Grattan United still going strong after 100 years

Commitment, determination, tradition, and a formidable sense of family have been the foundation for Cork football club Grattan United AFC’s remarkable 100 year run.

The longest standing team in the Cork Athletic Union League (AUL), the club in Cork city’s northside is gearing up to mark its centenary in July with a special dinner honouring members and players both past and present.

Based at O’Neill Park on the Kilmore Road, the club has been a heartbeat of Cork’s northside community since 1926.

For Chairman Brian Ó Súilleabháin, Grattan United is more than a football club; it’s a family, an unconditional bond, and an ever present force in a community often looked down upon in Cork.

“You're not just coming and playing soccer,” says Brian who joined the club as a player in the early 2000s.

“For a club up in the northside that has one pitch and two teams, it’s unbelievable.

“It goes back to the DNA at the club. It's more of a family in the sense that once you're a Grattan member you're never not a member.”

While other clubs have folded over the years, Grattan United has stood fast in the face of adversities such as Covid and rising costs, but that’s not to say the club hasn’t come close to catastrophe.

“We'd be doing something wrong if it never happened,” laughs Brian.

One season stands out in particular when two members of the club’s leadership walked away to another club and brought the majority of Grattan’s players with them.

“I won't say the club because that's not their fault,” says Brian.

“We were left with myself, Philip Moore, Graham Waters, Jason O'Leary in the dressing room with a couple of youths. No committee and no teams.

“We ended up telling retired members or past members and all of a sudden we had seven, eight, nine players lining up for games, so we were still fulfilling games.

“Players and past members came back, and a year later we went on to win the Premier League.”

A massive milestone in the club’s history was winning the AOH Cup in 1996. Known as the ‘Holy Grail’ of Cork junior football, lifting it was a monumental achievement for everyone involved in the club, done under the management of Joe Lynch and George Murphy, with Martin Doocey as captain.

More recently, the club has been flying. In 2024, our the first secured the Premier League title and the City Challenge Cup, adding to a long tradition of silverware. In the 2017/18 season, Grattan United’s second team produced an ‘Invincibles’ season, winning their league with a perfect record of 18 wins out of 18 games.

Unfortunately, with a history spanning 100 years, the club has lost some of its beloved members along the way.

Brian said: “Losing members of the Grattan United family is something that stays with you. We suffered a huge loss with the passing of Alan O’Brien. It was a heartbreaking time for everyone at the club, but we came together to honour him by retiring his number nine jersey.”

Asked how Grattan United AFC’s founding fathers would feel to see the club reach its 100 year milestone, Brian says he thinks they would be proud that the mission statement and ethos they instilled all those years ago is still going strong today.

He said: “They'd be proud of themselves and also everybody afterwards that kept up the tradition and the culture within the club.

“It's what they wanted to represent, and it has stood the test of time 100 years later.

“It's all about culture – to be proud of where you're from.”

To mark the club’s centenary, Grattan United will host a centenary dinner on 25 July at the Rochestown Park Hotel. Tickets can be booked online now via forms.gle/ydboarJyaUbtFd6z5.