History
Castlebar’s first soccer team was established in 1924 and this is reflected on the club's crest. The first committee consisted of Tommy Leonard, Tommy Connolly, Tommy McDonald, Mattie Ketterick and Charlie Hanley. However, this setup was disbanded soon after until it was restarted once again in 1928. This version consisted of Tom Ketterick, Mattie's younger brother, Hughie McGartland and John Burke. The club was finally formed in Hack Welshe's on Castle Street and in 1932 the name Casltebar Celtic was chosen. The first game was against Galway Rovers in which Tom Ketterick said "we got hammered".
Competition though, was very limited. There was no Mayo League as such in those days and Dooniver Swifts (of Achill), Westport United and Quay Hearts (of Westport) were the only other soccer clubs in the county.
It took until 1938 for Celtic to win their first trophy, the Alfie Byrne Cup, when they beat Westport 6-1. 1947 saw the first of a record 9 Connaught Cup victories, when they defeated Galway Bohs at Maryland Park, their home since the early forties. The winner that day came from Michael Guthrie in a 1-0 victory.
Hughie McGartland was club secretary for almost 40 years and was a key figure of the committee that purchased Flannelly’s Field, now known as Celtic Park, still the home of Celtic. They purchased Flannelly’s Field in 1954 for £1,879. A sum of £123 was spent on drainage and a further sum of £400 was spent on renovating a premise in Market Square as a clubhouse. Two old C.I.E. buses were bought for dressing rooms, to bring the total expenditure to £3,000. Running a series of carnivals and dances raised the money
The first match played in Celtic Park was on 4 May 1958. This was a challenge game between Castlebar Celtic and Castlebar A. The first competitive game in the ground was between Castlebar Celtic and Westport United the following Sunday in the Mayo Area Final of the Connaught Cup. Celtic won the game 1-nil, with Frank Roache scoring the winning goal. Celtic had finally cemented a permanent home and this would see huge success to the present day. 15 Mayo League titles and 8 Connaught Cups were added to their tally during their time at Celtic Park as well as the F.A.I. Youth Cup in 2007.
Read more about this topic: Castlebar Celtic F.C.
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