Linfield F.C.
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- "Linfield" redirects here. For , see Linfield College.
Linfield F.C. (the Blues) is a Northern Irish football club playing in the Irish Premier League. Founded in March 1886 in south Belfast, Linfield play at Windsor Park, which is also the 'home' of the Northern Ireland international team.
The club, which has the biggest fan base of any club side in Northern Ireland, has a playing record unsurpassed in domestic football, winning the Premiership title 46 times (the 46th time on the 18th of March 2006), and the Irish F.A. Cup 36 times. They won a domestic double in 2006, their 18th, which broke a tie with Scottish team Rangers for the top spot on the all-time world list.
In 2005, Linfield won the first ever Setanta Cup, a competition between the top teams of both the Republic of Ireland's and Northern Ireland's premier leagues when they beat strong favourites Shelbourne.
Biggest club in Ireland
Linfield are the biggest and most successful club in Ireland in terms of support and trophy count. Rangers are the only club in the world who have won their League title more times than Linfield.
In the current season, 2005-06, Linfield were crowned the Irish League Champions 05/06 on 18th March by beating Armagh City 1-0. A few weeks later, ironically on the day they were presented with the Gibson Cup, Linfield were defeated by Lisburn Distillery 3-1, their first defeat in almost 50 domestic matches. In the league section of this run Linfield won 21 and drew 4. Linfield have also picked up two trophies in their current campaign, winning both the League Cup, defeating Glentoran 3-0 at Windsor Park and the County Antrim Shield, defeating Ballymena 2-1 at Seaview. They were put out of the Setanta Cup at the semi-finals by League of Ireland leaders Drogheda United. They won the Irish Cup on 6 May 2006 by beating Belfast rivals Glentoran 2-1 in front of a capacity crowd. Linfield striker Peter Thompson scored both goals, one in each half, to see off Glentoran and complete a clean sweep of all domestic competitions this season.Incidently it made 48 goals for the season making him one of the top scorers in Europe. The club now looks to go down the road of full-time football and have re-signed several players on full-time deals, including Peter Thompson, Paul McAreavey and Michael Gault.
History
Linfield Football club was founded in March 1886 as the Linfield Athletic Club by workers of the Linfield Spinning Mill. Initially the club played its home fixtures on ground at the back of the mill known as 'The Meadow.' In 1889 the clubs growth resulted in a move to Ulsterville Avenue. Here the club played Nottingham Forest F.C. in the first round of the English FA Cup (at that time the competition was open to clubs in all 4 parts of the U.K.) achieving a 2-2 draw in Nottingham, however they withdrew from the replay.
The move to Ulsterville proved short lived as the ground was sold to housing developers and the club was forced to play their home games at opponents' grounds. Eventually Robert Gibson,the club president managed to secure the lease of a ground at Myrtlefield, in South Belfast. These three ground changes resulted in a desire to have a proper home ground and consequently a piece of land known as the 'bog meadows' just off lower Windsor Avenue was bought in 1904. The first game to take place at what later became Windsor Park was on September 2nd, 1905 against Glentoran F.C..
There have been many developments to 'Windsor Park' over the years. 'Midgely Park' was purchased in 1951, the current office and boardroom complex completed in 1968, and the social club in 1970. The 6800 capacity North Stand, officially opened by the FIFA president Joao Havelange on October 20 1984 was a joint venture with the government and the Irish Football Association and the most recent 4000 capacity Kop Stand was completed in the late 1990s.
Linfield traditionally play Rangers F.C. in a pre season friendly at Windsor Park. The match is popular with fans of both sides, due to the good relationship between the two clubs and their Unionist heritage. The game on 6th July 2006 was won 2-0 by Rangers, with goals from Kris Boyd and Thomas Buffel, although the night was marred slightly by reports of supporters buses being hit by missiles whilst passing through Nationalist West Belfast.
