Presidents Message

Dear Members, friends and guests of Monkstown Football Club

I am extremely honoured to have been elected as President of Monkstown Football Club for the season 2026-2027. I am delighted to welcome you all to Sydney Parade for what we all hope will be a successful season both on and off the pitch for our players at senior AIL, junior and mini and youth levels as well as all of our non-playing members and supporters.

This season sees the club at senior level playing in a newly established 2B South league AIL structure which includes three new clubs for us since we rejoined the AIL two seasons ago-Old Crescent, Buccaneers and Enniscorthy. I look forward to visiting several clubs across the country, some of which I would have regularly visited on a Saturday afternoon with my whistle during my refereeing days. The AIL is indeed a fantastic competition, and we in Monkstown are delighted to be back competing at this level after a long period of absence.

I would like to thank David “Manners” Mahon, our Club President last season. Manners has given incredible service to the club over the past 15 seasons, serving as head coach for ten seasons, Director of Rugby for four seasons and then last year as President. He will again take up the role of Director of Rugby this season, and we wish him well.

I would like to wish our coaching team of Danny Riordan and Babs Dowling all the very best for the season, again very ably led by head coach Paddy Thornton. I would like to wish our club Captain Rob Wynne all the very best for the season ahead and thank Tristan Brady for his immense contribution to the club throughout the last five years, especially as we battled to regain our AIL status. He was front and central in those successful efforts.

I would like to welcome several new players to the blue and gold of Monkstown and look forward to getting to know you all over the course of the season. You are very welcome to the club, and we hope you enjoy yourselves both on and off the pitch.

May I wish James Ferris and all his cohort of coaches and parents another successful year with our Minis and youth section. We now have over 200 young players across all age groups up to under 15s. The vast majority of these young players are from the surrounding Sandymount area, and we look to continue to be a positive contributor to the local community in offering well-organised mini and youth rugby.

I would like to thank our sponsors for their very valued contributions to the club over the last few years: CRM Interior fit-outs, JAK Engineers, Daisy Chain, J and M Wines and Merces. Playing in the AIL involves a large degree of expenditure and your monetary contributions go a long way to defray this expenditure. Many thanks indeed.

To the executive committee, many thanks for your very significant contribution to the club. I see at first hand their dedication and commitment to the club. The club would simply not be able to operate as it does without you.

To Pembroke Cricket Club, I look forward to continuing and developing our working relationships. As many of you have seen, we have together undertaken significant works on the pitches and surrounding areas which, when complete, will significantly enhance the overall look and feel of our great grounds. We have had a very close working relationship with PCC on these developments and look forward to further reviewing and developing our facilities to our mutual benefit.

Finally, I am very conscious that I have large shoes to fill as President of this great club following on from Manners and previous Presidents. I will endeavour to ensure that we continue to thrive both on and off the pitch.



Donal Courtney

President

Monkstown FC 2026-2027