Raphoe Community Sports Development

Raphoe Community Sports Development, based in Donegal, was established in 2013 with its sights firmly set on building a new football pitch in the area for all the community to enjoy. Prior to this, children and adults playing football for Raphoe never had a home ground to play on. Over the years, the club had to use a football pitch at one of the local secondary schools… when it was available. Players sometimes had to complete a full season playing all their games away from Raphoe.

It’s amazing that such a busy club, in terms of the number of teams they field in the Donegal Schoolboys League, the Donegal Women’s League as well as the Senior team and underage sides, survived for so many years without any playing field of their own. The Raphoe Community Sports Development Committee decided enough was enough and with funds raised by National Lottery players, they started work on creating a top-class football pitch in Raphoe. This would be a game-changer for the whole community, to finally have a home.

The club has flourished. From a small base of 9 teams, it now has 16 teams for both male and female players and over 160 active members. Their ethos is to embrace cross-community principles of allowing everyone to play the sport, and their determination and effort to provide a permanent home for those members makes them worthy champions of this year’s Good Causes Sport & Recreation Award