Schoolboys News

Welcome to the Shamrock Rovers Schoolboys website. Shamrock Rovers Schoolboys are based in Tallaght in South Dublin and have teams from under 7's to under 18's playing in the Dublin District Schoolboys League.

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To view Shamrock Rovers Schoolboys photo gallery Click Here All Photos in this gallery are courtesy of Robert Goggins

Recent Galleries:U14s v Mount Merrion 280112    U17s v Crumlin 22012012  U16s v Mount Merrion 16102011   U17s v Shels 11092011                  U18s v Mount Merrion/UCD 18092011

Schools Programmes Donation

We would like to thank the Ulster Bank for their kind donation to our Schools Coaching programme. Pictured above is Kerri McCaughey presenting the cheque to one of oour schools programme coaches.

Fixtures Weekending 5th February

This weekends fixtures can be seen here.

Results Weekending 29th January

For this weekends results click here.

Shamrock Rovers Junior Academy

* Minimum 35 weeks coaching in a safe fun environment

* Suitable for kids born 2005, 2006 and 2007

* Commences every Sunday

* Venue: Postal Club, Kiltipper Road. 10am-11am

Cost:

5euro per week

ALL WELCOME

** Further information: email:  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

In The Frame- Lee Valentine

Name: Lee Valentine

Date of birth: 8th of august

Birthplace: The Coombe

Height:5ft 12"

Weight:75 kilo

Team you play for: Shamrock Rovers Under 17's

Who manages your team: Mick Fitzsimons and Brian O'Connor

Position you normally play in: Centre Back

Where do you live? Jobstown in Tallaght

When did you join Shamrock Rovers? When I was 12 years old

Who is your favourite Hoops player? Craig Sives

Do you follow any other club? Arsenal

What school do you attend? Mount Seskin

What is your favourite subject? German

What do you hope to do after you finish school? I hope to be a gym instructor

What's your favourite TV programme? Eh… Family Guy

What's your favourite meal? Pizza, chips and chicken

Who is your best friend? Lee Finnegan (we know him!)

How well is your team doing this season? We are third in the premier league with five games played so that’s very good for us

How do you feel about your own form? I feel I’ve been playing a lot better than last season as I’ve moved up a higher level

What do you like most about supporting Shamrock Rovers? .. The best thing about supporting Rovers is that the stadium, its only five minutes down the road so I can walk down with my mates to see the team I love playing a good game of ball

In The Frame- Alex Lynch

Name: Alex Lynch

Date of birth: 13^th April, 1996

Birthplace: Dublin

Height: 5’ 4”

Weight: 45kg

Team you play for: Shamrock Rovers Under 16’s

Who manages the team? Ian Brady, Mark Gallagher and Pat McCabe

Position you normally play in: Centre forward

When did you join Shamrock Rovers? I joined in the summer of 2011 from Blessington FC

Who is your favourite Hoops player? Ronan Finn

Do you support any other club? No, I only support Rovers; I have been following them since I was about four or five

What school do you attend? Community College Blessington

What is your favourite subject? English or Maths

What is your favourite television programme? MNS

How are your team doing this season? We are doing really well so far, we have played four games and have had four straight wins conceding just one goal. We are top of the league

How are you doing yourself? I’m happy enough, I have scored four goals so far including a hat trick against Home Farm

What do you hope to achieve at Shamrock Rovers? To progress and go all the way up to the first team in a couple of years

*It was only after we spoke to Alex that we discovered that his uncle is none other than Mark Lynch who is a member of the Board of SRFC 

Divided Loyalties? Not In The Mullaney Family!

At just sixteen years of age James Mullaney has already accumulated eleven caps playing for the Republic of Ireland Under 15’s and Under 16’s. He’s obviously hoping to add to that tally and should he do so his next international appearance will bring him his first cap as a Shamrock Rovers’ player.

James lives in Castletown, County Laois, along with his mother and father and brothers Patrick (25) and Ryan (14). Patrick is a current inter county hurler with Laois while Ryan, an underage hurler with the county, hopes to follow in his bigger brother’s footsteps. On the other hand, James has decided to devote his efforts to soccer but had fate decreed differently he might very well also have been edging towards a place on the squad for the senior hurlers. He is a handy hurler himself but some time not so long ago he felt he had to make a decision on which sport he was going to concentrate on. “I took Hurling seriously enough but I had to knock it when I was selected for the Irish (soccer) team”, James told us during the week. His soccer roots go right back to his younger days. “I played for Portlaoise for four years, from age twelve to sixteen but it was at St. Aengus in Mouthrath that I started out.”

