Bohemian F.C.
Updated:
7 Sep 2020
Bohemian Football Club (Cumann Peile Bóithéamaigh), more commonly referred to as Bohemians or Bohs, is a semi-professional football club from Dublin, Ireland. Bohemians compete in the Premier Division of the League of Ireland, and are the oldest League of Ireland club in continuous existence. Bohs are the third most successful club in League of Ireland football history, having won the League of Ireland title 11 times, the FAI Cup 7 times, the League of Ireland Shield 6 times and the League of Ireland Cup 3 times. Prior to the establishment of the Football Association of Ireland and League of Ireland, Bohemians competed in the Irish Football League and Irish Cup, which were at the time all-Ireland competitions. During that period they won the Irish Cup once and finished runners up 5 times. They share the record for most wins in European competition with archrivals Shamrock Rovers and hold the record for Leinster Senior Cup wins with 32 cups claimed. Bohemians were founded on 6 September 1890 in the Phoenix Park Gate Lodge beside the North Circular Road entrance and played its first games in the Park's Polo Grounds. They were one of the founding members of the League of Ireland in 1921, after their withdrawal from the Irish Football League. They established themselves as a major force within the first 15 years of the League of Ireland, winning 5 league titles, 2 FAI Cups and 4 Shields, but struggled for decades after that, largely due to their strict amateur status, going 34 seasons without winning a major trophy. Bohemians dropped their amateur ethos in 1969 and proceeded to win 2 League titles, 2 FAI Cups and 2 League cups during the 1970s. They suffered a further decline throughout the 1980s and most of the 1990s before claiming League and Cup doubles in 2001 and 2008, alongside the 2003 and most recently 2009 title wins. Bohemians play their home matches at Dalymount park in the Northside neighbourhood of Phibsborough. They are owned 100% by the members of the club. Their club colours are red and black, which they adopted at the 4th AGM in October 1893. Bohemians supporters often refer to their club by a number of nicknames including Bohs and The Gypsies, and provide one half of a bitter rivalry with Southside club, Shamrock Rovers.