Mount Merrion Youths Football Club

Mount Merrion Youths Football Club is a community based club that has endeavoured over the past 30 years to provide sporting access and facilities for the youth of Mount Merrion and its adjacent neighbourhoods. The club first represented Mount Merrion at the 1974 Community Games. In 2007 the club established its first representative all-girls team. All representatives of the club operate on a voluntary basis. The club proposes to build a flood lit all-weather pitch in the Deer Park. It aims to do this despite a minority of people who just want to complain about any issue that get raised, so as to give some meaning to their shallow empty lives. The pitch will benefit the whole community and allow children enjoy there matches despite when the weather turns bad. How the pitch will benefit anyone who doesnt play soccer for Mount Merrion is beyond me! The park is a public amenity - Mount Merrion football club is not!! Ben Whelan says he is the best player on the u11 A's. He is quoted as saying "the only reason we win is because im playng, i drag this team along by the scruff of the neck".If Ben thinks they played well last season, wait till Mark Lynch starts.

Player / Coach Profile


Name - Alban

Surname - Hysa

Nickname - Al

DOB - 23/08/1978

Position – Striker

Favourite Team - Arsenal

Former Clubs – Homefarm, Dublin City, Monaghan United, Stade De Reims

Favourite Player of all time – Diego Armando Maradona

Favourite sporting moment of all time – 2004 Arsenal's unbeaten run

Best Manager / Coach – Sean Byrne MM

Best ground played in – Nurenberg Germany

Player Profile

Name - Ryan

Surname - Coyle

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Position – Midfielder

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Player Profile

Name - John

Surname - Willis

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Position – Midfielder

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Player Profile

Name - Andrew

Surname - O'Neill

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Position – Midfielder

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Name - Phil

Surname - McGlade

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Position – Midfielder

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Name - John

Surname - Clarke

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Name - Conor

Surname - Flynn

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Name - David

Surname - Walsh

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Position – Midfielder

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Player Profile

Name - Kevin

Surname - Walsh

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Position – Midfielder

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Player Profile

Name - Sean

Surname - Kenny

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Position – Midfielder

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Player Profile

Name - Paul

Surname - O'Sullivan

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Position – Midfielder

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Player Profile

Name - David

Surname - Guilfoyle

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Position – Defender

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Player Profile

Name - Shane

Surname - Harrisson

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Position – Defender

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Player Profile

Name - Gareth

Surname - Dempsey

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Position – Defender

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Player Profile

Name - Wayne

Surname - Harper

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Position – Defender

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Player Profile

Name - Alan

Surname - Leonard

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Position – Defender

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Player Profile

Name - Declan

Surname - McLaughlin

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Player Profile

Name - Niall

Surname - McNiff

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Saturday Team

Manager
Conor Flynn

Coach
John Clarke

Players
1
Niall McNiff

2
Declan McLaughlin

3
Alan Leonard

4
Wayne Harper

5
Garreth Dempsey

6
Shane Harrisson

7
David Guilfoyle

8
Sean Kenny

9
Paul O'Sullivan

10
Kevin Walsh

11
David Walsh

12
Phil McGlade

13
Andrew O'Neill

14
John Willis

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Ryan Coyle

16
Ross Kelly

17
Gabriel Maguire

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Dave Smith

19
Ian Guilfoyle

20
Derek O'Neill

Player Profile

Name - Derek

Surname - O'Neill

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Position – Keeper

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Player Profile

Name - Ian

Surname - Guilfoyle

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Position – Forward

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Player Profile

Name - Dave

Surname - Smith

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Name - Gabriel

Surname - Maguire

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Name - Ross

Surname - Kelly

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Player from the past