So just how did the Laois lad come about to sign for Shamrock Rovers? He says that Stephen Fennell, SRFC Youth Development Officer, came down to Portlaoise to watch him in a game. He has no idea of who alerted Fennell about him before that. James was invited by Shamrock Rovers to join the squad for the Ciociaria Cup competition in Italy in May. He went with the full blessing of his club and despite being a year under age he shone throughout the week both on and off the pitch. In fact, it must be said that Portlaoise AFC are to be fully commended for the manner in which they dealt with Rovers. They readily agreed for him to go to Italy as a Rovers’ player and they let him know that a move to Shamrock Rovers could only be good for him. “They didn’t mind, they knew I had to leave the midlands and to go up to a higher league. I was glad to sign for Shamrock Rovers because they are a very good club, the best in Ireland.”

Living fifty-odd miles outside of the capital, it can be a bit of a rush for young James on training nights. His team train twice a week and he has to dash home from his school, Mountrath Community College, at four o’clock in the afternoon. He has just an hour to spare in which to grab a quick bite and get some homework done before heading for Tallaght. “I normally get to Kiltipper at around six o’clock, finish training at around seven forty-five and get back home at around nine o’clock. That leaves me enough time to have dinner and maybe do some more homework if I have any. I get off to bed at eleven o’clock each night and I don’t get up in the morning until eight o’clock so it’s not so bad, I get plenty of sleep.”

Most of the other players on his team live reasonably close to the ground, just one has to travel from Celbridge. James’s mother and father take it in turns to drive him to Dublin and with a two-hour round trip each time and the time they spend hanging around while he is training it certainly is a special devotion in itself - especially when there is a younger brother also playing sport. James should probably be playing for the Under 17’s but instead he is currently playing for the Under 18’s. “Stephen Fennell asked me to train with the Under 18’s before I joined, I did well with them so he asked me to sign.”

As mentioned previously, James went to Italy with Rovers in May but it wasn’t his first time there, he had previously visited that country as part of the Irish squad. His involvement with the Republic of Ireland underage teams has also brought him to places such as Holland, Turkey and Hungary. While playing for Ireland, he was switched from his customary position of centre half to right full; at Rovers he is currently lining out at left full. He says he is comfortable there, he really doesn’t mind playing anywhere across the back four. Earlier this year James had a trial with Oxford United. Hopefully he can continue to develop well at Shamrock Rovers. He could easily make the step up to the Under 19’s as one of the younger players that Declan Hevey spoke about in Hoops Scene a couple of weeks ago.

Last Sunday wasn’t a particularly good day for either James or his team mates on the Under 18’s. They were leading 2-0 against Mount Merrion/UCD in an important cup game at Kiltipper and cruising at half time, although they had a let off just before half time when the visitors failed to convert from a penalty. The game finished up in a 3-2 defeat for the Hoops on a day they would rather put behind them. There’s a lot of football left yet though as the season will run until next May. This is an important year for lads hoping to go further in the club and, without a doubt, a couple of them at least will have shown that they deserve to go further. James Mullaney will be amongst that group, you can be sure on that.

Article by Robert Goggins

Rossi's Italian Diary

U15 player Ross O'Callaghan recently attended the Ciociaria Cup in Italy with the Hoops. Ross kept a day to day diary on his experiences in Italy. To read Rossi's diary please click the picture below.

U17s Crowned LFA Youth Cup Champions

Congratulations to our U17 premier side who were today(5th June) crowned LFA Youth Cup champions after beating Belvederre 4-3 on penalties. The game itself was an entertaining 0-0 draw with plenty of chances for booth sides. Hoops keeper Robbie Hughes saved the decisive peno to seal the cup. Hoops centre half Alan Rochford was the official LFA man of the match putting in an impressive shift at the back. Congratulations to Martin, Joe, Shane and all the players on another successful season. For photos of the action please click here.

The Italian Job

The famous Shamrock Rovers went to Italy to see the Pope. Not quite, but the Under 16 team did take a day out from their stay at the Ciociaria Cup last week to visit some famous places in the Italian capital. The squad, which was comprised mainly of players from the Under 16 and Under 15 teams as well as two players from the Under 17 team who were eligible to play and also four guest players. The full squad was: Patrick Reilly, James Mullaney, Ross O’Callaghan, Shane Fox, Martin McGuinness, Paul Clifford, Ryan Canavan, Jordan Tuite, Dylan Byrne, Adam Walsh, Alex Kenny, Michael Fitzsimons, Dylan Spellman, Glen Thornton, Mark O’Connor, Michéal Dunne, David Hoey, Tanaka Nabvaro Wilson and Robert Humphrey. The officials were: Stephen Fennell, Shane Connolly, Mick Fitzsimons, Kenny O’Toole, Paddy McQuaid (SRFC Community Officer), Mario Borza (of Slivio’s fame) and Robert Goggins (co-ordinator).

