History

1895-1970 – Non league

In 1895, the Catholic University Medical School Cecilia Street Football Club was founded, entering a team in the inaugural Leinster Junior League. The team's first match was against Bohemians B in October of 1895 and ended in a 2-0 defeat.

November 1895 also saw the first match against Trinity with a result of 2-0 to Cathlolic University.

1898 Catholic University qualified for the Leinster Senior Cup for the first time - and we reached the semi-final.

In 1908, the Catholic University merged with University College Dublin, and the team changed name with the merger. Things weren't quite settled yet, though, as we went through a series of grounds - in Sandymount, Cowper Road, Croydon Park, Fairview and Terenure before moving to Belfield Park in 1935 and now the UCD Bowl in 2008.

In the meantime, though, success had been regular. In 1914, we won the inaugural Collingwood Cup - the Irish collegiate championships. The next year, UCD won the IFA Intermediate Cup, beating Portadown 2-1 in a replay in Dalymount Park. The first match had seen UCD draw in Windsor Park on St Patrick's Day. The competition was the 'IFA' Cup because in those days before independence, the IFA governed football over the whole island, and the competition involved teams from the whole island. The Intermediate Cup was one step below the Senior Cup in importance, so it was certainly of some significance. UCD were also involved in the first ever FAI Senior Cup in 1921, when they took on a non-league side at the time, Shamrock Rovers, in Windy Arbour, losing 6-2.

Another trophy was to wing its way to Belfield in 1945 - the FAI Intermediate Cup, courtesy of a 4-2 win over Cobh Ramblers, again in Dalymount Park.