History

Welcome to Lucan United!

The first Lucan team was started in the 50s and was called Spa Rovers. This was replaced in the 60s by Lucan Celtic and Dodsboro. These two teams decided to merge in 1968 and eventually became Lucan United in 1969.

Lucan was blossoming during these years with teams at every age group. Ladies football in the club had particular success over the years including two of the members representing their country in the European Championship (Orla Rankin and Anne Maria McGoldrick).

In 1999, a decision to merge was taken with Intel Fc due to the fact most of Intel players were from Lucan.This increased the amount of teams that Lucan United had playing as it had dropped dramatically over the previous few years and gave them a representation back in the Leinster Senior League which they had not had in years. This merger was probably more important off the field than on as it brought together two separate small committees, which enhanced the organization of the now Lucan United. The return of previous members and the addition of local residences gave us a very strong committee.

In 2002, Lucan started to grow at a rate of 25% a year. Although this was great for the club, it was becoming an issue as facilities were poor. If we wanted to continue to expand the school boy section of the club, we needed to improve the facilities as we were still using one container for dressing rooms for all the teams with no toilets, showers, or heat in the winter and only the space for two teams to change in.

It was imperative that the facilities were improved. Through the Sports Capital Program and an aggressive fund raising campaign, we were able to build a top class facility. None of this would have been possible without the help of Minister Mary Harney TD & Derek Keating Councillor and the cooperation of South Dublin County Council in particular the Parks Department Michael Hannon.

Numerous other people have given their support along the way both financially and by giving their time.

By 2005 the club had grown to 12 school boy teams and 5 senior teams. The club now still maintained a growth rate of 25% adding new school boy teams every year. With the addition of fully qualified coaches, we improved on and off the pitch. We were now providing good facilities and a structured approach to school boy football which allows development both technically and socially.

This has had a positive impact on the club league standing in the school boy section with most of our A teams were now starting to make their way into the top leagues. The u11B team won their league for the 2007-2008 season and narrowly missed out in the Paisley cup final to Wayside Celtic. The u9G and u8B1 teams also took the title that year and there was promotion for the u10A1 and the Major 1 Sunday senior side. Our Academy for u7s now has over 60 members and was producing the talent of the future.

2010-2011 Season saw Lucan United 1st team qualified for the 1st round of the FAI Senior Cup for the 1st Time narrowly losing to Phoenix 4-3. This was after an excellent run in the Intermediate Cup reaching the Quarter final stage. Also two of our u14 Premier players made the Dublin Squad - Brandon Payne and Conor Masterson. Brandon also played in Johnny Giles walk of Dreams.

Below are some highlights of our most recent seasons.

2024

Leinster Senior League Champions Charlie Cahill Cup Winners The double Champions 2024.

What a season for our Senior Section. Our 1st team win the top Prize of Senior League Champions in only their second season in the top division. Following that up with Charlie Cahill cup success.

Our Saturday Win Div 1B and the Tommy Carroll Cup (Treble Winners) and Leinster Junior Cup to top the amazing previous season..

Tom Carrol Cup Winners

Leinster Junior Cup Winners

Noel Ryan Cup Final Runners Up.

Our U13 Girls win the U14 SFAI Cup the Liam Farrell Cup and the League.

Our 15 Girls win Div A.

Our 17 & 13s Boys Win promotion.

Under 10A1 have a great season and win promotion to U11A football.

Our U12 finish runners up in the Lee McEvoy Cup.

We achieve the FAI Star 2 Award for Governance.

Our Senior team move to a new home back in Lucan - Westmanstown. Friday night under the lights

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2023

Our Senior team drew Bohemians in FAI Senior cup loosing 2-0 to a sell out crowd at Dalymount. This was greatly supported by Lucan area with over 900 in attendance cheering the club on..

Our Seniors also made it to the Semi Final of the FAI Intermediate cup loosing to eventual winners of the competition Rackmount 2-0. Very unlucky not to get more out of the game after a great performance.

Our Under 12 girls are burning up the Metropolitan league, reaching the cup final and also SFAI cup final after beating Mallow 1-0 in the semi. A couple of days out to look forward to.