The Aer Lingus flight on which the SRFC party travelled on was delayed leaving Dublin Airport with the result that we didn’t arrive into our accommodation until 1am on Tuesday morning. It wasn’t exactly ideal as the lads were due to face local side Reggina in their opening game of the tournament at 3pm later that day. Thanks to a late change, the plan to house Rovers at a hotel in Gallinaro was changed and instead we stayed in a hostel (Falco dei Pellegrinaggi) at a place by the name of Settefrati, for which the English translation is Seven Brothers. Settefrati is located high up in the mountains which house a protected national park and local legend has it that the seven brothers were all killed by wolves who lived (and still live) in the mountains. The locality where the tournament was held is 120 kilometres south of Rome.

We had heard in advance that the pitch at Casalattico where Rovers would play their first two games was more of an earth surface than a grass one and this turned out to be true. The Ciocciaria Cup proved to be a marvellous tournament but it was really unfair to expect an Irish club to play on such a surface for the first time; it handed an unfair advantage to Reggina who provided the opposition to the Hoops in the first game. It was a credit to Stephen Fennell and his backroom team that for weeks in advance of the tournament they encouraged the players in the squad to take their time on the ball and play to feet and although they did manage to achieve this in the main it wasn’t an easy task. Whenever a player from either side kicked the ball a cloud of dust rose with it. Reggina won the game 3-1, team captain Jordan Tuite scored for the Hoops but there was controversy when Alex Kenny had what appeared to be a perfectly good goal disallowed after the referee and his assistant got their wires crossed. There was nothing to be ashamed about with the performance and there’s no doubt that both the referee’s error and the condition of the pitch conspired to do the Hoops down. They held their own until late in the game when Reggina scored twice to seal the tie. It was back to Casalattico the following day for a 6pm kick off against Arpino. Rovers played the Italians off the pitch in the first half and were as equally industrious in the second half. They played a positive game and created far more chances than their opponents but yet went in at the break a goal down. Parity was restored in the second half when Dylan Byrne converted a fine free kick but again some odd decision making from the match officials was to have a huge bearing on the outcome when yet another legitimate goal was disallowed. Arpino scored a late goal which proved to be the winner for them but not before the Hoops piled on some late pressure. Whatever about the previous game against Reggina this was one that the Hoops should have definitely won. The guys were gutted for they knew they should have left Arpino dead and buried but in a tournament such as this you don’t get time to dwell on things as the games come quick and fast.

The following day (Thursday) Rovers would have to face their toughest task and with the disappointments of Tuesday and Wednesday still fresh the big question was how would they face up to what would be their biggest challenge of the week, that would be the meeting with the Hungarian National Team. Remember that Rovers had six Under 15 players in the squad so the task appeared a daunting one. This game was played on an Astroturf surface at Alatri so at least the surface on this occasion would provide a level playing field, so to speak. Indeed the first half was quick and enjoyable as the Hoops kept their composure, held on to possession, engaged in a slow build up and passed the ball well. The football was a pleasure to watch but it has to be said that in the second half there was a long period where Rovers could hardly get hold of the ball as the Magyars, who needed to win to qualify for the quarter final stage, controlled the game. It was during this period that they took the lead. However, the Rovers’ management threw on some fresh legs and the whole course of the game changed. Now it was Shamrock Rovers who were doing all the attacking and when the equaliser came in the final minute of normal time it stunned the Hungarians who were so shocked that they didn’t recover after it. Ryan Canavan took a throw on the right, Dylan Byrne picked up on it and beating his marker he then placed it for midfielder Paul Clifford to connect from outside the box and deliver a blistering shot that was so powerful it almost took the net off the posts. The game ended 1-1 which meant that Hungary were out of the tournament and the look of shock on their faces after the final whistle told its own story.

With plenty of time on their hands and out of the tournament, Rovers played a local side from the town of San Donato on Sunday morning and beat them 4-1. This was a fantastic achievement as their opponents were an Under 18 team and also that the mid day temperature when the game was played was in the mid eighties. The pitch at San Donato was a decent grass surface and the point was proven once again that the pitch at Casalattico was a hindrance more than a help to Shamrock Rovers in those first two games.

