Athletic Union League (Dublin)

Athletic Union League

Country	Ireland
Region	County Dublin
Divisions	13
Level on pyramid	4
Domestic cup(s)	FAI Cup FAI Junior Cup Leinster Senior Cup Leinster Junior Cup
League cup(s)	Nivea Cup Liddy Cup
Current champions	Sheriff Y.C.
Website	http://www.aul.ie/

The Athletic Union League (AUL) is an association football league featuring junior and amateur teams mainly from the Northside of Dublin with additional teams from south-east Meath. The AUL currently operates thirteen divisions. Its senior division is known as the Premier A. Teams from the AUL also compete in the FAI Cup, the FAI Junior Cup and the Leinster Senior Cup. The AUL headquarters are at the AUL Complex at Clonshaugh/Swords, County Dublin. The AUL is affiliated to both the Football Association of Ireland and the Leinster Football Association. ^{[1] [2] [3]}

History

League of Ireland clubs

A number of current and former and League of Ireland clubs have played in the AUL at one time of another. At the end of the 1933–34 League of Ireland season, Shelbourne were suspended by the FAI and banned from playing football for one season. After completing their ban, Shelbourne spent the 1935–36 season playing in the AUL before rejoining the League of Ireland in 1936–37. ^{[4] [5]} Athlone Town also played in the AUL during the 1930s. ^[6] Bray Wanderers played in the AUL between 1943–44 and 1954–55 before joining the Leinster Senior League. ^[7] St Francis joined the AUL in 1968 before they also joined the Leinster Senior League. In more recent seasons Frankfort, who were among the founding members of the League of Ireland, also played in the AUL.^{[ citation needed ]}

Relationship with LSL

A promotion and relegation system operates within the AUL structure itself. However, there is no formal promotion and relegation relationship with the Leinster Senior League. However, there is a history of teams moving from the AUL to the LSL. A number of LSL clubs such as Wayside Celtic, St. Patrick's C.Y.F.C., Cherry Orchard, Tolka Rovers, Killester Utd and Portmarnock have played in the AUL before switching to the LSL. Strong AUL club Seaview Celtic later left the AUL to merge with Portmarnock. At the end of the 2013–14 season four AUL teams – CIE Ranch, Hartstown Huntstown, Corduff, and Ballymun United – all switched from the AUL to the LSL. ^{[8] [9] [10] [11] [12]}

Sheriff Y.C.

In the 2010s Sheriff Y.C. have emerged as one of the AUL's strongest teams. Between 2009–10 and 2014–15 they have won the Premier A title six times. This included a five in a row sequence between 2011–12 and 2014–15. During this time Sheriff were also regular winners of the two AUL league cups, the Nivea Cup and the Liddy Cup. They also won two FAI Junior Cups and two Leinster Junior Cups. In 2013 Sheriff also won the Tom Hand Memorial Cup, a new cup featuring the winners of the FAI Intermediate Cup and the winners of the FAI Junior Cup. In the final they defeated Avondale United 3–2 at Turners Cross. ^{[13] [14]}

Relationship with UCFL

In August 2024, the league announced they would combine their top division, which played games on Saturdays, with the United Churches Football League's top division, creating a new Premier Division. The new Premier Division consisted of 12 teams, six from the AUL and six from the UCFL, competing in a home-and-away format. Clubs remained as members of their respective leagues (either AUL or UCFL) and abided by their respective rules and regulations. ^[15] The founding teams were: ^{[16] [17]}

AUL	UCFL
Broombridge United	Blackforge
Blanchardstown Athletic	Harding
Ely Woodlawn	Livorno Carpenterstown
Howth Celtic	Malahide United
St Columban's	ROC Celtic
Valley Park United	Shelbourne A.F.C.

In August 2025, the combined division was expanded to the second tier of both leagues; Division 1. ^{[18] [19]}

Teams

As of the 2015–16 season, the teams contesting the league included:^{[ citation needed ][ needs update ]}

Premier A teams

Team	Home town/suburb	Home ground
Ayrfield United F.C.	Ayrfield	AUL Complex
Baldoyle Grange United F.C.	Baldoyle	Brookstone Road
Collinstown F.C.	Lucan, Dublin	Ballyowen Park
East Wall Bessborough F.C.	East Wall	Alfie Byrne Road
Finglas United F.C.	Finglas	Larney Park
O'Devaney Dunard F.C.	Cabra, Dublin	AUL Complex
Kilbarrack United	Kilbarrack	Greendale Open Space
Sandyhill Shangan F.C.	Ballymun	Coultry Park
St. Kevin's Boys F.C.	Santry	Shanowen Road
St. Paul's Artane F.C.	Artane, Dublin	Ribh Road/Lein Road
Sheriff Y.C.	Sheriff Street	Fairview Park, Dublin
Trinity Donaghmede F.C.	Donaghmede	Fr. Collins Park/Donaghmeade Park

References

1. Junior Soccer Portal
2. "AUL – Athletic Union League". www.leinsterfa.ie. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
3. "Comortais Competition Management". www.aul.ie. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
4. Graham, Alex (2005). Football in the Republic of Ireland a Statistical Record 1921–2005. Soccer Books Limited. ISBN   1-86223-135-4.
5. Byrne, Peter (2012). Green Is The Colour: The Story of Irish Football. Andre Deutsch.
6. Lynch, Frank (1991). A History of Athlone Town F.C: The First 101 Years. Athlone: Arcadia.
7. "BRAY WANDERERS AFC". www.braywanderers.com. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
8. "Corduff FC issue statement about their move from AUL to the Leinster Senior League". Junior Soccer Portal. 30 April 2014. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
9. Premier B outfits to leave AUL to play Leinster Senior League next season
10. Ballymun Utd to make the switch from AUL to Leinster Senior League
11. Why they left the AUL? The JSP explore league migrations to the LSL
12. CIE Ranch become the fourth AUL side to move to LSL
13. After six AUL Premier A titles in seven years – Is it time for Sheriff YC to seek a new challenge?
14. www.fai.ie
15. "New Premier Division Announced for 2024-2025 Season: AUL and UCFL Reach Mutual Arrangement". www.facebook.com. 26 August 2024. Retrieved 9 August 2025. Following a number of meetings, the Executive Committees of the Athletic Union Football League (AUL) and the United Churches Football League (UCFL) have agreed to consolidate their Premier Divisions (Saturday) for the coming season (2024-2025) on a trial basis, creating a new and novel Premier Division, with the objective of providing enhanced competition for teams who can benefit significantly from the outcome.
16. "Premier Division". www.ucfl.ie. Retrieved 9 August 2025.
17. "UCFL/AUL Premier Saturday". www.aul.ie. Retrieved 9 August 2025.
18. "UCFL - Comortais Competition Management". www.ucfl.ie. Retrieved 9 August 2025.
19. "AUL & UCFL Partnership Expands for 2025/26". www.facebook.com. 29 July 2025. Retrieved 9 August 2025.