Dublin University Football Club (DUFC) is the

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the Comparison of rugby league and rugby union, two codes of ru ...

club of the

University of Dublin The University of Dublin ( ga, Ollscoil Átha Cliath), corporately designated the Chancellor, Doctors and Masters of the University of Dublin, is a university located in Dublin, Ireland. It is the degree-awarding body for Trinity College Dubl ...

and Trinity College, in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, which plays in Division 1A of the All-Ireland League.

History

The first known record of the Club appears under the heading 'Trinity College' in the '' Daily Express'' of 1 December 1855 and is taken to show that it had then been in existence for at least a year: The club had thus been founded by about 1854, and it has a well-documented, continuous history since then, which gives it a strong claim to be considered the world's oldest extant football club of any code. Although Guy's Hospital FC, had been founded in London in 1843, so had existed before DUFC, it later folded up for some years during the nineteenth century. Football in Trinity pre-dates the foundation of the Club itself. A poem by Edward Lysaght shows that it was being played in the College Park in the 1780s.History
at dufc.ie Being the oldest rugby club in Ireland, DUFC has won its fair share of trophies over the years. Its most notable achievement in recent years was the winning of the All-Ireland League Division 2 in the 2003-04 season, which also gained the club promotion to Division 1. This level of competition was short-lived, however, with the club returning to Division 2 after two seasons.

Present status

The DUFC 1st XV currently plays in Division 1A of the All-Ireland League. The club also fields three Junior teams who compete in the Leinster J1, J3 and J4 Metro Leagues, and two U20 teams who play in the JP Fanagan Premier and Pennant leagues respectively. They are the current Frazer McMullen All Ireland Champions, beating Clontarf U20 in the 2018 final. at sportsmanager.ie The 1stXV plays against

University College Dublin University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland ...

in the annual Colours Match which has been ongoing since its inception in 1952. Trinity has won on 24 occasions, the latest being the 2017/18 match. The club also has a Women's XV, which has played in AIL division 3. In October 2020, the club had three players,

Liam Turner Liam Turner (born 22 July 1999) is an Irish rugby union player, currently playing for Pro14 and European Rugby Champions Cup side Leinster. A former captain of the winning Blackrock Senior Cup Team, his preferred position is wing. Turner made hi ...

Michael Silvester Michael Silvester (born 4 June 1998) is an Irish rugby union player, currently playing for Pro14 and European Rugby Champions Cup side Leinster. He also won the PwC Cup of Nations on June 25, 2023 with the PwC Irish national team, being vote ...

and Jack Dunne, play in

Leinster Leinster ( ; ga, Laighin or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, situated in the southeast and east of Ireland. The province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige. Following the 12th-century Norman invasion of Ir ...

's Pro14 win over Zebre.

Grounds

The club's main playing field is College Park,
at maps.google.com which is within the grounds of Trinity in the Dublin city centre. It also has two other football fields used mainly by the Junior teams on Santry Avenue in the Dublin suburb of

Santry Santry () is a suburb on the northside of Dublin, Ireland, bordering Coolock, Glasnevin, Kilmore and Ballymun. It straddles the boundary of Dublin City Council and Fingal County Council jurisdictions. The character of the area has chang ...

.Club Info
at dufc.ie
at maps.google.com

Notable players

Ireland

Dublin University Football Club has a long tradition of its players gaining the highest international honours, with over 160 past players being capped for Ireland national rugby union team, Ireland since 1875. Some of the most famous and presently memorable are listed below.

British & Irish Lions

DUFC also has a long history of providing British & Irish Lions tourists, with the most recent contribution being Jamie Heaslip in 2013.

Ireland coaches

Dublin University past players Roly Meates and Gerry Murphy both went on to coach Ireland at different times. Meates is also an honorary life member of DUFC, having coached the club for 28 years.

Honours

All-Ireland Cup The All-Ireland Cup, also known as the Bateman Cup, is a knock-out competition for the winners of the four provincial rugby union cups in Ireland. History The Bateman Cup ran from 1922 to 1939 as a competition for the four provincial cup-winners ...

(1): 1925-26 * Leinster Senior Cup (19): 1883, 1884, 1886, 1887, 1890, 1893, 1895, 1897, 1898, 1900, 1905, 1907, 1908, 1912, 1920, 1921, 1926, 1960, 1976

References

External links

Official Twitter
{{Authority control Rugby clubs established in 1854

Rugby Union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the Comparison of rugby league and rugby union, two codes of ru ...

Irish rugby union teams Rugby union clubs in Dublin (city) University and college rugby union clubs in Ireland 1854 establishments in Ireland Senior Irish rugby clubs (Leinster)