Belvedere Football Club is an Irish association football club based in

Fairview Fairview may refer to: Places Canada * Fairview, Alberta (disambiguation) * Fairview, British Columbia * Fairview, Nova Scotia * Fairview, Kenyon Township, North Glengarry, Ontario * Fairview, Vancouver, British Columbia New Zealand * Fairview, ...

Clontarf, Dublin Clontarf () is a largely affluent coastal suburb on the Northside of Dublin in the city's Dublin 3 postal district. Historically there were two centres of population, one on the coast towards the city, and the fishing village of Clontarf Shed ...

. Belvedere currently fields teams in the Dublin & District Schoolboy League. The club has also entered teams in the

FAI Youth Cup The FAI Youth Cup, also known as the FAI Umbro Youth Challenge Cup, is a cup competition organised by the FAI for youth association football clubs and teams in the Republic of Ireland. The inaugural winners were Greenmount Rangers. The competi ...

, the FAI Under-17 Cup, the

Milk Cup SuperCupNI, formerly called the Northern Ireland Youth Soccer Tournament and the Dale Farm Milk Cup, is an international youth football tournament held annually in Northern Ireland. The cup matches are mainly played in the North Coast area o ...

and the

Umbro Galway Cup The Galway Cup is an association football National Youth Tournament held annually in Galway, Ireland. The tournament takes place in Salthill Devon F.C.'s Drom Soccer Park venue. History The competition began in the summer of 2005 in a bid ...

. Like Home Farm, Stella Maris and

Cherry Orchard A cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus '' Prunus'', and is a fleshy drupe (stone fruit). Commercial cherries are obtained from cultivars of several species, such as the sweet '' Prunus avium'' and the sour '' Prunus cerasus''. Th ...

, Belvedere is well known for its

youth system In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team in the future if ...

which has successfully produced hundreds of players who have gone onto play & coach for professional clubs throughout Ireland, the United Kingdom and worldwide. In addition hundreds have also gone on to represent the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...

at various international levels & to date the club have 15 full internationals.

History

Belvedere Football Club was founded in 1971 in North Inner City Dublin. It was originally the football section of Belvedere Youth Club which had been formed in 1918. The club first began to field teams in the Dublin & District Schoolboy League in 1971–72. In the seasons since the club has won an astonishing array of youth league and cup competitions at both provincial and national level. The club first came to national prominence in 1987–88 when they won the FAI Under-17 Cup. In February 1990 the club played a small part in launching the career of

Roy Keane Roy Maurice Keane (born 10 August 1971) is an Irish football pundit, coach and former professional player. He is the joint most successful Irish footballer of all time, having won 19 major trophies in his club career, 17 of which came during h ...

. Belvedere played a

Cobh Ramblers Cobh Ramblers Football Club (CRFC) ( ga, Cumann Peile Chóstóirí Chóbh) is an Irish football club. The club, founded in 1922 and elected to the League of Ireland in 1985, hails from Cobh, County Cork and play their home matches at St. Colm ...

team featuring Keane in an

game at

Fairview Park Fairview Park may refer to: Australia *Fairview Park, South Australia Canada * CF Fairview Park (aka Fairview Park Mall), a shopping centre in Kitchener, Ontario Hong Kong *Fairview Park (Hong Kong), a private residential estate in the New Terri ...

. Former Belvedere manager and

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

scout, Noel McCabe subsequently recommended Keane to

Brian Clough Brian Howard Clough ( ; 21 March 1935 – 20 September 2004) was an English football player and manager, primarily known for his successes as a manager with Derby County and Nottingham Forest. He is one of four managers to have won the Engli ...

