Imagining the best!
FOLLOWING on from our special feature on the lost clubs of the Wicklow League in last week’s paper a reader sent in a suggestion of what the WDFL could look like if clubs who have departed or if Wicklow clubs who play elsewhere were to commit to play.
A huge amount of soccer teams and clubs have fallen by the wayside over the last 30 years in Wicklow soccer. In 1995 along there were over 60 adult teams competing across four leagues and prior to the Covid-19 outbreak there were just over 20.
The reader, who would prefer not to be identified, included Blessington FC and Baltinglass Town in the imagined leagues but it would make for a very interesting and extremely competitive soccer community in the Garden County if something like this could be realised in the next few years.
The fictional leagues also comprise of the likes of Enniskerry YC, Arklow Town and Ardmore Rovers who no longer compete in the Wicklow League but play their football in the Leinster Senior League.
Premier: Arklow Town, Ardmore Rovers, Avonmore, Blessington FC, Enniskerry YC, Greystones, Wicklow Rovers, Rathnew, St Peter’s, Newtown United.
Division 2: Carnew FC, Glencormac United, Arklow United, Arklow Celtic, Ashford Rovers, St. Anthony’s, Baltinglass Town, Conary United, Wicklow Town, Aughrim Rangers.
Division 3: St. Patrick’s, Derry Rovers, Arklow Town B, Arklow United B, Roundwood, Wicklow Rovers B, Shamrock Celtic, Dearg Celtic, Coolboy Rangers, Enniskerry YC B, Carnew B, Arklow Celtic B, Ashford Rovers B, Ballywaltrim.
The three imagined leagues contain 34 teams but this could be further boosted if the largely untapped geographical area from Tinahely all the way up to Dunlavin (who play in Kildare) taking in places such as Knockananna, Kiltegan, Donard, Hollywood and Valleymount could be enticed to form soccer clubs and enter into what would be an all-county league.
It’s all purely hypothetical at this stage but it’s certainly food for thought for anyone interested in improving Co. Wicklow’s lot in the football world.