Cliftonville F.C.
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Cliftonville F.C. (the Reds) is an Irish football team playing in the Irish Premier League. Founded on 20th September 1879 by John McCredy McAlery in north Belfast, Cliftonville F.C. are the oldest football team in Ireland and celebrated its 125th anniversary in 2004. Since 1890 the club has played at Solitude.
Its supporters mainly come from north and west Belfast and have strong links with various supporters clubs in continental Europe, above all from FC St. Pauli of Germany.
Cliftonville F.C. has won the Premier League title 3 times, and the Irish Cup 8 times.
History
Cliftonville F.C. The Founders of Football in IrelandCliftonville FC had its birthday on September 20 1879 with an advertisement in the Belfast Newsletter in which John McAlery, a young Belfast businessman and manager of the "Irish Tweed House", Royal Avenue, and later with premises in Rosemary Street, asked people to sign up with "Cliftonville Association Football Club".
Only one week after the advertisement was launched, Cliftonville played its first recorded game on the third ground of Cliftonville Cricket Club off Oldpark Avenue against a selection of Rugby players known as Quidnunces on September 29 1879. The new-formed club however was beaten 2-1. Also in their first match against Caledonians they did not much better, as it ended in a 9-1 defeat. In 1880 it was again John McAlery who was the moving spirit in the formation of the Irish Football Association. A dynamic visionary he realized the potential of the game and the fact that being one of the few football clubs had its problems, he issued an invitation to interested parties in Belfast and district for a meeting to be called. By then there was only a handful of other clubs, which played some fixtures: Balmoral Academy, Knock Lacrosse Club as well as Rugby clubs Albion and Windsor.
The first meeting took place on November 18 1880 at Queen's Hotel, Belfast, presided by John Sinclair, from which the Irish Football Association was formed. While Major Chichester was appointed president, McAlery became the hon. secretary of the association. This meeting also paved the way for the Irish Cup.
The first Irish Cup Final played at Cliftonville on April 9 1881 saw a 1-0 defeat against Moyola Park. The opponent was well known for "rough and brutal play". In the following year Cliftonville lost again in the Irish Cup Final, this time 2-1 against Queen's Island. It was only in 1883 when Cliftonville finally won the Irish Cup for the first time with a 5-0 triumph over Ulster. In 1897 Cliftonville won the Irish Cup after a 3-1 win over Sherwood Foresters. A quite unusual protest was launched by Cliftonville after being beaten by Belfast Celtic, admitted to the League in 1896, in the 1900 Irish Cup competition. The Celtic goalposts were eventually measured and it was found out that they were much too short. A replay took place, in which Cliftonville made a 4-0 victory out of the 4-0 defeat in the earlier match. Subsequently they won the Irish Cup in that year, after beating Bohemians 2-1 in the Final.
The inaugural meeting of the Irish Football League was held on March 14 1890 in the Belfast Estate Office of the Marquess of Dufferin and Ava with M. McNeice (Cliftonville) as its first president and eight clubs agreed to participate: Cliftonville, Clarence, Milford, Oldpark, Distillery, Glentoran, Ulster and Linfield. It was however not until 1906 that Cliftonville won the Irish Football League for the first time, a success which was repeated in 1910.
Being an all-amateur team until the early 1970's Cliftonville from then on only played a minor role in Northern Irish football. It was only in 1976 under manager Jackie Hutton and his assistant Jackie Patterson, that Cliftonville experienced a "revolution in fortune", a miracle, which peaked on the 28th of April 1979 in the Irish Cup Final at Windsor Park. In front of 15,000 spectators Cliftonville beat Portadown 3-2 with goals from John Platt, Mike Adair and a late winner from Tony Bell. Curiously, the Reds were playing in yellow and blue that day.
In the years after this legendary triumph, Cliftonville found their way back to the lower areas of the Irish Football League, and still in the Nineties they were often closer to relegation than to the top. Yet after winning the Coca-Cola-Cup in 1996 and the County Antrim Shield in 1997, a dream come true after 88 years of waiting.
