| Full name | Freebooters Football Club | |
|---|---|---|
| Nicknames | the Whites, the Pirates[1] | |
| Founded | 1898 | |
| Dissolved | 1906 | |
| Ground | Sandymount Road Dublin | |
Freebooters F.C was anassociation football club fromSandymount,Dublin,Ireland.
The club was founded in 1898 and was made up of a number of players who had been to public school in England, such families as the O'Reilly's, McCanns, and Meldons; several had gone toBeaumont College inBerkshire, including an Irish international player, Henry O'Reilly.[2] The club was an amateur club, using theCorinthian F.C. as a model.[3]
The club lost 1–0 in the 1900Leinster Senior Cup final to local rivalsShelbourne in a tight game.[4] Its highest achievement was reaching the 1901Irish Cup final at Grosvenor Park inBelfast, but lost 1–0 toCliftonville, the Whites handicapped by playing much of the match with 10 men after an early injury to full-back Ryan.[5] Freebooters had beatenLinfield F.C. 2–1 in the semi-final at the Jones Road venue.[6]
By 1906 however the club was struggling; it had to cede oneLeinster Senior League match toTritonville when only seven players turned up.[7] At the end of the season the club resigned from the competition and seems to have dissolved.[8]
The club played in white.[9]
The club played at Sandymount, between the Star of the Sea Church andRingsend. It was previously leased by theCatholic University Medical School and the club hosted a women's international between Irish and Scottish XIs in 1903.[10] In 1906Shelbourne F.C. began playing their home games on this ground as Freebooters went into decline.[11]
Freebooters players representedIreland at international level in theBritish Home Championship.[12]
Other soccer clubs have adopted the nameFreebooters, inCork and inKilkenny. Freebooters (Cork) came runners-up in theFAI Intermediate Cup in 1949[13] played in the Cork Business and Shipping League, Freebooters(Kilkenny) was formed in 1950 by workers from the Post Office, one of the players had moved from Freebooters in Cork and so they chose the name.
