A new Liberties based football team was founded last year and has so far been leading the Saturday Premier League. We sat down with two founding members Keith Boylan and Robbie O’Grady, who gave us the low down on this quickly rising team.
So firstly, I would like to ask how it all began, where and when was the team founded and who was involved?
“Liberties FC were founded in the summer of 2013 by 3 lads, a committee of 5 was quickly formed later (Keith Boylan, Conor McNally, Robbie O’Grady, Robbie Clarke, Paul Stanley). We had been aware for a while of the lack of a football team in the Liberties area, which was a source of frustration for many and we set about with the idea of building a football club from scratch, not just for this season but for many seasons to come – our first meeting was in the Phoenix Park which was to become our home pitch for the season. We knew it would be ambitious, just to get it off the ground was a huge effort from many, but we’re thrilled with the way it’s progressed and recently announced our first (of many!!) expansions with the over 35’s team for next season.”
Is the team comprised of all local players? Has there been much interest from the locals of Dublin 8 in the team?
“The team has a strong spine of local players, from the captain Graham Quinn to our youngest member Conor Farrell, with some players from other areas brought into the Liberties family. The committee has the same mix, with the manager himself also a Liberties lad. Thankfully the area has been fantastic in supporting us to date which is critical to us and we need to continue. For example Bakers Bar Thomas Street and HSSCU are 2 local businesses who sponsor us and we’re so grateful to them, to all our sponsors. Equally we want to keep contributing to the area, and our first attempt to do this was the Paul McGarry Memorial Charity Cup, which raised €3835.70 for Sophia Housing Association on Cork Street. The community really did come together, with approx 250 plus attending the match alone and it was a fantastic day – you can see all the details on the FB page Facebook.com/The-Paul-MCGarry-Memorial-Cup”
Is there a catchment area that you have to operate with? Or more broadly, what are the criteria for getting involved with the team?
“No, there is no catchment area per se though we obviously want to ensure that it remains a side representative of the area with players involved from the locality. While the transfer window is now closed for this season we expect a number of new players down from the area for pre-season training as many have expressed an interest in joining now that we’re up and running.”
Currently Liberties FC is top of the Premier Division Saturday League, 5 points clear of rivals Drumfinn, with the next match against the Dublin Devils, how do you feel coming into this match?
“We can’t get carried away as nothing has been won yet. We need to ignore the league table for the moment and just keep working hard and winning matches! The table will look after itself! The Devils ran us close when we played them recently, they are a good footballing side but if we play to our ability we’re confident we can triumph!!”
How do you feel about the rest of the league in general?
“Same as above really. Nothing has been won and a couple of bad results can throw away all the hard work to date. We’ve tough games ahead including playing away in midweek to Drumfinn next Wednesday and that will be a very tough test, our recent games against them could have gone either way. We’re in a great position but we still have 8 games to go and anything can happen!”
I see you are affiliated with Liberties FC Perth, how did that arrangement come about?
“Several of those involved on both sides know each other, as a lot of Liberties Perth came from the Liberties area. So we followed the early weeks and months of Liberties FC Perth with interest. When we decided to form a new side in the area, it made sense to affiliate with each other, supporting each other and looking for ways to work together. For example, we wanted to have a club in Ireland and a club in Australia where players emigrating or returning could go to, and have an instant footballing family to help them settle. We share the same colours and badge although they are currently going through some changes.”
We’ll be posting regular updates of your fixtures on our site, is there anything you would like to say to our readers?
“We’re delighted with the support from the area to date and want to thank everyone for that. Without that support we couldn’t exist. We also want that support to grow, and are particularly keen to get people involved now we’ve launched the over 35’s side. So we would ask anyone who wants to get involved to contact us through our Facebook page facebook.com/LibertiesFCDublin or through our website pitchero.com/clubs/libertiesfc/ It would also be fantastic to see people supporting on the sideline which would make a great difference to our lads. We would also urge you to keep your eyes peeled for some exciting news over the coming months as we are working on many projects!! Watch this space!”
We would like to wish the lads every success in the season and to batter Dublin Devils (figuratively of course!), this Saturday at 2pm in the Phoenix Park.
Just to update people Liberties FC won 2-1 against Dublin Devils! Well done lads!