Rathangan Football Club in Co Kildare, is delighted to announce that it will be teaming up with Glasgow’s finest, Celtic Football Club as the Irish club celebrates its 30th birthday this month. Celtic staff, including former first-team star and Irish internationalist, Darren O’Dea and Jose Romero, Celtic’s International Soccer Academy Manager will visit Rathangan on September 21 2024 and will deliver a fantastic coaching experience to kids and coaches alike. Rathangan FC is located in County Kildare Ireland. The club currently has 26 teams from Junior Academy (ages 4 to 7) and pathways all the way up to over 35s. As of 2024, the club has over 450 members with over 30% female participation. Rathangan’s teams play in the Kildare District Football League and the Kildare and District Underage League. The club has been providing football in Rathangan since the early 1990s. The club redeveloped their playing pitches in 2015, and these are widely regarded as ‘exceptional playing surfaces’ from all clubs who play on them. In 2018 the club’s progress and commitment to the community was recognised by the Kildare & District Football League, when it received a Special Merit award. In 2021 the club received the FAI Club Mark award. The FAI Club Mark is “an award based on best practice in the governance, management and administration of a football club.” While Rathangan’s club membership has trebled in participation attendances over the last 10 years, Rathangan FC has big ambitions for the future. Their new 2024 strategy outlines their vision to be a ‘flagship community club for Irish grassroots football’. They are focused on further developing their female participation to reach 50% participation in the years to come, and also want to further upgrade their facilities to deliver an all-weather synthetic pitch for their club and community. The delivery of this pitch would see a 47% increase of playing time during October to March each season. Chairperson Oisin Mac Tigue of Rathangan FC said: “We are hugely thankful to Celtic FC for supporting our grassroots community club. This event is huge for our club and community and we are so excited to host Darren O’Dea and Jose Romero on September 21. “All spectators are welcome to attend our home pitches from 1:15pm to 3:30pm.” Darren O’Dea, who has 20 caps for the Republic of Ireland and is now Celtic’s Professional Player Pathway Manager said: “Grassroots football is so important to the game’s wider development and anything we can do to support in this area, then we are delighted to provide as much assistance as we can. “I know that Rathangan has been delivering some excellent work in its local community and we are delighted to offer our support. “We are really looking forward to our visit. Football is about relationships and connections and it is brilliant to connect with Rathangan in this way as we celebrate 30 years of success. “Celtic’s Irish history and heritage means so much to the club and our supporters and it is great for us to connect with a club in Ireland which is delivering such important work to young people in its local community.”
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