Page 44 - COBH WANDERERS V SLIGO ROVERS FAI CUP 3RD ROUND 2015

25 year Overview of Club History 1981 / 2006 ........continued

However the club was about to make probably the most significant move in its history in
1995 with the purchase of five acres of land in the Ticknock area with a view to developing a
high quality playing pitch and dressing room facilities. This was a very big undertaking for the
club but thanks to the local community which supported our various fundraising efforts over
the years and the tremendous work done by all our members from the start it was felt the
time was right to take the plunge and purchase our own pitch.
The next problem was to raise the finance to develop the land. This development was eventu-
ally begun in May 1997 by a combination of club funds, bank loans and also money secured
from the National Lottery. Former player Donal Collins was the mainstay behind the develop-
ment work along with our main contractor. He put in time and effort beyond the call of duty
and the magnificent pitch we have today is due in no small part to both his efforts and the
work of our own club members.

Back on the playing side the club made another significant move with the appointment of
George Mellerick as Senior Team Manager in 1996. It was hoped that a person with his great
experience at League of Ireland level could help the club step up to another level and that
certainly proved to be a correct decision. He attracted quality players to the club, especially
young local players, and also ensured a professional attitude was adopted in all aspects of the
clubs work.
In 1996/1997 the senior side had a great run in the Munster Senior Cup reaching the final for
the first time in the clubs history and suffered a 0-2 defeat to League of Ireland side Cork City
at Turners Cross. The following season the FAI Senior Cup was reached for only the second
time but Galway Utd proved to be too strong and ran out 2-0 winners. After a couple of near
misses the 1st Division Championship was won in 1998/1999.
1999/2000 proved to be a very unlucky year as both the Beamish Cup and the O’Connell Cup
were lost at the final stage. However finishing runners up to a very good Rockmount in our
first season back in the Premier Division was a great testimony to the skill and hard work of
the players and manager alike. This feat was repeated in 2000/2001 when a draw on the final
day against College Corinthians instead of the necessary win again deprived us of the title
An unwanted but nonetheless worthy hat trick was achieved in 2001/2002 when we again
finished runners up to a very good Rockmount side.

The 2003/2004 season proved less successful and the seniors could only finish 8th after their
previous brilliant seasons. A good run in the Munster Senior Cup was ended by local rivals
Cobh Ramblers. The Junior side having been overshadowed by the seniors for so long had a
magnificent season in 2000/2001 winning the 1st Division Championship under manager Ja-
mie Cullimore. A feature of the successful season was the breaking of the club goal scoring
record by Jason Cronin with 30 goals, a record previously held by Joe Stack and Mick Lynch
on 28 goals. The following season a very creditable 3rd position was achieved at the higher
Premiership level.

At the start of the 2003/2004 season the club was thrown in to turmoil when the Senior team
had to withdraw from the MSL .Manager George Mellerick decided to take a break from the
game and a number of players decided to try their luck elsewhere making it impossible to
field anything like a strong enough side for the premier division. This was a very sad day for
the club after all the hard work over the years to achieve Senior status and then to do so well
at that level. This was not that uncommon a problem with other clubs also at that time as it
was proving harder and harder to attract players against the easy option of Night owl football
and saturation TV coverage of football from all over the world. The Junior team managed to
carry on valiantly under manager Mossy Mahony. The highlight of the season was reaching
the semi final of the League Cup before losing to Ringmahon Rangers
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