September 30th,1990 was one of the most important days in the illustrious history of Shamrock Rovers Football Club.It was on the that day that Rovers staged their first game at the Royal Dublin Society grounds at Ballsbridge when St.Patricks Athletic were the visitors in a league game which attracted a crowd of twenty two thousand.
Leaving Milltown was a huge blow to the club but moving to the RDS after Tolka and Dalymount was,in effect,taking a step back nearer "home"to Glenmalure Park,where the club had played for sixty years,and to Ringsend where it all began.Today the "Hoops"are in the process of moving to Tallaght.
If Shamrock Rovers first twenty years in existence comprimised of mixed fortunes then their rise to glory in the senior ranks was swift and caused more than a few ripples on the surface in so far as the more established clubs were concerned. When they won the league title in their first season of membership,1922/23, they proved that their Cup Final appearance against the "gate"in 1922 was no once off.Since then Rovers have won the league a further thirteen times which is a record.They have also won the FAI cup on a record twenty four occasions including five in a row from 1929 to 1933 inclusive and then broke their own record when they won it six times in a row from from 1964 to 1969 inclusive. Many further honours have come to the club over the years in the shape of the league of Ireland Shield,the Leinster Senior Cup,Dublin City Cup,Top Four Competition and so on.In 1957 Shamrock Rovers became the first club from the League to participate in the European Cup.