Leicester Celtic FC

Leicester Celtic Football Club in South Dublin.

Leicester Celtic Football Club was founded in 1967 by Michael Flaherty and Father C. F. Lee, then a curate in Rathgar parish. In return for financial assistance from the Parish, the name of a local street was to be used in the club’s name. Hence... Leicester Avenue resulted in the name Leicester Celtic. The similarity to an English league team was purely coincidental. In our first season we fielded one team at under 17 level. The following season two teams at under 14 and under 18 represented the Club.

The season of 1969/70 saw the first real expansion when we fielded five teams. Through the good offices of Father Lee, we obtained use of Mill Hill Fathers in Dartry for our Saturday home matches. Our Sunday venue was Bushy Park. The Club continued to develop until 1975 when we moved our base to Marley Park in Rathfarnham. The simple logical reason was that our catchment area of Terenure, Rathmines and South Circular Road was no longer providing players in sufficient numbers. It's a tribute to the strength and dedication of the club officials that the move resulted in an expansion of teams to an average of twelve, drawing its members from Churchtown, Dundrum and Ballinteer.

www.leicesterceltic.ie