Paul Osam (born December 20, 1967 in Dublin) is a former professional football (soccer) player. He currently coaches with St Patrick's Athletic FC and works as a football pundit with TV3.
Osam started his League of Ireland career in 1988 when he was signed by Brian Kerr for St Patrick's Athletic from junior side Mount Merrion. He struggled to make an impact during his first season but in 1989/90 he was dubbed the "Black Pearl of Inchicore Mark III" (Former St. Pats players and Black Irish pioneers Paul McGrath and Curtis Fleming were I and II respectively). His goal for St Pats away to the then champions Derry City FC is said to have been the turning point of that season and the Saints went on to win their first league title since 1956, with Osam playing an influential role as a left winger despite his six foot four frame.
After the league win, St. Pats hit serious financial difficulties, struggled in the league and eventually resigned themselves to losing all their star players. Osam stayed longer than most but in 1993, he signed for Dublin rivals Shamrock Rovers. Again his influence was felt immediately and Rovers won their first league in a decade. Towards the end of the season Osam suffered a cruciate knee injury and missed the last 8 games. The treatment he received from the board of Shamrock Rovers led to Osam leaving after just one season after 2 goals in 21 appearances. (Later Brian Kerr would call this Osam's "year of purgatory".) He was close to signing for Derry City but due to the injury he missed the entire 1994/95 season.
In 1995 Brian Kerr once again signed Osam for St Pats. He played in central midfield and, along with Eddie Gormley and Noel Mernagh, was the driving force behind another league title. With the disruption caused by Brian Kerr leaving to take charge of the Irish underage teams, the 1996/97 was out of reach for St. Pats. However under the management of Pat Dolan and then Liam Buckley, St. Pats won the title again in 1997/98 and 1998/99, meaning Osam had won 5 league titles in 10 years. His performances in 1999/99 saw Osam win the player of the year awards from all awarding bodies, the PFAI (Players vote}, the SWAI (journalists vote) and the Football Association of Ireland. He is the only player to have won all 3 awards simultaneously. Such was Osam's popularity that he became the first League of Ireland player to star in a nationwide advertising campaign when he became spokesman for WeightWatchers in Ireland.
After some quiet years for St. Pats, Osam captained the side to the League Cup in 2001. Season 2001/02 saw St. Pats once again finished top of the league. However the FAI deducted Pats 15 points for fielding an unregistered player, Paul Marney. Despite Pats' protests that there was no intention to cheat (Marney had been registered the season before) and a report from the FAI saying that there were numerous other minor errors in other clubs' players' registrations, the league was awarded to bitter rivals Shelbourne FC. After a period of negotiations, the FAI awarded the St. Pats players league medals. The club still claims that they are the rightful league winners in 2002. In April of that year, Osam was awarded a testimonial by St. Pats. Former player Paul McGrath played for the first time in years to show the esteem Paul is held with in Irish football.
Under new manager Eamon Collins, Osam captained St. Pats to win another league cup in 2003 and they reached the final of the FAI Cup final later that season. However St. Pats lost and the FAI Cup eluded Osam again. When he retired from football in 2004, he had won every honour in Irish football bar the FAI Cup.
Throughout his career, Osam was heavily pushed for inclusion in the Irish national side. However as neither Jack Charlton nor Mick McCarthy capped any player from the League of Ireland during their tenure, Paul had to contend himself with captaining the LOI select side on many occasions.
After his retirement St. Pats vowed to keep Osam on the staff and he is currently manager of the club's Under 21 side. He combines this with his media work for TV3.

Mount Merrion Ymca grounds


MM grounds are located in SandyMount in between the village and train station. They have great facilities with grass and astro pitches with floodlights. They also have a gym in their disposal for players coming through injuries


We are always looking for new players to join our revolution so if you are interested please call 0870517082 or join us during a training session on Tuesday or Thursday at 7PM

Video









League Table

http://www.lsl.ie/viewresultsdsept07c.aspx

Hall of Fame


MM team played their football in Sunday Senior 1b four years ago. It has been great achievement for this football club during the past 4 years going up 3 years in a row as champions. It has never been done in Ireland before and only in England a team has gone up 3 years in a row but not as Champions.

Players that have been involved with the club during the years have been many which is worth mentioning because they have all contributed in achieving success.(Robert Byrne, Sean Byrne, Alan King, Ian Roche, Mark Cullen, Haward King, Alban Hysa, Mick Scully, James O'Callaghan, Anthony Shevlin, Justin Gleeson, Derek O'Neill, Dennis Stokes, Darren McGrath, Paddy Whelan, Stuart Holt, Drew McGregor, Philip O'Connor, Paul Whelan, Jonathan King, Sean Kelly, Michael McCann, Glen Mahady, Brendan Markey, Darren Berigan, David McGill, Andy Delaney, Pat Trahey, Stephen Gifford, Ali Smith, Alan Clarke, Genty, Vladimir, Ross Kelly and so many more.

