Shelbourne

Formation & IFA years: 1895–1921

Shelbourne Football Club was formed in 1895 in the Ringsend area of Dublin by a group of men led by James Rowan, a general labourer. The club's first meeting was held at the corner of Bath Avenue in the Shelbourne House hostelry, known as of 2017 as Slattery's Pub, and took its name from the nearby Shelbourne Road. The club's first pitch was at Havelock Square just behind the north stand at the present day Aviva Stadium.

Shelbourne's second season, 1896–97, was their first in competitive competition. Shelbourne played 28 matches, won 25, drew two and lost only one. Their goal tally was 109 for and 15 against. Shelbourne won the principal junior competitions, the Leinster Junior Cup and Leinster Junior League. The club decided to enter the senior ranks for the 1897–98 season and reached the Leinster Senior Cup final at their first attempt, only to lose to Bohemians. They also finished runners-up in the Leinster Senior League. The club won their first Leinster Senior Cup in 1899/1900, winning the competition again in 1901 and 1904. The club joined the Irish League for the start of the 1904–05 season.

The club made it to the final of the IFA Cup in 1905 but were beaten by Distillery. The following year Shelbourne defeated Belfast Celtic in the Cup Final 2–0 at Dalymount Park before a crowd of 7,000 thanks to a brace from James Owens and became the first Southern club to win the IFA Cup. According to a Dublin newspaper "Tar barrels and bonfires were blazing across Ringsend and Sandymount that night as the Irish Cup was paraded around the district". In the same year, Shelbourne player Val Harris became the club's first player to line out for Ireland. In 1906 Shelbourne won their fourth Leinster Senior Cup, the club also playing in a charity match against Bohemians the same year and raised more than 100 pounds to build a church in Ringsend. Shelbourne reached the IFA Cup Final again in 1907 and 1908 but were beaten on both occasions in replays against Cliftonville and Bohemians, respectively. In 1907 Shelbourne were also Irish Football League runners-up to Linfield. They won the Leinster Senior Cup again in 1908 and 1909. In 1909 Shelbourne were City Cup winners and finished third place in the Irish Football League, behind champions Linfield and Glentoran. In 1911 Shelbourne won the IFA Cup for their second time and went on to win the Leinster Senior Cup again in 1913 and 1914. In 1912, the club established the Shelbourne Sports Company, a limited public liability company with the specific aim of constructing a stadium of holding 25,000 spectators. It was wound up eleven years later without having achieved its goal. Shelbourne were 1914 Gold Cup runners-up, and then winners in 1915, were Leinster Senior Cup winners again in 1917 and 1919, and winners of the IFA Cup once more, in 1920, after the other semi-final was declared void as both of the teams involved (Belfast Celtic and Glentoran) were ejected from the competition, before Shelbourne's association with the Irish Football Association was to come to an end. The Reds semi-final win over Glenavon saw their home ground closed by authorities following crowd violence.

Founder Members of the League of Ireland: 1921–1929

Additional reading: IFA#North-South Split

Following the Anglo-Irish Treaty, Partition of Ireland and establishment of the Irish Free State, the League of Ireland was formed for clubs in the 26 counties of Ireland that had regained independence from the United Kingdom. The immediate cause of the split lay in a bitter dispute over the venue for the replay of an Irish Cup match in 1921 involving Glentoran of Belfast and Shelbourne. When the first cup match was drawn in Belfast, because of the Irish war of independence, the IFA reneged on a promise to play the replay in Dublin and scheduled the rematch again for Belfast. Shelbourne refused to comply and forfeited the Cup. Such was the anger over the issue that the Leinster FA broke away from the IFA and formed its own national association, the present-day Football Association of Ireland. Shelbourne became one of the original League of Ireland founder clubs along with Bohemians, St James's Gate, Jacobs, Olympia, Frankfort, Dublin United and YMCA.

In the opening 1921–22 season, Shelbourne finished in third place behind winners St James's Gate and Bohemians. Shelbourne finished runners-up the following two seasons and won the 1924 Leinster Senior Cup. The Reds finished third in the league again in the 1924–25 season before winning the league for their first time the following season in 1925–26. They finished runners-up the following two years before winning the 1928–29 Championship.

Thirties: 1930–1939

Having failed to retain the title in 1930, Shels won their third league title in 1931 and were Leinster Senior Cup winners that same year. In 1934 the club got into a dispute with the Irish Free State F.A. when they looked for compensation after the FAIFS had arranged a match for the same day that Shelbourne had a match scheduled. In the row that followed, Shels resigned from the League and were then suspended from football for a year by the FAI. The club played no football during the 1934–35 season and spent the 1935–36 season in the Athletic Union League before being re-admitted to the League of Ireland for the start of the 1936–37 season. During the 1935–36 season a team called Reds United, made up of a number of Shelbourne players and backed by Shels personnel, competed in the League of Ireland and finished a respectable fourth. At the end of the season, they resigned from the League to make way for Shelbourne's return.

The decade had a happy ending, though, as success in the FAI Cup finally arrived (many fans had started to believe the club was suffering from a curse): it was in the 1939 Cup Final that the supposed curse was broken. Sligo Rovers who boasted Dixie Dean, the goalscoring legend of the Football League, were eventually beaten after a replay thanks to a long-range goal from 'Sacky' Glen. After so many attempts, the blue ribbon of Irish football made its way to Shelbourne Park for the first time. Official figures put the attendances at 30,000 and 25,000 for the first final and the replay respectively.