Montpelier F.C. was an

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

club based in

Dublin, Ireland 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 cen ...

History

The club was formed out of a cricket club in 1887, in order to keep players fit over winter, but could not play any matches against other clubs, given the lack of association football in Dublin; captain D'Arcy proposed a meeting of cricket clubs in October 1888 in order to persuade some of them to adopt the association game. The cricket club was named after

Montpelier Hill Montpelier Hill () is a 383 metres (1,257 foot) hill in County Dublin, Ireland. It is commonly referred to as the Hell Fire Club (), the popular name given to the ruined building at the summit believed to be one of the first Freemason lodges ...

County Dublin "Action to match our speech" , image_map = Island_of_Ireland_location_map_Dublin.svg , map_alt = map showing County Dublin as a small area of darker green on the east coast within the lighter green background of ...

. Montpelier's first competitive football came in the first Leinster Senior Cup in 1892–93, losing to eventual winner

Leinster Nomads Leinster Nomads was an association football club based in Dublin, Ireland, which was formed in 1890 by former members of Dublin Association F.C. Dublin Association had folded that same year after a dispute with the Irish Football Association su ...

in the semi-final; the next season, it entered the 1893–94 Irish Cup, and, in the southern Ireland section, walked over

Dublin University 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 ...

, but lost heavily to

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 ...

in the next round. Despite this setback, goalkeeper Rice was chosen to play for Leinster in the inter-provincial match with Ulster in December 1893. On 23 April 1894, the Leinster Senior League was agreed, with Montpelier as one of the six founding clubs; Montpelier's Patrick McManus was the League's first secretary. However the competition seems not to have completed its first season, as Phoenix withdrew during the season, and not all fixtures were played;

was declared champion, Montpelier having lost all of its three matches; a 3–2 win over

Britannia Britannia () is the national personification of Britain as a helmeted female warrior holding a trident and shield. An image first used in classical antiquity, the Latin ''Britannia'' was the name variously applied to the British Isles, Great ...

, the three Montpelier goals coming in the final 12 minutes, was annulled after a protest as to the state of the Montpelier pitch, and was one of the outstanding fixtures when the season came to a halt. Montpelier's

1894–95 Irish Cup The 1894–95 Irish Cup was the 15th edition of the Irish Cup, the premier knock-out cup competition in Irish football. Linfield won the tournament for the 4th time, defeating Bohemians 10–1 in the final. This remains both the largest margin ...

run was also unsuccessful, with a 3–0 defeat at Bohemians in the two clubs' first match in the competition that season, two late goals flattering the home side. The club wound up after the 1894–95 season, but many of the members founded a new club in August 1895, called the Hibernian Football and Athletic Club.

Colours

The club wore blue and white stripes.

Ground

The club's ground was at Island Bridge, in

Phoenix Park The Phoenix Park ( ga, Páirc an Fhionnuisce) is a large urban park in Dublin, Ireland, lying west of the city centre, north of the River Liffey. Its perimeter wall encloses of recreational space. It includes large areas of grassland and tre ...

References

{{Reflist Association football clubs in Dublin (city) Association football clubs established in 1887 Association football clubs disestablished in 1895 1887 establishments in Ireland 1895 disestablishments in Ireland Defunct association football clubs in Ireland Former Leinster Senior League clubs