Avondale United was formed in Ballintemple, Cork in the summer of 1972 with one junior team. The club originally catered for players from the Ballintemple/Beaumont and Church Rd/Skehard Rd areas of what was then mainly the city end of the old Blackrock parish. Much of the club's support and particularly underage membership still comes from these localities but players from surrounding areas have always been made welcome. Avondale originally joined the Cork Athletic Union League and were members of that league up to 1989. Youth and schoolboys sides have been fielded since 1973/74 and 1974/75 respectively and in 1977/78 Avondale also joined the Munster Senior league following a very successful junior season in 1976/77.

Early meetings of the club were held in the kitchen of Sycamore House in Ballintemple where the very first founding meeting was also held but soon moved to a spare room at the back of a local hostelry. For this reason a sycamore leaf forms the main feature of the club crest. The first colours were red and white but some time later these were changed to the now familiar sky blue with black/navy shorts. Up until 1986 all home games were played on privately rented or public pitches but in that year the club purchased the grounds now known as Avondale Park in Carrigaline. A short time before this the use of a community ground, now Beaumont Park was granted to the club by the Blackrock Community Association and it now holds a 99-year lease on this venue. This ground is now the club's schoolboy headquarters. In recent years the use of another private ground at Bessboro Cross, Blackrock has also been made available to the club. The adult and youth teams are based at Avondale Park, Carrigaline. Avondale published a book marking its 21stAnniversary in 1993 and the 40th Anniversary was celebrated in 2012.

Avondale United has won honours in all grades of local football at Intermediate, Junior, Youth and Schoolboy levels. The first honours came to the club in 1976/77 when both the Youths and Junior sides were victorious in their respective League Cup competitions. The most notable honours have come nationally through wins on seven occasions in the FAI Intermediate Cup, and the club leads the roll of honour for victories in this prestigious competition. Avondale United has reached the Quarter-Finals of the FAI Senior Cup in 1995 and 2014, as well as the Semi-Finals of the FAI Under-17 Cup in 2015. Provincially the club has reached the Munster Senior Cup Final three times but unfortunately has been beaten each time to Cork City (2005), Waterford United (2013) and Limerick FC (2015). Many of the club's players have won representative honours at local and international level in all grades.

As well as the regular underage grades, the Schoolboys Section also caters for young boys/girls between the ages of 6 and 10 years by providing coaching at two local schools every Friday night. One of the club's main targets off the field at present is to relocate the entire operation at one base in Blackrock. In the meantime a major redevelopment of the Beaumont Park ground is under way. Some well-known sporting personalities have played with Avondale over the years, including All- Ireland-winning Cork hurling captain and manager Tom Cashman, Irish hockey international Alan O'Driscoll, Irish rugby international Simon Zebo, and international soccer referee Alan Kelly.

Avondale United FC has won honours in all grades of Cork football including schoolboys, youths, Junior, Senior and Over 35's level. The greatest honour achieved by the club came when it won the FAI Intermediate Cup on seven separate occasions including an unprecedented 4 in a row from 2011 to 2014 (1978, 2006, 2007, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014).

Avondale United FC has a playing membership of approximately 300 people and we play our games in the Cork Schoolboys League, The Cork City & County Youths League and The Munster Senior League. The club is also affiliated to The Munster Football Association, The Schoolboys Football Association of Ireland and The Football Association of Ireland