Keadue Rovers F.C.

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Keadue Rovers FC
KeadueRoverscrest.jpg
Full nameKeadue Rovers Football Club
Nickname(s)The Gulls [1]
Founded1896
GroundCentral Park, Keadue
LeagueDonegal Junior League Premier Division
Website www.keadueroversfc.com

Keadue Rovers Football Club is a football club based in Keadue, County Donegal, currently playing in the Premier Division in the Donegal Junior League.

Founded in 1896, Keadue play their home games at Central Park. [2] Nicknamed "The Gulls", Keadue played their first match against Mullaghduff Celtic in early May 1896. [3] The club also participated in the first season of the Donegal Junior League. [4] Keadue are the most successful club in the history of the Donegal Junior League.[ citation needed ] The club's most famous past player is Packie Bonner, who signed for Celtic at the age of 18. [5] [1]

Other famous sons to don the clubs famous candy stripes were Dennis Bonner Galway United, Tony Boyle, All Ireland winner with Donegal in 1992, Adrian Hanlon, All Ireland winner in 2012, Adrian Sweeney, Martin Ferry (formerly of Ayr United and Limavady United),Brian Proctor (formerly of Arranmore Utd) ,Lee Boyle (formerly of Aston Villa) and Mark Forker (formerly of Hearts and Finn Harps), Carl McHugh, who captained Motherwell to the 2018 Scottish Cup Final, and played for Bradford City in the 2013 English League Cup Final. Other names synonymous with the club are its most successful manager, Manus McCole, and groundskeeper, Anthony "Dutch" Doherty.

The club celebrated its centenary in 1996 with Celtic playing a game at Central Park. They also made the step up to intermediate level, leaving the Donegal Junior League and joining the Ulster Senior League. [2] [6] However, after more than a decade in the intermediate competiton, they withdrew in 2008. [7] In 2021, Keadue played the first game on their new pitch adjacent to the old pitch in Central Park. In August 2023, the club started work on an extension to the clubhouse to facilitate the rapidly growing number of players at the club.

  1. 1 2 "Turtle Bunbury - Award-winning travel writer, historian and author based in Ireland". www.turtlebunbury.com. Archived from the original on 21 February 2014. Retrieved 11 September 2025.
  2. 1 2 "Keadue Rovers homepage". geocities.com. Archived from the original on 27 October 2009. Retrieved 11 September 2025.
  3. ↑ Walsh, Harry (19 December 2013). "Keadue Rovers and the advent of soccer in Donegal 60 years ago". Donegal News. Retrieved 11 September 2025.
  4. ↑ McNulty, Chris (3 March 2022). "Donegal League at 50: Idea born on cigarette box reaches Golden Jubilee". www.donegallive.ie. Retrieved 11 September 2025.
  5. ↑ "Freedom of the County always in safe keeping with Packie the great". Irish Independent. 25 June 2007. Retrieved 11 September 2025.
  6. ↑ "Gaelic stars face Oriel showdown". Irish Independent. 8 January 1998. Retrieved 11 September 2025.
  7. ↑ "Our first team are back in action tomorrow afternoon". www.facebook.com. 8 March 2025. Retrieved 11 September 2025.
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