Seniors finished of the season adding the Metro Cup to the cabinet that’s been building over the last few years. Another great season for our 1st team.

Girls not to be left in the shadow completed the double of league and cup. Fantastic season from our U12 premier girls.

John Doyle retires as Senior Manager after a 26 years with the Senior team.

LSL Metro Cup Winner

MGL U12 Premier Cup and League Winners

2022

LSL Senior 1 Sunday - League Champions. Promoted to the top LSL Senior league.

LSL Senior Major 1D Saturday – League Champions.

MGL u14A – League and Cup double

Beaten cup finalists - LSL Senior Premier & DDSL u15A teams

Key Appointments within the club:

Paul Roberts – Football Development Officer. Paul will work with all the team coaches and managers to continue to improve the club performance.

Paul Keating - Academy Manger. Paul will work with our 4-7 year olds and prepare them for team readiness from u8 onwards

The club has been on a major trajectory over the last 15 years producing young players who have signed with clubs in England & Scotland at the highest level including Liverpool, Bournemouth & Celtic.

Mark Travers is a premiership goalkeeper and senior international. Conor Masterson is playing in the championship. We have had several players moving into the League of Ireland and numerous players getting underage caps.

Our girls section has also produced players now playing League of Ireland at underage level with Shamrock Rovers and Senior Women’s League of Ireland with several clubs.

It really has been an exciting time for the club in 2022. The growth of the club has been the most rewarding part of our journey. The best is yet to come with our Men’s Over35s team making a welcome return to the AFL league at the back end of 2022. The club right now is in a very positive an exciting position as we continue to look to improve our facilities and coach education over the coming years and progress on the pitch at all levels.

2021

Due to lock down continuing throughout 2021, our focus is about facility improvement, education and structure. We are focussing on Coach Education in partnership with the FAI and Shamrock Rovers to complete several levels of the pathway including PDP1/2/3, and UEFA A & B accreditations. Our partners Shamrock Rovers have held several seminars on coach development and player development including the principles of play.

We also achieved club the FAI Club 1 star. This is a major achievement for our club and will have an impact on the foundations of the club for years to come. We also continue to focus on child welfare, diversity & Inclusion through education and communication.

We are now focused on preparation for our return to football by a pitch improvement program over March, April & May. Our clubhouse facilities have been enhanced with the introduction of a gym and major cosmetic improvements to the inside of the clubhouse.

We look forward to the third quarter being a football quarter once it’s safe to do so. We feel we have made major progress off the pitch during lock down and look forward to transferring that to the players in the near future.

2020

A very strange year for everyone globally. Covid-19 has had a big impact on playing time and kid’s development from a sporting point of view but more importantly on their mental health.

Our senior team was in a good place before lock down but never really got going when football started back.

Our youth teams did not get to finish the season which was disappointing as we have had two stop start seasons in a row now.

The club did achieve the FAI club mark which is important to show that you are trying to run the club the right way. We will look to build on that in 2021 hoping to extend from the club Mark to the Club Star award which continues on our journey to improve the club.

We also hope to finally improve the facilities with the building of the full size all-weather pitch in 2021. We all look forward to a better year.

We continue to grow our relationship with our partner club Shamrock Rovers. This is been done by coaching seminars between the clubs, camps and training sessions with Shamrock Rovers coaches. This is all part of the development of our Managers, Coaches and Players. Congratulations to Shamrock Rovers on their well-deserved league title.

Good year for our former players abroad with Conor Masterson featuring for QPR on a regular basis and Mark Travers continuing his development at Bournemouth and finding himself named in all the Republic of Ireland squads.

2019

Great start to the season with our annual friendly with a full strength Shamrock Rovers in the Molloy O'Toole Trophy. Lucan played well but Rovers with all the star players on show were just too strong. Funds raised going towards #supportzack campaign.

This season was a big year for the club as in 2019, Lucan United FC are Celebrating 50 years.

The seniors have had a very strong 2018-19 season. Winning The Leinster Senior league Intermediate Sunday A1 Div. and completing the double winning the Lummi O'Reilly Cup by beating a strong Dunboyne in the final. We also qualified for the FAI Senior Cup by beating Manicotti from Limerick. After a 1st round win over Killester, we lost out to Crumlin United in the last 16.

