Joseph Whelan was an Irish

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played for

Bohemians Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, originally practised by 19th–20th century European and American artists and writers. * Bohemian style, a f ...

during the 1890s and early 20th century.

Career

Whelan was one of the most important figures in the early day of football in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

. He was a founding member of Bohemian in 1890 and was the club's first captain.Bohemian FC match programme, Vol. 43, no. 6 Whelan also has the honour of scoring Bohemians' first ever goal when he netted against Britannia on 1 November 1890. A respected full back, he played in the first team for over a decade and appeared in the

Irish Cup The Irish Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly referred to as the Irish Cup (currently known as the Clearer Water Irish Cup for sponsorship purposes) is the primary Association football, football single elimination, knockout cup compet ...

Final in 1900 when Bohemians lost 2-1 to

Cliftonville Cliftonville is a coastal area of Margate in the Thanet District, Thanet district of Kent, England. It includes the Palm Bay, UK, Palm Bay estate, built in the 1930s with wide avenues and detached and semi-detached houses with driveways, gar ...

. Off the field, he was Club President of Bohemian from 1900 to 1905 and Vice-President from 1905 to 1916.

References

Year of birth missing Year of death missing Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Bohemian F.C. players Men's association football players not categorized by position {{NorthernIreland-footy-bio-stub