Newbridge Town F.C.

Newbridge Town
Full nameNewbridge Town Football Club
Founded1969; 57 years ago (1969)
GroundStation Road, Newbridge, County Kildare
Capacity2,180 (250 seats)[1]
LeagueLeinster Senior League
FAI National League (from Autumn 2026)
Websitenewbridgetownfc.com

Newbridge Town Football Club is an Irish association football club based in Newbridge, County Kildare. The club was founded in 1969 following a meeting at Newbridge Town Hall. As of the 2025–26 season, Newbridge Town's senior men's team was competing in the Leinster Senior League's Senior 1A competition.[2] The club is one of the 15 clubs expected to enter the newly established FAI National League in Autumn 2026.

History

Founded in 1969 by members of the town's youth club, Newbridge Town Football Club entered the Counties League at Division 2. In their first ever season, Newbridge Town finished fourth and won the Counties Cup.[3] In the subsequent seasons, the club won Division 2 and gained promotion to Division 1. After winning Division 1, they moved into the Leinster Junior League which contained Cherry Orchard, Home Farm and Wayside Celtic.[3]

Off the pitch, Newbridge Town formed two additional teams to cater for the increased demand as well as introducing youth teams to the club.[3] In 1973, the club committee invited German side Wacker München to play against Newbridge Boys. Two matches were organised and, while both games ended in draws, each game drew crowds in excess of 2,000 to Ryan's Field.[3]

In 1975, Newbridge Town joined the Athletic Union League in Dublin, with some success over the following seven years.[4] The club had to move out of Ryan's Field and were given the use of a pitch beside the railway station in Newbridge. In 1980, they purchased this land from Newbridge College and began construction on a clubhouse, while they developed the pitch into Station Road.[4]

Newbridge Town returned to the Leinster Junior League in 1982 and, in 1985, opened their new ground. In 1989, they joined the Leinster Senior League and won the Moore Cup in their first season.[4] The club made their way through the divisions over the subsequent years before winning the Leinster Senior Division in the 1998–99 season.[4]

In the late 1970s, Tom Shaw became Newbridge Town's first international when he was selected for the Irish Youth team. He was followed by goalkeeper Alan Gough[4] and Ade Solanke.[5]

In 2002, Newbridge Town were invited to join the Eircom League.[4] However, after a formation meeting with other interested football bodies, the club decided to enter a separate entity to better garner support from the surrounding areas. The new club, called Kildare County, was run in parallel to Newbridge Town and entered the 2002–03 First Division, playing their home games at Station Road.[4][3]

Over the years, Newbridge Town has developed its facilities at Station Road and it now has a sports hall, a clubhouse, a 250-seat stand, training facilities, all-weather and grass pitches, showers and dressing rooms. A new 550-seat stand was later installed in the Station Road ground.[citation needed]

The club has also increased in the number of teams and it now[when?] fields two men's senior teams, one ladies senior team, an over 35s masters team and 34 schoolboy and schoolgirl teams ranging from the Under-9 to Under-18 age groups.[citation needed] The latter play in the Dublin and District Schoolboys League.[6] The club also runs a boys and girls academy, starting at under-5s.[7]

It was reported, in early 2025, that the club was one of the applicants for the newly announced FAI National League, a 3rd tier competition in the Irish professional football ladder. In December 2025, Newbridge Town was included in the list of clubs accepted into the league by the FAI.[8] The competition is due to begin in Autumn 2026.

Grounds

Main article: Station Road, Newbridge

Newbridge Town played in Ryan's Field before moving to Station Road, a pitch beside the Newbridge railway station. Station Road was purchased from Newbridge College in 1980 and the club began construction on a clubhouse.[4] The club's senior men's team play their home games at the ground.

People of note

Alan Gough

Alan Gough, a goalkeeper, was capped with the Republic of Ireland Under-21 international team on several occasions in the early 1990s.[4][9] He moved from Newbridge to Portsmouth as an apprentice and subsequently signed for Fulham. After moving back to Ireland and signing with Galway United in 1993, he later joined Shelbourne.[10] Following periods at Glentoran and Derry City, Gough returned to Galway United in 2004 and was the club's first team captain for the 2006 season. He retired from football at the end of the 2006 season and later became manager of Longford Town FC.[10]

Joe Barry, Joe Carey, Jimmy Dowling and Tony Hannigan

Joe Barry, Joe Carey, Jimmy Dowling and Tony Hannigan were involved in setting up the meeting which resulted in the formation of Newbridge Town in 1969.[4] Dowling was also later involved in the formation of Kildare County FC.[11]

Honours

References

  1. ^ "Football stadiums of the world - Ireland". fussballtempel.net. Archived from the original on 6 April 2022.
  2. ^ "Leinster Senior League Senior 1A Sunday 2025/26". finalwhistle.ie. Retrieved 15 November 2025.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Club History – The Story of Newbridge Town F.C." newbridgetownfc.com. Archived from the original on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "About Us - The History". newbridgetownfc.com. Retrieved 15 November 2025.
  5. ^ "'I am over the moon' – Ireland U-17's Ade Solanke joins Bournemouth". Irish Independent. 15 January 2026. Retrieved 16 January 2026.
  6. ^ "Club Profile - DDSL - Newbridge Town FC". ddsl.ie. Retrieved 15 November 2025.
  7. ^ "The Academy". Newbridge Town FC. Retrieved 6 January 2026.
  8. ^ "15 clubs confirmed for new FAI National League". fai.ie (Press release). 19 December 2025. Retrieved 21 December 2025.
  9. ^ "Introducing the Shelbourne players", Park United AFC - Official Souvenir Matchday Programme - July 1996 (PDF), p. 16 – via parkutdafc.com
  10. ^ a b "Alan Gough". extratime.com. Retrieved 15 November 2025.
  11. ^ "About Us - Kildare County FC". kildarecountyfc.com. Retrieved 15 November 2025. Jimmy Dowling [..] Former player, secretary and chairman of Newbridge Town [..] Was the original brainchild behind Kildare County
  12. ^ "Ireland - List of Leinster Senior League Champions". rsssf.org. Retrieved 15 November 2025.
allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newbridge_Town_F.C.