. In 1990–91 Belvedere won the FAI Youth Cup for the first time and within a few seasons Mark Kennedy and then

Curtis Fleming Curtis Fleming (born 8 October 1968 in Manchester) is an Irish professional football manager and former player, who is currently the assistant manager of Championship club Bristol City. Fleming played right back and won international honour ...

became the first two former Belvedere players to represent the

at full international level. Initially Belvedere recruited players from its home base in Northside, Dublin. However as the clubs reputation grew, it also began to recruit from throughout the

Greater Dublin Area The Greater Dublin Area (GDA; Irish: ''Mórcheantar Bhaile Átha Cliath''), or simply Greater Dublin, is an informal term that is taken to include the city of Dublin and its hinterland, with varying definitions as to its extent. As of 2022, its ...

and then nationally throughout Ireland. Players from outside Dublin were known as "Belvo

culchie Culchie is a pejorative term in Hiberno-English for someone from rural Ireland. The term usually has a pejorative meaning directed by urban Irish against rural Irish, but since the late 20th century, the term has also been reclaimed by some who ...

s" and included, among others, David Forde. In 2004 Belvedere were runners-up in the prestigious

, losing 3–1 to Heart of Midlothian in the final. In 2009 they also won the

. During this era they were also regular winners of the FAI Under-17 Cup. On 31 May 2015 during an away game against St Kevin's Boys, Shetemi Ayetigbo, a Nigerian-Irish footballer then aged 16, collapsed and died while playing for Belvedere. www.modernghana.com
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Notable former players

Players

;

internationals {, , - style="vertical-align:top" , , * Thomas Butler *

Stephen Elliott Stephen Elliott may refer to: Entertainment *Stephen Elliott (actor), (1918–2005), American actor *Stephen Elliott (author) (born 1971), American author and activist Sport *Steve Elliott (footballer, born 1958), English footballer * Steve Ellio ...

* David Forde *

Wes Hoolahan Wesley Patrick Hoolahan (born 20 May 1982) is an Irish professional footballer who most recently played as an attacking midfielder for League One club Cambridge United. Hoolahan began his playing career with Shelbourne and has previously pl ...

* Darragh Lenihan , , * Stephen Kelly * Troy Parrott * Mark Kennedy *

Richard Sadlier Richard Sadlier (born 14 January 1979, in Dublin) is an Irish former professional footballer and former CEO of St Patrick's Athletic. Since retirement from the professional game he has worked as a pundit with RTÉ Sport. Club career He began h ...

Cillian Sheridan Cillian Sheridan (born 23 February 1989) is an Irish professional footballer who plays for Scottish Championship side Dundee. Sheridan began his career with Celtic in 2006, but a lack of first team opportunities saw him being loaned to other ...

Keith Treacy Keith Patrick Treacy (born 13 September 1988) is an Irish footballer who is a former Republic of Ireland international who last played for St Patrick's Athletic. He spent his youth at Belvedere and began his professional career at Blackburn Rove ...

* Matt Doherty *

Graham Burke Graham Dylan Burke (born 21 September 1993) is an Irish professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for Shamrock Rovers. Burke has represented the Republic of Ireland national football tea ...

* Roberto Lopes * Leovan O'Garro ;

League of Ireland XI The League of Ireland XI, more recently referred to as the ''Airtricity League XI'' for sponsorship reasons, is the representative team of the League of Ireland, the national association football league of the Republic of Ireland. For much of it ...

representatives *

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* Conor Powell * Richie Ryan * Derek Swan ; Republic of Ireland B internationals *

Richie Byrne Richard Philip Byrne (born 24 September 1981) is a former Irish footballer who played as left back. He played for clubs including Shamrock Rovers, Dunfermline Athletic and Aberdeen. Career Byrne signed for Shamrock Rovers in the summer of 2000 ...

Tony Cousins Tony Cousins (born 25 August 1969 in The Liberties) is an Irish football coach and former player. He is head coach of Shamrock Rovers U17's. Cousins was involved in full-time football from the age of sixteen when he joined English club Chel ...

Martin Russell Martin Russell is an English recording engineer, record producer, composer, and musician. He has been a core member of the music group Afro Celt Sound System since the recording of the first album '' Volume 1: Sound Magic'' in mid-1995, and has t ...