During their stay in Italy Rovers dined mostly at the Ristorante C’era Una Volta (Once Upon a Time) in San Andrea and were fed well, too well in fact! On Friday the group went to Rome for the day and visited Vatican City and the Coliseum. The lads attracted huge attention everywhere they went and it seems that Italians are well familiar with the name of Shamrock Rovers, especially after the Europa Cup encounter with Juventus last year.

On Saturday, Remo Salvucci, a good friend of Mario Borza’s put all the facilities at his leisure centre in Gallinaro freely at the disposal of the Hoops’ group. It was a wonderful gesture. The lads went shopping in nearby Atina in the afternoon and later that night the entire group watched the Champions League Final on a large screen outdoors at Remo’s Aqua Park and had their evening meal there.

On Sunday night Rovers went to the Festa San Onorio at Casalvieri where they mixed freely with the locals, attended the open air concert at which the main act was the up and coming star Fabrizio Moro and stayed on for the impressive fireworks display which lit up the entire valley. Such was the reputation of Shamrock Rovers at Casalvieri that Angelo Marcella, who for many years operated Fish and Chip shops in Dublin, treated the entire team to pizzas at the end of the night.

On Monday, presentations were made by Shamrock Rovers to mayor Giuseppe Benedetti of Casalattico, to tournament organisers and to some other people who had made our stay enjoyable. Stephen Fennell said the backroom team he had with him were the best he ever worked with. The young players of Shamrock Rovers acquitted themselves well both on and off the pitch; they made many friends in Italy and the experience is one that they will cherish for the rest of their lives. A huge thanks to Mario Borza for going out of his way to ensure that our trip was a successful and enjoyable one. For photos of the trip please click here.

*Article and photos by Robert Goggins

SRFC Schoolboys Do Club Proud As Mascots At UEFA Europa League Final

Shamrock Rovers Schoolboys kids aged between 7 and 9 years provided the mascots for the UEFA Europa League Final at The Aviva Stadium yesterday evening. Eleven kids lined out with the FC Porto players kitted out in FC Braga kits and eleven lined up alongside the FC Braga players wearing FC Porto kits. The kids were also part of the opening ceremony where they got to line up in the teams formation on the pitch as the line ups were being called out by the stadium announcer. Each child got to take the place of the player they were assigned to walk onto the pitch with infront of a 51,000 crowd and a massive worldwide television audience. Well done to all the kids involved in doing themselves and the club proud in this historic event. 

Sneaky Game Plan By U16s

Last Sunday I paid a visit to Kiltipper, as I normally would each week, to see whatever teams are in action. I watched the Under 17’s kick off at 11am against Malahide United in the DDSL Premier Division game and stayed on for the Under 16’s game against Tolka Rovers which followed. I was mindful though that the guys in the Under 16 team have branded me a jinx! They claim that whenever I attend one of their games they suffer defeat. Naturally enough I dismissed this view as being nonsense but having watched them play Tolka Rovers off the pitch but incredibly fall behind by 3-1, I had to depart from the venue with thirty minutes of the game remaining. I left the ground convinced that these lads were right all along. I mean to say, how can any team enjoy such possession and create so many goal scoring opportunities only to find themselves trailing by two goals? The outcome of the game looked predictable at the time I left, the heads would surely go down and there would be no way back?

How wrong I was; they were simply fooling me all along. As soon as I left they started banging them in. Dylan Byrne had scored the equaliser to make it 1-1 at half time, then two quick goals after the break put the visitors on cloud nine. Byrne added two more though to complete his hat trick in an incredible comeback and Dylan Spellman also got one to complete the game 4-3 in favour of the Hoops. Byrne’s three goals brought his total in league competition over two seasons to an impressive fifty - a proud feat by any means.

Manager Shane Connolly was pleased with not only the result but also with the manner in which it was achieved. “We have been working hard in training at keeping hold of the ball and being patient in our build up play. The lads showed great character at 3-1 down to keep the mindset of playing football and fully deserved the victory. As for me, maybe for the next Under 16 game I go along to I will be in disguise so that when they win I can prove that jinx is just a load of baloney!

Article by Robert Goggins

Paddy's Day In More Than One Sense At Kiltipper

It was Paddy’s Day at Kiltipper last Thursday when the Under 17’s played Andy Myler’s SRFC reserve team in a trial game. There was no shortage of talented players on the Under 17 team and Martin Heffernan’s lads gave the reserves a good run for their money with a performance they could be proud of.

