Shelbourne football club was formed in 1885 in the Ringsend / Sandymount area of Dublin by a group of men led by Mr. James Rowan. The club took its name from the nearby Shelbourne Road and Shelbourne House hostelry where a collection took place to enable the club to purchase its first set of gear and pay its affiliation fee. The club’s first pitch was at Havelock Square just behind the north terrace at Lansdowne Road.

In Shelbourne’s second season, their first in competitive competition, they played 28 matches, won 25, drew 2 and lost only 1. Their goal tally was 109 for and 15 against. They won the principal junior competitions – the Leinster Junior Cup and League Championship. Not content with this the club decided to enter the senior ranks for the 1897-98 Season and reached the Leinster Senior Cup Final at their first attempt, only to loose to Bohemians. They also finished runners-up in the Leinster Senior League.

The club made it into the Final of the Irish Cup in 1905 but were beaten by Distillery on that occasion. It was not long before the name Shelbourne went onto the cup. The following year the Dublin side defeated Belfast Celtic by 2-0 and so became the first Southern club to win the IFA cup. The cup was to be won twice more in 1911 and 1920 before their association with the Irish Football Association was to come to an end.

Shelbourne were founder members of the League of Ireland on its formation in 1921. In 1925-26 Shelbourne won the League of Ireland for the first time when they won the title with two points to spare over local rivals Shamrock Rovers. It was not until 1939 that Shelbourne won the FAI Cup for the first time when the beat Sligo Rovers 1-0 after a replay at Dalymount Park. At this time the club were playing their home matches at Shelbourne Park, Greyhound Stadium where they stayed until 1949. The club moved grounds many times between 1949 and 1989 before the late Tony Donnelly took over as Chairman of the club and helped purchase and develop Tolka Park and turn it into the best soccer stadium in the country.

One of the clubs most exiting periods was in the early 60’s. Manager Gerry Doyle assembled one of the best and most exciting teams in the League of Ireland. During this period Shelbourne won the League Championship once and the F.A.I. Cup twice and qualified for Europe where the met some of the top clubs in Europe including Barcelona, Athletico Madrid, and Sporting Lisbon. Some of the Shelbourne players at that time who went on to win International caps were: - Tony Dunne (who won a European cup medal with Manchester United) Freddie Strahan, Christy Doyle, Eric Barber, Jackie Hennessy and Tommy Carroll.

In 1964 Shelbourne reached the second round of the Fairs Cup (now the UEFA Cup) when they defeated Belenenses of Portugal in a play-off at Dalymount Park after two draws between the sides.

Between 1971, when Shelbourne won the Leinster Senior Cup and the Shield, and 1992 the Club went through its leanest period and its very existence was threatened on several occasions.

Pat Byrne was appointed player-manager in 1988 and he was to lay the foundations for what was to become the revival of Shelbourne Football Club. It took Pat Byrne four years to get the blend he wanted with experienced players like Mick Neville, Jody Byrne and Gary Howlett teaming up with Gary Haylock, Padraig Dully, Greg Costello and Brian Flood to form one of the most exciting League of Ireland teams for years.

Shelbourne won the League Championship in 1992 for the first time in thirty, years with a brand of football that was comparable to that played by the great Shelbourne team of the “Sixties”. The following year Shelbourne won the F.A.I. Cup and this win also bridged a thirty-year gap since the club last won this trophy.

Dermot Keely was appointed manager at the start of the 1998/99 season and led the club to the “Double” in the season 1999/2000 for the first time in the clubs 105 year history.

At the end of season 2001/2002 after Shelbourne had won the league title season for the second time in two years manager Dermot Keely resigned saying that he had taken the club as far as he could.

There was great interest in the managerial vacancy at Tolka Park but the club decided to appoint Pat Fenlon as player/ manager. Pat was a vastly experienced player having played with Chelsea, St. Patrick’s Athletic, Bohemians, Linfield, Shamrock Rovers as well as Shelbourne and is a qualified UEFA coach. In his first season as manager Pat took Shelbourne to runners up spot in the league and UEFA Cup qualification.

If Pats first season was good his second was even better. Despite elimination in the first qualifying round of the UEFA Cup Shels went on to win their 11th league title - their third title in four seasons. Pat Fenlon’s dealings in the transfer market was the key to their success. He signed Jason Byrne from Bray Wanderers and Jason has turned into one of the most prolific goalscores in the history of the eircom league.

In 2004 Shelbourne became the first Irish club to reach the third qualifying round of the Champions League only to be eliminated by Deportivo La Coruna despite heroic performances, both at home and away. Despite a tough season in which they played eight matches in Europe manager Pat Fenlon kept the players focused and they finished the season as champions winning back to back titles for the first time in their history.

Despite winning the League title for the thirteenth time in 2006, the season will not be remembered for the clubs on field activities. The club found itself with serious cash flow problems and mounting debts which nearly forced the club out of existence and led to the departure of most of its players. Shelbourne were eventually granted a First Division licence and played in the first Division in 2007 and 2008 losing out on promotion in the last match of last season when they only managed a draw when a win was required.

This season manager Dermot Keely has brought in some new faces he hopes will help Shels to promotion to the Premier Division.

Michael Kirwan