Bohemians were founded by members of Bell's Academy (a Civil Service college), the Royal Hibernian Military School (a school for orphaned children of members of the British armed forces in Ireland),[1][2] medical students and others, on 6 September 1890 in the Phoenix Park Gate Lodge beside the North Circular Road entrance and played its first games in the Park's Polo Grounds. They were one of the founding members of the League of Ireland in 1921, after their withdrawal from the Irish Football League. They established themselves as a major force within the first 15 years of the League of Ireland, winning 5 league titles, 2 FAI Cups and 4 Shields, but struggled for decades after that, largely due to their strict amateur status, going 34 seasons without winning a major trophy. Bohemians dropped their amateur ethos in 1969 and proceeded to win 2 League titles, 2 FAI Cups, and 2 League cups during the season 1970s. They suffered a further decline throughout the 1980s and most of the 1990s before claiming League and Cup doubles in 2001 and 2008, alongside the 2003 and most recently 2009 title wins.
Bohemians play their home matches at Dalymount Park in Phibsborough on the northside of Dublin. They are owned 100% by the members of the club. Their club colours are red and black, which they adopted at the 4th AGM in October 1893. Bohemians supporters often refer to their club by a number of nicknames including Bohs and The Gypsies, and provide one half of a bitter rivalry with southside club, Shamrock Rovers.
Bohemians were founded on 6 September 1890. They were members of the Irish Football League from 1902 to 1911 (the first club from Dublin to join) and from 1912 to 1920. During this time the club's greatest success was winning the Irish Cup in 1908.
Bohemians were founded on 6 September 1890 at the gate lodge leading onto the North Circular Road in the Phoenix Park. A commemorative plaque honours this.
It was a founding member of the League of Ireland in 1921, and it is one of only two clubs to have been members of the League of Ireland since its inception (the other being Shelbourne), and it is the only club to have been ever-present in the top division of the league. In its first season it finished second in the league, just two points behind St. James Gate. The club won its first league title in 1924. In 1928 the club won its second league title and completed a double that season by winning its first FAI Cup also. The club was one of the major forces in the early years of the league, going on to win another three league titles and another FAI Cup in the next eight seasons.
After this success the club began to struggle, often finishing at the foot of the league and rarely mounting a title challenge, largely because of an inability to attract or keep top players due to its strict amateur status, which had been a fundamental part of the club since its formation. The club went 34 seasons without winning a major trophy. In 1969 the club ended its amateur status, and the first player to sign professional terms was Tony O'Connell, who signed on 11 March 1969.
The club then went on to win two league titles, two FAI Cups and two league cups in the 1970s, more trophies than any other club that decade. In 1970 the club entered European competition for the first time where it was beaten in the first qualifying round of the European Cup Winners' Cup (see below). The club went through another trophy-less spell after its 1979 league cup victory, which was not broken until the club won its fifth FAI Cup in 1992. It was not until 2001 that it regained the league title, also winning the FAI Cup that season to complete its second double. After adding another league title in 2003, Bohemians triumphed once again in 2008, under Pat Fenlon, winning the double of both the league for the tenth time with four league games still to play,[3] and the FAI cup in a penalty shoot-out.[4]
In September 2009, Bohemians claimed the League Cup for the third time in the club's history with a 3–1 win over Waterford United in the final.[5]
On 6 November 2009, Bohemians retained the title after a 1–1 draw against Bray Wanderers.[6] They were already assured of the league title before the final round of matches as they held a three-point lead and 16-goal difference advantage over their nearest rivals Shamrock Rovers. Captain Owen Heary collected the Premier Division trophy for the club's first back-to-back league win.[7] Bohs narrowly missed out on a hat trick of league titles on goal difference in 2010 in a season which also seen them suffer European disappointment at the hands of Welsh club TNS.
