Jacobs Football Club was an Irish association football club based in

Crumlin, Dublin Crumlin () is a Southside suburb of Dublin, Ireland. Formerly a rural area, it became heavily built up from the early 20th century onwards. Crumlin is the site of Ireland's largest children's hospital, Our Lady's Children's Hospital. Location ...

. Jacobs were one of the founding members of the

League of Ireland The League of Ireland ( ga, Sraith na hÉireann), together with the Football Association of Ireland, is one of the two main governing bodies responsible for organising association football in the Republic of Ireland. The term was originally us ...

and played in the league from 1921–22 until 1931–32. Like several fellow early League of Ireland clubs, such as

St James's Gate St. James's Gate, located off the south quays of Dublin, on James's Street, was the western entrance to the city during the Middle Ages. During this time the gate was the traditional starting point for the Camino pilgrimage from Dublin to Santiag ...

, Midland Athletic, Fordsons and

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ga, Dún Dealgan ), meaning "the fort of Dealgan", is the county town (the administrative centre) of County Louth, Ireland. The town is on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the east coast of Ireland. It is h ...

, Jacobs had their origins as a factory or

works team A works team (sometimes factory team, company team) is a sports team that is financed and run by a manufacturer or other business. Sometimes, works teams contain or are entirely made up of employees of the supporting company. Association footb ...

. They were originally the football team of Jacobs Biscuit Factory. They remained active as a football club until at least the late 1960s, playing in the round of sixteen of the 1968–69

FAI Cup The Football Association of Ireland Senior Challenge Cup (FAI Cup), known as the Extra.ie FAI Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out association football competition contested annually by teams from the Republic of Ireland (as well as Derry ...

History

Early years

In 1914–15 Jacobs played in the Leinster Junior League alongside

Shamrock Rovers Shamrock Rovers Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Ruagairí na Seamróige) is an Irish association football club based in Tallaght, South Dublin. The club's senior team competes in the League of Ireland Premier Division and it is the most su ...

and in 1916–17 they were runners up in the

IFA Junior Cup The Irish Football Association (IFA) is the governing body for association football in Northern Ireland. It organised the Ireland national football team from 1880 to 1950, which after 1954, became the Northern Ireland national football team. ...

, losing in the final to a team representing the

Royal Irish Rifles The Royal Irish Rifles (became the Royal Ulster Rifles from 1 January 1921) was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army, first created in 1881 by the amalgamation of the 83rd (County of Dublin) Regiment of Foot and the 86th (Royal County ...

. During the 1919–20 season, played against the background of the

Irish War of Independence The Irish War of Independence () or Anglo-Irish War was a guerrilla war fought in Ireland from 1919 to 1921 between the Irish Republican Army (IRA, the army of the Irish Republic) and British forces: the British Army, along with the quasi-mil ...

, a group of Jacobs players were found guilty of invading the dressing room of their opponents,

Olympia The name Olympia may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film * ''Olympia'' (1938 film), by Leni Riefenstahl, documenting the Berlin-hosted Olympic Games * ''Olympia'' (1998 film), about a Mexican soap opera star who pursues a career as an athlet ...

, after a Leinster Senior Cup game. Two Jacobs players received lengthy suspensions from the

Leinster Football Association The Leinster Football Association (LFA) is the governing body for association football in the Irish province of Leinster. It is responsible for organizing the Leinster Senior Cup and the Leinster Senior League as well as numerous other leagues ...

as did an Olympia player when it emerged that Jacobs had been taunted for "playing (

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

) soldiers" in their team.

League of Ireland

In 1921–22, together with Shelbourne,

Bohemians Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Beer * National Bohemian, a brand brewed by Pabst * Bohemian, a brand of beer brewed by Molson Coors Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, origin ...

, Frankfort,

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams in London, originally ...

and Dublin United, Jacobs became founder members of the

. Like Jacobs, the other seven founding members had spent the 1920–21 season playing in the Leinster Senior League. In the 1921–22 Leinster Senior Cup Jacobs were finalists, losing 1–0 to eventual treble winners, St James's Gate. The highlight of their time in the League of Ireland was a third-place finish in 1923–24. They were also

semi-finalists in 1922–23 and 1925–26. After finishing bottom of the table three seasons in a row, Jacobs failed to gain re-election at the end of the 1931–32. Together with Brideville they left the league which was reduced from twelve to ten clubs.

Leinster Senior League

After leaving the

, Jacobs rejoined the Leinster Senior League. During the 1950s they enjoyed something of a revival. In 1949–50 they won the

FAI Intermediate Cup The FAI Intermediate Cup ( ga, Corn Comortais Peile na hÉireann), also known as the FAI Umbro Intermediate Cup and the Pat O'Brien Intermediate Challenge Cup, is a cup competition organized by the Football Association of Ireland for intermediate ...

after beating

St Patrick's Athletic St Patrick's Athletic Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Lúthchleas Phádraig Naofa) is a professional Irish association football club based in Inchicore, Dublin, that plays in the Irish Premier Division. Founded in May 1929, they played origin ...

in the final. They were also runners up in this cup competition in 1952–53, 1953–54 and 1960–61.''FAI Yearbook & Diary 1995'' Between 1952–53 and 1954–55 they were Leinster Senior League champions on three consecutive seasons. In 1967–68 they won a fourth Leinster Senior League title.

Honours

* Leinster Senior League **''Winners'': 1952–53, 1953–54, 1954–55, 1967–68: 4 *

**''Winners'': 1949–50: 1 **''Runners Up'': 1952–53, 1953–54, 1960–61: 3 * Leinster Senior Cup **''Runners Up'': 1921–22: 1

League of Ireland Stats

Notable former players

Ireland internationals

The following Jacobs F.C. players represented

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 ...

and/or the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

at full international level. * Frank Collins *

Tommy Dunne Tomás Dunne (born 21 May 1974) is an Irish hurling coach and former player who is from Toomevara, County Tipperary in Ireland. He is the current coach of the Tipperary senior hurling team. Dunne enjoyed a distinguished playing career with Toom ...

Shay Keogh Seamus "Shay" Keogh (6 September 1934 – 13 April 2020) was an Irish footballer who played as a centre half. He was part of the great Shamrock Rovers teams of the 1950s in a side, popularly known as Coad's Colts, that enjoyed many memorable day ...

Goalscorers

*Top League Scorer ''(season)'': 13, Paddy Smith ( 1922–23). *Top League Scorer ''(total)'': 55, Paddy Smith (1921–23 and 1924–29).

References

{{League of Ireland clubs Association football clubs in Dublin (city) Defunct League of Ireland clubs Former Leinster Senior League clubs Crumlin, Dublin Works association football teams in Ireland Association football clubs established in the 1910s Association football clubs disestablished in the 1960s 1910s establishments in Ireland 1960s disestablishments in Ireland