Pioneers Football Club is an Irish association football club based in

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 ...

. It was founded in

1908 Events January * January 1 – The British ''Nimrod'' Expedition led by Ernest Shackleton sets sail from New Zealand on the ''Nimrod'' for Antarctica. * January 3 – A total solar eclipse is visible in the Pacific Ocean, and is the 46 ...

by members of the

Pioneer Total Abstinence Association The Pioneer Total Abstinence Association of the Sacred Heart (PTAA) is an international organisation for Roman Catholic teetotalers that is based in Ireland. Its members are commonly called Pioneers. While the PTAA does not advocate prohibition, ...

. Between 1922–23 and 1925–26 they played four seasons in 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 ...

. In 2009–10 Pioneers were playing in the Amateur Football League. In 2015 Pioneers were revived after a five season period of inactivity. They recently played in the Leinster Senior League before disbanding in 2017.

History

Leinster Senior League

In 1921–22 Pioneers were playing in the

Leinster Senior League Senior Division The Leinster Senior League Senior Division is the top division of the Leinster Senior League. It is organized by the Leinster Football Association. Together with the Munster Senior League Senior Premier Division and the Ulster Senior League Se ...

. Other teams in this league this season included

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 ...

, Bohemians B, St James's Gate B,

Bray Unknowns Bray Unknowns Football Club was an Irish association football club based in Bray, County Wicklow. During the 1920s and 1930s the Unknowns were the dominant football club in Bray, playing in the League of Ireland for nineteen seasons from 1924 ...

, Shelbourne United, Midland Athletic,

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, Merrion, Glasnevin, CYMS and Richmond.

League of Ireland

The 1922–23 season saw the

expand from eight to twelve teams. After Frankfort and

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 ...

dropped out, Pioneers became one of six new teams to join the league. The others were

, Shelbourne United, Rathmines Athletic,

Athlone Town Athlone Town Association Football Club () is an Irish football club from Athlone who are playing in the League of Ireland. The club is the oldest in the League as it was founded in 1887. First elected to the League of Ireland in 1922, they pl ...

and Midland Athletic. Pioneers subsequently spent four seasons playing in the

. They finished the 1922–23 season in 8th place, the 1923–24 season in 9th place and both the 1924–25 and 1925–26 seasons in 10th and last place. At the end of the 1925–26 season they failed to get re–elected and they were replaced by

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 ...

. Pioneers also played in four

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 ...

campaigns. Their best result was a quarter final appearance in 1924–25.

Pioneer XI v Gallia

In 1923 Gallia Club Paris visited Dublin to play two friendly matches against

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 ...

and Pioneers. The tour was significant as it saw the

French Football Federation The French Football Federation ( FFF; french: Fédération Française de Football) is the governing body of football in France. It also includes the overseas departments ( Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Martinique, Mayotte and Réunion), the over ...

officially recognize the Football Association of Ireland. On Saturday, 31 March, Gallia played a 1–1 draw against Bohemians at

Dalymount Park Dalymount Park (Irish: ''Páirc Cnocán Uí Dhálaigh'') is a football stadium in Phibsborough on the Northside of Dublin, Ireland. It is the home of Bohemian F.C., who have played there since the early 20th century. Affectionately known as D ...

. Then on Sunday, 1 April, at same venue, a Pioneer XI played a 0–0 draw with Gallia. The FAI originally hoped that Gallia would play a

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 ...

. However the FFF had only sanctioned club matches. The Pioneer XI, however, was entirely made up of guest players and was effectively a League of Ireland XI. None of the players selected played for Pioneers. The guest players included, among others, Frank Collins,

Ernie MacKay Ernest MacKay (7 October 1896 – November 1995) was an Irish footballer who played in an international tournament representing Ireland in 1924. Personal life MacKay was born in Tipperary as the second son and fifth child of John and Mary Eliza ...

Charlie Dowdall Charles Dowdall (7 April 1898 – 7 November 1987) was an Irish footballer. He played for several clubs in both the League of Ireland and the English League and was also capped at international level by Ireland. He was born in Dublin. Club car ...

Ned Brooks Ned Brooks (died April 13, 1969) was an American television and radio journalist who was moderator of NBC's ''Meet the Press'' on television from 1953 until 1965, and earlier on radio. Brooks is the second-longest tenured moderator of the program ...

Bob Fullam Robert "Bob" Fullam (1895–1971) was an Irish footballer and one of the best-known players in the League of Ireland in the 1920 A versatile attacking player, he was skilful but also had a tough-man image. Born in Ringsend, the son of John and ...

and

Christy Robinson Christopher "Christy" Robinson (1902 – 21 February 1954) was an Republic of Ireland, Irish soccer player during the 1920s and 1930s. Robinson was a skilful inside forward during this era in the League of Ireland and was part of the All-Conq ...

League of Ireland Stats

Source:

Ground

During their four seasons in the

, Pioneers played their home games at two different venues. During the 1922–23 season they played at Strand Hall, Clontarf. The following three seasons, 1923–24 to 1925–26 saw them play at The Thatch in

Whitehall Whitehall is a road and area in the City of Westminster, Central London. The road forms the first part of the A roads in Zone 3 of the Great Britain numbering scheme, A3212 road from Trafalgar Square to Chelsea, London, Chelsea. It is the main ...

. During the 1923–24 season they shared this venue with Midland Athletic. While playing in the Amateur Football League Pioneers played at

Saint Anne's Park Saint Anne's Park ( ga, Páirc Naomh Áine) is a public park situated between Raheny and Clontarf, suburbs on the northside of Dublin, Ireland. It is owned and managed by Dublin City Council. The park, the second largest municipal park in Dub ...

. Since 2015 they have been based at the ALSSA Sports Complex, near

Dublin Airport Dublin Airport (Irish language, Irish: ''Aerfort Bhaile Átha Cliath'') is an international airport serving Dublin, Ireland. It is operated by DAA (Irish company), DAA (formerly Dublin Airport Authority). The airport is located in Collinsto ...

Notable former players

Ireland internationals

The following Pioneer 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 ...

at full international level. * Paddy O'Reilly

1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20– 30 – Kuomintang in China hol ...

References

External links

{{League of Ireland clubs Association football clubs established in 1908 Association football clubs in Dublin (city) Former League of Ireland clubs 1908 establishments in Ireland Leinster Senior League (association football) clubs