Cobh Ramblers

Cobh Ramblers Football Club (CRFC) 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. Colman's Park. The club's colours are claret and blue. The club was a founding member of the Cork Athletic Union League in 1947 and is the only one of the 14 founding clubs still in existence today.

History

Cobh Ramblers F.C owes its formation in 1922 to the success of a challenge football match between two local field hockey clubs, 'Ramblers' and 'Cork Tramways'. Given the town's British connections at the time, hockey was relatively popular on Great Island. A desire to play football arose and the Laundry Field, at the rear of Cobh Hospital, was the venue. It was felt that an appetite existed for an official football club and preparations were made for such. At the subsequent meeting held in the Laundry, now the site of Park Road Day Centre, Cobh Ramblers A.F.C was formally established.

The Munster Football Association (M.F.A) had also been established in 1922 and the club became affiliated with the league shortly after inception. Ramblers were too late to enter the very first season, which was a short 'shield' format and ultimately won by Barrackton. The first full season of the MFA, 1922/23, saw a number of new arrivals including Ramblers, Blackrock Rovers and Shandon. The club was entered into both the South Munster Senior and Junior Leagues, one of only five clubs to feature at both levels. Matches were played at the Laundry Field and Ramblers were permitted to use the Laundry premises for dressing rooms and committee meetings. A first ever final appearance came in the form of the 1923 Munster Junior Cup, as Ramblers lost out to Barrackton in the decider.

The club first won the Munster Senior Cup in 1925. Additional (provincial) Munster Senior Cup titles were captured in the 1930s, 1940s, 1950s and 1970s.

At a national level, the club played in the 1976 FAI League Cup, reaching the semi-finals.

Cobh Ramblers joined the League of Ireland in 1985, after many years as a Munster Senior League side. One of the most successful of those teams was the team of 1983, who got to the semi-final of the FAI Cup defeating several senior clubs on the way. They met Sligo Rovers in the semi-final that year, drawing crowds of over 20,000 to Flower Lodge for the home games as St Colmans Park was too small. There were three replays until Sligo finally won 3–2 and went on to win the cup.

In 1985, the FAI announced that the League of Ireland would be expanding through the creation of a second league, the First Division. Ten teams were selected to join the inaugural First Division. Cobh, Bray Wanderers, Derry City, E.M.F.A ( Kilkenny City) and Newcastle United (Newcastlewest) were elected to step up from intermediate football whilst Monaghan United stepped up from the League of Ireland B Division. These six teams were joined by the bottom four clubs from the 1984/85 League of Ireland campaign, Drogheda United, Finn Harps, Longford Town and Sligo Rovers.

Cobh won promotion to the Premier Division in 1988, after finishing First Division runners-up to Athlone Town. Lasting just one season in the top flight, they won promotion again at the end of the 1992–93 season, this time as runners-up to Galway United. A play-off win over Finn Harps saw Ramblers retain their Premier Division status at the end of the 1993–94 season, but the club were relegated in second-last place the following year.

With Ramblers having played all but four of their League of Ireland campaigns in the LOI First Division, and local rivals Cork City FC more frequently playing in the LOI Premier Division, the two clubs have historically only met in pre-season friendlies and cup matches. However, during the 2022 and 2024 League of Ireland First Division seasons, when Cork City were playing in the First Division, the two teams played in what some sources described as "derby" games.

On 10 November 2007, Cobh Ramblers beat Athlone Town 1–0 in Lissywoollen to give the club their first piece of Senior Silverware and crowned them First Division Champions. During the 2007 season, they recorded a 27-game unbeaten run, keeping 22 clean sheets. Their points tally of 77 points was also a record for the league.

However, after being relegated from the League of Ireland Premier Division, Ramblers subsequently failed to obtain a licence for the First Division due to financial constraints and so compete in the Newstalk A Championship (Ireland's third tier).

In 2010 Ramblers missed out on gaining promotion back to the League of Ireland losing to Salthill Devon in a play off.

