Carrigaline United AFC is a community based club which caters for 28 teams in organised leagues and over 300 children under the age of 10 in its Saturday & Sunday morning Soccer Academy.  All of this work is being done by volunteers with help from the local authority.  The club was originally established 1972 and has developed ever since in line with the increase in population of the town from 2,000 in 1970 to over 15,000 in 2009 with a strong catchment area. The club currently has in excess of 600 footballers and is represented at all age levels.  Carrigaline United has teams competing in the Munster Senior League, Cork AUL and the Cork Schoolboys & Schoolgirls Leagues.  The club has had many successes on the football pitch over the years with many more sure to follow.

Beginnings
The club played its first matches at Church Road in the early days as a pitch was not available in the village of Carrigaline.  Then in October 1972 the pitches at ‘The Rock’, which in those days was quite an isolated location, were rented from a local landowner.  The land on which the pitches were located has since been developed to housing (Bridgemount - Chestnut Grove / Larchfield / The Oaks).  Into the 1980’s the club really began to establish itself winning several trophies.  The schoolboys section also rapidly expanded during this period and it became more evident that the rented pitches at ‘The Rock’ were inadequate to service the needs of the club.  The committee decided to purchase property at Ballea Road in 1982 with a view to developing 2 pitches.  Work began in the Autumn of 1983 and after shifting thousands of tons of earth and a major levelling operation, the result was two magnificent pitches and an access road leading to the proposed clubhouse site.  The pitch development was officially opened in June 1985 by then Republic of Ireland international Kieran O’Reagan.

The Ballea Era
The 1986/7 season was a milestone in the history of Carrigaline Utd as the club entered the Munster Senior League and in its first season won the prestigious Beamish Cup.  In 1992/3 more major honours arrived at CUAFC when the Munster Senior League Senior 1st Division was clinched in a play-off at Turners Cross against Glasheen.

The club continued to grow from strength to strength throughout the 1990’s as the town itself began to expand.  The club has always produced excellent underage and youth teams.  Perhaps the strongest ever Carrigaline Utd team of any age was the 1992/3 Youth team that won the MSL Youth league and cup double.  The 1996/7 Youth team also reached the coveted Munster Cup Final only to lose out to a very strong Wilton side.  Many players on both sides went on to represent the club’s Senior side with distinction.

At the turn of century, the need for redevelopment of the club become more evident as demand for improved facilities increased in tandem with a rising standard of football in Carrigaline.  Thus the club undertook to develop a new clubhouse and bar at Ballea Park and work began in 2002.  In 2004 the impressive new facility was officially opened by the FAI’s John Delaney.  This was the beginning of a new era for the club. 

At the same time the Senior team achieved promotion to the Munster Senior League Premier Division to set up an exciting few years.  In the 5 years since, the Seniors have enjoyed a number of memorable Intermediate Cup runs, most notably reaching the semi-final of the prestigious competition in 2005/6.  The team also reached the 3rd Round of the FAI Cup on two occasions, meeting Sligo Rovers in 2006 and Waterford United in 2009.

In 2010 the Under-17 team became the first CUAFC team in history to reach a major national cup final, contesting the final of FAI Challenge Cup against Belvedere of Dublin at Turner’s Cross (history in the making yet…May 16th!).

Development of All-Weather Pitch
In 2007 work commenced on the redevelopment of the Ballea Park entrance / car-park area and new all-weather FIFA approved surface with floodlights in place of the old ‘bottom pitch’ at Ballea Park.  The pitch was opened in the Summer of 2009.  It is a top-class facility on which a number of significant events have already taken place, including the national youth pre-season ‘Melbourne Cup’ tournament, national Inter-League matches, an FAI Academy school and has also been used for pre-season training in early spring months by Cork City Foras Co-op.  The new and enlarged grass pitch on the site of the old ‘top-pitch’ is due for completion in the summer of 2010.  All in all we are very proud of the facilites at Ballea Park and we enter a new decade looking forward to more fun and success.

Internationals
To date 8 players have represented Republic of Ireland at various underage levels while affiliated with Carrigaline Utd AFC: Brian O’Neill in the late 1980’s; Gareth Cronin in the early 1990’s; Wayne Bruton and Dean Kelly in 2008; Kalen Spillane, Simon Holland, Carl McPherson and Shane Griffin in 2009.  Long may this recognition continue!