Pic: George Kelly
One year shy of its 100th anniversary, Shamrock Rovers opened the Milltown Road account on Sunday, 19 September 1926. The match played host to 18,000 fans as the Hoops faced Belfast Celtic, as Bob Fullam scored the club’s first-ever goal at the ground.
99 years on, Shamrock Rovers reside in Tallaght Stadium, a ground with a capacity of 10,500. The ground has hosted clubs from all around Europe playing on its sacred turf, from Real Madrid to Tottenham Hotspur, where infamous players such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Harry Kane played their part in writing history.
Tallaght Stadium becomes the home venue for League of Ireland clubs participating in UEFA competitions on an annual basis, including St. Patrick’s Athletic, Shelbourne, and Dundalk.
Closure of the Milltown Road
Shamrock Rovers closed their account at Milltown Road as they faced Sligo Rovers, a game that was more about the issues off the pitch than on it. The interval saw supporters take to the pitch to display their frustration at the situation.
Louis Kilcoyne, managing director of the club at the time of the Milltown sale, said at the time he was: “pleased that the future of Shamrock Rovers has now been secured”. The sale led to the Hoops moving to Tolka Park to fulfil their home fixtures.
The sale of Milltown had been widely regarded as a “betrayal”, and Kilcoyne faced accusations of greed. The family had always stated the sale was due to several factors, including falling attendance. After deciding to sell Glenmalure Park in 1987, the family faced bankruptcy a few years later. An organisation formed by Rovers supporters, named Keep Rovers at Milltown (KRAM), protested the sale by not attending home fixtures at Tolka Park. KRAM also gathered enough funds to purchase the beloved ground, but could not match the offer that it was sold for.
In 1990, Glenmalure Park was demolished and replaced with an apartment complex. To date, a memorial placed by supporters remains at the location and has been there since 1998. The club remained without a home ground for over 20 years and relied heavily on its passionate supporters to stay alive.
The long road back
Protests continued by Rovers supporters as the club shared Tolka Park with Home Farm. The Hoops played the entire season in a mostly empty Tolka Park during the 1987/88 season. This was until the Kilcoyne family decided to sell the club to John McNamara, a Dublin businessman. His initial proposal involved a controversial move to Dalymount Park and sharing the ground with Bohemians.
KRAM congregated and voted to lift the boycott as Shamrock Rovers spent two seasons in the Phibsborough venue. It was then announced that the club would be relocating to the RDS Arena, halfway between Ringsend and Milltown. The Hoops resided in the Ballsbridge stadium for six years, including claiming a league title in the 1993/94 season. In the seasons that followed, Rovers decided to focus on rebuilding the side with young players as the budget tightened. After two years of growing concerns from supporters, Ray Treacy, manager at the time, resigned and was soon followed by John McNamara.
A latter appointment made by McNamara saw both Alan O’Neill and Terry Eviston become joint managers of the club and steer it away from relegation. The club was sold to Premier Computers, spearheaded by Alan McGrath. He proposed a state-of-the-art stadium in Tallaght for Shamrock Rovers and successfully earned planning permission in January 1998. Objections led to a delay in planning permission until November 1998. By then, Premier Computers’ involvement in the club had come to a halt. The club resided in Morton Stadium, Santry, when Damien Richardson took charge, in place of Mick Byrne. As this managerial alteration took place, a half-built stadium sat in Tallaght as Mulden International Ltd. pulled out of building the new home.
Tallaght and the rebirth of Rovers
It took time for Shamrock Rovers to move to their new home in D24. While planning permission was granted to the Hoops in March 2000, they did not play their first game there until 13 March 2009. Work began in October 2000, and it came to a halt in November 2001. No advancements would be made on the ground until May 2008.
In the six-and-a-half years between advancements being made on the proposed Tallaght Stadium, Shamrock Rovers had entered examinership. This occurred in April 2005, stemming from Mulden’s reluctance to sell their land and thus delayed Conor Clarkson’s potential investment.
Due to this, the club successfully got a one-year planning extension, but the second application was rejected. However, the South Dublin County Council (SDCC) agreed to build the stadium with the club. Tony Maguire, chairman, faced a decision of either remaining with Clarkson or agreeing to the SDCC’s proposal. He chose to opt for Clarkson.
Entering examinership
A High Court judicial review of the decision to choose Clarkson was initiated by Mulden’s financing. In turn, the club had a debt of over €2 million. This led the club to enter examinership as the 400 Club, a Shamrock Rovers supporters group established in November 2002, which agreed to bankroll the club during this process. Trustees of the supporter group previously informed the board of directors that they were no longer willing to bankroll the club.
The Football Association of Ireland (FAI) had requested that Tony Maguire step down from his role as chairman. The club submitted its 2003 accounts for their application for a licence for the 2005 season. The club faced a point deduction, and the Hoops were relegated with Roddy Collins in charge. The examiner accepted the bid from the 400 Club, and Shamrock Rovers were saved from extinction in July 2005.
As the club became supporter-owned, promotion was earned at the first attempt under Pat Scully.
Today’s Tallaght
The club resided in Tolka Park for the 2007 and 2008 seasons as construction continued on the new home in Tallaght Stadium. Despite legal disputes with the council and Thomas Davis CLG, Rovers began life in D24 as they concluded it in Milltown, with a fixture against Sligo Rovers.
Gary Twigg scored the first goal in the new stadium. The crowd contained around 3,000 fans as the Hoops ran out 2-1 winners. The stadium was regularly the highest-attended ground for League of Ireland matchdays and regularly sold out its capacity.
Today, the ground holds in excess of 10,000 supporters and regularly hosts European fixtures. This year, it is the home venue for both Shamrock Rovers and Shelbourne in the UEFA Conference League.