Our under 15 Premier 2 also had a strong league campaign and making it to the cup final. The girls were not to be out done by the boys with our under 15 Girls unlucky to lose out on the league title against Joeys.

Big year for former players as well with Mark Travers making his debut in Goal for Bournemouth and putting in a man of the match performance against Spurs and also winning his international call up. Conor Masterson also moved on from Liverpool to QPR were he is settling in and hopefully will make his debut soon. Conor also was a major part of the International under 21s who did so well in the Toulon Tournament and the opening European Qualifiers.

Our pathway with Shamrock Rovers continues to grow with us now entering the WNL u17s league together with a plan to enter the WNL the following year. This is a great opportunity to develop Women’s football further in the club.

Great night was had on Friday the November 8 at our 50th celebrations. It was great to see founding members, original and current managers attend plus several committee members from over the years. We also had current and past players and a few special guests on the night.

Our Partner Shamrock Rovers arrived with the FAI cup. Thanks to Stephen Bradley & Jonathan Roche for attending. We also had TD Francis Fitzgerald, South Dublin Lord Mayor Vicki Casserly and Cllr Emer Higgins in attendance.

2018

Lucan United Seniors started 2018 with great 1-0 win over Shamrock Rovers in Celbridge Football Park followed up by a narrow loss to Athlone Town. These games were played in honour of Molly O'Toole and funds raised went towards a transplant for a young girl Lacey Robinson that turned out to be a great success.

The 2018-2019 season is our 50th in football and we introduced a new crest for the season to celebrate the event. Our club has continued to develop this year with majority of our teams doing well in their divisions. Our facility development program is still on track with our all-weather pitch planning to be up and running in 2019.

2017

Lucan United Irish teenager Conor Masterson has been included in Liverpool's Champions League squad.
The 19-year-old Dubliner, who was snapped up six years ago by the Merseyside’s when playing for Lucan United, continues to make steady progress at the Reds. Last February, the versatile defender was earmarked by Jurgen Klopp as one of the next generation of Academy starlets that can make a real impact at Anfield. He's now further underlined how highly he rates Masterson by naming him in the 25-man panel for Europe's elite competition

A big Announcement came this year.

Shamrock Rovers and Lucan United F.C. link up to pave the way for future stars of the League of Ireland.

Shamrock Rovers and Lucan United F.C. have entered a partnership which sees both clubs working together to give children from the Lucan area and further afield a pathway to professional football in this country.

It is another exciting partnership at underage level following on from previous announcements of Shamrock Rovers partnerships with Corduff F.C. and Kildare District Underage League as the club implements its stated commitment of giving players every opportunity to fulfil their true potential.

Speaking on behalf of Shamrock Rovers, Shane Robinson (Academy Director) said:
“This is an exciting partnership for Shamrock Rovers. Over the last two years we have been slowly growing the relationship and this is the next step. Lucan United is a forward thinking club with some great people behind it. Our existing partnerships with Corduff and the KDUL are already proving to be very beneficial for both sides. We have a unique games programme in place with both and look forward to adding Lucan United to the programme.

Lucan United have close to 800 players playing for the club in the Dublin District Schoolboy League (31 teams), Leinster Senior League (2 teams), Metropolitan Girls League (9 teams) and an Amateur Football League over 35’s team.

The close proximity of Lucan to Tallaght and the population of the ever expanding South Dublin area make this a good move for both clubs. It provides a pathway in and out of both clubs and we believe that we can make each other stronger and stronger by being able to provide appropriate levels of football for all kids. We will continue to compete with each other on the pitch and help each other off it.

We are all looking forward to working with the people of Lucan United and welcome them to the Football Club.”

Keith Hyland, Chairman of Lucan United, said:

“Lucan United is delighted to announce a working partnership with Shamrock Rovers FC, Ireland's most successful football club. This partnership will provide Lucan United with access to additional coaching expertise from SRFC coaches, further developing the strong coaching ethos of Lucan United and also provide support for our coaching initiative in local schools. It is an opportunity for both clubs to further grow and present a pathway for elite players at all age groups right through to the SSE Premier Division. This is an exciting development for Lucan United and we look forward to working closely with the team at Shamrock Rovers in the coming season.”

