Shelbourne United Football Club was an Irish association football club based in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

. They are often confused with the similarly named current League of Ireland team Shelbourne. Both teams had their origins in the same

Ringsend Ringsend () is a Southside (Dublin), southside inner suburb of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is located on the south bank of the River Liffey and east of the River Dodder, about two kilometres east of the city centre. It is the sou ...

suburb and both teams played in the Leinster Senior League and the

League of Ireland The League of Ireland ( ga, Sraith na hÉireann), together with the Football Association of Ireland, is one of the two main governing bodies responsible for organising association football in the Republic of Ireland. The term was originally use ...

during the 1920s. However they were completely different teams.

History

Leinster Senior League

In 1920–21 Shelbourne United won the

Leinster Senior League Senior Division The Leinster Senior League Senior Division is the top division of the Leinster Senior League. It is organized by the Leinster Football Association. Together with the Munster Senior League Senior Premier Division and the Ulster Senior League S ...

title. After

Bohemians Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Beer * National Bohemian, a brand brewed by Pabst * Bohemian, a brand of beer brewed by Molson Coors Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, origi ...

, Shelbourne and St James's Gate, they became the fourth civilian team to win the league. Shelbourne United spent the 1921–22 season in the same league. Other teams in the Leinster Senior League Senior Division this season included

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 ...

, Bohemians B, St James's Gate B,

Bray Unknowns Bray Unknowns Football Club was an Irish association football club based in Bray, County Wicklow. During the 1920s and 1930s the Unknowns were the dominant football club in Bray, playing in the League of Ireland for nineteen seasons from 1924 ...

, Midland Athletic,

Pioneers Pioneer commonly refers to a settler who migrates to previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited land. In the United States pioneer commonly refers to an American pioneer, a person in American history who migrated west to join in settling and dev ...

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Kings County is the most populous Administrative divisions of New York (state)#County, county in the State of New York, ...

, Merrion, Glasnevin, CYMS and Richmond. During this season Shelbourne United played some home games at Beech Hill,

Donnybrook Donnybrook may refer to: Places Australia * Donnybrook, Queensland, Australia * Donnybrook, Western Australia * Donnybrook, Victoria, Australia ** Donnybrook railway station, Victoria, Australia Canada * Donnybrook, Ontario, a former village in ...

League of Ireland

The 1922–23 season saw the

expand from eight to twelve teams. After Frankfort and

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams (philanthropist), Georg ...

dropped out, Shelbourne United became one of six new teams to join the league. The others were

, Midland Athletic,

Athlone Town Athlone Town Association Football Club () is an Irish football club from Athlone who are playing in the League of Ireland. The club is the oldest in the League as it was founded in 1887. First elected to the League of Ireland in 1922, they pl ...

and Rathmines Athletic. Shelbourne United and Rathmines Athletic originally had their applications to join the league rejected at a meeting on 17 August 1922. They were only reconsidered after one of the original proposed expansion teams,

University College Dublin University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland ...

, dropped out after concerns about their ability to field a team throughout the season. The League was also concerned about Shelbourne United's plans to play their home games at

Anglesea Road Anglesea Road is a road joining Donnybrook with Ballsbridge, in Dublin, Ireland. It forms part of the R108 regional route in Southeast Dublin. The River Dodder flows nearby Anglesea Road. A number of sports clubs and sports venues are located ...

, on a pitch already used by Dublin United. However, after observing a friendly between the two teams, the league finally accepted Shelbourne United following another meeting on Monday, 4 September 1922. Less than two weeks later, they made their League of Ireland debut on Saturday, 16 September 1922, in a 1–0 away win against Shamrock Rovers. The 1922–23 season eventually saw Shelbourne United finish fourth behind Rovers, Shelbourne and

. In the

1922–23 FAI Cup The FAI Cup 1922–23 was the second edition of Ireland's premier cup competition, The Football Association of Ireland Challenge Cup or FAI Cup. The tournament began on 6 January 1923 and concluded on 17 March with the final held at Dalymount ...

they defeated Bohemians 2–1 in the round of sixteen and in the quarter-finals they lost over two games to the eventual winners

Alton United Alton United F.C. is a defunct Irish football club who were based in Belfast, Northern Ireland and played in the Falls District League. During their time in the Falls District League, Alton United played their home matches in the Falls Road area ...

. In their second and final season, 1923–24, they played their home games at Milltown Ground and finished sixth. They were quarter-finalists again in the

1923–24 FAI Cup The FAI Cup 1923–24 was the third edition of Ireland's premier cup competition, The Football Association of Ireland Challenge Cup or FAI Cup. The tournament began on 5 January 1924 and concluded on 17 March with the final held at Dalymoun ...

, this time losing 2–1 to St James's Gate. Shelbourne United withdrew from the League of Ireland on 7 September 1924, the day after the 1924–25 season had started. Their place in the league was awarded to Fordsons.

Honours

* Leinster Senior League: 1 **1920-21

References

{{League of Ireland clubs Association football clubs in Dublin (city) Defunct League of Ireland clubs Former Leinster Senior League clubs Association football clubs established in 1920 Association football clubs disestablished in 1924 1920 establishments in Ireland 1924 disestablishments in Ireland