Wanderers F.C. Founded in 1870
16th May 2016
Dear Members
As we draw to the end of the 2015/16 season I want to send you a final update newsletter to reflect on our achievements and thank you for your support.
From a Social and Commercial point of view we had a number of very successful fund raising events and I would personally like to thank all of the members who were involved in all of our events, especially: Strictly Wanderers, Corporate Golf Day, IRFU Club Draw, Annual Programme and our Corporate Lunch.
We also had a Christmas lunch, a New Years Eve party, and a very successful pre match lunch in Merrion road with Frankie Sheahan as guest speaker before the Ireland v Scotland match.
As always, our Club Dinner in February was a great success. I was especially pleased with our pre match lunches this year which were very well supported by the members. Next season there are five Dublin clubs in AIL 2B so I expect the pre match lunches will be a sell out.
I want to give special thanks to the members of the executive committee for their outstanding service and commitment over the year, particularly Simon our Hon Secretary and John our Hon Treasurer who have both given a great amount of their time to the club this season.
We secured Sports Capital Grant funding of €59K for match grade floodlights for Merrion Road. We hope to have the lights in place for next season.
On the playing front it was a mixed year. It was a personal disappointment to me that we didn’t manage to field an U20’s team, but we did achieve our main goal of gaining promotion to AIL 2B. Sincere congratulations to Eoghan and the 1stXV squad, and all of the management and coaching staff who have contributed greatly to our success this season.
Our ladies had an outstanding year, winning their league section and were very unlucky to lose the league final to Navan by a late score on the day. The ladies have contributed greatly to the club and we look forward to their continued involvement over the coming years.
The junior sides had mixed fortunes with the 3rd xv narrowly missing out on promotion and the 4th xv were unluckily demoted after a play off match v Trinity at the end of the season. I have just returned from an excellent two match tour to Berlin with the juniors. They are an excellent bunch of guys, a credit to themselves and to Wanderers and our club can only grow in strength with their commitment and organisational skills.
It was another good season for our Mini and Youth section, with increased numbers and lots of activity especially on Sunday mornings in Merrion road. Congratulations to the U15’s who got to three finals, and to our U14’s who won the Metro Cup beating Lansdowne 22-19 in the final.
Finally I would like to pay special thanks to Fergus for all of his help and support through the year. Fergus has been a tremendous support and has always been available to help me or the club in whatever way he can.
All members are invited to the end of season “Captains dinner” which takes place at Merrion Road on Friday 20th – details on the club web site.
I look forward to seeing you at our AGM which is on Tuesday 31st May 7pm in Merrion road.
It has been a great honour and pleasure for me to serve as President of Wanderers FC this season. I have really enjoyed my year in office and thank you all for your support over the year.
Trevor Montgomery
President Wanderers FC 2015/16