Salthill Devon Football Club is an Irish association football club originally based in

Salthill Salthill () is a seaside area in the City of Galway in the west of Ireland. Lying within the townland of Lenaboy (''an Léana Buí''), it attracts many tourists all year round. There is a 2 km long promenade, locally known as ''the Pro ...

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a city in the West of Ireland, in the province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay, and is the sixth most populous city on ...

. Their senior team currently plays in the Galway & District League. They have previously played in the Connacht Senior League, the

A Championship The A Championship, also known as the Newstalk A Championship, was an association football league featuring League of Ireland reserve teams and emerging senior teams. It was a third level league in the Republic of Ireland football league system. ...

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 ...

. In

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

they played under the name SD Galway. Since 2005 Salthill Devon have hosted a youth tournament known as the

Galway Cup The Galway Cup is an association football National Youth Tournament held annually in Galway, Ireland. The tournament takes place in Salthill Devon F.C.'s Drom Soccer Park venue. History The competition began in the summer of 2005 in a bid to ...

History

Early years

Salthill Devon F.C. was founded in 1947 as Salthill Crusaders. In 1950 they became Salthill Athletic. In 1977 Salthill Athletic merged with Devon Celtic to become Salthill Devon.

Connacht Senior League

Between 1981 and 2000 Salthill Devon played in the Connacht Senior League. In 1981–82, together with Sligo Rovers Reserves, Castlerea Celtic, Mervue United, Ballina Rovers, Tuam Celtic and UCG, Salthill Devon became founder members of the CSL. While playing in the CSL, Salthill Devon won both the Connacht Senior Cup and the Connacht Senior League Challenge Cup on three occasions. Between 1989–90 and 1991–92 they won the Senior Cup three times in row. In 1989–90 and 1991–92 they won both cups in the same season. After finishing as runners-up on three occasions, Salthill Devon finally won the league title in 1990–91. They also completed a double by winning the Senior Cup. In 1991–92 Salthill Devon became the first CSL champions to represent the league in the

League of Ireland Cup The League of Ireland Cup ( ga, Corn Sraithe na hÉireann), also referred to in Ireland as the 'League Cup', is an annual knockout competition in men's football in the Republic of Ireland. It is contested by League of Ireland clubs and invited c ...

National leagues

During the early 2000s Salthill Devon entered a team in the League of Ireland U21 Division. In 2006 they became the first club to win the division championship, the Dr Tony O'Neill Cup, without having a team in the senior

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 use ...

divisions. In

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, Salthill Devon, were founder members of the

. In 2008 they finished bottom of their group but 2009 saw a complete reversal as they comfortably won their group. Salthill narrowly lost out in the A Championship play off final against Shamrock Rovers A but as the highest placed non-

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 ...

, they qualified for a promotion/relegation play-off against

Kildare County Kildare County F.C. ( ga, Cumann Peile Chontae Chill Dara) was an Irish association football club based in Newbridge, County Kildare. Between 2002–03 and 2009 they played in the League of Ireland First Division. During this time they also e ...

. However, after Kildare County withdrew from the

, Salthill Devon won promotion without evening kicking a ball. Between 2010 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 fa ...

, Salthill Devon finished bottom of the table three seasons in a row. In their inaugural season Salthill Devon avoided relegation by defeating Cobh Ramblers home and away in the First Division Play Off. Subsequently they avoided relegation because the A Championship was disbanded. Following the withdrawal of Galway United from the League of Ireland after the 2011 season, Salthill Devon re-branded themselves as SD Galway for the

season. They adopted the maroon and white worn by Galway United and switched their home matches from

Drom Soccer Park Drom Soccer Park is an association football venue in the Republic of Ireland based in Drom East, Rahoon, County Galway. It is the home ground of Salthill Devon F.C. It was built in 2002 and has a capacity of 2,000. Drom also hosts the Galway C ...

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 ...

Galway United

In 2012 an FAI commissioned report recommended that

Galway city Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a city in the West of Ireland, in the province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay, and is the sixth most populous city on ...

and County Galway should be represented in the

by a single club or team based at

Eamonn Deacy 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 ...

. The O'Connor Report also recommended that the

Galway Football Association The Galway Football Association is the governing body for association football in County Galway. It is responsible for organizing and managing the Galway & District League, Eamonn Deacy Park, and Galway W.F.C. Affiliated leagues * Galway & Di ...

, the Galway United Supporters Trust, Mervue United and Salthill Devon should work together to form such a club. Following the conclusion of the

season, both Mervue United and Salthill Devon withdrew from the

to make way for a reformed Galway United. The new board of Galway United featured two Salthill Devon representatives, Jim McSpadden and Ollie Daniels. In advance of the 2014 League of Ireland First Division season eight former Salthill Devon players, including Vinny Faherty, also signed for the reformed Galway club. 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 The ''Connacht Tribune'' (''An Curadh Connachtach'') is a newspaper circulating chiefly in County Galway, Ireland. The main regional newspaper for the county, the Tribune Group prints two titles every week - the ''Connacht Tribune'' on Thursday ...

'' 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 Galway & District League.

Ground

Salthill Devon F.C. play their home games at

. During their time in the

they also played some games at

, most notably during the

season when they played as SD Galway.

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 Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...

men's international ;

women's internationals ; Republic of Ireland U21 internationals *

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-channe ...

* Joe Shaughnessy ; Republic of Ireland U19 internationals * John Russell ; Other internationals * Wesley Charles

Honours

**''Runners Up'': 2009 : 1 * Connacht Senior League **''Winners'': 1990–91: 1 **''Runners Up'': 1983–84, 1988–89, 1989–90 : 3 * Connacht Senior Cup **''Winners'': 1989–90, 1990–91, 1991–92, 2009–10: 4 **''Runners Up'': 1996–97: 1 * Connacht Senior League Challenge Cup **''Winners'': 1985–86, 1989–90, 1991–92, : 3 **''Runners Up'': 1990–91, 1995–96, 1999–2000: 3 *

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 ...

**''Winners'': 2015: 1 *

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 competi ...

**''Runners Up'': 1994–95, 2008–09: 2 * Dr Tony O'Neill Cup: **''Winners'': 2005–06: 1 **''Runners Up'': 2009: 1

References

{{Galway 1947 establishments in Ireland A Championship teams Association football clubs established in 1947 Association football clubs in County Galway Association football clubs in Galway (city) Connacht Senior League (association football) clubs Former League of Ireland clubs Former League of Ireland First Division clubs Galway & District League teams Galway United F.C. Devon Football Club