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| Full name | Dublin University Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Union | IRFU Leinster | ||
| Nickname(s) | Trinity Rugby | ||
| Founded | 1854 | ||
| Region | Dublin | ||
| Ground(s) | College Park, Dublin (Capacity: 500) | ||
| Chairman | John Boyd | ||
| President | Alan Rogan | ||
| Coach(es) | Tony Smeeth, Hugh Maguire | ||
| Captain(s) | James Hickey | ||
| League(s) | All-Ireland (DA1) | ||
| 2022–23 | 6th. [1] | ||
| |||
| Official website | |||
| www | |||
Dublin University Football Club (DUFC) is the rugby union club of Trinity College, in Dublin, Ireland, which plays in Division 1B of the All-Ireland League.
The first known record of the Club appears under the heading 'Trinity College' in the Daily Express of 1 December 1855 and is taken to show that it had then been in existence for at least a year:
FOOTBALL. - A match will be played in the College Park today (Saturday) between original and new members of the club. Play to commence at two o'clock College time. [2]
The club had thus been founded by about 1854, and it has a well-documented, continuous history since then, which gives it a strong claim to be considered the world's oldest extant football club of any code. [3] Although Guy's Hospital FC, had been founded in London in 1843, so had existed before DUFC, it later folded up for some years during the nineteenth century. [2] Football in Trinity pre-dates the foundation of the Club itself. A poem by Edward Lysaght shows that it was being played in the College Park in the 1780s. [2]
Being the oldest rugby club in Ireland, DUFC has won its fair share of trophies over the years. Its most notable achievement in recent years was the winning of the All-Ireland League Division 2 in the 2003–04 season, which also gained the club promotion to Division 1. This level of competition was short-lived, however, with the club returning to Division 2 after two seasons.[ citation needed ]
The DUFC 1st XV currently plays in Division 1B of the All-Ireland League. The club also fields three Junior teams who compete in the Leinster J1, J3 and J4 Metro Leagues, [4] and two U20 teams who play in the JP Fanagan Premier and Pennant leagues respectively. They are the current Frazer McMullen All Ireland Champions, beating Clontarf U20 in the 2018 final. [4]
The 1stXV plays against University College Dublin in the annual Colours Match which has been ongoing since its inception in 1952. Trinity has won on 24 occasions, the latest being the 2017/18 match. The club also has a Women's XV, which has played in AIL division 3. [5]
In October 2020, the club had three players, Liam Turner, Michael Silvester and Jack Dunne, play in Leinster's Pro14 win over Zebre. [6] [7] [8]
The club's main playing field is College Park, [9] which is within the grounds of Trinity in the Dublin city centre. It also has two other football fields used mainly by the Junior teams on Santry Avenue in the Dublin suburb of Santry. [5] [10]
Dublin University Football Club has a long tradition of its players gaining the highest international honours, with over 160 past players being capped for Ireland since 1875. Some of the most famous and presently memorable are listed below.
DUFC also has a long history of providing British & Irish Lions tourists, with the most recent contribution being Jamie Heaslip in 2013.
Dublin University past players Roly Meates and Gerry Murphy both went on to coach Ireland at different times. Meates is also an honorary life member of DUFC, having coached the club for 28 years.
The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. For sponsorship reasons the league is known as the Vodacom United Rugby Championship in South Africa, and the BKT United Rugby Championship in the competition's other territories, the split branding mirroring the format previously adopted in Super Rugby. The Championship represents the highest level of domestic club or franchise rugby in each of its constituent countries.
Leinster Rugby is one of the four professional provincial club rugby union teams from the island of Ireland. They compete in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup.
The Leinster Senior Cup is a major rugby competition in Ireland, involving all senior rugby clubs in Leinster, i.e., clubs from Leinster competing in the All-Ireland League. From 2006 until 2016 it was known as the Leinster Senior League Cup during the period when the Leinster Senior League had been discontinued, but reverted to its traditional name for the 2016–17 season upon the revival of the Senior League. From 2011 to 2016 only the top senior teams competed and those in the lower divisions of the All-Ireland League competed for the Leinster Senior League Shield.
Wanderers Football Club is a senior rugby union club based in Dublin, Ireland, playing in Division 2B of the All-Ireland League. It is one of the oldest rugby clubs in Ireland, however its exact date of foundation is open to question. In 1860 a team by the name of Wanderers played against Dublin University. However the current team gives its foundation date as 1870. While the link between the two teams is unclear, they both seem to have been founded by former Dublin University players. In 1879 Wanderers were among the founding members of the Irish Rugby Football Union. They have also regularly provided international players for Ireland, including five captains. In 1959, Ronnie Dawson also went on to captain the British and Irish Lions. They have also provided one captain each for both England and Australia.
