League of Ireland Series – Shamrock Rovers FC. - this cache is one of a series based around League of Ireland football clubs. The caches are all located at or near venues where current League of Ireland soccer teams play.
The League of Ireland Series is open to everyone, if you would like to place a cache at any other club in your area please feel free to do so, you can follow the general format of my series pages if you like.
Shamrock Rovers Football Club are a football club from Dublin, Ireland. They compete in the Premier Division of the League of Ireland and are the most successful club in Irish football history. The club have won the League of Ireland title a record 17 times and the FAI Cup a record 24 times. Shamrock Rovers have supplied more players to the Republic of Ireland national football team (62) than any other club. In All-Ireland competitions, such as the Intercity Cup, they hold the record for winning the most titles, having won 6 cups overall.
Shamrock Rovers were founded in Ringsend, Dublin. The official date of the club's foundation is 1901. They won the League title at the first attempt in the 1922–23 season and established themselves as Ireland's most successful club by 1949, winning 44 major trophies. During the 1950s, the club won three League titles and two FAI Cups and became the first Irish team to compete in European competition, playing in the European Cup in 1957. They followed this by winning a record six FAI Cups in succession in the 1960s, when they were also one of the European club teams that spent the summer of 1967 in the United States, founding the United Soccer Association. They won the first of four League titles in a row in 1983–84, after a long decline.
The club played at Glenmalure Park from 1926 to 1987, when the owners controversially sold the stadium to property developers. Shamrock Rovers spent the next 22 years playing home games at various venues around Dublin and on occasions, Ireland. They moved in to Tallaght Stadium prior to the start of the 2009 season after years of delays and legal disputes, during which time the club's supporters saved them from extinction.
Shamrock Rovers wore green and white striped jerseys until 1926, when they adopted the green and white hooped strip which they have worn since. Their club badge has featured a football and a shamrock throughout their history. The club have a relatively large support base and share an intense rivalry with Bohemian Football Club.
The 2009 season proved to be a progressive one for the club, starting with the completion of the stadium and ending with a second place finish and qualification to the Europa League under the management of Michael O'Neill. Tallaght Stadium hosted the highest attendances in the League of Ireland, regularly selling out its capacity. The season was also marked by the visit of Real Madrid to Tallaght Stadium, where they defeated The Hoops 1–0 in front of a record attendance of 10,900 people. The team entered the 2010–11 Europa League in the second qualifying round and defeated Bnei Yehuda of Israel to progress to a third qualifying round tie against Juventus. The Italian side won the tie 3–0 on aggregate. Shamrock Rovers finished the 2010 League of Ireland season as champions, ending a 16 year drought by narrowly beating Bohemians to the title on goal difference.
The majority of Shamrock Rovers supporters originate from the Southside of Dublin, but the club attracts fans from across the city and country. Since their foundation, the club have maintained a proud Irish identity,and their supporters reflect this in the flags and banners they display. Their support base contains a number of clubs dedicated to supporting the team at away games.
Throughout their history, Shamrock Rovers have shared many rivalries of differing importance and intensity. The oldest such rivalry is that shared with Shelbourne, formed on the basis of the clubs' foundations in Ringsend. It remains as a secondary rivalry of similar importance to the local derby contested with St. Patrick's Athletic. During the 1950s and 1960s, the club's principal rival was, the now defunct, Drumcondra. In the 1970s, they were replaced as the major club on the Northside by Bohemians. Since then, the relatively minor rivalry that existed between Shamrock Rovers and Bohemians has developed into a classic rivalry, producing intense games and large attendances.
The co-ords were bouncing a good bit here - so I'm providing a good hint. Watch out for those muggles.