Raheny United Football Club (Irish: Cumann Peile Ráth Éanna Aontaithe) is an Irish association football club based in Raheny, Dublin. Raheny United was founded in 1994 following the amalgamation of Raheny Boys and Dunseedy United. In 2017–18 their senior men's team compete in the Premier A division of the Athletic Union League. An over–35s team compete in the Amateur Football League. They also have 35 schoolboy teams competing in both the Dublin & District Schoolboy League and the North Dublin Schoolboys/Girls League.

Raheny United
Full nameRaheny United Football Club
Nickname(s)The Pandas
Founded1994
GroundSt. Anne's Park
ChairmanAidan O’Looney
LeagueDublin District Schoolboy League
North Dublin Schoolboys/Girls League
Athletic Union League
Amateur Football League
WebsiteClub website

The club's senior women's team became founder members of the Women's National League in 2011–12. They were league champions in both 2012–13 and 2013–14 and also competed in both the 2013–14 and the 2014–15 UEFA Women's Champions League.[1][2] In 2015 Raheny United's senior women's team merged with Shelbourne Ladies F.C. This effectively saw Shelbourne take Raheny United's place in the WNL.[3] The club currently cater for four senior teams, thirty schoolboy teams, and host their own youth academy every Saturday morning, making them one of the larger junior soccer clubs in Ireland.

History

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Women's team

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In August 2011 the Football Association of Ireland announced that Raheny United would be one of seven founding members of the Women's National League.[4] In their debut season, 2011–12 they finished as runners-up to Peamount United. The following two seasons, 2012–13 and 2013–14, saw them finish as league champions.[5][6] They also won the FAI Women's Cup in 2012, 2013[7] and 2014 .[8] In the 2013–14 UEFA Women's Champions League they finished third in their qualifying group. In the 2014–15 UEFA Women's Champions League they became the first Irish team to qualify from the group stage with a 100% record, having beaten CFF Olimpia Cluj, FC NSA Sofia and Hibernians F.C. In the round of 32 they lost to Bristol Academy.

Raheny United in Europe

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2013–14 UEFA Women's Champions League

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Group 3

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Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
  MTK 3 3 0 0 6 2 +4 9
  Zhytlobud-1 Kharkiv 3 2 0 1 7 2 +5 6
  Raheny United 3 1 0 2 5 6 −1 3
  Crusaders Strikers 3 0 0 3 1 9 −8 0
Source: UEFA
MTK  3–2  Raheny United
Vágó   12', 39'
Papp   69'
Report McCabe   15'
Creagh   52'
Raheny United  1–2  Zhytlobud-1 Kharkiv
Murray   16' Report Ovdiychuk   39'
Tykhonova   44' (pen.)
Referee: Stéphanie Frappart (France)
Crusaders Strikers  1–2  Raheny United
McDowell   11' Report Murray   29'
Waldron   58'
Referee: Stéphanie Frappart (France)

2014–15 UEFA Women's Champions League

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Group 2

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1   Raheny United 3 3 0 0 6 2 +4 9 Advance to knockout phase
2   Olimpia Cluj (H) 3 2 0 1 10 3 +7 6
3   NSA Sofia 3 1 0 2 6 6 0 3
4   Hibernians 3 0 0 3 1 12 −11 0
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
(H) Hosts
Olimpia Cluj  1–2  Raheny United
Voicu   62' Report Murray   23'
Shine   81'
Attendance: 300
Referee: Elia Martínez (Spain)

Raheny United  2–0  NSA Sofia
Shine   45+2', 50' Report
Attendance: 30
Referee: Ana Minić (Serbia)

Hibernians  1–2  Raheny United
Tonna   15' Report Cronin   38'
Shine   79'

Rround of 32

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First leg

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Raheny United  0–4  Bristol Academy
Report Harding   29', 78'
Watts   90+2' (pen.)
Natalia   90+4'
Attendance: 1,248
Referee: Eleni Lampadariou (Greece)

Second leg

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Bristol Academy  2–1  Raheny United
Natalia   50'
James   59'
Report Slattery   74'
Attendance: 816
Referee: Marija Kurtes (Germany)

Bristol Academy won 6–1 on aggregate.

Location

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Raheny United Football Club, All Saints Drive

Raheny United's clubhouse is located on All Saints Drive beside both the local Garda station and Raheny GAA club. It is also near Raheny railway station. [9] The club plays the majority of their home games at the nearby St. Anne's Park.

Notable former players

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Republic of Ireland women's internationals

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  •   Ciaran Bernard
  •   Andrew McMorrow

Honours

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Women's team

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References

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  1. ^ www.rahenyunited.ie
  2. ^ Junior Soccer Portal
  3. ^ wnl.fai.ie
  4. ^ RTÉ Sport (3 August 2011). "FAI announce new Women's League". RTÉ.ie. Archived from the original on 9 September 2012. Retrieved 6 August 2011.
  5. ^ "Raheny United claim Women's National League title (2012–2013)". Raidió Teilifís Éireann. 12 May 2013. Retrieved 18 March 2014.
  6. ^ "Raheny United claim Women's National League title (2013–2014)". Raidió Teilifís Éireann. 27 April 2014. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  7. ^ "Raheny triumph in Women's FAI Cup final report". The Irish Times. 4 November 2013. Retrieved 18 March 2014.
  8. ^ "Killeen grabs extra-time winner as Raheny win Cup". Raidió Teilifís Éireann. 3 November 2014. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  9. ^ www.rahenyunited.ie