St. James Gate F.C.
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St James's Gate Football Club is an Irish association football club based in
Drimnagh Drimnagh () is a suburb in Dublin, Ireland. It lies to the south of the city between Walkinstown, Crumlin and Inchicore, bordered by the Grand Canal to the north and east. Drimnagh is in postal district Dublin 12. Drimnagh is in a townland ...
/
Crumlin, Dublin Crumlin () is a Southside (Dublin), Southside suburb of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Formerly a rural area, it became heavily built up from the early 20th century onwards. Crumlin is the site of Ireland's largest children's hospital, Ou ...
. They played in 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 ...
between 1921–22 and 1943–44 and again from 1990–91 until 1995–96. Gate were the inaugural winners of both the League of Ireland and the
FAI Cup The Football Association of Ireland Senior Challenge Cup (FAI Cup), known as the Sports Direct FAI Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out association football competition contested annually by teams from the Republic of Ireland (as well as D ...
. Like several fellow early League of Ireland clubs, such as Fordsons,
Jacobs Jacobs may refer to: Businesses and organisations *Jacob's, a brand name for several lines of biscuits and crackers in Ireland and the UK * Jacobs (coffee), a German brand of coffee * Jacobs Solutions, an American international technical professi ...
, Midland Athletic and
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 ...
, Gate had their origins as a factory or
works team A works team, sometimes also referred to as factory team and company team, is a sports team that is financed and run by a manufacturer or other business, institution, or organization in a broad sense. Works teams have very close ties with thei ...
. They were initially the football team of the
St James's Gate Brewery St. James's Gate Brewery is a brewery founded in 1759 in Dublin, Ireland, by Arthur Guinness. The company is now a part of Diageo, a company formed from the merger of Guinness and Grand Metropolitan in 1997. The main product of the brewery is ...
, the home of
Guinness Guinness () is a stout that originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness at Guinness Brewery, St. James's Gate, Dublin, Ireland, in the 18th century. It is now owned by the British-based Multinational corporation, multinational alcoholic bever ...
. In July 2022 they narrowly survived folding and survived due to a public appeal.


History


Early years

The club was founded in 1902. The prime mover behind forming the club was
John Lumsden Sir John Lumsden (14 November 1869 – 3 September 1944) was an Irish physician. He was famous for his role as Chief Medical Officer of Guinness Brewery, during which time he founded both St James's Gate F.C. and the St John Ambulance Brigade ...
, then serving as a medical officer at
St James's Gate Brewery St. James's Gate Brewery is a brewery founded in 1759 in Dublin, Ireland, by Arthur Guinness. The company is now a part of Diageo, a company formed from the merger of Guinness and Grand Metropolitan in 1997. The main product of the brewery is ...
. The club first gained national recognition in 1909–10 when they won both the Leinster Senior League title and the
Irish Intermediate Cup The Irish Intermediate Cup is a Northern Irish football competition for teams of intermediate status, including NIFL Premiership reserve sides. It is a straight knock-out tournament and is currently sponsored by McCombs Coach Travel. The cu ...
. In 1919–20, with a team that included
Charlie Dowdall Charles Dowdall (7 April 1898 – 7 November 1987) was an Irish footballer. He played for several clubs in both the League of Ireland and the English League and was also capped at international level by Ireland. He was born in Dublin. Club car ...
,
Paddy Duncan Paddy Duncan (1894 – 9 April 1949) was an Irish footballer. At the 1924 Olympic Games he scored the Ireland (FAI)'s first ever goal in a senior international. Club career Duncan began his schoolboy career with Belview Boys before joining S ...
and
Ernie MacKay Ernest MacKay (7 October 1896 – November 1995) was an Irish footballer who played in an international tournament representing Ireland in 1924. Personal life MacKay was born in County Tipperary as the second son and fifth child of John and ...
, Gate won four trophies – the Leinster Senior League title, the Irish Intermediate Cup, the Leinster Senior Cup and the
LFA Metropolitan Cup The Leinster Senior League is an association football league organised by the Leinster Football Association. The Leinster Senior League operates 22 divisions, 12 of which are played on Saturdays, with 10 divisions played on Sundays. It also orga ...
.


