“We’ve beaten some of the best amateur sides in London to get to the final.”
A club established by UCC alumni are just one game away from winning one of the most prestigious and competitive tournaments in British amateur football. UCC Diaspora FC take on HFSP & Ten-Em-Bee FC on Friday evening in the final of the London FA Junior Cup.
The club, based in south London, was founded in 2010 by a group of University College Cork graduates. UCC Diaspora FC were able to tap into a network of young Irish professionals who had emigrated to the city at the height of the recession.
“At that time the club drew from a large network of recent university graduates who had moved to London from Ireland and also a larger network of Irish ex-pats living in London,” says Paul Williamson, UCC Diaspora FC chairman, and one of the club’s founding members.
“In that first season, we had enough players to enter two teams in the Wimbledon and District League. The first team won the First Division with ease that year, almost going the whole season unbeaten.”
What was originally a small group who had played together for the UCC football team back home in Cork has grown into a club with three teams and over 60 members. The club has also expanded to include members beyond graduates of the university, with players from all over Ireland involved and even some English players.
Yet, they still strive to maintain their original link to UCC, sending a squad back to the University every February to take part in the annual UCC Soccer Club “Colours” matches and alumni lunch.
“Ninety per cent of our players are Irish,” Williamson says.
“We have a couple of English blow-ins also! They are great lads in fairness. In fact, our manager Luke Barrett is from Oldham, and another player Matty Russell has been in the club since we formed in 2010.
“When we started out the majority of our first team were former UCC Soccer Club players and other UCC graduates. The club have evolved naturally over the years to integrate lads from all over Ireland.
“It’s just natural when a friend or a colleague is brought down or Irish lads go looking for an Irish team when they move over.
“We still have a strong contingent from Cork. That would be the county most represented. There are a small number from Waterford, Westmeath, Galway, Armagh and quite a few Dubs in fairness too. We don’t discriminate!
“The English lads got involved by either being housemates, colleagues or friends of current or former players.”
UCC Diaspora FC’s growth off the field has mirrored their success on the pitch. Since their foundation nine years ago, the club’s teams have won three league titles and two cups. In 2016, they reached the final of the London FA Junior Cup, only to lose 2-1 to FC Hamlets.
However, UCC Diaspora got their revenge this season, beating FC Hamlets in the last-16 of the tournament this year.
“Beating them was very satisfying,” says Ronan Curran the club’s social secretary.
“They have been the top team in the competition for a number of years, winning it three times in the last four years. We started very strongly against them and went 2-0 up early and we dug deep for a 2-1 win.
“It was a huge boost as we know they have been such a strong side in this competition.”
In the next round, they overcame the challenge of Club Langley, a team with greater resources, 3-1 after going three-nil up within the first half an hour.
According to Curran, their opponents were taken aback by the team’s “intensity” in the opening period of the game.
“That was a hugely impressive win, and reinforced our belief that we could beat anyone on our day.”
Next up is HFSP & Ten-Em-Bee FC on Friday in the final of the London FA Junior Cup, a tournament that was first played in 1886 and featured 100 teams this season.
UCC Diaspora FC have beaten sides from leagues above them in the football pyramid on their cup run, clubs that have been established for decades with their own clubhouses and youth academies. They respect their upcoming opponents but are not daunted by the challenge.
“They look like a very good side, organised and like to pass it around well,” Williamson says.
“However, we back ourselves to beat any team. We go into every game believing we can win and we seem to thrive against the better teams.
“We have some fantastic players who could play at a much higher level and we’ve beaten some of the best amateur sides in London to get to the final.
“We’ve surprised many teams in this competition who technically play at a higher level than us, and who thought they could just turn up and beat us.
“Luckily the game is on a Friday night so we’ll have all day Saturday to celebrate should things go our way!”
Friday’s final will be played at Carshalton Athletic’s ground and kicks off at 7:45 pm.
UCC Diaspora FC train every Wednesday on a 4G pitch owned by Southfields Academy school.
They are always looking for new recruits and can be contacted through their Facebook page.
