By:
Conor Martin
There soon could be a new League of Ireland club following the news that a proposal to bring a football club to the Banner County will be debated by Clare County Council.
On Monday night, Sinn Féin councillor Tommy Guilfoyle had a motion on the agenda calling for “the appropriate personnel in Clare County Council to come together and set up a discussion to explore the possible setup of a League of Ireland soccer team in the Banner County with all the relevant stakeholders.”
Galway United and Treaty United in Limerick are the only two clubs near Clare. There is strong support for a club to represent Clare and the motion will be debated in July.
This was highlighted at Monday’s meeting, and there is potential for football to grow in the county. Especially as Newmarket Celtic became the first Clare club to win the FAI Junior Cup in 2023, there is potential for the sport to grow and close the gap between football and GAA in terms of popularity in Clare.
Guilfoyle lamented the lack of a local League of Ireland team at Monday’s meeting.
“For years, I’ve lived in this community, and I’ve seen the wealth of young people who play soccer.
“So, we have all these kids playing soccer in County Clare, but the majority of them, if they want to play League of Ireland, are going to Treaty United in Limerick or Galway United.”
Clare League of Ireland team will face challenges with funding
Alan O’Callaghan, who has a position on the Clare County Council, is supportive of the concept of a League of Ireland team being based in the county. But recognised the plan has a number of hurdles it must jump in order to get off the ground.
“We’re sowing a seed into people’s heads at a higher level, like the FAI.
“There are going to be huge challenges with funding, but hopefully something might come out of it; you’d never know.”
“There might be someone that would be willing to say. ‘This is not a bad idea.”
County council won’t fund proposal
Despite the exciting proposal, Councillor O’Callaghan ruled out any source of funding from the county council.
“We don’t have that kind of money, but there are different programmes that do pop up for funding through Sports Capital Grants.
“Maybe the council can put one forward and maybe identify a site.”
In Lees Road municipal sports ground in Ennis a number of people were supportive of a Clare bid to hosting League of Ireland soccer.
Several attendees then chimed in with their own two cents on the proposal.
“I travel up to Sligo, to Treaty [Limerick] and to Galway to watch the League of Ireland. I would much prefer to watch a team in Clare. I’d have more of an emotional attachment to that.”
“I think it would be a great idea. There’s lots of interest in soccer in Clare. It would be worth giving it a try and see what happens,” another added.
A third person said:
“The more soccer we have here, the better. Anyone interested in soccer in Clare is going to Limerick or Galway to see League of Ireland matches.”
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