For the first twenty five years of the club’s existence, the club had no permanent home.

In 1978, the club leased the ground on which we now play from the Junior League. When the ground was taken over, it was nothing more than a dumping ground. The committee at that time, had to clear the area, plant the pitch and ensure proper drainage. Practically all of this work was completed by dedicated club members, whose contribution at that time should never be under-estimated.

By 1980, those same members, had constructed the original dressing-rooms.

In 1984 the grounds were named “Connors Park” in memory of the late Eugene Connors, who served the club as player, coach and secretary prior to his tragic death in 1983.

In the mid-nineties, times were changing fast, with players demanding better facilities for training and with the original dressing rooms starting to look their age. It was time again to develop.

In 1996, the club embarked on an ambitious development plan, which was given the title “VILLA 2000”. This plan aimed to fill a large area of land around the playing pitch, lay an all-weather training area, lay a grass training area behind the pitch, erect security fencing around the entire perimeter of the grounds and finally, build a new dressing room complex. Work commenced in the summer of 1996 with the filling of the land around the pitch. 9,000 sq metres of land was filled over a nine week period. This was followed in 1997 by the laying of the all-weather training area and the grass training area.

1999 saw the erection of the Security fencing. In 2001, following a detailed review of similar facilities and a successful application for Lottery Funding, work commenced on the dressing-room complex. The clubhouse contains four dressing-rooms, referees room with full shower facilities and a multi-purpose room which is available as a recreation area for players.

The clubhouse was officially opened by Mayor Oliver Clery on 17th May, 2003 as the club celebrated its 50th anniversary year. The clubhouse was named after Frank O’Byrne in honour of his lifelong service to the club.

The project cost €435,000 to complete but the results have transformed the club from the starting position in 1996. We were successful in securing grants of €213,000 through the Sports Capital Fund (Lottery Funding) but the people who have supported us most are our club members who have supported the Villa 2000 fund in large numbers from the first launch of the plan. It is with great satisfaction that we saw the original plan through from start to finish in just over 6 years – a tremendous achievement for the club.

The “VILLA VISION” project was launched in late 2004 with a view to further developing the clubs facilities. There has been a substantial take up of this scheme amongst our players, parents and supporters and this has facilitated the development of our floodlit astro-turf pitch. The second phase of this project will see the construction of an extension to our clubhouse that will contain a gymnasium, the development of a further floodlit Astroturf training area and the erection of floodlights for our main pitch. It is hoped that these developments will take place during 2007 & 2008.

Our vision is to provide the best facilities possible for all our members and we thank you for your continued support in helping us fulfill that vision. For details on supporting this initiative please contact any club member