Success is not only about the player but also a good manager which Mount Merrion found on Dave Connell. His assistant Sean Byrne has been an outstanding coach for the club. There is no team without a properly running club and we have to thank MM's committee for all their hard work during the years. Special mentions to Pat Maher and Kieran Mullarkey for all their involvement.

Above left FAI cup round in Galway 13/03/2005





Mount Merrion team representing the LSL (March 2006) a short trip up north
Game was won 2 - 0 by LSL league (Mount Merrion)

up left to right - (Shevlin Anthony, O'Callaghan James, Gleeson Justin, O'Neill Derek, Stokes Dennis, Scully Mick)
down left to right ( Cullen Mark, Roche Ian, King Alan, McGrath Darren, Hysa Alban)










Paul Osam started his League of Ireland career in 1988 when he was signed by Brian Kerr for St Patrick's Athletic from junior side Mount Merrion

Club Events

Season 2007 - 2008

Chairman: Maurice Lyons

Secretary: Kieran Mullarkey

Executive Committee: Timothy Bennett, Jimmy Harrison & Paul Higgins

Treasurer: David Brennan

Fundraising / Sponsorship:
Andrew Bennett, Eamonn Doheny & John Horkan



2nd Annual Racenight event will take place Thursday 22nd of November at 8 PM in the Kielys of Mt Merrion Deerpark Road, Phone 2832209

Our race night consists of 10 races with horses in each race. Each horse cost 40 euro to sponsor. Sponsorship is split into 4 parts i.e Horse, Owner, Trainer & Jockey. You can sponsor all 4 parts at a cost of 40 euros or alternatively split the sponsorship into 4 parts at 10 euros each.

The person who pays to sponsor the horse should name the horse e.g "Howi's hope" or Flynn's Flyer" Please use as much creativity or humour as possible in naming horses (but nothing too vulgar please!) For every race winner, there is a prize money of 100 euros, which is either given out as a single prize or split if various sponsors contributed to horse.

In Addition to sponsorship of horses we need 10 sponsors to sponsor each race at 200 euros a race. For our race programme, full page adverts are available at 200 euros and half page adverts are available at 100 euros.

All players are expected to participate on this fun event








Our upcoming Golf Classic will take place next year (2008) with dates still to be decided. Our Fund Raising target is €12,000, which we hope will take care of all outstanding costs for this season and provide a sound financial footing for next season.

We require contributions from all our members to achieve this target. Members can either (a) enter a team (b) arrange Hole Sponsorship (c) arrange Prize Sponsorship or contribute prizes.

A team of 4 costs €650, but the margin to the Club after Green fees, Dinner & prizes is only €170. It costs €200 to Sponsor a hole, but if someone can get only €150, we certainly wont refuse it.

Sponsors

Our current list of sponsors include


1. LeasePlan Fleet Management
2. Mortgages Direct
3. Daysha Consulting
4. Stillorgan Decor
5. O'Reillys of Sandymount
6. Kielys of Mt Merrion

Player of the year award



2006 - 2007


Left - Right: Lee Higgins (Clubman of the year),

Paul Whelan (Sunday team player of the year), Maurice Lyons (Chairman), Declan McLaughlin (Saturday team player of the year), &

Kevin Walsh (Young Player of the year).










2005 - 2006 Player of the year award

Mark Culen receiving his best player of the year award from Maurice Lyons, Chairman of MM football club















2005 - 2006 Best goal scorer of the year award
Alban Hysa receiving best goal scorer of the year award from Maurice Lyons, Chairman of MM football club














2005 - 2006 Clubman of the year award
Lee Higgins receiving his Clubman of the year award from Maurice Lyons, Chairman of MM football club 2005

















2005 - 2006 Youngest player of the year award
receiving his youngest player of the year award from Maurice Lyons, Chairman of MM football club 2005

The History of the Official World Cup Match Balls


Adidas started to make soccer balls in 1963 but made the first official FIFA World Cup ball in 1970. The first ball used in the World Cup to use the Buckminster type of design.The first ball with 32 black and white panels. The TELSTAR was more visible on black and white televisions (1970 FIFA World Cup Mexico™ was the first to be broadcast live on television).