Sectarianism
The club are marked by a staunchly loyalist Protestant support base mainly from South, West, North and East Belfast. Factions of the club's supporters have been criticised over the years for being pro Unionist and engaging in this through the singing of pro Unionist songs and slogans.It is a problem the club has sought to address over the years and the climate has improved at the ground recently! [[Citing sources citation needed]]Windsor Park
-->Linfield's home ground is Windsor Park, which is located in south Belfast. The governing body of Northern Ireland football, the Irish Football Association, leases the ground for use by the Northern Ireland national football team.
European record
As one of Northern Ireland's dominant club sides, Linfield have been regular campaigners in European football. Their most notable achievement was reaching the quarter-finals of the European Cup in 1967. After beating Aris Bonnevoie of Luxembourg and Valerenga of Norway, they faced CSKA Sofia in the final eight. This resulted in a 2-2 draw at home and 1-0 defeat away, which was nonetheless a commendable achievement for a semi-professional club.In the 1984/85 season, after overcoming Shamrock Rovers on away goals, Linfield faced eventual semi-finalists Panathinaikos in the second round. After a 2-1 defeat away, Linfield went 3-0 up in the return leg at Windsor Park only to draw 3-3.
In the 1987/88 campaign Linfield's home game against Lillestrom was unfortunately marred by hooliganism, resulting in UEFA sanctions which meant that the club had to play their next two home games in European competitions at Welsh club Wrexham A.F.C. in the 1988/9 and 1989/90 seasons.
The 1993/94 campaign saw Linfield drawn with Dynamo Tbilisi of Georgia. After losing 3-2 on aggregate, they were reinstated when their opponents were expelled from the competition. Linfield would face FC Copenhagen in the first round proper and win the first leg 3-0, and lose the second leg 4-0 after extra time. This proved costly as victory would have meant a lucrative financial tie against eventual champions AC Milan in the next round.
Honours
- League titles: 46
- *1890/91, 1891/92, 1892/93, 1894/95, 1897/98, 1901/02, 1903/04, 1906/07, 1907/08, 1908/09, 1910/11, 1913/14, 1921/22, 1922/23, 1929/30, 1931/32, 1933/34, 1934/35, 1948/49, 1953/54, 1954/55, 1955/56, 1958/59, 1959/60, 1960/61, 1961/62, 1965/66, 1968/69, 1970/71, 1974/75, 1977/78, 1978/79, 1979/80, 1981/82, 1982/83, 1983/84, 1984/85, 1985/86, 1986/87, 1988/89, 1992/93, 1993/94, 1999/00, 2000/01, 2003/04, 2005/2006
- Irish Cups: 37
- *1890/91, 1891/92, 1892/93, 1894/95, 1897/98, 1898/99, 1901/02, 1903/04, 1911/12, 1912/13, 1914/15, 1915/16, 1918/19, 1921/22, 1922/23, 1929/30, 1930/31, 1933/34, 1935/36, 1938/39, 1941/42, 1944/45, 1945/46, 1947/48, 1949/50, 1952/53, 1959/60, 1961/62, 1962/63, 1969/70, 1977/78, 1979/80, 1981/82, 1993/94, 1994/95, 2001/02 2005/06
- League Cups: 8
- *1986/87, 1991/92, 1993/94, 1997/98, 1998/99, 1999/00, 2001/02, 2005/06
- Setanta Cup: 1
- *2005
- City Cups: 20
- Gold Cups: 31
- Coca-Cola Cup: 3
As such, Linfield are the world's most successful club having won more trophies than any other club - contrary to the belief that it is [Rangers FC].
Current squad
Notable former players
- Martin McGaughey
- Jackie Milburn
- George Dunlop
- Lindsey McKeown
- David Jeffrey (now Manager)
- Alan Dornan
- Trevor Anderson
- Dessie Gorman
- Gary Haylock
- Davy Larmour
- Lee Doherty
- Roy Coyle
See also
- Irish Football League Cup
- Irish Cup
- Irish First Division
- Irish Second Division
- County Antrim Shield
- Northern Ireland football league system
External links
- [Linfield FC Website]
- [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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