Nickname(s) The Orchard Manager Declan Hevey Founded 1957 | Chairman Ray O'Toole Website Club home page | |
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Full name Cherry Orchard Football Club League Leinster Senior League
Dublin & District Schoolboy League
Athletic Union League Grounds Elmdale Crescent, Le Fanu Park | ||
Cherry Orchard Football Club is an Irish association football club based in the Cherry Orchard district of Ballyfermot, Dublin. Their senior team plays in the Leinster Senior League. They have also competed in the FAI Cup, the FAI Intermediate Cup, the FAI Junior Cup and the Leinster Senior Cup. Orchard also have reserve teams playing in the Leinster Senior League and enter teams in the Dublin & District Schoolboy League. Like Home Farm and Stella Maris, Cherry Orchard is well known for its youth system which has successfully produced dozens of players who have gone onto play for clubs throughout Ireland and the United Kingdom. In addition many have also gone on to represent the Republic of Ireland at various international levels.
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Senior Teams
When Cherry Orchard was formed in 1957 it initially only organized adult teams. They began playing in the Leinster Alliance League and then the Leinster Junior League before switching to the Athletic Union League in the mid-1960s. Orchard first came to national prominence when they won the FAI Junior Cup in 1981–82. Between 1984–85 and 1986–87 they also won the FAI Junior Cup three times in a row and then won it twice in a row in 1989–90 and 1990–91. During this time Orchard also won the Athletic Union League five times. Based on these successes, the club decided to join the Leinster Senior League for the 1992–93 season. In their first season in the Leinster Senior League, Orchard gained promotion to the Senior Division. In 1993–94, in their debut season in the Senior Division, Orchard won their first Leinster Senior League title. In the 2015/16 season, 'The Orchard' won the Leinster Senior League Senior 1 Sunday Division and the Charlie Cahill Cup double. They also finished runners-up in the Leinster Senior League Major Saturday Division.
Youth Academy
Cherry Orchard first began to field schoolboy teams in 1970. In the decades since, Orchard have won an assortment of schoolboy and youth league and cup competitions at both provincial and national level. In 1993 Cherry Orchard also won the prestigious Milk Cup, beating Rangers F.C. 4–2 on penalties after a 1–1 draw in the final played before a crowd of 10,000 at the Coleraine Showgrounds. All the previous winners of the Milk Cup had been academy teams of top clubs from England and Scotland. Cherry Orchard regularly supplies players to Republic of Ireland schoolboy and youth teams. In 1998 when the Republic of Ireland won both the UEFA European Under-16 Championship and the UEFA European Under-18 Championship both teams included former Orchard players. Andy Reid played in the Under-16 team, while Alan Quinn scored in the Under-18 final against Germany.
Grounds
Cherry Orchard play their home games at two local parks in Ballyfermot. The senior teams play at Elmdale Crescent while the schoolboy teams play at Le Fanu Park, known locally as The Lawns.