Ballina, Killaloe and Lough Derg
Football beside Lough Derg
Lough Derg FC gives boys, girls and adult players a blue and yellow pathway centred on Clarisford Park.
Football across the twin towns
Lough Derg FC is the soccer club for Ballina, Killaloe and the surrounding Lough Derg area. The club was founded in 2002 and has grown around a simple local idea: football for boys, girls and adults on both sides of the Clare and Tipperary line.
The official crest carries the Lough Derg name, a football, the 2002 date and the club’s blue, black and white identity. That keeps this profile tied to the Ballina and Killaloe club, not to similarly named teams elsewhere.
Clarisford Park
Clarisford Park in Killaloe is the main football home. The wider community facility covers 30 acres and includes a soccer pitch, all weather artificial pitch, all weather sand pitch, sports hall, dressing rooms, running and walking trail and community park.
For visiting teams, the clean match-day note is Clarisford Park, Killaloe, Co Clare, V94 DWP7. Use the team message for the exact pitch, entrance and warm-up plan before travelling.
Other current football locations
Lough Derg’s recent club notes name extra local football space as the membership has grown. St Anne’s Community College sports field has been used for games, Smith O’Brien’s has hosted younger indoor sessions, and Boher Astro has given the club extra football time for camps and training.
These are shared community venues, not club-owned grounds. Families should treat the team note as final for parking, entrance and pitch use on the day.
Academy and underage pathway
The academy runs from U6 to U11, with the youngest players focused on learning the game in a safe, enjoyable setting. From U12 to U16, the club fields squads at levels that suit different players, including Premier, Major and Division 1 football in the North Tipperary Schoolchildren’s Football League.
For 2023/24, the club put membership at 614 and described more than 36 squads from U6 through to senior men and women. Those numbers are dated, but they show the scale of the pathway available to local families.
Girls, women, youths and adults
Girls football is part of the club from first steps through schoolgirl age groups and on to adult women. The club has also run Disney Playmakers for new girls entering football, and its junior women have played in the Limerick Women’s and Schoolgirls Soccer League.
For boys and men, the underage pathway stays rooted in North Tipperary schoolchildren’s football, with youth boys and junior men moving into the Limerick District League for a fuller youth-to-adult route. That league mix reflects the club’s position between Clare, Tipperary and Limerick football.
Selected honours and player notes
In 2023/24, Lough Derg named several team honours. They are kept as season-and-team entries so the competition stays attached to the team that won it.
That same season brought 27 Lough Derg players into North Tipp representative squads, including Kennedy Cup and Gaynor Cup panels. That is a strong pathway note for players with higher ambitions.
Community and club culture
Lough Derg FC is a volunteer-run football club with a wide local reach. The club’s 2023/24 story runs through football in Clarisford, on the 3G, at St Anne’s, Smith O’Brien’s and Boher, and through the blue and yellow club gear seen around the twin towns.
The club also uses camps, overseas trips and the Ballina link with Basse-Goulaine in France to give players more than weekly fixtures. The tone is still local: one club, from the lake towns, carrying football for families on both sides of the bridge.
Joining, contact and safeguarding
Parents and players should use the official Lough Derg FC website or ClubZap membership route for registration, team messages and club updates. Training times, squad places and venue use can change by team, so confirm through the current coach or club channel before travelling.
The club website also carries its Code of Ethics, safeguarding statement, Garda vetting information and incident reporting links. Those are the right places to start for welfare questions, coaching roles or volunteering.