the mellers
a history
Saint Maelruans Football Club
a new location
a new name
When the club was first established in 1968, they went under the moniker Tallaght Town and played on the pitches in Virginia Farm – now the site of The Square Shopping Centre.
Founded by Brendan Whealan, John McGrath and Derek Harper, they then decided to swap their title to St Maelrun’s FC four years later and their home ground in Virginia Farm for Watergate in the 1980’s after construction began on The Square. The 1990’s were perhaps the clubs most lucrative period when they in total won over 30 titles across all age groups. They also competed well in the DDSL, AUL and other South Dublin leagues throughout their five-decade long history.
Bancroft Park became the current home of the Mellers in 2003, and they moved into their clubhouse there a couple years later after the construction of West Park concluded. They boast a fully functional clubhouse that includes changing rooms for officials, and home and away teams at the back of West Park fitness club with ample parking for all involved, and the oldest schoolboy team in Tallaght. There are currently seven active teams, with the maroon and sky-blue men going through a transitioning period and are hoping to recruit more volunteers to help re-establish a number of teams in the near future. “Today it’s very difficult to keep things going because kids are interested in loads of other things, but what an achievement to reach 50 years of football.”