Monaghan United F.C. is an Irish association football club based in

Monaghan Monaghan ( ; ) is the county town of County Monaghan, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It also provides the name of its Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish and Monaghan (barony), Monaghan barony. The population of the town as of the 2022 cen ...

currently playing in the Monaghan Cavan League. The club joined the

League of Ireland The League of Ireland is a national association football Sports league, league consisting of professional clubs in the Republic of Ireland and Derry, Derry City in Northern Ireland. It is governed by the Football Association of Ireland. It was ...

in 1983 and subsequently went on to play in the B Division, the

First Division 1st Division or First Division may refer to: Military Airborne divisions *1st Parachute Division (Germany) *1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom) * 1st Airmobile Division (Ukraine) * 1st Guards Airborne Division Armoured divisions *1st Armoure ...

and the Premier Division. They resigned from the league midway through the

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

season. The club continued to field a women's team in the

Dublin Women's Soccer League The Dublin Women's Soccer League was a women's association football league featuring teams from the Republic of Ireland. While the majority of the participating clubs were based in the Greater Dublin Area, the DWSL had regularly included teams f ...

and, together with the Cavan Monaghan Underage League, they entered a combined team in the League of Ireland U13 Division, League of Ireland U15, U17 and the U19 League of Ireland Divisions, until 2020, whereupon the partnership was ended, the CMUL continued to field a team in the national underage leagues. In 2019 the club entered a senior men's team into the Monaghan Cavan League, and in 2021, the club joined the Ulster Senior League, playing one season before re-entering the Monaghan Cavan League.

History

League of Ireland

Monaghan United were founded in

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

. Among the club's founding members was

Sean McCaffrey Sean McCaffrey (12 September 1959 – 30 December 2017) was an Irish football manager. Career He was the first team manager of League of Ireland Premier Division side Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ) is the county town of County Louth, Ireland. Th ...

who was also the manager of the club when they joined the

League of Ireland B Division The League of Ireland B Division is a former league within the Republic of Ireland football league system. Its debut season was 1964–65. It was originally a second level league. However following the emergence of the League of Ireland First Di ...

in 1983–84. In 1985–86 Monaghan United became founder members of the

League of Ireland First Division The League of Ireland First Division, also known as the SSE Airtricity League First Division for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in both the League of Ireland and the Republic of Ireland football league system. The division w ...

. United played eight seasons in the First Division before winning their first promotion. After finishing third in 1992–93 they became the first

club to gain promotion via a promotion/relegation play off. They defeated

Waterford United Waterford Football Club formerly Waterford United Football Club is an Irish association football club based in Waterford who play in the League of Ireland Premier Division. The club was founded and elected to the league in 1930. Originally the ...

5–2 on aggregate and were subsequently promoted to the 1993–94 Premier Division. They survived just two seasons in the Premier Division before being relegated at the end of the 1994–95 season. Monaghan United gained promotion to the Premier Division for a second time in 2000–01 after finishing second to

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ) is the county town of County Louth, Ireland. The town is situated on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the north-east coast of Ireland, and is halfway between Dublin and Belfast, close to and south of the bor ...

. This time their stay in the Premier Division last just one season. After managing to win just two league games, they finished last and were relegated following the conclusion of the 2001–02 season. Monaghan United reached the final of the 2010 League of Ireland Cup but lost 1–0 in the final to

Sligo Rovers Sligo Rovers Football Club is an Irish professional association football, 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 have been in ...

. They also finished third in the 2010 First Division and qualified for the promotion/relegation play off. They subsequently beat Waterford United before losing to

Bray Wanderers Bray Wanderers Football Club are an Irish association football club playing in the League of Ireland First Division. The club in its present form was founded in 1942 in Bray, and was known until 2010 as ''Bray Wanderers A.F.C.'' It was elect ...

on penalties. In

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

, under the management of

Roddy Collins Roderick Collins (born 7 August 1960) is an Irish former professional football player and manager. During a playing career of 18 years, Collins played for many sides across England, Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. While towards the ...

, Monaghan United again qualified for the promotion/relegation play off. This time they won promotion after beating Galway United 5–1 on aggregate. However, midway through the

season, Monaghan United withdrew from the league for "mainly but not only financial" reasons. ;Statistics

Monaghan Cavan League

In 2019, Monaghan United formed a senior team to play in the Monaghan Cavan League First Division. They finished off their debut season by winning the Sean Woods Cup and Jimmy Smith Shield Cup in September 2020, beating Glaslough Villa in both finals.

Ulster Senior League

2021 saw Monaghan United join the Ulster Senior League, the first club from Cavan or Monaghan to do so. In 2022, The Mons decided to withdraw from the league to continue football in the MCL.

Women's team

Dublin Women's Soccer League

Monaghan United formed a ladies football team in 2006. They won Division Four of the

in their first season and were promoted to Division Two. In 2007 they again won the league along with the Leinster Junior Cup. In 2008 they won the DWSL Intermediate Cup after defeating Santry 3–1 in the final. In 2012 they reached the semi-finals of the WFAI Intermediate Cup.

Grounds

Monaghan United originally played their home games at Belgium Park which served as their home ground between 1979 and

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. Since 1988 they have played at Gortakeegan, the first ever game being against

Drogheda United Drogheda United Football Club is a professional Irish association football club based in Drogheda, County Louth playing in the League of Ireland Premier Division. They play their home matches at Sullivan & Lambe Park. The current club is the ...

in the 1988-89 League Cup.

Honours

;Men *

League of Ireland Cup The League of Ireland Cup, also referred to in Ireland as the 'League Cup', was an annual knockout competition in men's football in Ireland. It was contested by League of Ireland clubs and invited clubs from the lower levels of the Irish footb ...

**''Runners Up'':

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

: 1 *

**''Runners Up'': 2000–01: 1 *Capaldi Cup **''Winners'': 2022-23: 1 *Sean Woods Cup **''Winners'': 2019-20: 1 *Jimmy Smith Shield **''Winners'': 2019-20: 1 ;Women * DWSL Intermediate Cup **''Winners'': 2008: 1

Notable former players

Internationals

;

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

internationals * Jonathan Douglas ;

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 Ireland. For much of its history, the League ...

representatives * Mick Byrne * John Coady * Joe Hanrahan * Brian Mooney ; Republic of Ireland B internationals * Brian Mooney ; Republic of Ireland U23 internationals *

Derek McGrath Derek McGrath (born June 4, 1951) is a Canadian actor and writer. Life and career McGrath was born in Timmins, Ontario."That face on U.S. TV returns to shoot movie" by Rita Zekas, ''Toronto Star'' (20 Oct, 1987) inal EditionRetrieved from His ...

* Brian Mooney * Stephen Rice ; Republic of Ireland U21 internationals ; Republic of Ireland U19 internationals * Robert Bayly * Ricky McEvoy ; Republic of Ireland U17 internationals * David Freeman * John Lester * Ger Robinson ;Other Internationals * Alvin Rouse

Goal scorers

; First Division Top Scorer ;Most League Goals in a Season ;Most League Goals

Others

Paddy Andrews – All-Ireland football winner with

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 ...

Managers

(1979–?) * Bobby Browne (1999–2003) * Mick Cooke (2003–11) *

(2011–12)

References

{{Authority control Association football clubs in Ulster Association football clubs established in 1979 Former League of Ireland clubs Former League of Ireland Premier Division clubs Former League of Ireland First Division clubs League of Ireland B Division clubs Monaghan (town) Sports clubs and teams in County Monaghan 1979 establishments in Ireland Dublin Women's Soccer League teams