River Valley Rangers AFC (RVR)

The Club was founded 1981 when Paddy Cole, Gerry Kane and Joe Newman recognised that there was a need for a soccer club in Rivervalley estate which was earmarked for continuous expansion and continues to the present day in the surrounding areas.

The club started out with one senior and one schoolboy team.  In the early years much of the focus was on providing football for the adults in the growing community. But it wasn't long before the ever-growing schoolboy section became the primary focus of the club. Very quickly the need for proper facilities for training/coaching became an issue.

In the intervening years, we have reached out to the boys, girls, men & women in the community providing structured and competitive football to all who wished to participate.

Over the years we have had many successful teams and many excellent players, but the highlight of the club’s history was the night in June 1998 when Brian Kerr's under 16 Irish team were crowned European Champions with two of the team (John Thompson & Brendan McGill) having come through the ranks at RVR.

Many of our former players have played with distinction at representative level, been successful across the water and/or made it at Airtricity league level. There is an abundance of talent in the current crop with several players making league representative squads and hopefully some maturing to international level. The future, indeed, looks very bright for the club.

River Valley Rangers AFC have long recognised the need for proper training facilities. In 2001 in conjunction with the residents Association. The Rivervalley & Rathingle Combined Clubs Association (RRCCA) was formed as the vehicle to deliver an All-Weather Facility (AWF). National Lottery funding was obtained in 2002 and in conjunction with Fingal County Council an agreement was reached to convert the disused tennis courts in the Ward Valley Park to an AWF. A management/operational licence was agreed, and the works undertaken culminated in the completion of the facility in spring of 2005 and with the facility being fully operational by mid October 2005. The Facility was officially opened by An Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern in March 2006.

Today River Valley Rangers AFC stands proud as a long-established local football club with 22 teams. This is a direct result of the commitment of these people and the others they recruited. Their contribution to the whole of Rivervalley should not be forgotten.