2016

Great start to the season with our 1st team taking on Shamrock Rovers in the Molly O'Toole Memorial Cup. We had a great turn out for the event with over 700 people in attendance to honour her memory.

In May, 3 u16 girls receive International Caps - Nicole Smyth, Kayla Brady and Leah Brady,

Over 35's win a second successive League title. Mini League Division 2 South. The player of the Year was Alan Lindsay and the management team was Kevin O'Toole and Matt Finlay

2015

Another Former Lucan United FC player Mark Travers signs for Premiership club Bournemouth FC in July 2016.

Lucan Receive Sports Grant and Planning permission to build full size all-weather at clubhouse.

Over 35’s wins the League in their 1st season. Division 3 South winners. Player of the Year Gavin Nolan. The management team was Kevin O'Toole and Jason Kavanagh.

Under 16 Premier Girls narrowly beaten by Shelbourne in two cup finals.

DDSL Sunday U11D league winners

2014

John Delaney and John O'Shea visit the club at the start of the season

Conor Masterson is named u16 international player of the year and receives his award from Brendan Rogers

u14 Girls win the Molly O'Toole cup in a fitting tribute to our recently deceased Player Molly O'Toole.

Our 1st Team win promotion finishing second and win the Gilligan Cup Final.

Conor Masterson and Jamie Aherne play in the Under 17 European Championships for Ireland

u18 Girls win the League Cup

2013

This was the season we had 6 players obtain International caps. Conor Masterson, Brandon Payne, Josh Miller, Michael Dillinger, Sean Whelan Jamie Aherne and Tony Archibald.

Players have also agreed to move abroad for next season. Conor Masterson (Liverpool), Brandon Payne (Celtic) and Sean Whelan (Preston).

Our under 14 boys finished runners up in Major league to obtain premier football next season. Not to be out done, our second U14 team achieved back to back promotions.

u17 also gained promotion and will play in U18 super next season.

Our small sided game continued to flourish with again major development of players throughout the season. Our Academy has grown now to over 100 children registered all under the guidance of our UEFA qualified coaches.

This was a great season for the Girls section of the club. Lucan U16s won the league and narrowly losing out in the Umbro cup final. The u19 girls won the title against Dunboyne, 3-0 in a winner take all game and also winning the Youth cup. Our U14s finished runners up and our U12s beat Malahide in play off to take the league title.

The Senior Saturday side also obtained back to back promotions. Our Sunday side made it all the way to the semi-final of the Metro cup.

2012

This was a great year for our school boy section with our u15 Premier team winning the Dublin Cup, narrowly losing out in the All Ireland Final 1-0 to Cherry Orchard and finishing third in the league.

Our u13A team won the league and our u13C team finishing runners up.

The Girls section was not to be out done as they took the u14C Metro title with a 100% record of wins.

New milestones also reached included:

Lucan Seniors move into their excellent new facilities Puma Park.

Two players signed Professional contracts with Conor Masterson signing for Liverpool and Brandon Payne joining Celtic.

Sean Whelan, Conor Masterson, Brandon Payne all playing for Ireland in a famous win over Juventus in Qatar.

Brandon Payne, Sean Whelan and Conor Masterson captaining their country.

Joel Bekombo showing excellent performance in the DDSL Kennedy Cup Squad.

Mark Travers also been selected for the DDSL squad and the Ireland u15 Squad Trials.

Abbey Shields & Aoife Brophy being selected for the Dublin Metro Girls squad.

Conor Masterson, Brandon Payne, Tony Archibald, Sean Whelan & Sean Quinn all making the u16 Emergent Talent Programme.

Conor Masterson on Standby for the u17 International Squad v Slovakia at the age of 14.

Conor Masterson, Sean Whelan, Brandon Payne Jamie Aherne and Josh Miller all make the u16 International Squad

Our Academy continued to blossom with 4 excellent UEFA licensed coaches every Saturday morning.

Our small sided game developing at an accelerated rate which was most pleasing for the club.

Also our Senior Div 3A Saturday team following up on last year’s Vere Dean Cup win with a league title 2012-2013.