Shelbourne F.C.

Shelbourne F.C.

Shelbourne Football Club (Irish: Cumann Peile Shíol Broin) is an Irish professional football club based in the Drumcondra area of Dublin, currently playing in the League of Ireland Premier Division.

Shelbourne were founded in Dublin in 1895. In 1904 the club joined the Irish Football League, which was then an all Ireland competition, before becoming founding members of the League of Ireland in 1921. Shelbourne have won the league 13 times and are one of three clubs to have won both the IFA Cup and the FAI Cup.They currently play their home matches at Tolka Park, in the Dublin suburb of Drumcondra. The club colours are primarily red and white, with home jerseys being predominantly red. 'Shels' is the club's most common nickname, an abbreviation of Shelbourne.

In the 2004/2005 European season, Shelbourne became the first Irish club to reach the third qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League. Their performances in European competition and former striker Jason Byrne being capped for the Republic of Ireland whilst with the club, gained Shelbourne international exposure. The club lost their Premier Division license for the 2007 season due to the club's huge debt. Since then, Shelbourne have played in the second tier of the League of Ireland. The club was managed by Dermot Keely until 27 May 2010, having been appointed as Pat Fenlon's successor on 23 February 2007. Alan Matthews became the new manager in 2010. During the 2011 season Shelbourne finished in second place to Cork to be promoted into the Premier Division once again after an absence of four years.