Under manager Marty Quinn, a player of the legendary team of 1979, Cliftonville won the Irish Football League in 1998 for the first time in 88 years, but the championship was followed by another highlight that turned out to be a nightmare for everybody involved, as the final of the Irish Cup between Cliftonville and Portadown was cancelled due to the involvement of a player in the semi-final against Linfield, who was held ineligible for his part in an earlier round when playing for an amateur side, leading to the team's disqualification.
In the same year the Reds went back to the times, when struggling against relegation was pretty much all they did, but at least here the Reds showed some spirit in beating Ards twice in the relegation matches in two consecutive years. Nevertheless, in 2003 the Reds surprised the whole league when they managed to win yet another title, the League Cup. The Reds were back in the relegation play-off in the 2003/04 season under Manager Marty Tabb, but comfortably disposed of Armagh City F.C. over the two legs. Since then the Reds have gone on, with a 5th place finish in 2005/06 under new manager Eddie Patterson, (who replaced current Institute boss Liam Beckett), and his Assistant Tommy Breslin, the club's highest finish since that famous league win in 1998.
Honours
- League titles: 3
- *1905/06 (with Distillery), 1909/10, 1997/98
- Irish Cups: 8
- *1882/83, 1887/88, 1896/97, 1899/00, 1900/01, 1906/07, 1908/09, 1978/79
- League Cup: 1
- *2003/04
- Gold Cup: 3
- *1923, 1933, 1980
- County Antrim Shield: 6
- *1892, 1894, 1898, 1926, 1979, 1997
- Belfast Charities Cup: 10
- *1884, 1886, 1887, 1888, 1889, 1897, 1906, 1908, 1909, 1924
- Alambra Cup: 1
- *1922
- Floodlit Cup: 1
- *1996
- Soccer Sixes: 1
- *1995
- Charity Shield: 1
- *1998
- Steel & Sons Cup: 6
- *1900, 1902, 1907, 1908, 1914, 1922
Former players
- Michael Adair
- Bobby Carlisle
- Dr Kevin McGarry
- Marty Quinn, Manager of Coleraine F.C.
- Jim Platt
- Keith Alexander, Manager of Peterborough United
- Marty Tabb, Assistant Manager of Larne F.C.
- Joe Kerr
- Mickey Donnelly
- Michael Ingham, Goalkeeper, Wrexham A.F.C.
- Stevie Small
- Michael Collins, Midfielder, Portadown FC
- Thomas McCallion, Midfielder, Institute F.C.
- Eddie Patterson, Manager of Cliftonville F.C.
- Tommy Breslin, Assistant Manager of Cliftonville F.C.
See also
- Irish Football League Cup
- Irish Cup
- Irish First Division
- Irish Second Division
- County Antrim Shield
- Northern Ireland football league system
External links
- [Cliftonville FC Website]
- [The Reds Gazette, Cliftonville Fanzine]
- [Irish Premier League Website]
- [Irish Football Club Project]
- [Irish FA Website]
- [Irish League Forums]
| Irish League 2006-2007 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Irish Premier League Armagh City | Ballymena United | Cliftonville | Crusaders | Coleraine | Donegal Celtic | Dungannon Swifts | Glenavon | Glentoran | Larne | Limavady United | Linfield | Lisburn Distillery | Loughgall | Newry City | Portadown | | ||
| Irish First Division Ards | Ballinamallard United | Banbridge Town | Bangor | Carrick Rangers | Coagh United | Dundela | Institute | Harland & Wolff Welders | Moyola Park | Portstewart | Tobermore United | | ||
| Irish Second Division Annagh United | Ballyclare Comrades | Ballymoney United | Brantwood | Chimney Corner | Dergview | Glebe Rangers | Lurgan Celtic | Oxford United Stars | PSNI | Queen's University | Wakehurst | | ||
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