Mervue United A.F.C. is an Irish association football club based in Mervue, Galway. Their senior men's team currently plays in the

Galway & District League The Galway & District League is an association football league organized by the Galway Football Association. It features amateur and junior clubs from County Galway. It currently features six divisions. Its top division, the Premier Division, i ...

. The club has previously fielded teams in the Connacht Senior League, the

League of Ireland U21 Division The League of Ireland U19 Division is the under-19 division of the League of Ireland. The current division is the successor of earlier U21 and U20 divisions. Like the Premier Division and First Division, the U19 Division is currently sponsored ...

, the A Championship and the League of Ireland First Division.

History

Early years

Mervue United was formed in 1960 by a group of residents in the McDonagh Avenue area of Mervue, Galway. In 1964–65 the club won its first trophy, the Murphy Cup, a competition for under–13 boys teams. By the early 1970s Mervue United were playing in the

and in 1972–73 they won promotion to the league's Premier division. They subsequently began to regularly win the league's two league cups, the Joe Ryan Cup and the Lillis Cup. In 1976–77 they also won a Galway & District League and

Michael Byrne Cup The Michael Byrne Cup is an association football cup competition featuring teams from the Galway & District League. It is now the main league cup competition for this league. However when it was originally inaugurated in 1976–77, it was a pla ...

double. By 1980 the Mervue United B team had also gained promotion to the Premier Division. However Galway Football Association rules insisted that two teams from the same club could not play in the same division. As a result, Mervue Celtic was founded as a separate club and, like United, they also found success in the Joe Ryan Cup and the Lillis Cup competitions. In 1981–82 they also won the Galway area

FAI Junior Cup The FAI Junior Cup is a cup competition organized by the Football Association of Ireland for junior association football clubs from the Republic of Ireland. The inaugural winners were Brideville. The competition's most successful club is Fairvi ...

competition.

Connacht Senior League

Between 1981 and 2000 Mervue United played in the Connacht Senior League. In 1981–82, together with Sligo Rovers Reserves, Castlerea Celtic,

Salthill Devon Salthill Devon Football Club is an Irish association football club originally based in Salthill, Galway. Their senior team currently plays in the Galway & District League. They have previously played in the Connacht Senior League, the A Champi ...

, Ballina Rovers, Tuam Celtic and UCG, Mervue United became founder members of the CSL. In its first season Mervue United finished as runners-up behind Sligo Rovers. They also won a league cup double, winning both the Connacht Senior League Cup and the

Connacht Senior League Challenge Cup The Connacht Senior League Challenge Cup was an association football cup competition featuring teams from the Connacht Senior League. It was the senior league cup competition of the Connacht Senior League between 1981 and 2000. It was later rema ...

. Mervue United won the league for the first time in 1982–83 and subsequently went on to become one of the league's most successful teams, winning the title eight times. In 1982–83 and 1983–84 they completed two successive trebles winning the league title, the Challenge Cup and the Connacht Senior Cup. In 1992–93 they went one better and won a quartet of trophies, winning the league title, the Connacht Senior League Shield, Connacht Senior Cup and the Challenge Cup. Between 1996 and 1997 and 1999–2000 Mervue United were also Connacht Senior League champions four times in a row. In 1999–2000 Mervue United completed another treble by also winning the League Cup and the Challenge Cup. In 1984–85 Mervue United first came to national prominence when they became the first CSL club to take part in the

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 ...

, losing 2–1 in the first round to the holders, UCD. In the 1986–87 FAI Cup they defeated Longford Town 1–0 in the first round but got knocked out by Rockmount in the next round. In 1997–98 Mervue United made a third appearance in the FAI Cup but were knocked out in the first round after a replay by Sligo Rovers. As Connacht Senior League champions, United were also invited to play in the League of Ireland Cup.

National leagues

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, together with local rivals,

, Mervue United were founder members of the A Championship. As the highest placed non- reserve team in the league's inaugural season, Mervue United qualified for a relegation/promotion play-off. They subsequently defeated Kildare County 5–3 on aggregate and were promoted to the League of Ireland First Division. Between

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

and

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

Mervue United played in the League of Ireland First Division. In their final season they finished third before losing a relegation/promotion play-off against Longford Town.

Galway United

In 2012 an FAI commissioned report recommended that Galway city and

County Galway "Righteousness and Justice" , anthem = () , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Galway.svg , map_caption = Location in Ireland , area_footnotes = , area_total_km2 = ...

should be represented in the League of Ireland by a single club or team based at Eamonn Deacy Park. The O'Connor Report also recommended that the Galway Football Association, the Galway United Supporters Trust,

and Mervue United should work together to form such a club. Following the conclusion of the 2013 season, both Mervue United and Salthill Devon withdrew from the League of Ireland First Division to make way for a reformed

Galway United Galway United Football Club (Irish language, Irish: ''Cumann Peile Ghaillimh Aontaithe'') is an List of association football clubs in the Republic of Ireland, Irish association football club based in Galway. They play in the League of Ireland Fi ...