The club's most noted past player is former Irish international and Manchester United star Roy Keane, while Irish international Stephen Ireland is a product of the Youth System. Westlife singer Nicky Byrne, who was also a footballer on the books at Leeds United, had a spell with the club too.

On 18 March 2014, the club parted company with manager Dave Hill by mutual consent after five years. He was replaced by Martin Cambridge on an interim basis. In March 2015 Martin Cambridge tendered his resignation and Stephen Henderson returned to the club as first team manager. In Oct 2015 Stephen Henderson signed a new three-year contract with the club. In 2016, Henderson guided Ramblers to Munster Senior Cup victory and to a 3rd-place finish in the first division. Cobh Ramblers were the only side to defeat first division champions Limerick that season and this coincided with a run of 5 victories in their last 5 league games to reach the playoffs. They narrowly lost 3–2 on aggregate to Drogheda Utd despite overturning a 2–0 deficit in the return leg at United Park after only nine minutes.

In 2018, Ramblers reached the final of the EA Sports Cup Final. In the semi-final they defeated Dundalk 1–0 at home with striker Chris Hull scoring the winner. After defeating Dundalk, and denying the eventual champions a treble, Ramblers lost the final away to Derry City 3–1.

Having previously been a "member owned" club, in 2024 the club's members voted to accept a takeover by FC32, an international investment group which also owns Swiss club AC Bellizona and Austrian club SKN St. Pölten.

Stadium

St Colman's Park, which has a capacity of over 4,000, was redeveloped during the mid-2000s. Construction of a new changing facility and press office along with a new chairman's office was completed in 2006 along with new floodlights and a 900-seater stand replacing the old shed. The east stand, too has seen improvement with 450 new seats being installed. Plans for a new 900 seater stand adjacent to the existing stand have temporarily been put on hold due to minor financial difficulties at the club. A new slick surface was also added prior to the clubs admission to the Eircom/Airtricity League Premier Division in 2009.

The stadium has hosted international underage games including games in the 1994 UEFA European Under-16 Championship qualifiers. Munster Schools Senior Cup games have also been staged at the stadium including the final which was won by local Cobh school, Coláiste Muire in 2010.

Current squad

As of the 2025 season, the squad includes:

Supporters

Cobh Ramblers' fanbase, sometimes known as the "Claret and Blue Army", used to locate in the East stand, behind the goal. Nowadays they locate at the far end of the South stand. There is also a Cobh Ramblers Supporters Club, who are involved in fundraising for the club.

In 2019, Cobh Ramblers changed the ownership structure of the club and became a fully fan owned entity. This changed in 2024, when the club members voted to "pass wnershipinto the hands of international investors .the FC32 group".

Honours

*League of Ireland First Division: 1
**2007
*League of Ireland Cup
**Runners-up: 1
* Munster Senior League: 15
** 1925–26, 1934–35, 1935–36, 1943–44, 1956–57, 1971–72, 1975–76, 1976–77, 1977–78, 1979–80, 1980–81, 1981–82, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1984–85
* Munster Senior Cup: 8
** 1924–25, 1943–44, 1978–79, 1982–83, 2015–16, 2021–22, 2022–23, 2024–25
* FAI Intermediate Cup: 2
** 1979–80, 1982–83
* Enda McGuill Cup: 1
** 2013–14
*Munster Youths Cup: 3
** 1989–90, 1993–94, 1999–00

Notable former managers

* Alfie Hale (1988–1989)
* Damien Richardson (1995)
* Ian Butterworth (1998)
* Dave Hill (2009–2014)
* Stephen Henderson (2004–2008 & 2015–2019)
* Shane Keegan (2022–2023)

Notable former players

* Roy Keane
* Nicky Byrne
* David Meyler
* Jaze Kabia
* Jason Kabia
* Colin Falvey
* John Hollins
* Stephen Ireland
* Graham Cummins
* Michael Devine (footballer)

References

External links

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Association football clubs established in 1922
Association football clubs in County Cork
Former League of Ireland Premier Division clubs
A Championship teams
1922 establishments in Ireland
Cobh
League of Ireland First Division clubs
Former Munster Senior League (association football) clubs
Former Cork Athletic Union League clubs