My Club: Shelbourne FC

Ollie Byrne has been secretary at Shelbourne since 1988 and on the board of directors since the 1970s, while his family have …

Ollie Byrne has been secretary at Shelbourne since 1988 and on the board of directors since the 1970s, while his family have been associated with the club for more than 70 years. He has been behind the club's expansion in recent years, including pre-season friendlies with some major European sides.

Shelbourne was founded in 1895 by James Rowan and six others in of Ringsend. The first home was a piece of waste ground at the Havelock Square, beside Lansdowne Road, and since then it has moved to Milltown, Dalymount Park, Shelbourne Park, Shelbourne Stadium and Harold's Cross before settling at Tolka Park in 1988.

Membership: Altogether there would be about 1,000 affiliated members, and that includes a side in the reserve division, the under-19 team, five under-age teams and the women's side.

Status: Right now we are placed fourth in the Premier Division, and have been in that division for the 10 years we've been at Tolka Park.

READ MORE

Honours: I'm very proud in that we've won every trophy in the country in my time, and that includes the FAI and League Cup double in 1996 and the League trophy in 1992. I suppose it's been the Phoenix rising from the ashes in recent times, and I'm lucky to have been a part of that.

Finest Hour: Opening the 9,000 capacity all-seater stadium at Tolka Park stands out, but there have been some great moments, such as making the second round of European competition and seeing some results framed behind the bar, like beating Rangers.

Worst Moment: The nature of the game is that you have your ups and downs and we've been through many transition periods in the past, but, as I said, there's been so much to be proud of.

Club Hero: There's far too many to mention them all, but names like Liam O'Connor, the Farrell family, Eamon White and Shay Malone have done a lot over the years.

Greatest Rivals: In terms of Dublin teams that would traditionally be Shamrock Rovers, but I'd say that today St Patrick's have probably become our main rivals.

Ian O'Riordan

Ian O'Riordan

Ian O'Riordan is an Irish Times sports journalist writing on athletics