First League of Ireland era

In 1921–22, together with Shelbourne,
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 ...
,
Jacobs Jacobs may refer to: Businesses and organisations *Jacob's, a brand name for several lines of biscuits and crackers in Ireland and the UK * Jacobs (coffee), a German brand of coffee * Jacobs Solutions, an American international technical professi ...
, Frankfort, Olympia,
YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It has nearly 90,000 staff, some 920,000 volunteers and 12,000 branches w ...
and Dublin United, Gate became founder members of 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 ...
. Like Gate, the other seven founding members had spent the 1920–21 season playing in the Leinster Senior League. Gate initially emerged as one of the strongest teams in the league and in their debut season won a treble. In addition to winning the inaugural league title, they also won the 1921–22 FAI Cup and the 1921–22 Leinster Senior Cup. This season proved to be the highlight of Gate's time in the League of Ireland. In 1939–40 they won a second league title, however after finishing in last place in 1943–44 they failed to gain re-election. It had been suggested that the reason for this was the club announcing its intention to revert to amateur status. However, when the vote was being taken, the representative for
Shamrock Rovers Shamrock Rovers Football Club is an Irish professional Association football, football club based in Tallaght, South Dublin. The club's senior team competes in the League of Ireland Premier Division and it is List of football clubs by competit ...
stated, "the St. James's Gate club has not full control over their own finances, as any profit made during the season goes to the Guinness Athletic Union and is therefore lost to football." The other clubs were also known to be unhappy that members of the Guinness Athletic Union did not have to pay into home matches, depriving those clubs of their share of gate receipts.


Placings


Records

Source:


Second League of Ireland era

In 1990–91 Gate joined 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 ...
, replacing Newcastlewest. In 1995, the club was taken over by a consortium. Only one year later, however, just before the start of the 1996–97 they pulled out of the league, unable to meet their financial responsibilities. They were replaced by St. Francis.


110th Anniversary Tournament

To celebrate their 110th anniversary, in July 2012 the club hosted a tournament.


Semi-finals


Third place play-off


Final


Grounds

Gate originally played their home games at Bellevue Lodge by the Grand Canal near
Inchicore Inchicore () is a suburb of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Located approximately west of the city centre, Inchicore was originally a small village separate from Dublin. The village developed around Richmond Barracks (built 1810) and Inchi ...
. The same venue was also used by Olympia. Between 1921 and 1928 they played at St. James's Park in
Dolphin's Barn Dolphin's Barn () is an inner city suburb of Dublin, Ireland, situated on the Southside of the city in the Dublin 8, and partially in the Dublin 12, postal district. Etymology The district's English name may derive from an Anglo-Norman famil ...
on a pitch hired by the
Guinness Guinness () is a stout that originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness at Guinness Brewery, St. James's Gate, Dublin, Ireland, in the 18th century. It is now owned by the British-based Multinational corporation, multinational alcoholic bever ...
board. In 1928 they moved to their current home at the
Iveagh Grounds The Iveagh Grounds is a multi-purpose stadium, multi-purpose sports facility based in Drimnagh/Crumlin, Dublin. It is the home base of several sports clubs and teams who are associated with the Guinness Athletic Union. These include St James's G ...
.


