Limerick FC
One of the most recent clubs to drop out of the League of Ireland is Limerick FC, who, throughout their history have had numerous names and because of that fall under the criteria of being a ‘Forgotten Football Club’. But it was their demise in 2020 that has really cemented that place and here we aim to tell their story, from start to finish, or at least we think it’s the finish.
Founded in 1937, Limerick applied to take part in the League of Ireland. Their application was successful, and they replaced Dublin side, Dolphins FC. But their first official match was played in what was known as the Dublin City Cup and their opponents that day were Shamrock Rovers. The game was played on the 22nd of August 1937 with them winning the game, 1-0. Many thought it was a sign that they would be competing for titles straight away in their first season of League of Ireland football, however, that was not to be the case. In the 1937 season, the club finished 10th out of 12 teams. It wasn’t to be a total disaster of a season as the club did manage to win their first bit of silverware in the guise of the Munster Senior Cup, beating Cork United in the final. It took two attempts to win the trophy, with the replay being played at Markets Field, the home of Limerick City at the time.
The club, who would go onto to be known as ‘The Super Blues’, wore red and white in their early days of playing and only changed into their all-blue strip when Waterford resigned from the league in 1941. Limerick shrewdly bought Waterford’s kit from them and would wear those colours for the remainder of their existence.
The 1940’s were a decent decade for Limerick, without them actually winning much silverware. The club finished runners-up in the league in 1943-44 and again in 1944-45 and reached two FAI cup semi-finals in the 1942-43 season and again in the 1946-47 season. It wasn’t until the 1953 season that the club would win their first national title, when they lifted the third most prestigious trophy in Irish football, the League of Ireland Shield, a competition now called the League cup.
The Super Blues would eventually get their hands on the League of Ireland title, but would have to wait until the 1959-60 season, when guided by the management of Sonny Price, they pipped Cork Celtic by two points to be crowned champions. But it was the elusive FAI Cup that Limerick had their eyes on, having gone close in the 1940’s, reaching the smei-finals twice, they would make it one step further in the 1960’s when they reached not one but two finals, contesting and losing both to Shamrock Rovers. It wasn’t until the next decade, and in the year 1971, that they would finally lift the Republic of Irelands most prestigious domestic cup, when they beat Louth side, Drogheda, 3-0 in a replay.
In 1977 the club went through it’s first name change, renaming themselves Limerick United instead of Limerick City. They would go on to win the League of Ireland title once again in the 1979-80 season, beating Dundalk by one point. A second FAI Cup triumph followed a few years later when they beat Dublin side, Bohemians FC, 1-0 at Dalymount in front of just 12,000 fans. But it was after this success when the club started to decline on and off the field, with ongoing ownership battles proving to be a distraction. There was even a suspension put in place on football being played in the city, pending on the outcome of the decision of who owned the club. In the end, a Mr Pat grace won out, and one of the first things he did as owner was to change the name back to Limerick City. The other change he made was to the club colours. Yellow and Green were adopted as they were seen as the ‘County Colours’.
With limited success in the Leaue of Ireland shield and Munster Senior Cup, the club decided to move away from its spiritual home of Markets Field and decided to play their games at Rathbane. The move was not welcomed by the fans, and they showed their disapproval by not attending games, which saw the clubs’ attendances dwindle dramatically.
A shake up of the League of Ireland format saw the introduction of the First Division in 1985, but Limerick FC would still play in the Premier Division. But as with Limerick, things never stayed the same, and in 1989, the departure of Pat Grace saw the club go back to being named Limerick FC and they also changed back into their traditional blue and white kit. It didn’t help the club on the field, and they were relegated for the first time in their history in the 1990-91 season. In the same year, they lost in the League Cup final to Derry City.
Their relegation may have seemed to be the turning point in the clubs’ fortunes, however, and the appointment of Sam Allardyce as player-manager turned out to be an inspired one. Yes, Big Sam. Who went onto manage in the Premier League and the England International team (Albeit for a very short stint) once managed Limerick FC in the League of Ireland First Division and he did an incredible job as well, gaining promotion at the first time of asking. He even made 23 appearances for the club, scoring three times. But his time was short, and he soon left to go manage Preston North End.
Limerick’s fortunes on the pitch seemed to be stable, with the club finishing sixth in their first season back in the topflight. They also added another League Cup to their trophy cabinet that season, beating St Pats in the final. However, the club were relegated the following season and success was hard to come by for the Super Blues in the coming years.
2003 saw the club reach the promotion play-off final after finishing 4th in the First Division, but after drawing 0-0 in the first leg of the semi-final against Derry City, their promotion hopes were squashed when the Candystripes hammered them, 4-0 in the second leg.
The 2004 season saw the club finish rock bottom of the First Division, winning just four games all season and bringing into question the viability of having a football club represent the county of Limerick in the League of Ireland. The 2005 season saw the club improve their position, as they came 7th out of 10 teams. A fifth-place finish followed in the 2006 season, but this is where things started to change for the club.
The financial troubles that the club were going through proved too much and Limerick FC effectively went bust, however the FAI did not want to lose a football club in that region of the country. It was a weird scenario in which the FAI had originally rejected Limerick FC’s license application to take part in the First Division, but then offered other interested parties the chance to submit plans to start a football club in the county. A number of interested parties put foreword applications, but it was the application of a group named Soccer Limerick that won out. The consortium operated under the name Limerick Sports Partnership and planned to bring both Junior and Senior football together.