James Heaslip is an Irish former rugby union player who represented Leinster, Ireland and the British & Irish Lions. He played as a number 8. Heislip earned 95 caps for Ireland during his international career from 2006 to 2017, making him one of the most capped players in Irish national team history.
Seán Kevin O'Brien is an Irish retired professional rugby union player. He previously represented home province Leinster for eleven seasons. At Leinster, he helped the team win four European titles, and was named ERC European Player of the Year for the 2010–11 season, he then played three season's for English Premiership Rugby side London Irish.
The Colours Match is an annual rugby union fixture between Trinity College Dublin and University College Dublin. Rugby matches between UCD RFC and DUFC predate the inauguration of "The Colours Match". Their first meeting took place at Terenure on 18 October 1919, won by Trinity.
Fergus McFadden is a retired professional rugby union player who played for Leinster & Ireland. He played both as a centre and on the wing.
Dublin University Association Football Club is an Irish association football club based at Trinity College Dublin. Founded in 1883, Dublin University A.F.C. is the oldest surviving association football club in the Republic of Ireland. Their senior men's team currently competes in the Leinster Senior League. They have previously played in both the League of Ireland B Division and the League of Ireland U21 Division. The club also enters teams in the College & Universities Football League, the Women's Soccer Colleges Association of Ireland League, the Collingwood Cup and the FAI Intermediate Cup. The club has previously entered teams in both the Irish Cup and the FAI Cup.
Lawrence 'Larry' Quinlivan Bulger was an Irish rugby union player, athlete and doctor. Bulger played international rugby for Ireland and in 1896 was chosen to represent a British Isles XV in their tour of South Africa. Bulger, who was nicknamed "Fat Cupid", was described as an elusive runner and a devastating tackler, one of Ireland's outstanding players.
Zebre Parma are an Italian professional rugby union team competing in the United Rugby Championship and EPCR competitions from the 2012–13 season. They are based in Parma (Emilia-Romagna), Italy. They are operated by the Italian Rugby Federation (FIR) and replaced Aironi in the Pro12.
John Cooney is an Irish rugby union player who plays scrum-half for Irish provincial side Ulster in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup, having previously played for Leinster and Connacht, and has eleven caps for Ireland. Since joining Ulster in 2017, he has been nominated for EPCR European Player of the Year once, been named in the Pro14 Dream Team four times, and been Ulster's player of the year twice.
Jack Carty is a rugby union player from Ireland. His primary position is at fly-half. Having started with his hometown club, Buccaneers, Carty currently plays for the team of his native province of Connacht in the United Rugby Championship, having come through the team's academy. He is Connacht's record points scorer in the Pro14, having overtaken Ian Keatley in March 2019. Carty is an Ireland international, having made his debut for the side against Italy in 2019.
Dave Kearney, is an Irish rugby union player who plays wing and fullback for Lansdowne, Chicago Hounds and Ireland. He attended Clongowes Wood College. Kearney's older brother, Rob, formerly started at fullback for Leinster and the Ireland national rugby union team.
Nick McCarthy is an Irish rugby union player, currently playing for Major League Rugby side Chicago Hounds and formerly for Leinster and Munster. He plays as a scrum-half.
Rory O'Loughlin is an Irish rugby union player for Exeter Chiefs in England's Premiership Rugby, he previously played for Pro14 side Leinster and represented Old Belvedere in the Ulster Bank All-Ireland League. He plays primarily as a wing, though he can also play at centre.
The 2017–18 PRO14 was the seventeenth season of the professional rugby union competition originally known as the Celtic League. It is the first season to be referred to as the Guinness PRO14 Championship, with the addition of two South African teams.
Dan Patrick Sheehan is an Irish professional rugby union player who plays as a hooker for United Rugby Championship club Leinster and the Ireland national team.
Jack Dunne is an Irish rugby union player who plays for Exeter Chiefs in England's Premiership Rugby. He previously played for Leinster. He plays as a lock and represented Dublin University in the All-Ireland League. Dunne studied theoretical physics in Trinity College, where he received both a rugby scholarship and the Naughton Scholarship for physics.
Liam Turner is an Irish rugby union player, currently playing for Pro14 and European Rugby Champions Cup side Leinster. A former captain of the winning Blackrock Senior Cup Team, his preferred position is wing. Turner made his debut for Leinster in October 2020.
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