Stepaside FC have secured an early Christmas present having been the latest club to be awarded the FAI Club Mark award.

Stepaside, having only been established by 2018, continue to make incredible progress in the Stepaside-Kilternan-Ballyogan area as the club becomes a key member of it's local community.

Last year, the club's Under-15s girls' team secured promotion in the Metropolitan Girls League whilst the Under-13s team qualified for the DDSL Cup Final weekend for the first time which shows the club's brilliant progress across underage football.

The club now has over 200 players active each weekend across eight age groups in boys and girls football in the MGL and DDSL which is a remarkable number considering the club is only four years old.

"Stepaside have been one of the most progressive clubs in the area considering the club has only been in existence for four years," said FAI Development Officer Thomas Morgan.

"It is a real success story of like-minded people coming together to positively influence the local community and give children, boys and girls, the opportunity to play football. None of this would have been possible without the vision of Tom Keogh who founded the club and he was the real driving force behind Stepaside.

"Unfortunately, Tom passed away since the launch of the club but Stepaside continues to go from strength to strength in his memory and continues to give young children the opportunity to play."