About Us
SENIOR SECTION
Background
Cherry Orchard was formed in 1957 in the
Ballyfermot area of Dublin, the club catered for adult players, with
its home ground being The Lawn and entered the Leinster
Alliance League, before joining the Leinster Junior League.
The club enjoyed some success there,
including a Sheeran Cup win, before moving to the Athletic Union
League in the mid 1960s. The club quickly established themselves in
the A.U.L. but the big prizes in the junior grade eluded the Orchard
until the 1980-81 Season.
Further FAI Junior Cup successes followed
in 1985, 1986, 1987, 1990 and 1991 and, with the league title having
already been captured on four occasions, the club decided to move to
the Intermediate grade in 1992.
In their first season in the Leinster
Senior League, the Orchard gained promotion to the top division,
which it won a year later. Four more league titles have followed, as
well as domestic cup successes and in 1998, the FAI Intermediate
Cup.
The early days of the senior teams saw
the club achieve two runners-up in the Premier Division, as well as
being finalists in the FAI Junior Cup and the Leinster Junior Cup
(twice).
The big prizes in the junior game eluded
the Orchard until John Wilkes became manager in 1981. In his first
season in charge, John, ably assisted by Joe Healy, guided his
players to success in the FAI Junior Cup, the AUL Premier Division
league and the Liddy and McDowell Cups. The team were regular
visitors to the winners enclosure in the following years, most
notably achieving an unprecedented hat-trick of FAI Junior Cup
successes between 1985 and 1987.
Further FAI Junior Cup wins followed in
1990 and 1991 and with the league and the Liddy Cup both having been
won on four occasions, the club decided to enter the intermediate
grade. In their first season in the Leinster Senior League, 1992-93,
the team gained promotion to the top division of the League and
became the first winners of the Charlie Cahill Cup. The following
season the Orchard win the Senior Division League, the Metropolitan
Cup and finished runners-up in the FAI Intermediate Cup. More league
and cup honours were to follow in the following seasons, with the
FAI Intermediate Cup being secured in 1998. Meanwhile, the Orchard's
Saturday team captured the FAI and the Leinster Junior Cups in the
1994-95 season, the only time that double has been won by a club's
second team.
When John Wilkes and Joe Healy retired
at the end of the 1999-2000 campaign,, they were succeeded by former
player Paul O'Brien, who in his first season in charge saw his team
win the a treble of league and the Metropolitan and Charlie Cahill
Cups. And that was followed by a league and Metropolitan Cup double
in the following season.
After a barren spell, the league title
was captured again in the 2006-07 season, when Joe Somerville was in
charge.
SCHOOLBOY SECTION
Background
Cherry Orchard entered schoolboys football in 1970, when
five teams competed in the Dublin and District League and they made
an early impact at this level when, in the 1971-72 season, the under
15A team won a league and cup double and had five players on the
Republic of Ireland schoolboys international team.
That side set a high standard for others to follow but
their achievements have been emulated by other Orchard teams over
the years.The club is regarded as one of the top schoolboy outfits
in Ireland and regularly supplies players to the underage
international sides.
When the Republic of Ireland won the European U16 and U18
titles in 1998, former Orchard player Andy Reid played in the under
16 team, while another ex Orchard man Alan Quinn scored Ireland’s
goal in the under 18 final against Germany.
Andy and Alan are just two of more than thirty of our
former players who are now with professional clubs in England and
Scotland. One of the first Orchard players to join an English club,
David Langan, (Derby County, Birmingham City and Oxford Utd.) played
26 times for the Republic of Ireland between 1978 and 1986 and is
the club’s most capped player.
Cherry Orchard has a record of success in schoolboys
football at domestic and international level but the club’s greatest
achievement was in July 1993 when our under 16 team beat Glasgow
Rangers in the final of the Northern Ireland Milk Cup, to add the
club’s name to that of Manchester Utd, Liverpool and Tottenham
Hotspur who had previously been successful in that prestigious
competition.
Our Milk Cup winning side was managed by our current
director of football manager Christy Hammond with his brother Sean.
Golden
teams & achievements
As discussed above: Cherry Orchard made
their first foray into youth football in 1970, and success arrived
early when, in the 1971-72 season, the under 15A side won a league
and Cannon Cup double and supplied four players - Christy
Bradley, Mark Kavanagh, Don O'Riordan and Eddie Hogan – to the
Republic of Ireland Schoolboys international team. And Tony Byrne,
whose son Paul was to play with distinction for the Orchard
schoolboys many years later, was reserve goalkeeper with the
international side.
The under 15 team of 1971-72, which was
managed by Gerry Flynn and John Wilkes, enjoyed further success up
to and including Youths football and they set a high standard
for other Orchard teams to follow. However, their achievements
have been emulated by several sides over the years, with the
club's first success at national level being achieved in 1977 when
the under 15s beat Shelbourne 4-2 in the SFAI Evans Cup final played
at the IGBC grounds in Goatstown..
Many other successes have been achieved
in the intervening years, with the 1992-93 and 2002-2003 campaigns
being ones of exceptional achievement. In 1992-93, Orchard teams
won six league titles, three national cup competitions and seven
domestic cups, while ten years later the club captured six of the
eight eleven a side Premier leagues, three national cups and the
Leinster Youths cup.
Meanwhile, in July 1993 Cherry Orchard
achieved its greatest success in underage football when a team
managed by brothers Christy and Sean Hammond won the Northern
Ireland U16 Milk Cup competition, beating Glasgow Rangers 4-2
on penalties after a 1-1 draw in the final played before a crowd of
10,000 at the Coleraine Showgrounds. The Orchard became and remain
the only amateur club to have won the competition, with the
likes of Manchester Utd, Liverpool, Spurs and Newcastle being
successful in previous years and the national teams of Russia, Chile
and Paraguay winning out more recently.
David Langan ( Derby County, Birmingham
City and Oxford Utd ), who played 26 times for the Republic of
Ireland between 1978 and 1986, is the club's most capped
senior international player. Other former players to be capped at
the highest level are current internationals Andy Reid, Alan Lee,
Alan Quinn and Wayne Henderson while Stephen Gleeson ( Wolves ) made
two substitute appearances in Ireland's friendlies against Ecuador
and Bolivia in May 2007.
Current and former Orchard players are
regularly selected in international teams from under 15 to
under 21 level and six old boys, Jonathan Daly (Stockport County),
Sean Dillon and Stephen Paisley (both Longford Town), Keith Fahey
(St Patricks Athletic), Willo Flood (Manchester City) and Wayne
Henderson (Aston Villa) played for Ireland in the World under 20
finals in the United Arab Emirates in November 2003. In addition,
Andy Reid was a member of Ireland's under 16 Eiropean Championships
winning team in 1998 and Alan Quinn scored Ireland;s goal in the
under 18 Europoean Championships final against Germany in the same
year, when Ireland won on penalties after a 1-1 draw.