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Dublin football tradition: The history of the Shamrock Bowl

During football season, the home stands are full of fans rooting for Dublin, but the Shamrock Bowl was not the original home for the Fighting Irish.

DUBLIN, Ga. — Players will hit the field out at the Shamrock Bowl Friday night, but it was not the original home for Dublin's Fighting Irish.

During football season, the home stands are full of fans rooting for Dublin. Back in the 1950s, the team played on a smaller field. That is when the community stepped in to raise money to build the stadium. 

"Dublin has just got a great tradition of football here," Mitch Warnock said.

Since the 1990s, Mitch Warnock has been in the stands cheering on the Irish.

 "I don't know if there has ever been a better venue to watch a football game in --if you like football, this is the place to be," Warnock said. 

Warnock says when his family moved to Dublin, they turned Football Friday Nights into a never-ending tradition. 

"I may have missed 15, 20 games," Warnock said. 

But Warnock says he's been to more than 300 home and away games. 

"There is nothing better to do on Friday night if you are a fan of football," Warnock said. 

One reason Warnock loves the Irish is because of the Shamrock Bowl.

"There is no track around the field, you're right on top of the action, it is just exciting," Warnock said. 

Jason Halcombe with Dublin City Schools says their home field wasn't always the one on Shamrock Drive.

"The Shamrock Bowl was the result of a really successful football team. The Dublin Fighting Irish won back-to-back state championship in '59 and '60," Halcombe said. 

Those teams played at Battlefield near Stubbs Park, but Dubliners wanted a field they could be proud of.

"Our chamber president at the time, Don Lamb, decided, 'Hey, we can come together and we can do this,'" Halcombe said. 

Halcombe says local businesses and people raised more than $50,000 to help build the bowl.

"The ability to finance that came solely from the community coming together. It is one of the greatest stories of the community working for a common goal that ultimately benefited children," Halcombe said. 

With the help of the city and county, he says a blueprint became reality in 1963. 

"It's good for them to go out and see the community enjoys their hard work," Warnock said. 

So as the players fight for a win, they know the luck of Irish will always be with them.

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RELATED: Aerial view of Dublin's Shamrock Bowl Stadium

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