Distillery Football Club was an Irish association football club originally based on Distillery Road in Drumcondra, Dublin. The club was active during the 1930s and 1940s, fielding teams in both the Leinster Senior League and the Athletic Union League. They also competed in the

FAI Cup The Football Association of Ireland Senior Challenge Cup (FAI Cup), known as the Extra.ie FAI Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out association football competition contested annually by teams from the Republic of Ireland (as well as Derry ...

, the FAI Intermediate Cup, the

FAI Junior Cup The FAI Junior Cup is a cup competition organized by the Football Association of Ireland for junior association football clubs from the Republic of Ireland. The inaugural winners were Brideville. The competition's most successful club is Fairvi ...

and the Leinster Senior Cup, winning the three latter trophies. Despite their successes at intermediate and junior level, unlike their contemporaries

Sligo Rovers Sligo Rovers Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Ruagairí Shligigh) is an Irish professional football club playing in the Premier Division of the League of Ireland. The club is based in Sligo in the west of Ireland. The club was founded in 1928 ...

and

St Patrick's Athletic St Patrick's Athletic Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Lúthchleas Phádraig Naofa) is a professional Irish association football club based in Inchicore, Dublin, that plays in the Irish Premier Division. Founded in May 1929, they played origin ...

, Distillery never joined the League of Ireland.

History

Intermediate success

Distillery first came to national prominence when they won the 1930–31

. During the late 1930s and early 1940s they developed into the leading intermediate club team in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, winning the Leinster Senior League on five occasions and the FAI Intermediate Cup four times in row between 1938–39 and 1941–42. This latter achievement remained unequalled for seventy two years until Avondale United completed a four in a row in 2013–14. In 1941–42 Distillery also won the Leinster Senior Cup after defeating Bray Unknowns 4–1 in the final. As a result, they became the first non– League of Ireland club to defeat a League of Ireland club in the final. The 1941–42 season saw the club achieve a quartet, winning the League Senior League, the Leinster Senior Cup, the FAI Intermediate Cup and the FAI Junior Cup. Tommy Eglington was a member of their 1941–42 FAI Junior Cup winning team.

FAI Cup

Distillery made their first appearance in the

in the 1934–35. In the round of sixteen they defeated Butchers (Cork) 3–0 after two replays before losing 2–1 to

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ga, Dún Dealgan ), meaning "the fort of Dealgan", is the county town (the administrative centre) of County Louth, Ireland. The town is on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the east coast of Ireland. It is h ...

in the quarter-finals; the match had a tragic sequel as left-back Samuel Beattie died after a clash of heads. An inquest returned a verdict of accidental death, with a rider specifically exculpating the other player involved. In 1937–38 they were FAI Cup semi-finalists. In the round of sixteen they defeated Cobh Ramblers 2–1 before knocking out their neighbours Drumcondra 4–0 in the quarter-finals. In the semi-finals they drew 2–2 with

St James's Gate St. James's Gate, located off the south quays of Dublin, on James's Street, was the western entrance to the city during the Middle Ages. During this time the gate was the traditional starting point for the Camino pilgrimage from Dublin to Santiag ...

before losing 3–2 in a replay. Gate subsequently went on to win the cup. Distillery were quarter-finalists again in 1938–39 and 1939–40 and also played in the 1940–41, 1941–42 and 1942–43 competitions.

Ground

The club played at Rutland Avenue.

Notable former players

; Dual Ireland internationals * Tommy Eglington ;

Shamrock Rovers Shamrock Rovers Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Ruagairí na Seamróige) is an Irish association football club based in Tallaght, South Dublin. The club's senior team competes in the League of Ireland Premier Division and it is the most su ...

players * Tommy Eglington * Sonny Molloy * Joe Ward

Honours

* Leinster Senior League ** ''Winners'':1935–36, 1937–38, 1938–39, 1940–41, 1941–42: 5 ** ''Runners up'': 1933–34: 1 * Leinster Senior Cup **''Winners'': 1941–42: 1 * FAI Intermediate Cup **''Winners'': 1938–39, 1939–40, 1940–41, 1941–42: 4 *

**''Winners'': 1930–31, 1941–42: 2

References

{{reflist Association football clubs in Dublin (city) Former Leinster Senior League clubs Former Athletic Union League (Dublin) clubs Defunct association football clubs in the Republic of Ireland Association football clubs disestablished in the 1940s 1940s disestablishments in Ireland