Belgard Athletic makes a swift return to action

BELGARD Athletic are back in operation and looking forward to returning to competition in the Leinster Senior League after a year out.

The club, which had enjoyed no shortage of success from 2014 right up to 2017, lost a number of players and opted to withdraw from competition.

A new crop of players has come through to help see Belgard Athletic make a welcome return to the Leinster Senior League ahead of the new season.

But, the growing interest from a number of young players combined with  the return of some of the more experienced campaigners, has revived the club which is poised to compete in the LSL’s Premier One Saturday this year..

“It was just unfortunate that many of our players were hitting their mid-thirties at the same time and we lost a number of them” recalled Belgard Athletic manager Graham Costigan.

“It made it very hard to try and keep the team going so we decided to take a year out rather than start the season and not be able to finish it.

“But Kenneth Bruce and Luke Richardson approached me looking to set up a new team with a number of players in their mid 20s who were interested in playing.

“The interest was huge and we had 21 and then 25 players down at our last couple of training sessions” he said.

Costigan had helped oversee a golden period for Belgard in recent years, leading them to the Leinster Junior Shield following a victory over Ballyoulster in the final back in 2014.

They won the LSL Division Two title that same year and then followed that up with the Division One crown the next season.

What’s more the team also lifted the Liam Dodd Cup back in 2017 after having previously also made the final of the Wally Wynn, Frank Roe and Unidare Cups.

The team welcomes new players and anyone interested can attend their training sessions in Newlands Cemetery on Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 7.15pm.