. The new board of Galway United featured two Mervue United representatives, Donnie Farragher and Declan McDonnell. The O'Connor Report had also recommended reforming the Connacht Senior League, allowing Mervue United and Salthill Devon to play at a provincial level. However, in June 2013 the '' Connacht Tribune'' reported that the plans for a reformed CSL were shelved due to a lack of sufficient interest from the clubs. The senior teams of Mervue United and Salthill Devon subsequently joined the

Ground

Mervue United originally operated out of the Redemptorist Grounds before moving to Monivea Road were they shared facilities with Mervue Athletic Club. After joining the Connacht Senior League, the club secured a lease on a clubhouse and a pitch in Fahy's Field. This has remained the club's principal home ground ever since. During the

and 2010 seasons when they were playing in the League of Ireland First Division, Mervue played at

Terryland Park Eamonn Deacy Park, formerly known as Terryland Park, is an association football stadium in the Republic of Ireland based in the Terryland district of Galway. It is owned by the Galway Football Association and is the home ground of both Galway ...

as Fahy's Field did not meet League of Ireland standards. The move away from their Mervue fan base affected attendances to the degree that they were the lowest in league records. In early 2011 Fahy's Field was upgraded with fencing and turnstiles been added, allowing Mervue United to play their later League of Ireland games there.

Notable former players

; Republic of Ireland international * Aaron Connolly *

Greg Cunningham Gregory Richard Cunningham (born 31 January 1991) is an Irish professional Association football, footballer who plays as a left back for Preston North End F.C., Preston North End, and the Republic of Ireland national football team, Republic o ...

Ryan Manning Ryan Phelim Manning (born 14 June 1996) is an Irish footballer who plays as a midfielder and left-wing back for Swansea City and the Republic of Ireland national team. Career Mervue United Ryan Manning started his career playing for Mervue Un ...

; Republic of Ireland U21 internationals * Séamus Conneely *

Conor Shaughnessy Conor Glynn Shaughnessy (born 30 June 1996) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a central defender for club Portsmouth. He is also able to operate as a central midfielder. He has represented the Republic of Ireland national footb ...

Joe Shaughnessy Joseph Thomas Gordan Shaughnessy (born 6 July 1992) is an Irish professional defender who plays for Dundee. Shaughnessy has previously played for Aberdeen, Forfar Athletic, Falkirk, St Johnstone, Southend United and St Mirren. He has repre ...

Republic of Ireland Schools U15 internationals * Rola Olusola * Isabelle Fitzpatrick * Jessica Talbot Republic of Ireland Women's U16 internationals *

Eve Dossen Eve (; ; ar, حَوَّاء, Ḥawwāʾ; el, Εὕα, Heúa; la, Eva, Heva; Syriac: romanized: ) is a figure in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. According to the origin story, "Creation myths are symbolic stories describing how the ...

* Rola Olusola *

Skye Corcoran The Isle of Skye, or simply Skye (; gd, An t-Eilean Sgitheanach or ; sco, Isle o Skye), is the largest and northernmost of the major islands in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The island's peninsulas radiate from a mountainous hub dominated b ...

* Isabelle Fitzpatrick Republic of Ireland Women's U17 internationals *

;Top Goalscorers *

Patrick Hoban Patrick James Hoban (born 28 July 1991) is an Irish professional footballer who plays for Dundalk in the League of Ireland Premier Division, as a forward. He had his greatest successes in two spells at Dundalk, where he scored over 100 goals i ...

: 21 (2009–12) * Rory Gaffney: 15 (2009–11) * Lar Defly: 69 ; New Zealand U20 international * Darren Young

Honours

* Connacht Senior League **''Winners'': 1982–83, 1983–84, 1986–87, 1992–93, 1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–2000: 8 **''Runners-up'': 1981–82, 1984–85: 2 * Connacht Senior Cup **''Winners'': 1982–83, 1983–84, 1992–93, 1994–95, 1997–98, 1999–2000: 6 **''Runners-up'': 1986–87, 1987–88, 1988–89, 1998–99, 2007–08: 5 *

**''Winners'': 1981–82, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1984–85, 1988–89, 1992–93: 6 **''Runners-up'': 1985–86: 1 * Connacht Senior League Cup/Shield **''Winners'': 1981–82, 1992–93, 1999–2000: 3 * Connacht Junior Cup **''Winners'': 1989–90, 1990–91, 1997–98, 2001–02, 2004–05, 2014–15: 6 **''Runners-up'': 1979–80, 1984–85: 2 *

**''Winners'': 1976–77, 1986–87, 1988–89, 1989–90, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13: 11 *

**''Winners'': 1976–77, 1977–78, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2009–10, 2010–11: 9 **''Runners-up'': 2006–07, 2012–13: 2

References

{{Galway Association football clubs in County Galway Galway & District League teams Connacht Senior League (association football) clubs A Championship teams Former League of Ireland First Division clubs Former League of Ireland clubs Association football clubs established in 1960 1960 establishments in Ireland Galway United F.C. Association football clubs in Galway (city)