Back in August, Laois gained a new soccer club as Grange United was resurrected from the dead.
Grange United are back!
33 years after the club was disbanded, Laois’s western-most soccer club have been resurrected.
The club will represent the area encompassing Borris-in-Ossory, Kicotton and Killadooley – a traditional hurling stronghold.
The germ of the idea came from three life-long friends, Mark Ryan, Tom Fitzpatrick and Jason McCormack.
Mark will be managinging the senior team while Tom is club secretary. Jason is the only one of the three pioneers who will be togging out for Grange.
“We never really had a soccer team in the Borris area during our time,” Tom said.
“We all played soccer together over the years with teams in the area like Portlaoise Shamrocks, Portlaoise Celtic, St Aengus, and Shinrone.
“Mark and I are retired (from playing) now, so we have a bit of time on our hands and we’re still interested in being involved in soccer.
“We saw a lot of lads in the area who, like ourselves, were going further afield to play and so, we thought there was definitely a market for (a new club).”
Grange United was originally formed in the 1960s but did not last.
The club was reformed in 1985, but lasted only five years until being disbanded once again in 1990.
It appears to be a cyclical phenomenon in the area, that every other generation or so, a group of young men come along with a great passion for soccer.
It will be critical to the long-term survival of the club that they establish a grass-roots, development system to bring through the youth of the area.
For now, however, the club will initially be fielding a sole senior team.
“We’ve gathered up a good set of players that have played elsewhere and they’re delighted now that there’s a team in their local area,” Tom said.
“It means a lot to be able to play alongside lads you’ve grown up with, especially when most of us never really had that chance before.”
Grange United have elected to enter the North Tipperary and District league, choosing a much more favourable location over the prospect of Laois derbys.
The first pre-season game was played against Shinrone United mid-week, with the season set to kick-off in the coming weeks.
The club will be based at Killasmeetia Community Centre, located beside Killadooley National School.
“It was a struggle for us to try to source a pitch; we were looking to maybe lease something off a local farmer and work on it. But we’ve been blessed that Killasmeetia offered us the use of the community pitch,” Tom said.
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