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Cliftonville F.C.

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Cliftonville
Full nameCliftonville Football & Athletic Club
Nickname(s)The Reds
Founded1879
GroundSolitude, Belfast
Capacity3,700
ChairmanHugh McCartan
ManagerEddie Patterson
LeagueIFA Premiership
2008/096th

Cliftonville Football & Athletic Club (the Reds) is a Northern Irish football team playing in the IFA Premiership. Founded on 20 September 1879 by John McCredy McAlery in the north Belfast district of Cliftonville, it is the oldest football club in Ireland and celebrated its 130th anniversary in 2009. Since 1890, the club have played at Solitude.

Cliftonville have won the Irish League championship three times in total - twice outright (1910 and 1998) and once jointly with Distillery (1906) - and the Irish Cup eight times, most recently in 1979.

History

The founders of football in Ireland

Cliftonville was founded in 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". [1]

Only one week after the advertisement was published, 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, the game took place on September 29 1879. The newly-formed club, however, was beaten 2-1. In its first match against Caledonians, it fared worse: a 1-9 defeat.[1]

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 few football clubs was in itself a problem. He therefore issued an invitation to interested parties in Belfast and district for a meeting to be called. The handful of active clubs of the time included Balmoral Academy and Knock Lacrosse Club, as well as Rugby clubs Albion and Windsor.[1]

The first meeting took place on November 18 1880 at Queen's Hotel, Belfast, presided over 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.[1]

The early years

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 that Cliftonville finally won the cup for the first time, with a 5-0 triumph over Ulster.[1]

During the 1880s, Cliftonville played in the English FA Cup as well. They competed in the competition proper in 1886-87 and 1887-88; in 1886-87 they finally lost in the third round 11-0 at home to Partick Thistle after beating Blackburn Park Road 7-2 in an earlier round; and in 1887-88 they scratched their match with Church (Accrington).[2] The match lost to Linfield 7-0 in 1888 is the only FA Cup match to be played on Christmas Day.[3]

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 not, however, until 1906 that Cliftonville won the League for the first time, a success repeated in 1910.[1]

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 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 reversed the 4-0 defeat in the earlier match. Subsequently they won the Cup that year, after beating Bohemians 2-1 in the Final.[1]

Mediocrity and glory

Being an all-amateur team until the early 1970s, Cliftonville from then on played but a minor role in Northern Irish football as professionalism took hold. 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 28 April 1979 in the Irish Cup Final at Windsor Park. In front of 15,000 spectators, the largest attendance for many years and not matched since, 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. This kit has been held close to many fans hearts and thus a similar strip has been launched for the clubs appearance in the 2009 showpiece.

In the years after this legendary triumph, Cliftonville returned to the lower reaches of the Irish League, and often in the Nineties were often closer to relegation than to the top. Yet after winning the Floodlit 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 inspirational team of 1979, Cliftonville won the Irish League in 1998 for the first time in 88 years, amid euphoric scenes at Solitude after a nail-biting 1-1 draw against Glentoran. UTV's coverage of the agonising post-match wait in the home changing-room, which erupted in celebration once the title win had been confirmed, brought the Reds' triumph to a wide audience.

Yet the championship was followed by another potential highlight that turned out to be a nightmare for everybody involved, when the 1999 final of the Irish Cup between Cliftonville and Portadown was cancelled due to a Cliftonville player who had featured in the semi-final being deemed ineligible, thereby giving Portadown a walkover in the final.

The new century

The Reds subsequently reverted to type, often struggling against relegation. Still, they showed considerable spirit in beating Ards twice in 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 over the two legs. Since then the Reds have progressed, with a fifth-place finish in 2005/06 under new manager Eddie Patterson, (who replaced former Institute boss Liam Beckett), and his Assistant Tommy Breslin. Fifth was the club's highest finish since the league win of 1998.

The 2006/2007 season was a successful one for the club getting to the League Cup final and winning the County Antrim Shield. Finishing third ensured European football for the first time in five years.

Cliftonville won their first ever game in Europe beating Dinaburg of Latvia in the First Round of the UEFA Intertoto Cup 2007 [1], the home leg was played at Windsor Park, Belfast and finished 1-1 with Kieron O'Connor scoring the Cliftonville goal, on his competitive debut and the away leg was played at the Celtnieks Stadium in the Latvian city of Daugavpils. Mark Holland scored the only goal of the game, which brought the travelling Red Army to their feet and secured Cliftonville's first victory in European competition.

During the 2007/2008 campaign Cliftonville's performances in the first half of the season had seemed to make them genuine title contenders, spending much of the early and middle part of the season top of the table, going top with five games to go, however a poor run of form in the final fixtures of the campaign ended their hopes of winning the biggest prize in local football. The Reds finished the league campaign in third position fourteen points adrift of Champions Linfield.

However Cliftonville again secured European football, in the shape of the UEFA Cup. This success meant that the club became the first Northern Irish side to play in all of UEFA’s competitions. This time being drawn against Danish giants FC Kobenhavn, the home leg took place at Mourneview Park, Lurgan and resulted in a four nil defeat and the return leg two weeks later, was held in the Danish National Stadium, Parken Stadium, and the result again was unfavourable this time a seven nil defeat.

During the 2008/2009 campaign Cliftonville struggled in terms of their league performance but finished strongly to secure a top 6 finish. They won the County Antrim Shield and reached the Irish Cup final, 30 years since their previous victory in the competition. Alas it was not to be a victorious occasion with the Reds losing out to their near neighbours, Crusaders FC. The season was a success on a personal note for captain Chris Scannell, who finished top goalscorer in all competitions, and won the coveted Ulster Footballer of the Year trophy.

The Reds began the following season, 2009/2010, eager to carry on the largely good form of the last few months of the previous one. That run largely continued, with the highlight so far a 4-0 destruction in the derby game against Linfield F.C. at Solitude (football ground).

As Of 19th November 2009

Current squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
— GK   John Connolly
— GK   Paul McKane
— GK   David Wells
— DF   Liam Fleming (captain)
— DF   Aaron Smyth
— DF   Ciaran Donaghy
— DF   Ronan Scannell
— DF   Ciaran Boyd
— DF   Declan O'Hara
— DF   Barry Holland
— MF   Barry Johnston (footballer) (on loan to Shamrock Rovers)
— MF   Conor Downey
— MF   Rory Hamill (on loan to Lisburn Distillery F.C.)
No. Pos. Nation Player
— MF   Ciarán Caldwell
— MF   Ryan Catney
— MF   George McMullan
— MF   Mark Patterson
— MF   Francis Murphy
— MF   Kieran O'Connor
— FW   Chris Scannell
— FW   Mark Holland

Honours

Senior honours

Intermediate honours

† Won by Cliftonville Olympic (reserve team) ‡ Won by Cliftonville Strollers (reserve team)

Junior honours

  • Irish Junior Cup: 5
    • 1888/89†, 1892/93†, 1904/05‡, 1908/09‡, 1932/33‡

† Won by Cliftonville Olympic (reserve team) ‡ Won by Cliftonville Strollers (reserve team)

Former players

See also

  • Irish League Forums Supporters Group

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Malcolm Brodie, "100 Years of Irish Football", Blackstaff Press, Belfast (1980)
  2. ^ Collett, Mike (2003). The Complete Record of The FA Cup. p. 239. ISBN 1899807-19-5.
  3. ^ Collett, Mike (2003). The Complete Record of The FA Cup. p. 878. ISBN 1899807-19-5.

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