Leicester Celtic A.F.C. is an Irish association football club based in

Rathfarnham Rathfarnham () is a Southside suburb of Dublin, Ireland. It is south of Terenure, east of Templeogue, and is in the postal districts of Dublin 14 and 16. It is within the administrative areas of both Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown County Council a ...

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

. The club's senior team compete in the Leinster Senior League where they have enjoyed reasonable success. Youth sides compete in the Dublin and District Schoolboys League as well as the

FAI Youth Cup The FAI Youth Cup, also known as the FAI Umbro Youth Challenge Cup, is a cup competition organised by the FAI for youth association football clubs and teams in the Republic of Ireland. The inaugural winners were Greenmount Rangers. The competit ...

History

Leicester Celtic was founded in 1967 by Michael Flaherty and Father C.F. Lee, then a curate in the

Rathgar Rathgar (), is a suburb of Dublin in Ireland. It was originally a village which from 1862 was part of the township of Rathmines and Rathgar; it was absorbed by the growing city and became a suburb in 1930. It lies about three kilometres south of ...

parish. In return for financial assistance from the Parish, the name of a local street, Leicester Avenue, was to be used in the club name. In their first season Celtic fielded one team at under-17 level. The following season two teams at under-14 and under-18 represented the club. Since 2009 Leicester Celtic has been affiliated with the Welsh football club

Swansea City AFC Swansea City Association Football Club (; cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Cymdeithas Dinas Abertawe) is a professional association football, football club based in Swansea, Wales that plays in the EFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of Englis ...

Ground

Leicester Celtic moved around many times in the early years, playing home games in

Bushy Park Bushy Park in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames is the second largest of London's Royal Parks, at in area, after Richmond Park. The park, most of which is open to the public, is immediately north of Hampton Court Palace and Hampton ...

and

Marlay Park Marlay Park () is an suburban public park located in Rathfarnham in Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, Ireland. Lying about nine kilometres (5.5 miles) from Dublin city centre, the parkland comprises woodlands, ponds and walks. Recreational spaces inclu ...

before eventually moving to the current base of Loreto Park in the 1980s. In 2003 an investment of €1 million saw Leicester Celtic build their own all weather floodlit playing facility and clubhouse beside the pitches in Loreto.

Notable former players

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 ...
internationals

Damien Duff Damien Anthony Duff (born 2 March 1979) is an Irish professional football manager and former player who played predominantly as a winger. He has been the manager of League of Ireland club Shelbourne F.C. since November 2021. He began his prof ...

Richie Sadlier Richard Sadlier (born 14 January 1979, in Dublin) is an Irish former professional footballer and former CEO of St Patrick's Athletic. Since retirement from the professional game he has worked as a pundit with RTÉ Sport. Club career He began h ...

* Gavin Bazunu *

Republic of Ireland under-21 internationals

* Barry Roche

League of Ireland XI The League of Ireland XI, more recently referred to as the ''Airtricity League XI'' for sponsorship reasons, is the representative team of the League of Ireland, the national association football league of the Republic of Ireland. For much of its ...
players

John Coady John Coady (born 25 August 1960 in Dublin) is an Irish former footballer who played at both the left back position and in left midfield. Early years He attended Synge Street CBS,

* Barry Murphy *

Paul Osam Paul Osam (born 20 December 1967) is an Irish former professional association footballer. He has also done media work with TV3. His father was from Ghana. Career Osam was born in Dublin, Ireland. He started his League of Ireland career in 198 ...

Ireland internationals

The following former Leicester Celtic players represented Ireland at various other sports. *

Ray Cosgrove Ray "Cossy" Cosgrove is an Irish Gaelic footballer, born in Dublin. He attended St. Benildus College in Kilmacud. He plays his club football for Kilmacud Crokes and played for the Dublin senior football team between 1996 and 2008. He will be m ...

–

Dublin GAA The Dublin County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) ( ga, Cumann Luthchleas Gael Coiste Contae Átha Cliath) or Dublin GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in the Dublin Regi ...

player, represented

Ireland international rules football team :''This article concerns the men's team; for information on the Irish women's team, see Ireland women's international rules football team.'' :''This article concerns the hybrid sport of International Rules Football; for information on Ireland's n ...

* Scott Evans – badminton player, represented

Ireland at the 2008 Summer Olympics Ireland competed in the 2008 Summer Olympics, held in Beijing, China. It was the 19th Summer Games that Ireland contested as a nation under the Olympic Council of Ireland. Medalists Athletics 16 Irish athletes qualified for 17 different Olym ...

and

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

Eric Miller Eric, Erik, or Erick Miller may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Eric Miller (record producer) (c. 1941–2017), American record producer and Norman Granz's protégé *Eric Miller (photographer) (born 1951), South African photographer during and ...

– represented

Ireland national rugby union team The Ireland national rugby union team is the men's representative national team for the island of Ireland in rugby union. The team represents both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Ireland competes in the annual Six Nations Champi ...

and the

British and Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The Lions are a test side and most often select players who have already played for their national ...

David Gillick David Gillick (born 9 July 1983, in Dublin) is an Irish international track and field athlete. He began his education in Our Lady's Boys School and attended St Benildus College secondary school in Kilmacud. He studied at Dublin Instit ...

– international track and field athlete

References

{{reflist Association football clubs in Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown Leinster Senior League (association football) clubs 1967 establishments in Ireland Association football clubs established in 1967