Shamrock Rovers II was the

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players under contract to a club but who do not normally play in matches for the first team. Reserve teams often include back-up players from the first team, young players who need playing time to i ...

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 ...

. Throughout its history Rovers have entered reserve teams in various leagues including the Leinster Senior League, the League of Ireland B Division, the A Championship and the

League of Ireland First Division The League of Ireland First Division ( ga, Céad Roinn Sraith na hÉireann), also known as the SSE Airtricity League First Division, is the second level division in both the League of Ireland and the Republic of Ireland football league system. Th ...

History

Leinster Senior League

Between the 1920s and the 1960s Shamrock Rovers B played in the Leinster Senior League. They were the Senior Division champions twice, in 1924–25 and 1939–40. On both occasions

Jimmy Dunne James Dunne (3 September 1905 – 14 November 1949) was an Irish footballer who played for, among others, Shamrock Rovers, Sheffield United, Arsenal and Southampton. Dunne was also a dual internationalist and played for both Ireland teams: th ...

played a leading role. In 1924–25 the young Jimmy Dunne was kept out of the Rovers first team by the legendary forward-line known as the "Four F's" – Billy Farrell,

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 ...

John Fagan John "Kruger" Fagan also known as Jackie Fagan, was an Irish football player and prominent member of the Shamrock Rovers team during the 1920s. He also played for the League of Ireland XI and Ireland. His son Paddy Fagan played for the Republic ...

and John Joe Flood. However Dunne played regularly for the reserve team, helping them win both the Leinster Senior League and the

LFA Metropolitan Cup The Leinster Senior League is an association football league organised by the Leinster Football Association. In 2015–16 the Leinster Senior League operated twenty divisions. It also organises various cup competitions. Its Senior Division is a ...

, the league cup of the Leinster Senior League. During the 1939–40 season Dunne was the team's player-coach. Once again Rovers B completed a double by also winning the LFA Metropolitan Cup. Rovers B also won the Metropolitan Cup on six further occasions.

League of Ireland B Division

Between 1964–65 and 2004–05, Shamrock Rovers B played in the League of Ireland B Division. Together with Home Farm,

Bray Wanderers Bray Wanderers Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Fánaithe Bhré) are an Irish association football club playing in the League of Ireland First Division. The club in its present form was founded in 1942 in Bray, and was known until 2010 as ''B ...

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 the reserve teams of 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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

, Drumcondra and

Drogheda Drogheda ( , ; , meaning "bridge at the ford") is an industrial and port town in County Louth on the east coast of Ireland, north of Dublin. It is located on the Dublin–Belfast corridor on the east coast of Ireland, mostly in County Louth ...

, they had been founding members of the B Division in 1964–65. In 1967–68 Shamrock Rovers B won the Blackthorn Trophy which was awarded to the overall winners of the league. Rovers B went on to win three more league titles in 1984–85, 1986–87 and 1995–96.

A Championship

Between

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; ...

and

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

, Rovers' reserve team competed in the A Championship. Because of the name of the league, the team was referred to as Shamrock Rovers A. The team was managed by

Andrew Myler Andrew "Andy" Myler (born 2 December 1975, Dublin) is a former League of Ireland footballer, and current manager of UCD AFC Playing career He began his professional career at UCD where he made his League debut at St. James's Gate F.C. on 9 ...

. With Myler in charge Rovers won the

2009 A Championship The 2009 A Championship was the second season of the A Championship in Ireland. The season was sponsored by Newstalk. The league featured 18 teams. Shamrock Rovers A were the champions while the runners up, Salthill Devon, were promoted ...

and the 2010

League of Ireland U20 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 ...

League of Ireland First Division 2014

In December 2013 Rovers received permission from the Football Association of Ireland to enter a team in the

2014 League of Ireland First Division The 2014 League of Ireland First Division season was the 30th season of the League of Ireland First Division. The First Division was contested by eight teams and Longford Town won the title. Galway were also promoted. Teams Stadia and location ...

. They took the place vacated after

Mervue United 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 club has previously fielded teams in the Connacht Senior League, the League of Ir ...

and

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 ...

withdrew from the league to make way for Galway F.C. However, after a disappointing season, during which they finished sixth, the club decided it was not financially viable to continue in the league and they subsequently withdrew. Rovers B were replaced in the 2015 First Division by Cabinteely.

2020 Return to First Division

An announcement was made in January 2020 that a team using the name Shamrock Rovers II would be entering that seasons

. The club finished in 8th place under manager

Aidan Price Aidan Price (born 8 December 1981) is an Irish former football player and currently head coach of Shamrock Rovers II. Price played for Kilkenny City until the start of 2006 when he switched to Shamrock Rovers. He scored his first goal for ...

. On 20 February 2021 it was announced that Shamrock Rovers II would not participate in the

2021 League of Ireland First Division The 2021 League of Ireland First Division season was the 37th season of the League of Ireland First Division, the second tier of Ireland's association football league. The fixture list was released on 8 February 2021 and the competition commenc ...

, as the Football Association of Ireland opted to replace the team with newly formed

Limerick Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...

club Treaty United. This left Rovers II and newly formed Dublin County without a place in the league, despite Rovers II passing the league's licensing procedure.

Honours

* Leinster Senior League: 2 **1924–25, 1939–40 ' *

: 8 **1924–25, 1927–28, 1934–35, 1939–40, 1946–47, 1947–48, 1948–49, 1949–50 * League of Ireland B Division: 4 **1967–68, 1984–85, 1986–87, 1995–96 * A Championship: 1 **

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 ...

: 1 **2010 ;Notes * Shamrock Rovers senior team also won this league in 1921-22

Managers

1939–40 *

2009–11 *

Colin Hawkins Colin Joseph Hawkins (born 17 August 1977) is an Irish retired footballer and current manager of Shamrock Rovers B. Hawkins was a central defender with Shamrock Rovers along with a number of other clubs in the League of Ireland and cross-chann ...

2014 *

2020

References

External links

Shamrock Rovers FC
{{A Championship B Former League of Ireland First Division clubs Former Leinster Senior League clubs A Championship teams League of Ireland B Division clubs Association football academies in the Republic of Ireland 2014 League of Ireland First Division 2 Association football clubs established in 1899 Association football clubs disestablished in 2021 1899 establishments in Ireland 2021 disestablishments in Ireland