Stadiums
Bohemians' first permanent home ground was on the Polo Ground in Phoenix Park. Goal posts and other equipment were kept at Gate Lodge on North Circular Road (Dublin). They remained there until the 1893–94 season when they obtained a private ground on Jones Road now known as Croke Park, the headquarters of the Gaelic Athletic Association. The space then took in the ground previously occupied by the Old Belvedere playing pitches and now occupied by the Cusack Stand. For the first time it was possible for the club to build up some sort of finances, since a charge for admission was made at all important home matches.
One of the entrances to Dalymount Park, 2012
They moved to a new home at Whitehall Farm, Glasnevin, in time for the start of the 1895–96 season but in those days, the area was out of the way and without public transport so the Bohemian committee continued to look for a new home ground. Their search came to an end when they moved to Dalymount Park which was officially opened on 7 September 1901.
In 2006 the club's members decided to sell Dalymount Park to developer Liam Carroll in a reported €65,000,000 deal, although then board members refused to allow members to see the details of the deal. The deal included the development of a new 10,000-seater stadium in Harristown near Dublin Airport.[8] On 7 November 2008, Bohemians lost a court case versus Albion Ltd, when it was discovered that the board, led by Gerry Cuffe and Gerry Conway, had attempted to re-sell part of the ground which the club no longer owned, which has had the effect of putting the move on hold long enough for the property market to collapse and the deal to be all but dead.[9] In March 2015 Dublin City Councilannounced that it would purchase Dalymount park.[10][11] The Council completed the purchase in June 2015 for €3.8million.[12][13] In February 2016 the Council published plans to demolish and rebuild Dalymount on a phased basis at a cost of €20 million.[14] In October 2022, the council published its updated redevelopment plans, with a proposed capacity of 7,880, and a completion date of 2026.[15][16] It is likely that Bohemians would need to play elsewhere during redevelopment.[17]
European record
Although they did not make their first appearance in European competition until 1970, they have, like all Irish clubs, found the going tough in Europe, but they have had some famous successes too. Their finest hour came when they eliminated Scottish Premier League club (and former Cup Winners' Cup and European Super Cup champions) Aberdeen from the UEFA Cup in August 2000. That triumph was set up by a dramatic 2–1 victory away from home, in which Bohs scored 2 late goals to overturn a 1–0 deficit.[18] That was the first time an Irish club defeated British opposition away from home in European competition. Other notable results include wins against Rangers and Kaiserslautern (away) and draws against Rangers, Newcastle United, Sporting CP, Dundee United (away) and Aberdeen. In all, they have beaten a total of 11 different teams, from 9 countries (Denmark, Cyprus, Scotland, Germany, Estonia, Belarus, Belgium, Wales and Latvia). Bohs bowed out of the 2008 Intertoto Cup on away goals to Latvian side FK Riga despite winning the second leg 2–1. Earlier in that campaign they recorded their biggest single leg (5–1) and aggregate (9–3) wins in Europe (against Welsh Premier League club Rhyl).
Bohemians started their 2009–10 UEFA Champions League campaign away to Austrian Bundesliga champions Red Bull Salzburg on 16 July 2009 with a 1–1 draw in Salzburg.[19]
In the second leg on 22 July 2009, Bohemians held out until an 87th-minute goal by Patrik Ježek for Red Bull Salzburg gave them a one-nil victory on the night and two one win on aggregate.[20]
After retaining the league title in 2009, Bohs entered the Champions League again in 2010–11. They were drawn against Welsh side The New Saints in the Second Qualifying Round, and won the first leg 1–0 at Dalymount Park on 13 July 2010.[21] They lost the second leg 4–0 and were eliminated 4–1 on aggregate.[22] Bohs manager Pat Fenlon later labelled the performance as 'disgraceful' and said 'the players let the club, league and country down'.[23] The result was labelled by others as the worst result in Bohs' 40-year European history.[24]
After a nearly a decade away from continental competition, Bohs faced Hungarian opposition in the form of Fehérvár in the 2020-2021 UEFA Europa League qualifiers. The gypsies narrowly missed out by virtue of a penalty shoot-out loss, decided after a solitary one-legged affair was played, due to the Coronavirus pandemic. Bohs entered the inaugural Europa Conference League the year after and consecutively sold out their home matches at Dublin's Aviva Stadium in matches with Stjarnan FC and F91 Dudelange, both home legs ending with famous 3-0 victories.
