Cork Celtic F.C., originally Evergreen United F.C., was an Irish

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

club based in Cork. They played in the

League of Ireland The League of Ireland is a national association football Sports league, league consisting of professional clubs in the Republic of Ireland and Derry, Derry City in Northern Ireland. It is governed by the Football Association of Ireland. It was ...

between

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the Uni ...

and

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

and played their home games at Turners Cross. In 1974, they were League of Ireland champions and the following season they reached the second round of the

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by top-division European clubs. The competition begins with a round robi ...

History

Evergreen United

The club's foundation date is unknown, but its earliest appearance in the

FAI Cup The Football Association of Ireland Senior Challenge Cup (FAI Cup), known as the Sports Direct FAI Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out association football competition contested annually by teams from the Republic of Ireland (as well as D ...

was in 1936–37. Evergreen finished as League runners-up in 1954 and 1959. In 1953 they also played in an all-Cork

final against Cork Athletic, losing 2–1 in a replay after drawing the first game 2-2. During the 1956–57 season Evergreen's Donal Leahy finished as joint top goalscorer in the league with 15 goals. In the following two seasons Leahy finished top goalscorer outright with 16 and 22 goals respectively. Irish international Tommy Moroney finished his playing career with Evergreen and, on 4 October 1953 in a World Cup qualifier against

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, he won the last of his 12 caps while with the club. In 1959 the club changed its name to Cork Celtic.

Cork Celtic

As Celtic in the 1960s they enjoyed a local rivalry with Cork Hibernians. Attendances reaches record highs in the late 1960s, with players such as Carl Davenport, the Dav, drawing crowds of up to 18,000. In 1974 with a team that included Alfie Hale and Bobby Tambling, Celtic won their only League of Ireland title under manager and former player Paul O'Donovan. Tambling, a former Chelsea player and

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

international had initially moved to Ireland to work as a Jehovah's Witness missionary. He scored 7 league goals in his first season as he helped Celtic win the title.

Best, Hurst and Seeler

In subsequent seasons Celtic attracted several other notable players. On the back of League success in 1974, Paul O'Donovan signed

George Best George Best (22 May 1946 – 25 November 2005) was a Northern Irish professional association football, footballer who played as a winger (association football), winger, spending most of his club career at Manchester United F.C., Manchester Un ...

and then

Geoff Hurst Sir Geoffrey Charles Hurst (born 8 December 1941) is an English former professional Association football, footballer. A Striker (association football), striker, he became the first player to score a Hat-trick#Association football, hat-trick in a ...

. In December 1975

had a brief spell with Celtic in between equally brief spells at Stockport County and

Los Angeles Aztecs The Los Angeles Aztecs were an American professional soccer team based in Los Angeles, California, that existed from 1974 to 1981. The Aztecs competed in the North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1974 North American Soccer League season, 1974 ...

. He played only three league games, against Drogheda United, Bohemians and Shelbourne, but despite attracting big crowds he failed to score or impress. In 1976

spent a month with Celtic, scoring three goals during his brief stay. Uwe Seeler also played one game for Celtic during the 1977–78 season and scored twice in a 6–2 defeat to Shamrock Rovers.

Demise

At the start of the 1977–78 season Celtic looked for a longer lease on Turners Cross in order to develop it for the purpose of raising additional income. The club, now in decline since winning the League in 1973–74, saw developing Turners Cross as their only means of survival. The FAI's legal advisers had previously been unable to find the property owner or their original lease, however a complex ownership structure was eventually unravelled. Unable to resolve the tenancy situation with the FAI, Celtic spent no money on the upkeep of Turners Cross and it was eventually deemed unfit for use by the League for the 1978–79 season. As a result, the club moved to Flower Lodge for what would be their final season. But three years of deteriorating relationships with both the League and the F.A.I. led to Celtic being expelled from the League in the summer of 1979. Despite exiting the League, Cork Celtic's holding company still held the sub-lease on Turners Cross, and the club proposed joining the Munster Senior League. However the Munster F.A. refused, and the trustees of the club eventually relinquished the lease on Turners Cross in 1980, bringing the club to an end.

Honours

: 1 ** 1973–74 * League of Ireland Shield: 1 **1960–61 * Dublin City Cup: 1 **1961–62 * Top Four Cup: 4 **1956–57, 1958–59, 1959–60, 1973–74 * Munster Senior League: 2 ** 1936–37, 1955–56 * Munster Senior Cup: 6 ** 1951–52, 1959–60, 1961–62, 1963–64, 1971–72, 1973–74 * FAI Junior Cup **''Winners'': 1935–36: 1 **''Runners Up'': 1934–35: 1 * FAI Youth Cup **''Winners'': 1938–39, 1948–49: 2 **''Runners Up'': 1961–62, 1976–77: 2

Season placings

European record

Overview

Matches

Notable former players

* Florrie Burke * Tommy Moroney * Donal Leahy * Jim "Jimux" O'Keeffe GK * Paul O'Donovan * Kevin Blount * Dinny Allen * Jimmy Barry-Murphy * Amby Fogarty * Alfie Hale * Patsy Dorgan * Keelan Hegarty * Jimmy O'Neill *

* Bobby Tambling *

* Billy McCullough * Uwe Seeler * Barry Notley * Alec Ludzic

Notable former managers

* Paul O'Donovan * Bobby Tambling * Alfie Hale

References

External links

Cork teams in FAI Cup finals
(archived)

(archived) {{Sport in Cork City Defunct League of Ireland clubs Association football clubs in County Cork Association football clubs in Cork (city) Association football clubs disestablished in 1980 1980 disestablishments in Ireland