again finished Transports top goalscorer with eleven goals. 1952-53 was basically a mirror of the previous season, with the club once again finishing 9^th out twelve teams, winning seven, drawing seven and losing eight games. Mick Lipper ended up the clubs top goalscorer and joint third overall with thirteen goals that season. 1953-54 saw Transport drop a place and finish 10^th winning seven, drawing four and losing eleven games that season. Amazingly, they finished above St Pats who had only won the league two years previously. Brendan Treacy finished Transport top goalscorer on eleven goals that season. Another 10^th place finish followed in the 1954-55 season, with the club only winning five games all season, drawing four and losing thirteen. The league was won by St Patricks Athletic who had turned the previous season around dramatically to lift their second title.

1955-56 season saw St Pats retain their title, but it also saw Transport finish rock bottom in 12^th place, winning only five games, drawing three and losing fourteen games. It was the first time they had finished last in the top-flight. They would have to improve dramatically if they were to be competitive the next season and that is what they did, finishing a much-improved 5^th place, winning eight, drawing ten and losing only four games all season. But that was to be the highest they would ever finish again, as the next season, 1957-58 the club dropped back to 10^th, winning just six games, drawing four and losing twelve. However, there was to be a shining light that season in the shape of Johnny McGeehan, who finished the clubs top goalscorer with fifteen goals that season, finishing only second to Evergreen United’s Donal Leahy who scored sixteen for the Cork side. Transport finished 7^th the next season, winning eight, drawing three and losing eleven games. Gerry Moore finished their top goalscorer that season with ten goals. The 1959-60 season saw a Limerick side win the title for the first time in the history of the League of Ireland. Transport came 11^th out twelve, finishing only above Bohemians FC, winning only three games, drawing two and losing seventeen. The club only scored eighteen goals all season and conceded 66. The 1960-61 season saw the club finish an improved 10^th place winning six, drawing two and losing fourteen. Their top goalscorer was Jimmy Samson who scored eight that season.

The next season, the club’s 14^th season in the League of Ireland, proved to be their final one. The club finished 11^th out 12, winning just two games, drawing three and losing eighteen. They and Sligo Rovers who finished below them in 12^th position were not re-elected into the league for the next season. (Re-election was the process that League of Ireland followed back then as their was no second tier for promotion and relegation at the time.) And so Transport FC’s stay in the top flight ended, but they continued to play in the Leinster Senior League, and still compete in that league to this date. In fact, they won the league title for the second time in the 1962-63 season, but it would be the last time they would win the title. They have had minor success in the FAI Intermediate cup, winning that competition on three occasions, in the 1963-64 season, the 1965-66 season and then for the last time in the 1973-74 season.

Transport FC, like so many League of Ireland clubs who have come and gone, didn’t make much of an impression in regards picking up silverware, with just the solidarity FAI cup to show. However, they spent fourteen seasons in the topflight, which is more than most of the 40 clubs that have dropped out of the league had managed to compete in. They also have the honor of saying they have had eleven players play for them that have also represented their country at senior level. Whilst they continue to compete in the Leinster Senior League, it is very unlikely we will see them re-emerge as a League of Ireland anytime soon, although maybe one day they might have the drive and ambition to do so?