Athy Town AFC

Lots of activity in Aldridge Park this morning for Day One of our Summer Camp. Over 70 participants taking part, enjoying the fun'n'Sun.

Athy Town Afc are seeking a dedicated and enthusiastic Manager to lead our young 2nd squad in the Leinster Senior League Saturday section. Express your interest to this page or [email protected].

Hi folks we are going to try set up a WhatsApp groups with info on Fixtures and things going on around the club. If you want updates click on the link below. 🔴⚪️

chat.whatsapp.com

Our camp is officially sold out, thank you to everyone for signing up to what is going to be a great week of FUN.

Keep an eye on this page for updates and we will have a WhatsApp group set up shortly.

🔴⚪️⚽️

***Please Read***
This link will be closed on Monday 8th of July to give us time to order the kits.

Anything after that won't be guaranteed a kit in time for the camp.

There's 21 spaces left so get in quick.

🔴⚪️⚽️

Athy Town AFC Events Athy Town AFC Events, Aldridge Park Athy, Kildare are on Clubforce - download the Clubforce app today to stay up-to-date with club news and make securely payments online.

Anyone interested in playing senior mens soccer this year with Athy Town Afc, our LSL Premier 1 team are back training tomorrow evening at 7:30 pm on the back pitch ⚽️

The Football Association of Ireland is thrilled to announce the launch of Referee Month, set to take place throughout July 2024. In celebration of the essential role referees play in sports, the FAI is offering free in-person referee beginner courses in every region across the country. This initiative follows on from last years inaugural ‘Referee Week’ which saw over 250 new referees trained.
Referee Month will provide aspiring referees with the knowledge and skills needed to be able to referee grassroots football matches safely and effectively.

To sign up for a course click on www.becomearef.ie

Please see our full list of free courses below:

Location Dates Time
Maynooth Referee Beginners Course 04/07 & 05/07 7pm-10pm
Clare Referee Beginners Course 06-Jul 10am - 4pm
Monaghan Referee Beginners Course 06-Jul 10am - 4pm
Galway Referee Beginners Course 06-Jul 10am - 4pm
Cork Referee Beginners Course 07-Jul 10am - 4pm
Wexford Referee Beginners Course 13-Jul 10am - 4pm
West Cork Referee Beginners Course 13-Jul 10am - 4pm
Charleville Referee Beginners Course 13-Jul 10am - 4pm
Mayo Referee Beginners Course 14-Jul 10am - 4pm
South Dublin Referee Beginners Course 17-Jul 4pm - 10pm
Dublin Referee Beginners Course 20-Jul 10am - 4pm
Waterford Referee Beginners Course 20-Jul 10am - 4pm
Cork Referee Beginners Course 20-Jul 10am - 4pm
Kerry Referee Beginners Course 20-Jul 10am - 4pm
Laois Referee Beginners Course 20-Jul 10am - 4pm
Navan Referee Beginners Course 20-Jul 10am - 4pm
Sligo Referee Beginners Course 20-Jul 10am - 4pm
Mullingar Referee Beginners Course 23/07 & 24/07 7pm-10pm
Wicklow Referee Beginners Course 26-Jul 10am – 4pm
Dublin Referee Beginners Course 27-Jul 10am - 4pm
Tipperary Referee Beginners Course 27-Jul 10am - 4pm
Donegal Referee Beginners Course 27-Jul 10am - 4pm

To sign up for any of the above courses click on becomearef.ie or search through the Comet app.

A great evening was had at the Athy Town Afc Juvenile awards, held in the Clanard Court Hotel. Athy Town has 8 teams competing in the Kildare District Underage League. In this section alone Athy Town provides soccer for over 100 kids both boys and girls, overlooked by 20 hard working coaches.

We started the evening off by presenting the U14's girls with their awards the winners were as follows:
Awards presented by their coaches Sean Power , Joe Tynan and Lisa Lambe.
Players Player of the Year
Lia Nolan
Top Goalscorer
Lia Nolan
Congratulations to Lia Nolan for taking the Top Goal Scorer of the year award scoring a massive 39 goals in total and still counting.

Player of the Year
Sianainn O Rourke

Their commitment, dedication, progression and their love for soccer has been seen throughout the year.
Well done to both girls from their team mates and coaches.

We then moved onto the U15’s boys who had a great season finishing 3rd in the Major Division losing one game all year in the league and winning the Shield to top off a great year.
Winners on the night were as follows:

Players Player of the Year
Prodi Nzau
After a successful season and topping it off by captaining the Kennedy Cup team in Limerick ,this award was totally deserved one to look out for in the future.

Top Goalscorer
James Walsh
22 Goals and 9 assists, James finished top Goalscorer in the league. Playing midfield most of the Year this is an amazing return.

