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

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a City status in Ireland, city in the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lo ...

. Their senior 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 ...

. They have previously played in the Connacht Senior League, 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 ...

. In

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

History

Early years

Salthill Devon F.C. was founded in

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country in ...

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 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 ...

, 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 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 ...

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.

National leagues

During the early 2000s Salthill Devon entered a team in 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 ...

. In 2006 they became the first club to win the division championship, the

Dr Tony O'Neill Cup 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 ...

, without having a team in the senior League of Ireland divisions. In

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, together with local rivals,

, Salthill Devon, were founder members of the A Championship. In 2008 they finished bottom of their group but

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 ...

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. However, after Kildare County withdrew from the

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

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

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 ...

, 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 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 ...

from the League of Ireland after the

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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 to

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 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 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 United Supporters Trust,

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

. 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 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 ...

season eight former Salthill Devon players, including

Vinny Faherty Vincent Faherty (born 13 June 1987) is an Irish former professional footballer. Career Early career Born in Galway, Faherty began his career as a youngster with Salthill Devon. While playing for the Galway representative team, he broke Kevin ...

, 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'' 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

Salthill Devon F.C. play their home games at Drom Soccer Park. 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 the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

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-chann ...

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 U19 internationals * John Russell ; Other internationals *

Wesley Charles Wesley Charles (born 12 December 1975) is a Vincentian footballer. He was born in Brighton. Career Europe Charles spent the beginning of the 2000s traveling Europe. His travels started in Ireland, where he first joined Bray Wanderers in Nov ...

Honours

* A Championship **''Runners Up'':

: 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 *

**''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 competit ...

**''Runners Up'': 1994–95, 2008–09: 2 *

: **''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