Tuam Celtic Association Football Club is an Irish association football club based in

Tuam Tuam (; , meaning 'mound' or 'burial-place') is a town in Ireland and the second-largest settlement in County Galway. It is west of the midland Region, Ireland, midlands of Ireland, about north of Galway city. The town is in a civil parishe ...

County Galway County Galway ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Northern and Western Region, taking up the south of the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht. The county population was 276,451 at the 20 ...

. Their senior men's team currently competes in the

Galway & District League The Galway & District League is an association football league organized by the Galway Football Association. It features amateur and junior clubs from County Galway. It currently features four divisions. Its top division, the Premier Division, ...

. The club also operates a ladies team, thirteen underage teams and, as of July 2021, have approximately 450 playing members.

History

After the demise of Tuam Town F.C. in 1973, a group of players who played at the old racecourse in Parkmore convened for a meeting with the idea of forming a new club. The meeting was held in Tuam C.B.S (now St. Patrick's College) on Monday the 18th of February, 1974 to found a new club. The name 'Tuam Celtic A.F.C.' was adopted at this meeting after a proposal by club secretary Seamus Sweeney. Initially, a fee of 25 pence was set for membership cards to be sold to players and supporters. Registered players had to pay £1 with a fee of 10 pence per week. Tommy Fleming was elected the first team captain on 4 March 1974. Tuam Celtic played their first match against Mountbellew the following Sunday, 10 March 1974, losing 0-2. During a meeting held on 1 October 1975, it was proposed that a board of trustees would be formed and each would invest £1,000 over two years in the Tuam Celtic Development Fund. Grounds were eventually purchased at Cloonthue Road, Tuam which is now the club's permanent home. By 1975, the club had entered a team in the Galway & District League, with Brian Carty scoring the first competitive goal for Celtic against a Salthill Devon team. In 2010, Tuam Celtic seniors won the Jack Lillis Cup with a 3-1 win over OLBC (Our Lady's Boys Club). The following season Tuam Celtic finished second in the Division 2 league and gained promotion to Division 1. In 2013, Tuam Celtic were promoted to the Premier League of the

for the first time since 1991 after a hugely successful season where they finished second in Division 1. Celtic were just pipped to top spot on the final day of the season by Caherlistrane team, St. Patrick’s FC.

Ground

Tuam Celtic play their home games at Celtic Park, just off Cloonthue Road, in Tuam. In 1996, the club added floodlights and built dressing rooms at Cloonthue. The grounds, training pitches and facilities are wholly owned by the club, a testament to many years of voluntary fund raising by club members. As of April 2022, the club have three full size grass pitches and a half size AstroTurf pitch which is used for training.

Youth Structure

The club started an underage academy in 2007 and by 2017 had 220 players. By 2022, the academy was fielding two teams at every age level.

Notable former players

Rory Gaffney Rory Nicholas Gaffney (born 23 October 1989) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a forward for League of Ireland Premier Division club Shamrock Rovers. Career Limerick Gaffney started his career at League of Ireland First Division ...

References

{{Galway & District League Association football clubs established in 1974 Association football clubs in County Galway Galway & District League teams Sport in Tuam 1974 establishments in Ireland Connacht Senior League (association football) clubs