UCFL

Founded in 1948, the UCFL is one of a number of amateur soccer leagues operating in the Dublin area. It is one of the main leagues in the city for Saturday soccer, on which it concentrates exclusively. Fixtures are also sometimes set for midweek evenings (Mondays and Wednesdays) at the start of the season in August and as the end of the season approaches in April and May. It is usually necessary to do this due to the postponements which inevitably occur due to bad weather during the winter months.

The membership of the UCFL currently (season 2019/20) consists of 60 teams from 46 separate clubs, split into 6 separate divisions. Some of these clubs also run teams participating in one or more of the other leagues in Dublin.

In addition to the divisional leagues referred to above, the UCFL also runs 4 knockout Cup competitions together with 6 Shield competitions,1 for each of the 6 divisions. Further details on all these competitions can be found elsewhere on this site.

The United Churches Football League was founded in 1949, but its origins can be traced back over two decades earlier to the early 1920s when an organisation was formed by past members of the Boys Brigade which was known as the Old Boys Union (O.B.U.). One of the Union's strongest branches was its football section which was affiliated to the F.A.I. and the Leinster F.A.

It was regarded by football legislators of those days as being of a high standard – 8th O.B.U. (St. Pauls) reached the semi-finals of the Leinster Junior Cup on two occasions, and in 1933 the 7th O.B.U. (North Strand) won the Leinster Junior Shield.

To be a member of a team in the O.B.U. League one had to be a past member of the Boys Brigade and as the years went on this created many difficulties. In 1938 there were only eight teams in the O.B.U. league and the following year with the start of World War II, numbers went further down. A change was made in the rules to enable teams from parishes which had no Boys Brigade to take part. Unfortunately, the change came about too late and despite great efforts by the committee in control it ceased to exist in 1943.

Clubs wishing to enter a team in the UCFL should fill out an application form (see Forms section, or, alternatively, an online submission form under Application Form section on this website) and post it to the league secretary as directed on the form. This should be done prior to June 7 of the year in which membership is sought.

The next step in the process involves representatives of the club meeting the UCFL Executive Committee for interview to ensure that the club understands all the requirements for membership and that it has the capacity to fulfill those requirements.

Among the requirements are the following:

United Churches Football League of Ireland

League Office

Football Association of Ireland

Irish Sports Campus,

Snugborough Rd,

Blanchardstown,

Dublin 15

Contacting us:

Members of UCFL clubs who have a query in relation to the League should contact their own club secretaries in the first instance. If the club secretary is unable to resolve the query, the matter can then be directed to the relevant League committee member via the club secretary or other recognised club contact.

Queries should be directed to individual committee members as follows (email addresses for UCFL committee members take the form firstname.lastname@ucfl.ie):

Each team wishing to compete in the UCFL, whether new or continuing, must apply by either filling in and submitting the form below, or, alternatively, by downloading and filling in the form available under the Forms/Procedures Forms sub-section:

- Entries should be submitted on or before the closing date of June 8, 2019.

- Entries will only be accepted if this form is completed in full; the entry deposit of €100 per club should also be sent simultaneously by one of the following options:

(1) by cheque (payable to “United Churches Football League”), please post to: Paraic Treanor, Hon Gen Secretary, UCFL, 9 Weston Crescent, Lucan, Co. Dublin OR

(2) by an automated payment direct to the League's bank account. Relevant details are: Sorting Code: 93-32-95 Account Number: 14053082; (IBAN: IE58 AIBK 9332 9514 0530 82 (BIC: AIBKIE2D))

PLEASE ENSURE YOU DETAIL YOUR CLUB NAME IN THE NARRATIVE BOX