; Republic of Ireland U23 international *

Ross Gaynor Ross Leon Gaynor (born 9 September 1987) from Ardee, County Louth is an Irish professional footballer who played in the Football League for Millwall. Club career Gaynor began his career playing juvenile football in Ardee with Square United and ...

Mark Quigley Mark Quigley (born 27 October 1985) is an Irish former professional footballer who played for Millwall, Shamrock Rovers (over 2 spells), St Patrick's Athletic (over 2 spells), Bohemians (over 2 spells), Dundalk, Sligo Rovers and Derry City ...

* Ger Rowe ; Republic of Ireland U21 internationals {, , - style="vertical-align:top" , , * Kwame Ampadu * Hugh Atkinson * Karl Bermingham *

John Burns John Elliot Burns (20 October 1858 – 24 January 1943) was an English trade unionist and politician, particularly associated with London politics and Battersea. He was a socialist and then a Liberal Member of Parliament and Minister. He was ...

* Barry Cogan *

* Matt Doherty * Liam Dunne *

Kevin Feely Kevin Roderick Feely (born 30 August 1992) is an Irish former professional footballer and Gaelic footballer for Kildare and Athy. His younger brother Rory Feely is a professional footballer. Career Feely began his career with Bohemians in 2010, ...

Richie Foran Richard Foran (born 16 June 1980) is an Irish football player and coach. He played for St Patrick's Athletic, Shelbourne, Carlisle United, Oxford United, Motherwell, Southend United, Darlington and Inverness Caledonian Thistle. After retirin ...

* Chris Forrester , , *

* Ken Gillard * James Hand * Stephen Henderson *

Sean Kavanagh Sean, also spelled Seán or Séan in Irish English, is a male given name of Irish origin. It comes from the Irish versions of the Biblical Hebrew name ''Yohanan'' (), Seán ( anglicized as '' Shaun/Shawn/ Shon'') and Séan (Ulster variant; angli ...

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* Darragh Lenihan * John McGrath *

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* Thomas Morgan * Gary Mulligan , , * Stephen Murphy *

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* Neil Poutch * Conor Powell * Alan Power * Danny Rogers *

* Robbie Ryan *

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* Derek Swan * Kevin Thornton ; Republic of Ireland U19 internationals *

Neill Byrne Neill Byrne (born 2 February 1993) is an Irish footballer who plays as a defender for League Two club Stockport County. Career Early career Byrne was born in Portmarnock, Ireland. He started his career with Irish sides Portmarnock and Bel ...

* Tim Clancy *

Jimmy Keohane James Clifford John Keohane (born 22 January 1991) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Rochdale. Playing career Keohane began his football career in with youth teams Belvedere and Evergreen. Wexford Youths In 2009, ...

* Adrian Harper *

Ricky McEvoy Richard Patrick McEvoy (born 6 August 1967) is a Gibraltarian born Irish retired footballer. Career A schoolboys international from Patrician College Finglas McEvoy along with Martin Russell helped his school win the Leinster Junior Schools C ...

; Republic of Ireland U18 internationals {, , - style="vertical-align:top" , , * Jake Carroll * Kevin Dawson *

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* Dara McGuiness * Jad Hadiki * David Toure , , * Nathan Murphy * Mark O'Brien *

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; Republic of Ireland U17 internationals * Philip Byrne * Wesley Byrne * Colin Cassidy * Alan Cawley * Paul Corry ; Republic of Ireland U16 internationals *

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* Sean Hayden * Anthony Dodd

Managers

{, , - style="vertical-align:top" , , * Thomas Butler *

* Trevor Croly *

, , * Stephen Kenny *

* Tim Clancy

Honours

**''Winners'': 1990–91, 1998–99, 2004–05: 3 * FAI Under-17 Cup **''Winners'': 1987–88, 1989–90, 1999–2000, 2004–05, 2006–07, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11: 8 *

**''Runners-up'': 2004: 1 * Galway Cup **''Winners'': 2009: 1

References

{{reflist Association football clubs established in 1971 1971 establishments in Ireland Association football clubs in Dublin (city) Association football academies in the Republic of Ireland