"Bohs" 2021 European campaign came to end in Thessalonika after defeat to PAOK, when they lost the 3-2 on aggregate, following a heroic win in the first leg at the Aviva Stadium on 3 August, when Scottish winger Ali Coote scored a brace in what has to rank as one of the best ever wins by an Irish team in Europe.[25] The Greek side had just signed ex Dortmund and Manchester United star Shinji Kagawa and had a budget of circa €75M compared to the Bohemian's estimated €750,000.[26] On 12 August the Irish team bowed out of the Europa Conference League Qualification[27] campaign after their fans were denied access to the stadium amid protests from the home fans about Covid restrictions, following a 2-0 defeat on the night in a tense Thessalonika atmosphere.
Bohs' fan base is mainly drawn from the northside of Dublin and their supporters share a bitter rivalry with Southside club, Shamrock Rovers. However, the club has many fans from other parts of the city, across Ireland and worldwide. The club shares a rivalry with their Northside neighbours Shelbourne largely because of geographical proximity as both clubs are now located roughly just 1 mile apart, and also because they featured prominently in the early days of Dublin football, when nationwide football was still based around Belfast. Shelbourne and Bohs were often featured in the Belfast-centered Irish Football League before partition and the rivalry was kept on-off after they formed the new Irish Free State league with Shamrock Rovers and other clubs.
During 2006, a number of Bohemians fans formed an ultra group in an effort to create a more interesting atmosphere at home games. Ironically named The Notorious Boo-Boys (or NBB, a term used by journalists to disparage the patience of Bohs fans), the group bought flags and organised displays during games to lift the atmosphere of the home of Irish football Dalymount Park.[28] The fans have friendly contacts with Prague club Bohemians 1905, Welsh club Wrexham AFC,[29] Swedish club Malmö FF as well as English non-league and fellow supporter owned club FC United of Manchester.
Just one year after being accepted to compete in the Under-17 Women's National League, Bohemians was accepted to the Women's National League on 18 February 2020.[38] The first match was originally scheduled for 15 March 2020, however, the team was made to wait until 8 August 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the Republic of Ireland which delayed the start of the season. The game ended in a 4–1 defeat to Wexford Youth. Chloe Darby scored the consolation goal and wrote herself into the history books as Bohemians' first-ever female goalscorer.[39]
Bohemians Academy
Bohemians compete with elite teams in the underage National Leagues at all available age groups: U19, U17, U15 and U14 for boys. And U17 and U19 age groups for girls.
Beyond the elite teams, Bohemians have over 500 boys and girls playing across 35+ teams, which compete in the DDSL, NDSL and MGL.
Academy Staff
Position
Staff
Academy Director
Vacant
U19 Manager
T.Croly
U17 Manager
D.Molloy
U15 Manager
K.Keogh
Bohemian Futsal
Bohemian Futsal compete in the AUL Futsal Premier Division, the winners of which compete in the UEFA Futsal Champions League preliminary rounds. Bohs also have a 'B' team that compete in the AUL Futsal Division One. They are the only League of Ireland club with a futsal club.
Training Ground and DCU partnership
In 2021, Dublin City University and Bohemians agreed an 18-year multi-faceted partnership involving football, social inclusion, social outreach and academic programme collaboration. As part of the arrangement, DCU Sports Campus became Bohemians’ training base. Bohemians committed to invest around €1.5 million into the facility. The training complex has numerous full-size all-weather pitches, grass pitches, high performance gym, club offices, meeting rooms, physio rooms and kit room.
Players
First team squad
As of 8 March 2024
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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