St. Francis F.C.
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| Full name | St Francis Football Club |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Hoops |
| Founded | 1958 |
| Ground | John Hyland Park Baldonnel |
| League |
League of Ireland First Division Leinster Senior League Athletic Union League |
St Francis Football Club is an Irish association football club originally based in The Liberties. They played in the League of Ireland First Division from 1996–97 until 2000–01. They currently play in the Leinster Senior League and operate a number of schoolboy and women's teams. The club wear green and white hooped shirts.
St Francis was founded by John Hyland and friends in 1958 initially as a schoolboy club. In 1968, the first adult side was introduced as St Francis joined the Athletic Union League, winning division 2A in their first season. In their second season St Francis won the FAI Junior Cup, the highest honour for junior sides. The club progressed into the intermediate ranks and soon become one of the top teams at that grade, winning the Leinster Senior League four times. In 1989–90 St Francis became the first non-League of Ireland side to reach an FAI Cup Final in over 50 years before finally losing to Bray Wanderers. Their fairytale story, combined with the final moving to Lansdowne Road saw a crowd of over 33,000 witness the historic final.
St Francis continued to be one of the top Leinster Senior League sides and when St. James's Gate were expelled from the League of Ireland First Division, St Francis were invited to apply along with two other clubs to take their place. The clubs first senior game was a drab drawn tie against Longford Town in the League of Ireland Cup. Their first League of Ireland game ended in a 4–0 defeat to Waterford United on 11 October 1996.
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