The application was successful, and they gained a UEFA license to participate in the First Division for the season in 2007 and they would be playing under the name Limerick 37, the year the club was founded.
Under their new name they had stabilised the club and they finished mid table in the seasons that followed, however the name Limerick 37 only lasted for two seasons, and the club reverted back to the name Limerick FC in 2009, in which they finished 7th in the First Division.
Mediocrity followed, although the club just missed out on the promotion play-offs in 2011 by a single point. It was a sign of better things to come and under the guidance of Pat Scully, they won the First Division, finishing ahead of Waterford and Longford. It meant they would spend the 2013 season in the Premier Division. They finished 7th in their first season back in the topflight and then 6th in the 2014 season. But the 2015 season saw the club struggle and they finished second bottom, meaning the had to play a promotion/relegation play-off against Donegal side, Finn Harps. Their bad form on the pitch made the goal scoring exploits of their striker Vinny Faherty all that more amazing, as he finished joint third top goal scorer in the division, with numerous others who had scored 12 goals in total.
But even Vinny Faherty couldn’t stop the club losing the play-off, and they lost to Finn Harps over the two legs. It was a quick return for the Super Blues, who romped the First Division, losing only one game all season, and finishing a total of 23 points ahead of runners-up, Drogheda United.
A 7th place finish in the premier Division was enough to avoid the drop, in what saw three clubs relegated to the First Division that year, but the 2018 season was not so lucky for Limerick who once again found themselves in a promotion/relegation play-off, and just like last time, they faced Finn Harps. The end result after the two legs was no different than the one a few years before and the Donegal side came out on top, 3-0 on aggregate. Once again, the club were relegated and confined to playing in the First Division for the 2019 season.
If the fans thought an immediate return was imminent like last time, their hopes were dashed when the FAI deducted the club 26 points for the failure to comply with League of Ireland profitability and sustainability rules. It meant they finished rock bottom of the league, but more worryingly for the fans was the off-field antics going on, as the club looked in real danger of going bust for the second time in their history.
Pat Sullivan was the man in charge of the club, but it seemed as though the finances were not in order. It led to the FAI not accepting a renewed bid for a licence that was needed to enter the League of Ireland First Division, and with that Limerick FC dropped out of league football once again. The club remained an entity and still does, however the county is now represented by Treaty United, who after delays with trying to enter the First Division due to naming rights and other issues surrounding the former Limerick FC club, they eventually did so in 2021, as Treaty United, wearing red and white as their colours, the original colours of Limerick City. The club has made good progress in it’s first few years, making the play-offs at one stage but more impressively, making the FAI Cup semi-final back in 2022, were the eventually lost out to Derry City.
Gary Spain, a lifelong Limerick fan and now the Supporters Liaison Officer for both Treaty United and the men’s Ireland national team gave us an insight into what it is like to follow football in Limerick. I asked him seven questions about Limerick, Treaty and the League of Ireland.
No doubt you have experienced some great memories whilst following Limerick FC. What was your favourite memory?
Gary: My favourite memory was winning the league in Athlone in 1980. The only title success in my lifetime. Watching Limerick walk out in the Bernabeu to play Real Madrid is a close second.
Who was your favourite player to have put on the Limerick FC jersey and who was the best? Your answer can be the same player.
Gary: My favourite player was Kevin Fitzpatrick. 22 years between the sticks and what a keeper. Probably the best I saw was Andy McEvoy.
Treaty United have replaced Limerick FC as the representative of County Limerick in the League of Ireland. Things have been going well with them, but where do you see them in the next few years. What do you see as progress for the club?
Gary: Yes, great to have senior football back in the city. A slow rebuild but hopefully get back to the top division within 3 years.
Limerick, a county which is clearly sports mad, but has had issues in the past with trying to gain support for its football clubs. Newcastlewest can be looked as another example of a club that has also dropped out of the League of Ireland in the past. Why do you think this is?
Gary: Limerick is sports mad but mainly following winning sides. 42 years since either of the two major trophies came here is the main reason why football lags behind rugby and GAA. Newcastlewest was just too small.
The League of Ireland has seen a rapid increase in people attending games the last few seasons. With such popularity rising in the country, can you see Limerick FC returning to make up a second side in the County? I know they are still technically a club, of course.
Gary: A 2nd side in the county is not viable. I can't see Limerick FC coming back.
A simple question this one or maybe not but in your opinion, where did it all go wrong with Limerick FC?
Gary: Unfortunately, Limerick FC ran up too much debt. Too many players paid far too much brought in from abroad not up to standard.
Finally, is there anything you would like to add, anybody you would like to acknowledge in regards football in Limerick or Treaty as I know there are plenty of people putting in hard work on a voluntary basis.
Gary: Crowds are well up in Limerick this year and across the board. The appetite for li e football is there. Great to see the premier division crowds. However no premier league football in the 2nd and 3rd cities doesn't help. We have a huge catchment area and a latent support as do Cork City.
There we have it, Limerick FC/City/37/United or whatever name you remember them by are one of the most recent clubs to have dropped out of the League of Ireland. A city with a population that is sports mad, yet it can’t host more than one football club. It’s a problem that effects most Irish counties, with a lot of clubs outside of Dublin failing to capture the imagination of these sport mad people. Maybe other projects that are ongoing as Kerry FC and Limerick’s own Treaty United can learn from others clubs past mistakes? Only time will tell.