Gorey Celtic was formed in 1991. At a meeting between ambitous local footballers in the old Railway Hotel, it was decided to form a new football Club. The new club successfully applied for membership of the Wicklow and District Football League. September of 1991 was Gorey Celtics debut season, plying their trade in Division 1 of the Wicklow League.
The Clubs biggest problem in the early years, was that of not having a home they could call their own. Various landowners kindly rent fields for a year at a time, which meant that every season we had a different home pitch, Some might even say that the club struggled for an identity !
Our luck with regards a home all changed in 1997, with the purchase of a 2 acre site known locally as the ” badminton”field. The site was situated off Esmonde street, in urgent need of development before it could be considered a soccer pitch, but, at last a Home for the Club.
The purchase of the Esmonde Street site was the turning point for the club. Whilst the two adult teams had a home, it was decided to start a schoolboy section, so that we could start to produce our own talented players. Starting with an under 10s team at the experimental period, the Schoolboys section has mushroomed with over 20 teams offering league football from the under 8’s to the under 18’s team.
As a result of the ” Celtic Tiger ” our Esmonde Street home became “hot property”. A deal was struck in 2006 with local developers which would result in the relocation of Gorey Celtic to a state of the art facility at Mullaunfin, Creagh. Gorey. The new site allowed the club to grow further and boasts 2 full size pitches, floodlit astroturf, large clubhouse and a large carpark to cater for our growing popularity. This move should certainly pay dividends and the Gorey Celtic players can now be proud to be playing at the best home grounds in the South East.
