Meet Our Opponents: Kildare County FC

(first published in the May 2009 Kildare County programme)

Though far from the newest club in the league, Kildare County FC are one of the youngest, founded as they were only in 2002. When St. Francis dropped out of the league the previous season, Newbridge Town were approached to take their place, but instead it was decided that a new team be formed, representing the whole county of Kildare, but playing out of the same ground, Station Road.

The Thoroughbreds first manager was Dermot Keely, and their first league game came against Limerick on August 24th 2002, when they went down 3-1 at home. Kildare also had earlier played Limerick in their first ever competitive fixture, in the First Division Cup. Philly Gorman, a player associated with the club for much of its short history, notched their first ever goal in that match, and indeed Kildare made it as far as the Final in that first competition, before losing out to Finn Harps. Kildare managed a creditable 5th place in Division One in their inaugural season under Keely, and the same again the following year.

In 2004, with Eric Hannigan at the helm, the club invested strongly in the team as they made a determined push for success. With players like Shay Zellor, Martin Reilly and Ger O’Brien in the side hopes were high, but County agonisingly missed out on a promotion place by three points in a season where three teams went up. That 4th place finish remains their highest ever in league football. They did take the notable scalp of Bohemians at Dalymount in Round 3 of the FAI Cup, but it was scant consolation. Having cut back on their spending Kildare languished towards the bottom end of the table for the next few seasons, though they were one of the more profitable clubs in the league during that time.

Things took a turn for the worse for the Thoroughbreds last season, 2008. Though possessing a number of talented players like Gorman, Stephen Cooling, Cathal Brady and Ciaran Kilduff, the team underperformed and languished at the foot of the table for much of the year. Manager John Ryan resigned in October, ending an almost four year spell in charge. Tony Cousins took over in a caretaker capacity, but couldn’t alter the club’s fate, and they were duly compelled to face Mervue United in a play-off for their league survival. An excellent comeback 2-2 draw in the first leg in Galway was undone by a disastrous 3-0 reverse at Station Road, and County were looking at life away from league football.

Cobh Ramblers’ shock relegation due to financial problems gave Kildare a league lifeline on February 16th of this year, but with new manager Thomas Donnelly having assembled a team of local amateur players and just four part-time pros in preparation for A-League competition, it was a mixed blessing, as the news came far too late for the side to be strengthened to any great degree. As a result Kildare have really struggled so far this year, and an opening day draw against Finn Harps has been followed by seven straight defeats, including a record 8-0 drubbing by Sporting Fingal at home, which culminated in Donnelly’s resignation last week.

But, maybe somewhat more than usual with new appointments, optimism has returned to Station Road with the arrival of manager Joe Somerville and his assistant Keith O’Halloran at the helm. Untested at this level he may be, but Somerville has led Cherry Orchard to the Leinster Senior League Premier title, and arrives fired with enthusiasm for the challenge. There can be few who don’t wish the pair well with the task ahead of them, though perhaps starting next week, eh?