Player of the Year
James Walsh
James played two positions this year between leading the line up top and centre midfield he just got on and gave 100% every game. From scoring goals to blocking shots the other end James is a total team player and totally deserved the award

We finished the evening with the U16’s boys who had a really successful season winning the U16’s Premier League.

Winners on the night were as follows:

Player of the Year – Hugh Kennedy
Hugh won this award based on his consistent performances, commitment and attitude. Throughout the season he rarely missed training or matches always gave 100% and always willing to do a job for the team whenever asked.

Player’s Player – Max Conway
Team captain Max lead by example on and off the pitch, rarely missing training or matches and always putting in a huge effort. Regularly among the goals and assists particularly in the run in where he really stood up when needed to help win the league.

Most Improved – Patryk Szluc
Patryks performances in goals played a big part in the league win as the team finished the season with the best defense in the league. Always a good goalkeeper but the level of consistency shown this year and improvements in his all round game make him a deserved winner of this award.

Top Scorer – Oluwadara Allen -Taylor
Top scorer for the 2nd year running with 18 goals, Dara leads the line for the team giving opposition defenses nightmares with his strength, pace and skill. Along with goals Dara has numerous assists and has won plenty of free’s and penalties throughout the season.

Goal of the Season – Ryan O’Shaughnessy
Picking one goal from 66 scored in competitive games is no easy task but Ryan’s strike against Kinnegad in a home game in the SFAI cup did stick out in everyone’s memories. Winning the ball back outside the box Ryan turned and shot to send the ball curling into the top corner. A great strike which was his 2nd of the game as Athy progressed to the next round.

Our LSL Premier 1 Sunday side are back training at 19:30 on 2nd July ⚽️

After a great game away to Allenwood Celtic on a beautiful summers evening, some of our U8's RED team randomly met up for a healthy post match meal in McDonalds!! 🔴⚪️⚽️

As the Kennedy Cup team head to Limerick for next week’s tournament we would like to wish everyone the very best of luck , we want to especially congratulate our own player Prodi Nzau and wish him all the best as he represents the club at this year’s competition .

Good luck to all our members sitting exams tomorrow .

Over the last five years when we needed advice and support at Council level these four councillors have provided both , we would like to wish them the best of luck in the upcoming local elections , special mention also to Senator Mark Wall , TD Sean O Fearghail & TD Martin Heydon for their continued support of underage soccer in Athy.

The very best of luck to Cate Byrne and Lia Nolan who are off to represent the KDUL in the Gaynor cup in Limerick tomorrow , your Club is very proud of your achievements and we are all behind you.

Well done and congratulations to Heidi Kate Clancy who did herself , her family , her teammates and her Club very proud last night as a mascot for our Senior ladies international game at the Aviva stadium .

Gaynor and Kennedy Cup Squads 2024

Gaynor Cup (Girls Tournament) Dates: June 3rd to June 7th
Kennedy Cup (Boys Tournament) Dates: June 10th to June 14th

The Kildare and District Underage League (KDUL) representatives’ teams are in final stages of the preparation for the Gaynor and Kennedy Cup Tournaments.

The KDUL’s Representative girls’ and boys’ players from various clubs around the county will take centre stage over the next couple of weeks at the University of Limerick at the annual Gaynor & Kennedy Cup tournaments.

The Gaynor & Kennedy Cup comprises of each of the 32 affiliated leagues entering a squad of twenty under-14-year-old (2010’s) players to compete over an entire week with additional competitions for those teams which do not progress to the latter stages of the Gaynor & Kennedy Cup themselves.

The tournament will be played in nine adjoining pitches and will see young players from every county getting their chance to show their prowess at the beautiful game. It is a huge event, with underage clubs from around the country, represented in the tournament.

The Representative teams provide players from within the KDUL with the opportunity to represent their county’s in this prestigious celebration of underage football, whilst still maintaining their relationships with their underage clubs.

The Gaynor girls have been involved in the Gaynor cup for several seasons, whilst the Boys are re-entering the Kennedy Cup for the first time since 2018.

Best of luck to both Girls and Boys Teams.


Arlington AFC Soccer Club Allenwood Celtic AFC Allenwood CelticAthy Town AFC BBC United Castle Villa AFC Coill Dubh Afc Clongorey FC Clane United Football Club Derry Rovers Kilcock Celtic Football Club Kilcullen AFCKill Celtic Football ClubKildare Town AFC Monasterevin A.F.C Moone Celtic FC Naas AFC Soccer Club Newbridge United FC Girls Prosperous United AFC Rathangan F.C Sallins Celtic Straffan AFC Suncroft AFC

Congratulations and well done to our U9 Red team player Heidi Kate Clancy , who has been chosen as mascot for the upcoming ladies senior international game against Sweden , the game is on the 31st of May in the Aviva stadium , well done Heidi Kate we are all so proud of you.

The club would like to say a huge thank you to Iron Mountain for sponsoring a set of underage jerseys.

