 | |||
| Full name | Athlone Town Association Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Town | ||
| Founded | 1887 | ||
| Ground | Athlone Town Stadium,Lissywollen,Athlone | ||
| Capacity | 5,000 (2,500 seated) | ||
| Chairman | John Hayden | ||
| Manager | Vacant | ||
| League | League of Ireland First Division | ||
| 2024 | League of Ireland First Division, 4th of 10 | ||
| Website | athlonetownafc | ||
Athlone Town Association Football Club is anIrishfootball club fromAthlone who are playing in theLeague of Ireland. The club is the oldest in the League as it was founded in 1887.[1] First elected to the League of Ireland in 1922, they play their home matches inLissywollen, their new stadium which opened in 2007. The club's colours are blue and black. Away kits vary from year to year although white has been worn in the last year.
Athlone first competed in the League of Ireland in the1922–23 season, finishing sixth. They were the first non-Dublin club in the Irish Free State to compete in the national Free State League. They competed in the league until 1928 and not again until the1969–70 season.
Athlone Town won theFAI Cup, their first domestic success in 1924, beatingFordsons. Dinny Hannon scored the only goal of the game, as Athlone went through the whole competition without conceding a goal.
Hannon was one of five Athlone Town players chosen to represent the Irish Free State at the 1924 Paris Olympic Games. The other players were Tommy Muldoon, Frank Ghent, John Joe Dykes and Paddy O'Reilly.[2]
The club finished second in the league in the1974–75 season, earning a place in theUEFA Cup, the first time they had ever qualified for European competition. Their first-round game was against Norwegian sideVålerenga who they beat 3–1 at home before drawing 1–1 away. Athlone's second round tie was against Italian sideAC Milan, drawing 0–0 in the first leg at St. Mel's Park, setting a record attendance of 9,000 before losing the second leg at theSan Siro 3–0.[3]
Athlone won their first league title in the1980–81 season. They playedKB in Europe the following season, earning a draw in the first leg in Denmark and again at St. Mel's Park, going out on the away goal rule.
In the1981–82 season Athlone Town won the League Cup for the second time, beatingShamrock Rovers. However, they failed to retain their league title that year finishing 4th. Athlone Town were again crowned league champions in the1982–83 season and qualifying for Europe, and also retained the League Cup, beatingDundalk. Their opponents in Europe on this occasion were Belgian outfitRaymond Goethals managedStandard Liège, losing 3–2 at home and 8–2 inLiège.
In 1985 six new clubs were elected to the league, increasing the league's participation to 22. As a result, the current two division (Premier and First) structure was adapted with Athlone Town in Premier Division. In 1987 the club finished last and were relegated to the First Division. Their stay there was short, finishing top of First Division the following season, gaining promotion to the Premier Division. The club remained in the top flight until the1991–92 season, when they finished eleventh and were subsequently relegated to the First Division.
Athlone Town again gained promotion to the Premier Division in the1993–94 season, finishing runners-up toSligo Rovers that season.
The club were once again relegated in 1996, narrowly missing out on promotion in 2001 by one point toMonaghan United.
Since 2001 Athlone have finished each season in the bottom half of the first division. In that time eight different managers have been appointed. In 2007 the club moved fromSt Mel's Park to a new stadium, which was opened on 9 March when the home side hostedKilkenny City in the opening game of the season.
On 15 December 2008, the club held an emergency E.G.M. with supporters stating that they were in financial difficulties. Part finance had been raised and the club worked towards raising the rest. The club received funds through the patron scheme with over 350 fans contributing.
On 27 September 2013, Athlone clinched theFirst Division title with a 1–0 win over Waterford United.
In 2014, Athlone Town had a bad campaign in thePremier Division, finishing last in the championship, in the Leinster Senior Cup it was eliminated in the quarterfinals bySt Patrick's Athletic, in theFAI Cup it was eliminated in the second round byLongford Town, and in the League Cup lost toLongford Town again in the first round.
In September 2017 the FAI banned goalkeeperIgors Labuts and midfielder Dragos Sfrijan for 12 months after a UEFA investigation found "clear and overwhelming betting evidence" offixing of Athlone's 29 April match againstLongford Town in the2017 League of Ireland First Division.[4] TheProfessional Footballers' Association of Ireland said the decision was based on "half-baked innuendo".[5]
In 2018, a dispute over ownership ofAthlone Town Stadium arose.[6][7][8]
In November 2020, Athlone Town lost 11–0 toDundalk F.C. in theFAI Cup semi final, a new record for the biggest win from a team in the history of the competition[9]
There are many youth teams, ranging from u13 boys' to u17 women's team.
The club currently plays in theLeague of Ireland First Division.
| Competition | Matches | W | D | L | GF | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| European Cup | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 14 |
| UEFA Cup | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| TOTAL | 8 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 11 | 19 |
| Season | Competition | Round | Opponent | Home | Away | Aggregate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1975–76 | UEFA Cup | 1R |  Vålerengen | 3–1 | 1–1 | 4–2 |
| 2R |  Milan | 0–0 | 0–3 | 0–3 | ||
| 1981–82 | European Cup | 1R |  KB | 2–2 | 1–1 | 3–3 (a) |
| 1983–84 | European Cup | 1R |  Standard Liège | 2–3 | 2–8 | 4–11 |
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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| Position | Staff |
|---|---|
| Director of Football | Michael O'Connor |
| Head Coach | Vacant |
| Coach | Emmett Egan |
| Kitman | Lee Bolger |
| Chairman | John Hayden |
 |
Billy Young (1969)Mick Dalton (1970)Amby Fogarty (1974–76)
Trevor Hockey (1976)Tommy Carroll (1976–77)Seán Thomas (1977–79)Turlough O'Connor (1979–85)Padraig O'Connor (1987–89)Mick Leech (1990–91)Pat Devlin (1991–92)Michael O'Connor (1992–95) Tony Mannion (1995–96)Dermot Keely (1996)Terry Eviston (1996–97)Liam Buckley (1997–98)Jimmy Greene (1999–00)Liam Buckley (2000–02)Aaron Callaghan (2004) Stephen Kelly (2004–05) John Gill (2005)Michael O'Connor (2005–07) Dermot Lennon (2007–09)Brendan Place (2009–10) Mike Kerley (2011–12) Padraig Moran (2012)Roddy Collins (2012–13)Mick Cooke (2014)Keith Long (2014) Eddie Wallace (2014–15)Alan Mathews (2015–16) Colin Fortune (2016–17)
Ricardo Monsanto (2017) Ricardo Cravo (2017)Roddy Collins (2017–18)Aaron Callaghan (2018) Terry Butler (2018–2019) Adrian Carberry (2019–2021)Paul Doolin (2021)Martin Russell (2022) Dermot Lennon (2022–2023) Gordon Brett (2023)The record books give 1892 as the year of our founding ... as it was in that year that the club became affiliated to theLeinster Football Association, with the object of competing in the newly inauguratedLeinster Junior Cup. However, for the real date of birth we must refer to our esteemed local paper the Westmeath Independent, which in its issue dated 8 January 1887 stated 'We are in a position to announce that O.R. Coote Esq., Larkfield is organising a club under Association rules and already a large number of young men of the town have become members...'
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)That five of the winning team – Paddy O'Reilly, Tommy Muldoon, John Joe Dykes, Denis Hannon and Frank Ghent – would make history as the first Olympians to compete for the new Irish Free State later that same year in Paris only added to the fairytale.'
