Cobh Ramblers

In Cobh the football version stuck. The club has carried the same name ever since — no merger, no rebrand.

For most of its life it played locally rather than nationally. In 1947 it was one of fourteen clubs to set up the Cork Athletic Union League; it is the only one of those founders still playing today.

The League of Ireland came late, in 1985, and the club has spent most of the years since in the First Division. The exception was 2007, when the Rams won it on the back of 27 matches without defeat. Promotion to the Premier Division followed in 2009, but the finances did not hold: the licence went, and so did the top-flight place.

Ownership has moved more than the league position. The membership took full control in 2019, then voted in 2024 to sell a share to outside investors. That relationship soured within a year, and in 2025 a 90% stake went to Digital Athlete Ventures.

The club has kept sending players up — Stephen Ireland among them.

Cork City come down for the derby; Waterford, across the water, for the other one. Claret and blue, and the harbour behind the stand.