Again, the support received from local businesses is hugely appreciated.

Pictured is Liam Chambers from our u8s presenting a jersey to Phil from Iron Mountain with a jersey of their own ⚽️🔴⚪️

One of our coaches is going to do a sky dive , if you can help out in anyway it would be greatly appreciate.

Hi Folks,
Hope you are all keeping well. I signed up for a skydive in August. It is for an amazing cause, Skydive for Life is a youth su***de prevention program.
"Ireland still has one of the highest reported rates of death by su***de in the European Union with young males under 21 being most at risk but children as young as 9 years old have died by su***de too"
I hope to raise money for this support program through sponsorship. If you would like to sponsor me for this jump please message me. Sponsorship can be as much as you can give all donations will be much appreciated.Thank you for taking the time to read this post.

Athy Town U16 took on Naas this morning in Aldridge Park knowing that a win would secure them the Premier League title.
A solid start form Athy saw a couple of early chances go begging but they broke the deadlock midway through the 1st half with a cracking long range effort from captain Max Conway putting Athy one up. It stayed at 1-0 at half time. Naas started the 2nd half on the front foot with Athy looking a bit nervey and they got the equaliser 10 minutes in with a good run and goal by ex Athy player Richard Timbo.
Athy responded well and were on the front foot for the rest of the game as they pushed for a badly needed goal. And it came, when Max Conway again popped up to go past two Naas defenders and coolly finish past the Naas goalkeeper.
Athy kept the pressure on and were rewarded with a 3rd when a super long range effort from Zac Sullivan was saved by the keeper but feel to the alert Dara Allen Taylor to slot home. The third goal seemed to relieve the pressure and Athy played with a bit more freedom and added a 4th when a superb through ball from Turlough Donnelly was met by Conor Byrne who finished well.
And so the U16’s put the disappointment of the cup final loss behind them to secure the Premie League title and finish what had been a super season on a high. Well done to all involved.

Athy Town U16 Premier Squad 2023/24

Coaches
Neal O’Shaughnessy
Eric Conway
Shane Sullivan

Players
1. Patrick Szulc GK
2. Hugh Kennedy
3. Ben Dalton
4. Darragh Byrne
5. Jay Delaney
6. Jay Leigh
7. Ewan Woodhouse
8. Max Conway
9. Oluwadara Allen-Taylor
10. Turlough Donnelly
11. Kieran Chanders
12. Ryan O’Shaughnessy
13. Kuba Mazur
14. Shane Lawlor
15. Dinh Kaye
16. Conor Byrne
17. Zach Sullivan
18. Muhammad Izenon GK

It’s that time again , Euro prediction cards , to support this fundraiser just contact a committee member to get one

We would like to thank Brian Dooley , Chairman of Athy GFC for the kind donation of pitch side seating also Mark Dunne of Optimum Civils for the use of his truck to transport them , thanks Gents.

The under 11s had a great win today at home against Naas. The first half playing with a breeze Athy girls played high seeing them putting pressure on their opponents,using the wind with some great passing moments. Goals from Ava, Alice and Demi Rose seen them finishing the half with six goals. Athy took the field for the second half facing into a strong wind, put played again with confidence using short passing, strong tackling and some brilliant team play. Athy attacked and defended as a team which was good to see. Every girl supporting each other. Naas came out and played a lot stronger in the second half supported with the wind and were unlucky a few time with attempts on goal. But Athys girls delth with all that Naas had to offer, and replied with more great well worked goals. Best wishes to Alice who had to leave the pitch before time after a knock, but left the pitch with six goals.

The FAI Club Mark is three tiered accreditation award based on best practice in the governance, management and administration of a football club.
Last year we applied for the Fai Club mark and we are delighted to have achieved this award , like all major projects within a club we couldn’t have achieved this without the cooperation , help and support of all our managers , coaches , parents and players so thanks and well done all . Special mention has to go to our Child Welfare officer Brendan Curtis who did the lion’s share of work on this project.
Once again thanks to everyone who helped get this over the line.

Exciting weekend for four of our Athy Town Girls.
Cate Byrne (Gaynor Cup Squad), Ava Barrett, Alesha Redmond and Lia Nolan (U13 KDUL interleague development squad) travelled to Glasgow Saturday morning with their team mates.
The girls started their visit with a stop in Celtic Park where they soaked up the atmosphere of Celtics 3-0 win over Hearts. Sunday saw the girls travel to Overlee Playing Fields where they took on Scottish side Busby FC in three exciting matches, claiming the win in all three games.
Monday the girls were treated to two training sessions at Barrowfield Training centre and even had time to take in the Women's Old Firm Derby at Broadwood which ended with getting a picture with Irish International Caitlin Hayes.
What a fabulous opportunity for these girls. Who knows maybe they will don the Irish Jersey in years to come.