Shelbourne

Tolka Park sits in Drumcondra, barely a mile and a half from Dalymount Park. Shelbourne have played there since 1989, when they left their old ground at Shelbourne Park.

The club itself started further south, in Ringsend, where a group led by James Rowan met in the Shelbourne House pub, on the corner of Bath Avenue and Shelbourne Road, in 1895 — the street gave the club its name. Shamrock Rovers were founded in the same district, which is why their derby is still called the Ringsend Derby. Shelbourne turned senior in 1897, joined the Irish Football League in 1904 and turned professional the year after. When the association split in 1921 over a cup fixture dispute, Shelbourne were among the clubs that broke away to found the League of Ireland, and the name on the shirt has not changed since — except for one season, 1935/36, when the club had been expelled from the league and its players turned out instead as Reds United before Shelbourne reclaimed their own name in 1936.

Fourteen League of Ireland titles span from 1926 to 2024. Seven FAI Cups sit alongside them, the last from 2000. Eric Barber is the name attached to the club's scoring record: 126 league goals across three spells between 1958 and 1980. Before him, in the 1960s, a young full-back named Tony Dunne passed through Tolka Park on his way to Manchester United, where he won the European Cup in 1968.