Telstar Durlast R : West Germany, 1974
The TELSTAR was again used. Another version was the Chile Durlast ball which did not have the black panels.

Tango Durlast: Argentina, 1978 The ball design represented elegance, dynamism and passion.

Tango Espana: Spain, 1982
Adidas introduced a new ball which had rubber inlaid over the seams to prevent water from seeping through. The first ball with water-resistant qualities. General wear from kicking however meant the rubber began to wear after a short time and needed to be replaced during the game. The last genuine leather world cup ball.

Azteca : México, 1986
The FIFA World Cup Mexico, saw the introduction of the first polyurethane coated ball which was rain-resistant. The first synthetic match ball, with good qualities on hard and wet surfaces.

Etrvsco: Italy, 1990
The first ball with an internal layer of black polyurethane foam.

Questra: USA, 1994
FIFA World Cup USA, 1994, official ball which was enveloped in a layer of polystyrene foam.
This not only made it more waterproof but allowed the ball greater acceleration when kicked. The new game ball felt softer to the touch. Improved ball control and higher velocity during play.


Tricolore: France, 1998
By 1998, FIFA World Cup France was played with a ball which sported the French red-white-blue tri-color. A complete departure from the old traditional black and white pattern. The first official World Cup colored soccer ball. The TRICOLORE used underglass print technology with a thin layer of syntactic foam.

ICON Women's World Cup 1999 Match Ball
The first ball specially designed for the Women's World Cup

Fevernova TM : Korea Japan, 2002
For FIFA World Cup Korea Japan, 2002, Adidas created a new ball made up of thicker inner layers to increase the accuracy of the ball in flight.


Fevernova design for USA Women's World Cup 2003


NEW Teamgeist Germany, Berlin and Final Balls 2006
All new Adidas "2006 World Cup Germany" Match Ball
For FIFA World Cup Germany, 2006

Latest Gossip

Latest names being attached to the Mount Merrion camp are Sheppy and Sheildser off the Orchard. Also another name being attached to the club lately is Austin Skelly.

2007-2008 : Leinster Intermediate League Table

2006-2007 : Leinster Intermediate League Division 1 Winners

Welcome to MountMerrion YMCY

Our new 3 million Euro development here in Sandymount is a state of the art fitness and sports facility. With club rooms, meeting rooms, a fully equipped gym, all weather pitch, cricket square and outfield, soccer pitch and training pitch the Y Sandymount is well able to full its ethos and commitment to serve the community. In January 2006 the YMCA will launch our youth cafe, a social evening in the club room, this will be an evening of live music and socialising for the youth of the area.

Pat Maher

Mr. Pat Maher has resigned his position from the Committee / General Manager role due to increased work pressure and family commitments. His departure from the committee and from his role as General Manager will be a massive loss to the club, but like everything with Pat, he has planned his own departure meticulously to ensure there is the least amount of inconvenience caused. Pats contribution to Mount Merrion YMCA football club cannot be quantified. He has been the integral component behind the clubs success over the last decade. In that time-span the club has risen from Sun Div 3B in 1996 to the very top division of Intermediate Football, a decade latter. A phenomenal achievement for which Pat can take the lion’s share of the plaudits. I am sure you will join me in thanking Pat sincerely for all he has done for the club and to wish him every success in the future, both in his work & personal life, and to assure him that he is leaving the club in an excellent position and the door will always be open for his return.

The committee of Mt Merrion YMCA F.C. are pleased to announce the following appointments for the coming season

Saturday Team Manager
Conor Flynn has been appointed as Saturday team manager for the coming season. Conor enjoyed a distinguished playing career, starting with Bohemians and then with moving to Glenmore Dundrum. In his time with Glenmore Dundrum, Conor won Senior and Senior 1 league medals in addition to capturing the Intermediate & Metropolitan Cup. In his management career to date, Conor has run the Saturday teams of both Glenmore Dundrum & Garda. Conor will be assisted by Declan Mulligan. We wish Ger, Conor and Declan every success with the Club.

We are also delighted to announce that Dave Connell will continue in his role as Intermediate team manager ably assisted by Sean Byrne as coach.

We are confident that the management/coaching team now in place have all the necessary skills in place to build on the recent successes of the Club.