Notable former players

;
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 On 28 May 1924 when
Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
made their international debut at the 1924 Olympics against
Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...
, the Ireland team included three Gate players –
Paddy Duncan Paddy Duncan (1894 – 9 April 1949) was an Irish footballer. At the 1924 Olympic Games he scored the Ireland (FAI)'s first ever goal in a senior international. Club career Duncan began his schoolboy career with Belview Boys before joining S ...
, Michael Farrell and
Ernie MacKay Ernest MacKay (7 October 1896 – November 1995) was an Irish footballer who played in an international tournament representing Ireland in 1924. Personal life MacKay was born in County Tipperary as the second son and fifth child of John and ...
. A fourth member of the team, Paddy O'Reilly, would also later play for the club. Duncan also scored the Republic of Ireland's first international goal. Joe O'Reilly, with 20, was also the most capped player for Ireland in the pre–
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
era. ;
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. ...
women's internationals *
Katie Taylor Katie Taylor (born 2 July 1986) is an Irish professional boxer and former footballer. She was the undisputed and undefeated lineal world lightweight champion from 2019 to 2024, and has held the undisputed and lineal world super lightweight ...
* Mary Waldron ; Republic of Ireland U21 internationals * John Bacon * Martin Bayly * Ritchie Bayly ;
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 * Pat Byrne * Paul Byrne *
Martin Colfer Martin Colfer (died 25 September 2015) was a Republic of Ireland soccer international, who played with Shelbourne for seven seasons in the 1950s. Football career Colfer began his career with St James's Gate. From there he transferred to Shelb ...
; Ireland (IFA) internationals In addition to playing for Ireland teams selected by the FAI, at least five Gate players also played for Ireland teams selected by the
Irish Football Association The Irish Football Association (IFA) is the governing body for association football in Northern Ireland. It organised the Ireland national football team (1882–1950), Ireland national football team from 1880 to 1950, which after 1954, became t ...
. *
Johnny Carey John Joseph Carey (23 February 1919 – 22 August 1995) was an Irish professional footballer and manager. As a player, Carey spent most of his career at Manchester United, where he was team captain from 1946 until he retired as a player in 195 ...
 – Senior *
Ernie MacKay Ernest MacKay (7 October 1896 – November 1995) was an Irish footballer who played in an international tournament representing Ireland in 1924. Personal life MacKay was born in County Tipperary as the second son and fifth child of John and ...
 – Junior * Emmet McLoughlin – Amateur * Frank Heaney – Amateur * Harry Litton – Amateur ;Goalscorers On seven occasions St James's Gate players finished as 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 ...
's top goalscorer. On 30 March 1930, Willie Byrne scored six goals in a 7–1 win against
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 ...
. Paddy Bradshaw, with 68, remains Gate's top goalscorer in the League of Ireland. ;Boxer *
Katie Taylor Katie Taylor (born 2 July 1986) is an Irish professional boxer and former footballer. She was the undisputed and undefeated lineal world lightweight champion from 2019 to 2024, and has held the undisputed and lineal world super lightweight ...
Irish,
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,
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and
Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...
boxing champion


Honours

*
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 ...
: 2 ** 1921–22, 1939–40 * Leinster Senior League: 6 **1909–10, 1911–12, 1914–15, 1919–20, 1987–88, 1988–89 *
FAI Cup The Football Association of Ireland Senior Challenge Cup (FAI Cup), known as the Sports Direct FAI Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out association football competition contested annually by teams from the Republic of Ireland (as well as D ...
: 2 ** 1921–22, 1937–38 * League of Ireland Shield : 2 **1935–36, 1940–41 *
Dublin City Cup The Dublin City Cup is a defunct Irish football tournament which was played for by all League of Ireland sides (and not just those from Dublin city as the name suggests). It ran from 1933 and ran uninterrupted until 1973. In the 1975–76 se ...
: 1 **1938–39 * Leinster Senior Cup: 5 **1919–20, 1921–22, 1934–35, 1936–37, 1940–41 *
LFA Metropolitan Cup The Leinster Senior League is an association football league organised by the Leinster Football Association. The Leinster Senior League operates 22 divisions, 12 of which are played on Saturdays, with 10 divisions played on Sundays. It also orga ...
**1919–20 *
Irish Intermediate Cup The Irish Intermediate Cup is a Northern Irish football competition for teams of intermediate status, including NIFL Premiership reserve sides. It is a straight knock-out tournament and is currently sponsored by McCombs Coach Travel. The cu ...
: 2 **1909–10, 1919–20 *
FAI Intermediate Cup The FAI Intermediate Cup (), also known as the FAI Umbro Intermediate Cup and the Pat O'Brien Intermediate Challenge Cup, is a cup competition organized by the Football Association of Ireland for intermediate association football clubs from the ...
: 1 **1950–51


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Jamess Gate F.C. 1902 establishments in Ireland Association football clubs established in 1902 Association football clubs in Dublin (city) Defunct League of Ireland clubs Leinster Senior League (association football) clubs Works association football teams in Ireland