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Colours:
Red & White & Blue Pitch Location:
Ruan
Club Officials:
Chairman: Ferdie O'Donoghue 065-6822721
Secretary: John O'Neill (065) 6842644 (087)
7559169 (065) 6848100 (W)
Treasurer: Vera Dullaghan 065-6822817
Child Welfare Officer:
John O'Neill
Team Managers:
U11A & B's -
Damien Walsh (065) 6836670 &
Niall Casey (065) 6828763
U13 A & B's -Tony Murphy (065) 6842942
(087) 2861460
U14 - Aiden O'Neill (087) 9305984
Under 16 - John O'Neill 065-6842644 087-7559169 & Mick Kennedy (087)
6530586
History
The club was founded in 1961 drawing its players mainly from the LIFFORD
area of Ennis. The team played its matches in the Fairgreen and was a founding
member of the fledging Clare League. Success was not long in coming with the
acquisition of the Fergus Cup in 1963. this Cup was again won in 1968 when the
team was known as Rockmount. The team reverted to Lifford the following season
and have not deviated from that name since. For the season 1968/69 the club
moved to a playing field at Our Lady's hospital, Ennis where it has remained
ever since.
A youths team was added in 1970 and made an
immediate impact, winning the Clare Youths Shield.
Schoolboy competition started in Clare in 1972.
Lifford U-16's dominating - winning the League and Cup double that season.
During the second half of the seventies, success
was synonymous with Lifford. In 1975/76 both junior and youth teams were League
& Cup champions. These teams are still known in Clare in soccer speak as the
"double double".
This was arguably Lifford's best senior team and
many of these named were not alone some of the best the club produced but also
some of the most loyal.
The members of the panel were Adrian Sheedy, a 16
year old goalkeeper who received several invitations to join League of Ireland
clubs. Colm Keating, Ger Kenneally, Michael Gormley, Barry Smythe 18 years who
was also an accomplished hurler and represented his county for many years. Liam
Murphy, Brendan Mounsey, Pat Murphy, Roger McMahon, Jimmy Spellissey, Michael
Skelly, Tim McAllister, Nicholas Moloney and Brain Donnellan. Brian was also a
gifted 16 year old who had trials for the Irish Youths. He also spent a season
in the LOI with Galway.
During that season the juniors reached the last
16 before being defeated by Cherry Orchard by 4 - 1. In the season 1976/77 the
Youths won all 5 Clare League Trophies. The club's success's became scarce as
the 80's approached. There were some trophies won. In 1980/81 the junior's
won the shield and in 1981/82 the youth won the cup.
The Split
In 1983/84 a new senior club was formed namely "Avenue United".
Avenue drew its players initially from the Marian Avenue, Steeles Terrace area -
Lifford heartland. With the formation of this club Lifford was deprived of some
of its best junior & youth players. The club suffered accordingly and some
would say still has not recovered from this hemorrhage. While Lifford juniors
have sporadic success in the 80's & 90's, Avenue have in their short history
become the dominant team in Clare and recognised nationally as a team of real
quality. During the 90's the club suffered a further setback with the formation
of OLDTOWN, a successful junior club backboned by some of the best young talent
produced by Lifford. It is a testament to the hard core within the junior
section who survived to build again and hopefully will be promoted soon from the
1st Division.
Schoolboys
The club embraced the schoolboys in the season 1986/87. This
section of the club has had huge success in Clare, capturing numerous Leagues &
Cups as well as "doubles". Presently Lifford caters for 6 Schoolboy teams from
U11 to U16. Some of the names synonymous with successful Lifford schoolboy
teams during the late 80's early 90's are as follows:- Paul (Ziggy) Johnson,
Rory Callinan, John Flynn, David Mangan, John Morris, Colm Mullen, Fergal Keane,
Greg Howard, Leslie Fawl, Darragh Murphy, Gerry Dullaghan, Niall Howard, Niall
McCarthy, Declan O'Halloran, Mark Dunphy, Barry Malone, Kenneth Herlihy, Alan
Dormer, David Herlihy, Karl Hogan, Jarlath Hassett.
Ladies
In 1988 a Ladies section was added and these girl teams have
been a revelation winning national titles every other year. Many of these
Lifford girls have been capped at International level and are indeed responsible
for keeping Lifford to the fore for the last decade.
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