The reserve team contained many of the players who brought the FAI Under 20 championship to Tallaght last November and included Jack Memery, Donal Branagan, Jeff Flood, Mick Doyle and Sean Gannon. It was a tight game with the reserves eventually coming out on top 2-0, both goals coming in the second half. The youngest player on the park wasn’t on the Under 17 team though. Paddy Reilly, the regular custodian on the Under 15 team, answered the call to man the posts for the reserve team. A keen Hoops’ fan himself, Paddy was only too glad to offer his services when he got a call on Wednesday night asking him to turn up at Kiltipper. He thought he would be providing back up but it was only when he walked into the dressing room and realised that he was the only goalkeeper present did it dawn on him that he was going to be in the starting eleven.

Paddy, a pupil at Old Bawn Community School, gave a competent display, commanding and controlling his area and issuing no shortage of instructions to his ‘older’ team mates. He brought off a couple of fine saves and his overall display belied his young years - he won’t turn 16 until next July.

Paddy has no doubt given Myler some food for thought, he certainly will be difficult to ignore but in the meantime this young lad from Glenshane is busy assisting the Under 15’s in their drive for promotion to the Major Division for next season. They recently beat their two nearest rivals, St. Malachy’s and Belvedere and on Sunday saw off the challenge of Ballymun United who are another of the close contenders. Thursday’s escapades with the reserves didn’t faze Paddy Reilly - he kept a clean sheet again with another impressive performance.

Article by Robert Goggins 

Senior Debut for Youth Players

Everybody in the Schoolboy section would like to congratulate U18 player Sean Byrne and U17 player Paul Connolly and an U18 from last year Mick Doyle on making their senior debuts in the Leinster Senior Cup clash against Dundalk in Oriel Park last night(22nd February).Sean played the full 90 minutes in midfield and is the first player to come through the St Aidans School Scholarship partnership with Shamrock Rovers. This scholarship is in its 6th year and this year the schools U16s won the Dublin Metropolitan Cup final and the U14s will appear in the Metroplitan Cup final over the coming weeks. Mick Doyle also played the full game at right back, Mick is a local lad from Jobstown who came through the schoolboy ranks and was in the U20 set up last year, Mick previously appeared on the bench for the seniors against St Pats in the FAI Cup semi final. Paul came on in the 74th minute to replace Gary O'Neill, congratulations to the three lads and we hope this is the first of many first team appearances for them.

Return Of A Cult Hero

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Richie Purdy earned himself the status of being a cult hero arising from his days playing in the green and white. Richie joined the Hoops in 1997 and although principally a defender he contributed in midfield and on the odd occasion up front too.

Now Richie is back at Rovers, not as part of Michael O’Neill’s backroom team, but rather as manager of the Under 9a team for whom youngest son Anthony plays. He did have an involvement with one of the SRFC Schoolboy teams a couple of years when another son, Richie junior, was amongst the ranks of the young Hoops and Richie senior gave a hand out running the team. “I had Richie’s team a couple of years ago and was with them for two or three years”, Richie told us. This time around Richie is in charge of the team and he is being ably assisted by Lee Raethorne. “It came about during the summer when I was approached by the club and they asked me if I was interested in taking over a team. With Richie (junior) playing on Saturdays and Daniel away (at West Ham) I found I had some time that I wouldn’t have had before and running a Sunday team suited me fine too.”

The challenge that Richie faces now is certainly a different one to anything he had to deal with previously and a major upcoming change in the structure of the DDSL doesn’t exactly give him much time but he is up for the task that lies ahead. “The Under 10’s next year will be eleven-a-side so we want to finish in the top six so we can get a place in the Premier Division. Six teams from both divisions will go forward and make up the Premier next year”.

Richie’s assistant is 18-years-old Lee Raethorne who himself played for many years for Shamrock Rovers Schoolboys until he suffered two broken legs at the same time. Lee is keen to learn from Richie and to acquire his coaching badges. “I started with the Cubs last year and then moved on to the Academy and at the trials this year I was asked to help out with a team, that was when I first discovered that I would be working with the Under 9’s and Richie Purdy”, Lee informed us.

Richie’s eldest son Daniel and Lee went to school together at Old Bawn Community College and are best pals. “It’s good for me to be in there with Richie as he knows his stuff and I am learning off him. I have applied to do Kickstart One and Two and then do the Youths and go on and make my way all the way up.”

Lee’s father John is assisting the team in taking care of all the administration side of things and together the three compliment one and other really well. The team are in a very hard division but if they finish in amongst the top six they will be more than happy as that will get them to where they want to go in the short term. The Richie and Lee show is set to roll so watch this space!!