County Galway has added another club to the Club Mark Programme in Athenry FC, who have done fantastic work on and off the pitch.

Athenry FC was founded in 1971, by a group of enthusiastic locals, having been inspired by the showing of the 1970 World Cup on colour TV and encouraged by a changing sporting landscape across Ireland. The first match was played in South Park, Galway against West United ending in a 1-1 draw with David Sweeney scoring the historical first ever goal for the newly founded club. The team that day featured the clubs current Hon. President, Peter Gilhooley.

Now based on Moanbaun, the club’s most senior team competes in the Galway & District League Premier Division, where they have been crowded champions 7 times, including the 2020/21 season. Other notable honours include the Connaught Junior Cup in 2016 and the Michael Byrne Cup in 2017.

In recent weeks, the U16 Boys lifted the Championship Cup while our U15 Boys secured the Championship league title. The club’s U16 Girls team were crowned U16 Premier League and Cup Champions, together with our U19 Girls who also secured the Premier Cup and Premier League title this season an amazing achievement for the club and a great reward for the years of effort and hard work put in by the club’s coaches and players.

Over the few years, the club has seen rapid growth in its membership, now with over 700 playing members. The club is one of Galway’s biggest contributors to the Galway & District Leagues – this year, the club has contributed 39 teams across 32 different Mens/Boys and Ladies/Girls leagues, a massive achievement and effort for a football club based in rural Ireland.

As well as competitive football, the club also places a major emphasis on its academies, for boys and girls from U6 to U11, as well as its weekly Little Stars group, which caters for boys and girls from 3 years of age. The future is bright for Athenry football club.

The Athenry FC facilities also support various local groups including Athenry Town team and Athenry Women’s Shed.

With such a large playing population, the development of new facilitates has become a priority for the club, who expect early next year to open a state-of-art sports and community facility, in partnership with Athenry Athletics Club.

This will deliver a flood-lit full size 4G soccer pitch, surrounded by an 8-lane athletics track, set in a newly development, accessible, sustainable and environmentally friendly community park.

The achievement of the FAI Club Mark (Entry Level) is a major milestone for the club.