Belvedere Football Club is an Irish association football club based in Fairview/Clontarf, Dublin. Belvedere currently fields teams in the Dublin & District Schoolboy League. The club has also entered teams in the FAI Youth Cup, the FAI Under-17 Cup, the Milk Cup and the Umbro Galway Cup. Like Home Farm, Stella Maris and Cherry Orchard, Belvedere is well known for its youth system which has successfully produced hundreds of players who have gone onto play & coach for professional clubs throughout Ireland, the United Kingdom and worldwide. In addition hundreds have also gone on to represent the Republic of Ireland at various international levels & to date the club have 15 full internationals.

History Belvedere Football Club was founded in 1971 by Vincent Butler and Fergus McCabe in North Inner City Dublin. It was originally the football section of Belvedere Youth Club, the oldest youth centre in the country having been formed in 1918. The club first began to field teams in the Dublin & District Schoolboy League in 1971–72. In the seasons since the club has won an astonishing array of youth league and cup competitions at both provincial and national level. The club first came to national prominence in 1987–88 when they won the FAI Under-17 Cup.

In February 1990 the club played a small part in launching the career of Roy Keane. Belvedere played a Cobh Ramblers team featuring Keane in an FAI Youth Cup game at Fairview Park. Former Belvedere manager and Nottingham Forest scout, Noel McCabe subsequently recommended Keane to Brian Clough. www.belvederefc.com www.soccer-ireland.com In 1990–91 Belvedere won the FAI Youth Cup for the first time and within a few seasons Mark Kennedy and then Curtis Fleming became the first two former Belvedere players to represent the Republic of Ireland at full international level. Initially Belvedere recruited players from its home base in Northside, Dublin. However, as the clubs reputation grew, it also began to recruit from throughout the Greater Dublin Area and then nationally throughout Ireland. Players from outside Dublin were known as "Belvo culchies" www.belvederefc.com and included, among others, David Forde.

In 2004 Belvedere were runners-up in the Milk Cup, a youth football tournament in Northern Ireland, losing 3–1 to Heart of Midlothian in the final. Milk Cup, Rsssf In 2009 they also won the Umbro Galway Cup. During this era they were also regular winners of the FAI Under-17 Cup.

On 31 May 2015 during an away game against St Kevin's Boys, Shetemi Ayetigbo, a Nigerian-Irish footballer then aged 16, collapsed and died while playing for Belvedere. www.rte.ie utv.iewww.fai.ie www.modernghana.com

Notable former players

Players Republic of Ireland internationals Thomas Butler Graham Burke Matt Doherty Stephen Elliott Curtis Fleming David Forde Wes Hoolahan Stephen Kelly Mark Kennedy Darragh Lenihan Troy Parrott Richard Sadlier Cillian Sheridan Keith Treacy Other internationals Roberto Lopes Leovan O'Garro League of Ireland XI representatives John McDonnell Conor Powell Richie Ryan Derek Swan Republic of Ireland B internationals Richie Byrne Tony Cousins Martin Russell Republic of Ireland U23 international Ross Gaynor Mark Quigley Ger Rowe Republic of Ireland U21 internationals Kwame Ampadu Hugh Atkinson Karl Bermingham John Burns Barry Cogan Tony Cousins Liam Dunne Kevin Feely Richie Foran Chris Forrester Ross Gaynor Ken Gillard James Hand Stephen Henderson Sean Kavanagh Mark Leech John McGrath Brendan Moloney Thomas Morgan Gary Mulligan Stephen Murphy John O'Sullivan Neil Poutch Conor Powell Alan Power Danny Rogers Martin Russell Robbie Ryan Alan Sheehan Derek Swan Kevin Thornton

Republic of Ireland U19 internationals Neill Byrne Tim Clancy Adrian Harper Jimmy Keohane Ben McCormack Ricky McEvoy Republic of Ireland U18 internationals Jake Carroll Kevin Dawson Mark Hughes Ben McCormack Daryl McMahon Dara McGuinness Jad Hakiki David Toure Nathan Murphy Mark O'Brien John O'Hara Alan Reilly

Republic of Ireland U17 internationals Philip Byrne Wesley Byrne Colin Cassidy Alan Cawley Paul Corry Brody Lee Ben McCormack

Republic of Ireland U16 internationals Kevin Grogan Sean Hayden Anthony Dodd Ben McCormack Dara McGuinness

Managers Thomas Butler Tony Cousins Trevor Croly Kevin Grogan Stephen Kenny John McDonnell Daryl McMahon Martin Russell Tim Clancy

Honours FAI Youth Cup Winners: 1990–91, 1998–99, 2004–05: 3 FAI Under-17 Cup Winners: 1987–88, 1989–90, 1999–2000, 2004–05, 2006–07, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11: 8 Milk Cup Runners-up: 2004: 1 Galway Cup Winners: 2009: 1

References

External links

Dublin and District Schoolboys'/Girls' League (DDSL)