Mervue United and Salthill Devon
For five seasons from 2009 Galway had three clubs in the League of Ireland, and two of them were from the city's suburbs. Mervue United and Salthill Devon rose together from the Galway and District League through the Connacht Senior League and the A Championship to the First Division, stepped aside together in 2013 so that Galway United could be reborn, and on 19 December 2025 were both named founders of the league's new third tier, the FAI National League, starting in August 2026.
Checked against the source on 2026-09-19.
Hoops341, public domain via Wikimedia Commons
Eamonn Deacy Park on the 3D model; tap a pin for its page and directions.
Mervue United
Residents of McDonagh Avenue formed the club in 1960; the first trophy was the under-13 Murphy Cup in 1964 to 1965, promotion to the district Premier Division came in 1972 to 1973, and a league and Michael Byrne Cup double in 1976 to 1977 was retained the next year. In 1981 to 1982 Mervue were founder members of the Connacht Senior League with Salthill Devon, Sligo Rovers reserves, Castlerea Celtic, Ballina Rovers, Tuam Celtic and UCG, finishing second, and won it first in 1982 to 1983. Founder members of the A Championship in 2008, they beat Kildare County 5-3 on aggregate for promotion and played the First Division from 2009 to 2013, at Terryland Park for two seasons before Fahy's Field, their home since the Connacht league days, was brought up to standard. Patrick Hoban scored 21 goals for them; Aaron Connolly, Greg Cunningham and Ryan Manning went on to play for Ireland. Brendan O'Connor manages the 2026 side in Group 1.
Salthill Devon
Salthill Crusaders of 1947 became Salthill Athletic in 1950 and, after merging with Devon Celtic of the Devon Park estate in 1977, Salthill Devon. The sky-blue and white stripes are Argentina's: a player, Billy Shaw, worked at Moon's department store, whose manager had dressed a window for the 1950 World Cup with an Argentine kit that Argentina, having withdrawn, never needed. The club won the Connacht Senior Cup three years running from 1989 to 1992, took the League of Ireland under-21 title in 2006 without a senior team, won its A Championship group in 2009 and played the First Division until 2013, one season as SD Galway. Back in junior football it won the Provincial Champions Cup in 2023, a fourth straight district title in May 2025, and reached the last sixteen of the 2025 FAI Cup, drawing Galway United at Eamonn Deacy Park before 2,507 people. The Galway Cup youth tournament has run since 2005; Greg Cunningham took over as manager on 24 June 2026 for Group 2 of the new league. Home is Drom Soccer Park. The model on this page pins Fahy's Field and Drom.
Questions people ask
Where do Mervue United play?
Why does Salthill Devon play in blue and white stripes?
Are Mervue and Salthill Devon in the League of Ireland?
Written from Wikipedia, "Mervue United A.F.C." (CC BY-SA 4.0), read on 2026-09-19, and from the OpenStreetMap places on the model. Nothing has been added from memory; follow the source for its footnotes.