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Drogheda United was founded as a junior club in 1919. The club entered the Dundalk and District League for the 1919/1920 season, and within two years were champions.
Moves to the Leinster Senior League and Sunday Alliance League helped the club challenge for the major junior football trophies. Initially playing their games in Magdalene Park, they moved to the Showgrounds and then on to United Park in 1927. In 1933 a Drogheda United minor team was formed before evolving into the seniors. The squad included future Drogs legends Danny O’Neill, Joe Mulally, brothers Tom and Sean Munster, and Dessie Fagan.
In 1953 the town became the new home of Father Kevin Connolly, a native of Ravensdale, Dundalk. His arrival was to be a significant turning point in the future development of sport in Drogheda, with Fr Connolly being best remembered amongst Drogheda United supporters today due to his direct involvement in the setting up of Drogheda FC in 1962. Fr Connolly’s infectious enthusiasm was a key factor, and without it, arguably there would be no senior soccer club in the town, with the building of the Lourdes Stadium owing a lot of its development to him.
On Saturday June 1963, Drogheda FC were elected to the League of Ireland, finishing in the bottom three in their first four competitive league seasons. Progress was slow in those initial years, with 5th, 6th and 9th place finishes following, but in June 1969 Mick Meagan signed on as player-manager. At the beginning of 1971 Drogheda lay bottom of the table. In mid-January the ‘Halifax Four’ signed on loan from Halifax Town; Dave Shawcross, Pat Cullen, Dave Verrity and Dick Jacenuik, primarily to play a role in that year’s FAI Cup. On the way to the final Drogheda FC knocked out cup favourites Shamrock Rovers, before eventually being beaten 3-0 in the Cup Final replay by Limerick.
In May 1973 Meagan chose to leave the club (John Cowan replaced him) along with another great servant in Ronnie Whelan. In Meagan’s three seasons in charge the team had finished 13th, 11th, and bottom of the league table (in a 14-team league). Even though league form had never been great Meagan’s sides performed admirably in cup competitions.
At the end of the 1974/1975 season John Cowan left the club by ‘mutual consent’. In his two years in charge he had reached the semi-final of the Leinster Senior Cup two years running, finished 11th and 9th in the league, as well as getting to the semi-final of the FAI Cup, before suffering a shattering loss to Munster Senior League side Cobh Ramblers the following year in the cup.
1975 saw the amalgamation of Drogheda United and Drogheda FC, leading to the formation of Drogheda United FC. Drogheda’s 1976 cup performances that year set them up for their second cup final appearance, this time against Bohemians, but unfortunately another final appearance was to lead to heartache for Jimmy McAlinden’s men.
On August 12th, 1979, United Park was officially opened, and Drogheda United FC had their new home, leaving their spiritual home of ‘The Lourdes Stadium’. An inconsistent 1981/1982 season saw Ray Treacy’s team finish in 11th place. The following year Treacy was piecing together a squad of players who many felt could achieve great things. However, on Sunday 19th December Treacy resigned following a 0-0 draw with Shamrock Rovers which had been billed as a ‘six-pointer’ as both teams were in the title hunt, with Treacy becoming increasingly disillusioned with happenings within United Park’s corridors. 32-year old Tony Macken agreed to replace Treacy as manager and a run of just 1 defeat in the remaining 12 league games left Drogheda with a real chance of achieving European qualification for the first time in the club’s history. The ‘Drogheda Independent’ summed the season up perfectly, “A season littered with controversy and frustration ended gloriously”. Drogheda United were heading to Europe! Drogheda truly were in the big-time, having been drawn against Tottenham Hotspur. Alas, a 14-0 aggregate score brought everyone back down to earth.
The 1982/1983 league season was nothing short of a disaster but a league cup run saw them face Athlone Town, the reigning league champions, in the final at Tolka Park. Many expected a tough encounter but those at the game remember that Drogheda were convincing winners. After twenty-one years in League Of Ireland football captain Matt Bradley raised aloft Drogheda’s first piece of silverware.
In November 1993 the legendary 53-year old Jim McLaughlin became the new Drogheda United manager. One of McLaughlin’s aims when he took over was to avoid relegation, but another was to strengthen a squad lacking confidence and a cutting edge in front of goal. Like the three previous seasons Drogheda’s fate was decided on the final day of the season, as they faced Cobh Ramblers at home. They lost 1-0 and were relegated. In early 1995 promotion was once against secured. The next few years would see a huge turnover of managers with Anto Whelan, Martin Lawlor and Eddie May all trying (and failing) to bring success to the club. However, Lawlor’s decision to appoint Harry McCue as his assistant was to be a major turning point in the club’s history.
In 2000 Drogheda United went back to their roots in their search for a new manager following the departure of Eddie May, promoting from within. Harry McCue, assistant to both May and Lawlor, was given the role. McCue, without much option as a result of the club tightening their purse strings, was forced to rely largely on young local talent.
The history books will show that the 2000/2001 season was the worst in Drogheda United’s history. It took the team until November to record their first win while finding themselves bottom of the table at the end of January. The penultimate game was against St Francis (who they were battling with to finish 2nd bottom) at United Park. Drogheda won, surviving the indignity of seeking re-election to the league as officially the worst team in the LOI.
The darkest period of the club’s history was to occur in October 2008 when examinership hit. The club’s plans for a new state-of-the art stadium fell through, leading to unprecedented financial difficulties. However, like before, the club survived, primarily due to its supporters, the life-blood of the club, who raised vast amounts of money to stave off the threat of extinction
The club was forced to change from a full-time set-up to a part-time one, leading to increasing difficulties. Alan Mathews took over the management reins, and after an incredibly difficult league campaign, a 2-0 relegation play-off over Bray Wanderers secured the team’s place in the Premier Division for another season. However, the 2010 season was to prove disastrous, and following a 6-0 drubbing at the hands of Sligo Rovers, Mathews resigned. Darius Kierans, Paul Lumsden, Brian Donnelly and Bobby Browne were all individually technically ‘manager’ at one stage over the course of the next few months (don’t ask), but regardless, the team was relegated, only to earn a reprieve due to Sporting Fingal withdrawing from the league.
Mick Cooke took over as manager in February 2011, becoming the sixth manager in nine months. Robbie Horgan, like Cooke an ex-Drogheda player, came in as assistant manager.
