Dundalk Football Club (Irish: Cumann Peile Dún Dealgan) is an Irish football club based Dundalk, County Louth. The club currently play in the FAI First Division of FAI League of Ireland. Founded in 1903, they are the second most successful team in the history of the League of Ireland. The traditional colours of the club are white jerseys with black shorts. Due to their white jerseys, they have been nicknamed the Lilywhites. They play their home games in Oriel Park, which has a capacity of 6,000.

Despite the fact that Dundalk FC had won what they perceived to be or believed should have been the annual promotion/relegation Play-Off, and what would have been a promotion/relegation game in any other normal season, in November 2006, they were one of the teams omitted from the 2007 FAI Premier Division and were, instead, chosen to play in the FAI First Division. Dundalk, however, argued that they had a right to compete in the Premier Division following their Play-Off defeat of Waterford United. "What was the point of the league taking our players and fans all the way down to Waterford if it counted for nothing?", questioned one official even though they were one of the clubs to vote for the FAI's new proposals earlier in 2006. Dundalk's protests had no real weight, however, as the 2006 season's game had never been billed as a promotion/relegation fixture. Furthermore, the claim that the game counted for nothing was technically incorrect - the Play-Off's purpose was solely to decide which teams were to be positioned in 12th and 13th place within the overall season standings of all 21 clubs for the purpose of the IAG's process and their dispensing of assessment points, and thus, it did contribute points to Dundalk's final assessment tally. However, that was little consolation. The difference between the two positions of 12th and 13th was a mere point anyway, which in the grand scheme of things did not make a significant difference to the final decision of the IAG. Although the game did count for something, it counted for very little and verged on pointlessness. Meanwhile, Galway United, who finished the season in 3rd place behind Dundalk's 2nd were chosen for the Premier Division. This infuriated Dundalk fans and on 13 December 2006 a disgruntled fan protested the Independent Assessment Group's decision by entering the headquarters of the FAI in Dublin and dousing the reception area in petrol whilst threatening to set it alight. After about an hour the stand-off that developed ended peacefullly. After a subsequent meeting with the FAI, Dundalk's CEO, Gerry Matthews, expressed his satisfaction with the process.