Drogheda Boys & Girls FC held its Annual General Meeting on Tuesday, 11 August 2026, marking an important point in the club’s continued development.

The AGM reflected on a period of significant growth and change for the club, while also recognising the challenges that come with operating an increasingly large and ambitious voluntary sports organisation.

The club has grown considerably over the reporting period. Registered playing membership increased from 218 players in 2024/25 to 317 in 2025/26, representing approximately 45% growth in one season, with around 360 children and players participating across the club when Kindergarten is included.

During the completed season, DBGFC operated 20 teams, including 18 underage teams, a Senior Women’s team and a Senior Men’s team, and administered approximately 420 league fixtures.

One of the most significant organisational changes was the decision to bring the entire underage section into the DDSL. This simplified administration and communication and provided teams with greater consistency in their league structures and opposition.

The club also achieved the FAI Club Mark Entry Level Award in February 2026, recognising the work undertaken across governance, administration, safeguarding and club development.

The AGM recognised the progress being made across the underage section, including the development of a two-team structure at a number of age groups. This provides greater opportunities for players to develop at an appropriate level and progress within the club.

Female football remains an important area of growth. The club currently has four girls’ teams alongside its Senior Women’s team, and the launch of “Her Game Starts Here” represents a significant commitment to increasing female participation and encouraging more girls to take up football from a younger age.

The Senior Women’s team will continue to represent DBGFC in the EWFL, maintaining an important pathway for female players into adult football.

The club also acknowledged the difficult decision to withdraw the Senior Men’s team from the Leinster Senior League for 2026/27. Despite considerable efforts to secure management and sufficient player numbers, it was not possible to operate the team sustainably. The long-term ambition remains to rebuild a sustainable Senior Men’s team.

The 2009 Boys team was also withdrawn following significant player turnover and unsuccessful efforts to rebuild the squad.

Pitch availability remained one of the biggest challenges of the season. Poor weather resulted in prolonged periods where grass pitches were unavailable, creating fixture backlogs and placing additional pressure on already limited facilities.

The club invested significantly in external all-weather facilities to maintain training opportunities, but securing sufficient capacity for competitive fixtures remained more difficult.

The wider infrastructure project at Marleys Lane also remains a major priority. The club continues to work through planning and water-connection issues relating to the modular changing-room and toilet facilities, while longer-term plans include further pitch development, improved floodlighting, additional all-weather facilities and the continued development of the site.

A key theme of the AGM was that the club’s organisational structures now need to grow alongside the football operation.

With more than 300 registered players, 20 teams and hundreds of fixtures, the administrative workload has increased substantially.

The club therefore intends to strengthen its volunteer structure, including clearer responsibility for areas such as registrations and fixtures, while continuing to document processes and distribute responsibilities more effectively.

The aim is to reduce reliance on a small number of volunteers, make volunteering more manageable and create clearer accountability across the club.

The Treasurer’s report outlined the club’s financial position and the work undertaken to manage the increased costs associated with running a growing club.

Membership remains a key source of income, with the club continuing to review its fee structure to ensure that costs are fair to members while allowing DBGFC to meet increasing expenditure on facilities, referees, insurance, pitch hire, equipment and other football-related costs.

The AGM also recognised the importance of continued fundraising and sponsorship activity to support the club’s development ambitions, particularly around infrastructure.

The new committee will focus on consolidating the progress made while putting stronger structures in place for the future.

Key priorities include:

The new committee will meet over the coming weeks to turn these priorities into clear objectives and an achievable plan for the year ahead.

The AGM also marked the beginning of a new committee term.

The committee will continue to build on the work undertaken over the previous period, while welcoming Francesco Perozzi (Vice Chairperson), Keith Smyth (Registrar), Deborah Doran and David Cullivan (Child Welfare Officers) into their respective committee roles.

The club is grateful to all outgoing and returning volunteers for the work they have contributed and recognises that the continued growth of DBGFC is only possible through the commitment of its volunteers, coaches, managers, parents and members.

The 2026 AGM demonstrated how far Drogheda Boys & Girls FC has come in a relatively short period.

The club has grown in membership, consolidated its underage football within the DDSL, achieved its first FAI Club Mark award, expanded female participation, increased its organisational capacity and continued to invest in its facilities and future.

There are undoubtedly challenges ahead. Infrastructure remains a major issue, administrative demands are increasing and rebuilding sustainable senior football will take time.

However, the overall message from the AGM was positive: DBGFC is in a stronger position than it was at the beginning of the reporting period.

The focus for the new committee is now to ensure that the structures behind the football continue to develop alongside it — creating a sustainable, well-run and ambitious club that can continue to provide football opportunities for the children, young people and adults of Drogheda for many years to come.