Frank Cooke Park
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| Full name | Tolka Rovers Football Club |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1922 |
| Ground | Frank Cooke Park |
| League | Leinster Senior League |
| 2011–12 | 4th |
Tolka Rovers F.C. are an amateur Irish football club based in Glasnevin, Dublin. They play in the Leinster Senior League. They play at Frank Cooke Park and wear red shirts with white sleeves. The club's junior teams play at Johnstown Park. The current chairman at the club is Alex Leech.
The club was founded in 1922 and had a social hall in Finglas Bridge. It continued into the mid-1930s and reformed in the 1940s. During that period, the club played in 'Doyle's Field', now known as West Park. Tolka Rovers then moved to Clonmell Park, in the Ballymun area of Dublin in 1945. In 1946 the club had moved once again to Blanchardstown after which it had the use of the fields in Finglas with the consent of the County Council. However, Rovers were moved from place to place due to housing development and were unable to establish a permanent home. On the November 19, 1958, the club's board signed a lease with Dublin Corporation for a soccer pitch. Due to financial constraints, they were only able to acquire an 11 month lease at the time, and the board were advised that perhaps we would have a better chance of becoming long-term tenants in Ballygall Road East. The club's board made an application to the Dublin Board of Assistance and duly met the engineer. It was agreed that Tolka Rovers submit a plan of their requirements for a ground and they did so on June 24, 1960. In 1963 after lengthy negotiations, the club was informed that the site in question had been allocated planning permission for apartments.
Once again, Rovers applied to Dublin Corporation for a long-term lease of the pitch in Finglas East, pointing out that they had now spent hundreds of pounds in rent and rates. Unfortunately for the club, there was no hope of accepting the terms offered. They continued to play in Finglas East. Crippled by the costs of the lease, the club was forced to adopt a pragmatic approach and innovatively used nearby residential houses as dressing rooms with permission from the owner.
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